White speckles in milk CP soap ❓

[Thesdelights]

Hi everyone,

I tried to make a coconut milk soap today! I replaced the water 100% by frozen coconut milk.

I took all my time to gently mix in the lye (and kept stirring)! When I was done I went to melt my butter and oils and when I returned (after ~5min) there was a thickkk layer sitting ontop of the lye/coconut milk solution.

I tried by best to break it up with a spoon (picture 2). When both my oils and the lye sultion was ~ 49 C // 120 F I poured the solution through a strainer but it was too thick to go through!

So I decided to scoop it out and blend it with the oils (thinking that its soap that started to form).

After I blended everything (thick trace) I ended up with all those white speckles in the soap batter (picture 5).

Is this soap that started to form? Could this be undissolved lye? Is it normal or should I worry?

 

[cmzaha]

I would venture to say it is either stearic specks or soap specks. But the trouble with using frozen liquids is the chance of ending up with undissolved lye and not noticing it, especially when using milk that is white and opaque. I really do not know why so many have become hung up on freezing liquids for mixing their lye, I understand it when it comes to gm but now it seems people are freezing all types of liquids. This is why I recommend using the 50/50 method and not mixing milk or any additives other than SL into lye solutions. If you want more milk in your soap using the 50/50 method use powdered as an addition or all powdered which you can make as strong as you want. The 50/50 method is mixing your lye in 50% of your allotted liquid and adding any additives into your additional 50% of your liquid whether it be water, milk, purees, etc.

At this point let it cure then zap test, but do not touch your tongue directly to the soap, just wet your finger and wipe it across the soap, and touch to your tongue. Do this after you zap test.

 

[Thesdelights]

I would venture to say it is either stearic specks or soap specks. But the trouble with using frozen liquids is the chance of ending up with undissolved lye and not noticing it, especially when using milk that is white and opaque. I really do not know why so many have become hung up on freezing liquids for mixing their lye, I understand it when it comes to gm but now it seems people are freezing all types of liquids. This is why I recommend using the 50/50 method and not mixing milk or any additives other than SL into lye solutions. If you want more milk in your soap using the 50/50 method use powdered as an addition or all powdered which you can make as strong as you want. The 50/50 method is mixing your lye in 50% of your allotted liquid and adding any additives into your additional 50% of your liquid whether it be water, milk, purees, etc.

At this point let it cure then zap test, but do not touch your tongue directly to the soap, just wet your finger and wipe it across the soap, and touch to your tongue. Do this after you zap test.

If it is stearic acid or soap specks would the soap be good to use ? Is it just aesthetics ?

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

So the fats in the coconut milk started to saponify with the lye which is what was floating on the top of your soap. When you mixed it all together like that the already saponified fats weren't able to incorporate into the rest of the batter completely. That's likely going to result in having lye heavy soap speckles. You really need to keep stirring when you're using a milk with a high fat content and if it's too high it's better to mix a smaller amount of water in the lye to dissolve it and then add the remaining portion of your liquid as the milk and stir it up right before you mix it. then you can make sure the lye is fully dissolved, the heated up lye mixture doesn't burn the sugars, and the fats don't have a chance to saponify before you mix it with the oils.