# White fuzz on my soap?



## Zenna (Feb 25, 2014)

Hi all, I'm very new to soap making and wondering if anyone can tell me what is going on with my third batch of CP soap?  It's a olive oil (95%) castor oil (5%) soap with orange essential oil and poppy seeds added at trace.  It has been curing for 2 weeks so far and I've just noticed a few things...

(1) The scent has already faded quite a lot - I understand now that this is common with citrus oils especially and have been ready about "anchoring".

(2) Most bars have a line of white fuzz on the cut surface of the soap (see pics below).  Is this some kind of mould?  I do think air circulation has been inadequate for this batch as I had the bars spaced only about 3-5mm apart.  I had a towel covering the box they were sitting in (silly me) - though I did this with the other batches and nothing like this occurred.  I also have them curing in the garage where the temperature has been highly variable - something I expect I will have to rectify though, again, it hasn't occurred in other batches exposed to similar conditions.  I actually made another batch on the same day using the same basic recipe (but different additives) which has been stored in the same box and does not have the fuzz).

(3)  Note the brown spot in the second photo.  It is around a poppy seed.  What could be the cause of this?

Thanks so much in advance for any help!

P.S. My soaps aren't pretty!  I haven't started experimenting with colour yet and am using milk cartons for moulds until I work out what I want to buy!


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## Ruthie (Feb 25, 2014)

Could it be soda ash?  And you are correct about citrus.  Litsea makes a good anchor and smells divinely citrusy itself.


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## lsg (Feb 25, 2014)

It looks like soda ash to me.  Just wipe it off with a damp paper towel.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 25, 2014)

If it was ash, wouldn't it be on the top rather than the sides?  Also, this looks more hairy than chalky


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## lsg (Feb 25, 2014)

I have had soda ash form on bars after they were cut.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 25, 2014)

lsg said:


> I have had soda ash form on bars after they were cut.


 
Aye, but just a little bit on the sides like that, and not on the top at all?


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## lsg (Feb 25, 2014)

Yes, it was on the top too. If you look at the picture of the soap, you will see what looks like ash on the bottom of the soap also.  I would just wipe the soap off with a paper towel and alcohol.  If it is ash, that should take care of the problem.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 25, 2014)

True - I hadn't spotted those spots.


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## coffeetime (Feb 25, 2014)

I have had a weird fuzz appear on soaps that had sodium lactate in them. Like a brittle crystal formation. I'm not sure what chemical reaction caused this but it just wiped off. Is there SL in this batch?


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## judymoody (Feb 25, 2014)

the white is probably ash

The brown spot around the poppy seed - sometimes I see that when I use poppy seeds - it's like a little brownish bloom around the seed.  I don't think it's a problem.

How much EO did you use?  Normally I stick to 3% of oil weight for fragrance but for sweet orange, I bump it up to 5% and anchor with a bit of litsea and/or patchouli.


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## Zenna (Feb 25, 2014)

Thanks everyone! The white bits on the sides are "chalky" just like the pictures I have seen of soda ash but the white fuzz on the cut surface is hairy like a 2mm thick layer of fur. Does soda ash appear like this? I didn't realise it also shows up on cut surfaces - that's reassuring.

No sodium lactate in this coffeetime.

Judymoody, I only used EO at 1.5%. I'll try more next time and anchor it. How much of the anchoring EO do you include? Good to know the poppy seed spot is normal.


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## godschild (Apr 19, 2014)

I just saw this post.  I have a batch that has a hairy growth on it as well.  I don't know whether to toss it or wipe it off.  I don't want to bathe with mold if that's what it is.  Have you found out yet what it is?


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## coffeetime (Apr 19, 2014)

Actually, there was some discussion of this in the thread about the lye heavy Castile soap. I think the title has 'Deanna' in it.

Yup. This is it. Kind of a long one but an interesting read. 
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=42922


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## DeeAnna (Apr 19, 2014)

I'm the DeeAnna in question, and yep we've talked about this in the thread that Coffeetime shared. The appearance of ash can vary a lot. It often looks like a white "bloom" on chocolate -- dull white patches, spots, or streaks -- but it can form a coating of fuzzy "hair" or even a thick loose "sugary" crust. Ash is often on the top of the soap, but that's probably because that ash formed during saponification in the mold. Ash can form later as the soap is drying and that ash will appear anywhere on the soap.


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## coffeetime (Apr 19, 2014)

DeeAnna said:


> I'm the DeeAnna in question




Sorry for the mis-spelling, DeeAnna.


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## newbie (Apr 19, 2014)

I've had ash like the ash you picture. I've also had the hairy ash, which I posted a picture of. I have some soap that has a thick layer of this crystal, hairy, fuzzy type, and there were no organic things for it to be mold, not to mention this was within a few days of making the soap. It's strange how it can look so different.


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## soap_rat (Apr 19, 2014)

I think the Crazy Castile recipe can also be called a home crystal-growing project!  I wonder if possibly higher water content in other recipes encourages ash?  Or slow saponification?  The Crazy Castile recipe has high water, but also slow reaction of the lye.


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## AnnaMarie (Apr 20, 2014)

I'm wondering if it might be lye crystals???  Soda ash is powdery, but "hairy" is something different altogether. I've had lye crystals form on soap before (or at least I think they were. Maybe try a zap test...
Cheers!
Anna Marie


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## newbie (Apr 20, 2014)

No not lye crystals at all. They are ash crystals from one of my lye excess soaps. I do think the excess of water makes some difference but there were other things in terms of the surface that I think lent themselves to the formation of crystals versus the flat type of ash. They were tested. Ash for sure.

As DeeAnna said, ash comes in all sorts of forms, not just powdery or chalky!


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## AnnaMarie (Apr 20, 2014)

Glad it's not lye crystals! I wondered because the only time I've ever see these crystals is when I've made my crazy, super lye heavy, Andalusian castile soap. I'll readily admit that I've never seen a really seen a good, clear, informational piece on the difference between ash and lye crystals that satisfied my questions though....
Cheers!
Anna Marie


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## Ellacho (Apr 20, 2014)

Yes, that's more like soda ash to me!


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## DeeAnna (Apr 20, 2014)

"...Sorry for the mis-spelling, DeeAnna. ..."

No problem! 

"... I wonder if possibly higher water content in other recipes encourages ash? Or slow saponification?..."

It is very likely the high water content = more ash. The water will transport free alkali (lye) to the surface of the soap so the lye can react with carbon dioxide in the air to make soda ash. 

The different types of crystal formations are most likely a result of different environmental conditions when the soda ash is forming -- air humidity, temperature, etc. If you look at the many different types of crystalline rocks (quartz, for example), you'll see big crystals, little crystals, single crystals, many crystals, long ones, short ones, etc. Soda ash is no different. 

My guess is if we could see the different types of soda ash formations under a microscope, there would be certain things in common for all of the crystals, such as the number of sides to a particular crystal, even though the overall appearance might be quite different.


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## CanaDawn (Jul 22, 2014)

DeeAnna said:


> "...Sorry for the mis-spelling, DeeAnna. ..."
> 
> No problem!
> 
> ...



Good guess.  Crystal structure is how substances are identified, because they aren't all the same, but have identifying characteristics.  I suspect that if you check out "acicular" crystals, you will find information on why some soda ash is needle- or hair-like.


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