Im having an awful time..

jodym · Mar 16, 2016

First off can you guys tell me if less insulation can determine gelling? And I don't understand where the white spots are coming from! I have never had before! Also white & crumbly on corners!
My recipe is
10oz olive
8 coconut
6.5 palm
3 canola
1.5 caster
10 h20
4 lye

I have been measuring in grams now thinking since my batches are small that would help but no!
Please any help! Thanx so much!

DeeAnna · Mar 16, 2016

Have you used colorants or other additives? If so, what are they and how did you use them?

The bottom two loaves show partial gel. The crumbly corners are where the soap didn't gel, at least on those loaves.

No, less insulation may not prevent gel, depending on the recipe. You can soap cooler and that may help a bit. Your best tool to prevent gel is to use a higher lye concentration -- in other words, use less water.

Seawolfe · Mar 16, 2016

The ring of darker color in the middle is partial gel - insulate better or warm the loaf a bit (I use a heating pad sometimes) to complete the gel all the way to the corners. Some people use the oven - look up CPOP. Or prevent gel using the fridge or freezer - but I dont care for non-gelled so I cant help much. Last time I tried non gelling my edges were crumbly.

I've had white spots that look like that when using palm, called stearic spots - it helps me to melt down my whole big batch of palm, mix well and put into smaller containers, melt those and mix well before adding to the soap oils. Palm can solidify in layers that can have more stearic acid in them.

DeeAnna · Mar 16, 2016

Good point, Seawolfe -- rather than prevent gel, instead encourage it to gel fully. In which case, I'd stick with the current amount of water as well as follow your suggestions for insulating and/or warming.

As far as the spots -- when I asked about additives, I was wondering if the spots are a powdered additive that wasn't fully hydrated and lump-free before being mixed into the batter. It looks like the red (bottom) loaf doesn't have the spots but the other two do -- wonder what is different? I've gotten annoying white blotches when I didn't prepare dry milk powder properly. :cry: Clay can also be a culprit.

I get something a little like this when I don't fully melt my lard, but the spots in my case aren't white, they're just harder lumps that look like soap. They don't show up unless the soap is cut with a wire -- the wire floats around the harder lumps rather than cutting through them like a blade does. Heating my solid fats until they are completely clear helps a lot with this.

jodym · Mar 16, 2016

I DO want my soap to gel, so I will try to go back to insulating better, I am using all the same colorants and additives that I've always used and ordered all my basil oils from the same supplier, the white spots are something new I've never had before but I have never melted down my 5 gallon buckets of oils (altho did put on radiator and the coconut did melt down and i mixed..) and mixed up before measuring into smaller batches, so maybe this could be the cause of the white spots..
I was sure to fully melt the base oils and bring the temp down and soap at 100.
The only thing i have done different is less insulation.. Maybe going to more again will help with the white spots.. One can hope right?

I have had the white spots without any additives altho these two are french clay that i mixed well in a bit of the base oils before adding..
I so appreciate you guys helping me! So frustrating! Never had trouble like this b/4 and know it could be worse..

kchaystack · Mar 16, 2016

They could just be ash spots? Do they go away when you rub them with a damp cloth?

jodym · Mar 16, 2016

The spots are inside the soap and are like incased not surfaced to rub off.

Just thought of something is it better to mix clay or additives in water or in a bit of oil

penelopejane · Mar 16, 2016

Yes mix your clay with water reserved from your mix before adding. Then mix your oils and additives with SB before adding the lye. This helped me with inconsistent spots.

Also try turning your oven onto 40*C (100*F) and turn it off before putting soap wrapped in a towel or a blanket and leave overnight. This encourages full gel every time.

Im having an awful time..

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