I just want to show you my today's half disaster
huge gel phase with crackings
and.. better to call it "water phase" considering its consistency
Great information. Thank you very muchRe: Ricing: Speaking only for myself, if I see my batter beginning to rice, I beat it into submission with my stick blender, which (so far) has always worked well for me.
Re: Volcanoes: Thankfully, this has never happened to me in all the years I've been soaping, but if it did, I think I'd try to scoop up the volcano-ing mess into a pot and stir it into submission, maybe adding a little water and possibly applying low heat if needed in order to keep it fluid enough to re-pour.
Re: Separating in the mold: I've never had this happen either (so far), but if it did, I think I'd either try stick blending right in the mold or else just dump it out into a pot and stick blend it into submission that way.
Re: Cracking from overheating: If I catch it in the act, I remove my mold to a cooler place and smooth the crack over with a wet (gloved) finger and then babysit it until it cools back down from gel, which has worked well for me in my 100% CO soaps, which are notorious for cracking on me. If I don't catch it in the act, then I either just plane the crack off or try to repair it by rubbing over it with the back of my fingernail. By the way- I found a good trick to prevent cracks from forming in my 100% CO soaps- by placing bubble wrap on top of my soap batter in the mold. Works every time (so far).
Re: Soap-on-a-stick: Emergency HP on the spot....or else I grate it up and use it as confetti decorations in other batches.
IrishLass
Cracking is usually caused by the soap getting too hot in the mold. Some soapers put the mold on a heating pad or in the oven to try to force it to gel. If the soap gets too hot, it will crack. Ricing is often caused by something added to the batter, especially fragrance oils. Make sure to buy your fragrances from a reputable soap making supplier. They always tell you how each FO behaves in cold process soap so you can avoid problems.
Thanks but I was using the cold process method with a design on top. Breaking up the top ruins the design. I don’t care for gel phase so I will not be insulating my own soaps. In this case, the mold was covered when the crack happened so there was some sort of insulation going on.@NGSoaper - neither of these is disastrous. If you get cracking, give the soap a quick stir. That will let some of the heat escape, and also break up the "crust" on top of the soap so you don't have a crack anymore. In my experience, when you insulate (or put your soap in a warm oven) to encourage gel, you don't get the crack. the crack happens when the top is cool and the interior is too warm. Just like lava beneath the earth's crust. If you are insulating, the whole log of soap is warm and so the whole thing will gel, vs just gelling in the middle.
If you get ricing, just keep stirring. You may need to put the soap in a slow cooker, or back on the stove, if you are using a pot.
Make sure that your container (pot or slow cooker) is NO MORE than 2/3 full. Checking out the Soaping 101 video on hot process to observe the stages.
Wow thank you great pictures xThankfully not all these have happened to me. Well, everything but the volcanos have, unfortunately. I found a picture of ricing while I was browsing and thought new people might like to see it. Then I found pics of some other problems we encounter. I do better with visuals so I thought it might be helpful. It's hard to find a single picture that tells the whole soap on a stick story. That one would be best depicted in a video, I think.
Pictures of trace can be helpful too.
First is a picture of light trace. It can be detected before this but is difficult to photograph.
Second is what I would consider about a moderate trace. Kind of pudding-ish, mounds a bit, very workable, can swirl nicely with less risk of colors getting muddy.
Third is pretty heavy trace. This won't pour very well or at all and you'd most likely have to spoon it into the mold. Not completely set but getting there.
The last is a picture of a soap in gel stage. The middle is gelling but it hasn't reached the corners yet.
Different looks of stearic in soap. Spots, rivers, crackle.
Lye pockets in finished soap
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Really a good idea to post these pictures. I did not know what any of these looked like when I began my soaping journey (before the internet). Sadly, I have a number of these things happen to me too. I didn't know how to resolve the problems; even though I purchased several books, it seemed as though no one (in the books) were acknowledging problems, they always had perfect soap. It is wonderful to see these pictures. Thank you!Thankfully not all these have happened to me. Well, everything but the volcanos have, unfortunately. I found a picture of ricing while I was browsing and thought new people might like to see it. Then I found pics of some other problems we encounter. I do better with visuals so I thought it might be helpful. It's hard to find a single picture that tells the whole soap on a stick story. That one would be best depicted in a video, I think.
Pictures of trace can be helpful too.
First is a picture of light trace. It can be detected before this but is difficult to photograph.
Second is what I would consider about a moderate trace. Kind of pudding-ish, mounds a bit, very workable, can swirl nicely with less risk of colors getting muddy.
Third is pretty heavy trace. This won't pour very well or at all and you'd most likely have to spoon it into the mold. Not completely set but getting there.
The last is a picture of a soap in gel stage. The middle is gelling but it hasn't reached the corners yet.
Different looks of stearic in soap. Spots, rivers, crackle.
Lye pockets in finished soap
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LOLEwww that looks like chunks of meat floating in something nasty!!
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