I so totally had a dream about a massive soap volcano in my kitchen last night lol.
A picture of ricing, volcanos, separating, overheating
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lloydcreeksoapllc
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Annieywang
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@newbie soaper- you had posted this photo, what are those salt like crystals??? I made my first batch of soap and it looks exactly like that!
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Welcome, Annieywang!
Newbie hasn't logged on for awhile, but I can answer for her since she mentioned what it was in her post earlier on in the thread. The white stuff on her soap is what is known as ash. I've gotten such ash before on my soap, too. No worries, though....ash is completely harmless, and you can normally wash it right off.Hope that helps!
IrishLass
Annieywang
Member
Hmmm I did the zap test. Not sure I did it right
1- wet finger and ran it across soap, on a smooth surface, then touched my tongue. Nothing happened
2- wet finger, put one of the Crystals in my tongue... kinda burned. Is that a positive zap test? Meaning active lye??
1- wet finger and ran it across soap, on a smooth surface, then touched my tongue. Nothing happened
2- wet finger, put one of the Crystals in my tongue... kinda burned. Is that a positive zap test? Meaning active lye??
If it only "kinda burned" the crystal you tasted wasn't active sodium hydroxide. The crystals are probably sodium carbonate (washing soda). They will have a burn-y alkaline taste, but not a sharp "static electricity" kind of zap.
If you don't know what you're getting yourself into -- and a zap test by definition is a bit of a leap into the unknown -- I don't recommend putting unknown crystals directly on your tongue. People have badly burned their tongues with experiments like this. Zap test with caution, please!
If you don't know what you're getting yourself into -- and a zap test by definition is a bit of a leap into the unknown -- I don't recommend putting unknown crystals directly on your tongue. People have badly burned their tongues with experiments like this. Zap test with caution, please!
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Thank you for sharing it’s good to actually see what the soap looks like when this happens.
I'm so fortunate that I've only experienced ricing once and the mild Pringle can explosion. I remember being disappointed that I couldn't CP that fragrance I really liked. This is a good thread for new soapers. Although some will be terrified 
Darkhawk
Member
This thread is going to be a lot of help. I have never had any of these happen but I assume it's just a matter of time.
I've had ricing several times. Even with a fragrance I've used before with no issues. It puzzles me as the recipe is the same. I recently had it happen within two days of each other. The first batch went off without a hitch then two days later made another one and it riced/separated and took some work to get it back together. Fortunately, I've never had a volcano, though I've had some cracking in the beginning. Ash, sometimes. Generally if I'm impatient to get it out of the mold.
I enjoy making high-temp fluid hot process on occasion, where volcanoes are the norm. They aren't that scary when they are happening in the pot, as opposed to the mold. You just turn down the heat, stir them down, and keep stirring them down till they quit puffing up.
What scared me more was the lye volcano that occurred when I absent-mindedly dumped the entire amount of lye all at once into the vinegar I was using for 100% water replacement, into which I had pre-dissolved some slightly warmed honey. That was close to an outright explosion of caustic lye liquid all over the surfaces nearby. Thank goodness for gloves, shoes, long sleeves and safety glasses! That taught me a really good lesson about paying attention to what I'm doing.
What scared me more was the lye volcano that occurred when I absent-mindedly dumped the entire amount of lye all at once into the vinegar I was using for 100% water replacement, into which I had pre-dissolved some slightly warmed honey. That was close to an outright explosion of caustic lye liquid all over the surfaces nearby. Thank goodness for gloves, shoes, long sleeves and safety glasses! That taught me a really good lesson about paying attention to what I'm doing.
tommysgirl
Well-Known Member
Thank you to all who have posted! I am still researching and waiting on supplies to arrive. I'm a crafting junkie and I love to learn all I can about as many crafts as I can. My aim is to make soap for home use and gifting, but it would be great if I can advance to selling online and at craft fairs. It is so helpful to read about the potential problems before I get started. Maybe I can avoid these issues, and if not I now have a resource for dealing with them.
Suzette
Well-Known Member
Jor224
Active Member
I never had experience in bar soap making, I make liquid soap for the past one month, and I also have memories of disaster. But this is great, I get to see the failure to avoid (or expect?) next time I'm making my first batch of bar soap.
Me’Lisa
New Member
KudzuGoddess
Well-Known Member
Love this thread! So helpful!!! I lost an afternoon the other day trying to figure out if a little spot was a glycerine river or some kind of separation. Up until now all of my recipes have had Mango Butter in them and they all had very fast trace. This batch was a no mango butter batch experiment and I have never seen such light trace. Still don't quite trust it. This one little glycerine river is very suspicious!
Oh NO! looks like a disaster zone. Thank you for sharing what these issues look like! I will read more right away on causes and prevention.
Love the pictures. Now I know what is what.
