Brine soap with aloe vera gel

[cascarral]

I just saw my soap had a weird color, I only used Activated charcoal and TD, have no idea what the red could be...

The only thing I did Different was the citric acid... could this be it? Any one has had something similar? I also see small white specs :/

 

[atiz]

That's a really good-looking soap

Have you tried zap testing it? Maybe the white specs are just undissolved salt. But if it is lye, the zap test would show it I believe.

 

[cascarral]

That's a really good-looking soap

Have you tried zap testing it? Maybe the white specs are just undissolved salt. But if it is lye, the zap test would show it I believe.

Thank you

I zap tested but I'm not sure about what happened. tried on the specs and felt nothing but then found a tiny whole in the soap, it looks like it has something solid inside, like salt and when I zap tested I heard something but I'm not sure it was a "zap", it sounded like the normal sound a damp tongue makes when it's removed from an object jaja, like how it sounds when you move it around your mouth.

What I mean is that the sound wan't in the moment I placed my tongue over the soap but when I was taking it away, does this make sense? Also I didn't feel anything in my tongue.

So my question would be... was that a zap?

 

[AliOop]

A zap is not a sound; it feels like an electrical shock to the tongue. If you'd had a zap, you would know it!

 

[penelopejane]

Oh ok, so maybe I traced too far? Now after a week I find the bar soft for a brine bar

I think this has less to do with trace than it has to do with your recipe and additives.
Did you adjust your lye amount for the Citric Acid you used?
If you use 2% CA in 1000g of oils you will need an extra 12.5g of lye.
(1000x2/100= 20g citric acid 20x6.24/10 = 12.5g extra lye)
If you didn't add the extra lye your soap is going to be very soft.

The white dots are both unmixed TD and some stearic spots.
To avoid the TD spots (small hard white dots) thoroughly mix your TD with some oil or water (test first to see which type of TD you have) from the recipe and then add it to the oils.
To avoid stearic spots (white swirls and undefined spots in both the black and white parts of your soap) soap (all ingredients) at 42*C.

The pink swirls could be discolouring FO or the AC leaching out of the black which looks pretty dark. How much AC did you use and what was the amount of batter you used it in?

Mix you lye with your water. Then dissolve your CA and salt into the aloe. You can then add the aloe mix to your 42* Lye. Not any hotter. That will avoid any bubbling reaction.

 

[atiz]

Thank you

I zap tested but I'm not sure about what happened. tried on the specs and felt nothing but then found a tiny whole in the soap, it looks like it has something solid inside, like salt and when I zap tested I heard something but I'm not sure it was a "zap", it sounded like the normal sound a damp tongue makes when it's removed from an object jaja, like how it sounds when you move it around your mouth.

What I mean is that the sound wan't in the moment I placed my tongue over the soap but when I was taking it away, does this make sense? Also I didn't feel anything in my tongue.

So my question would be... was that a zap?

This sounds like a usable soap to me. If it had zapped, you would know it (it's like putting your tongue to a 9v battery).

 

[cascarral]

I think this has less to do with trace than it has to do with your recipe and additives.
Did you adjust your lye amount for the Citric Acid you used?
If you use 2% CA in 1000g of oils you will need an extra 12.5g of lye.
(1000x2/100= 20g citric acid 20x6.24/10 = 12.5g extra lye)
If you didn't add the extra lye your soap is going to be very soft.

The white dots are both unmixed TD and some stearic spots.
To avoid the TD spots (small hard white dots) thoroughly mix your TD with some oil or water (test first to see which type of TD you have) from the recipe and then add it to the oils.
To avoid stearic spots (white swirls and undefined spots in both the black and white parts of your soap) soap (all ingredients) at 42*C.

The pink swirls could be discolouring FO or the AC leaching out of the black which looks pretty dark. How much AC did you use and what was the amount of batter you used it in?

Mix you lye with your water. Then dissolve your CA and salt into the aloe. You can then add the aloe mix to your 42* Lye. Not any hotter. That will avoid any bubbling reaction.

WOW! Thanks for all this info! I will do as you said and let you know how it goes

I made another batch with the same recipe but 1% CA instead of 2% and it still has the red stains... Would you mind explaining this further? how could I prevent it?

I usually soap at 40-43 C, it's hard to achieve the same temp in both oils and lye at the same time.

 

[cascarral]

The one on the right is from the other batch and the one on the left is the new one (1% CA), you can still see some red. And it also has that weird discoloration on the top and bottom, I suspect is from my wire cutter but would appreciate any ideas.

 

[cascarral]

Oh! And about the lye adjusment... I'm using Soapmaking Recipe Builder and it does the adjustment automatically but the numbers don't match yours, Penelope.

Me recipe has 300 gr of oils, AC at 1% is 3 gr * 6.24/10 = 1.872 gr

And Soapmaking Recipe's extra lye is 1.38 gr

Is the app's calculation wrong? Would this even make any difference?

 

[penelopejane]

WOW! Thanks for all this info! I will do as you said and let you know how it goes

I made another batch with the same recipe but 1% CA instead of 2% and it still has the red stains... Would you mind explaining this further? how could I prevent it?

I usually soap at 40-43 C, it's hard to achieve the same temp in both oils and lye at the same time.

The oneon the right isthe 1% CA isn't it? I can't see much pink. I think it might be to do with the Activated Charcoal. How much charcoal did you use?
You don't have to get them to the same temp. Just when they are mixed they are about 42*C. That is fine.

Oh! And about the lye adjusment... I'm using Soapmaking Recipe Builder and it does the adjustment automatically but the numbers don't match yours, Penelope.

Me recipe has 300 gr of oils, AC at 1% is 3 gr * 6.24/10 = 1.872 gr

And Soapmaking Recipe's extra lye is 1.38 gr

Is the app's calculation wrong? Would this even make any difference?

CA (citric acid) The 1.87g extra lye is correct. Difficult to measure this accurately unless you have a digital jewelry scale. Probably wouldn't make much difference to the final result.