Coconut carbon soap is not staying black

[Obsidian]

I can't ever rinse my soap, it makes it looked used to me too. It's the glossy appearance, only used soap looks like that. I wait until my soap is a week or two old then I rub the ash with my fingers, it usually pills up and can be wiped away. This removes a good amount but not all.

 

[JayJay]

Thanks for the information ladies and gent. I have tried rinsing ash on a different batch but it didn't come off without some rubbing, and the formation of A big fat bubble. Then I tried to get rid of the bubble, which made more bubbles. I felt like a bull in a china shop. Haha!

Maybe it's a skills needs more practice. I will try holding it with gloved hands on the corners and using the techniques suggested. But first I will try aggressively rubbing it to make it pill. I have tried rubbing it before but I didn't rub it that hard.
Ash doesn't normally bother me. As I mentioned before, it's has looked crystallized before. I think it looks kind of rustic and cool when it happens. My husband told me it looks like mold growing on the soap. It doesn't bother him either, but I was giving soap to a friend and I didn't want them to be grossed out.
This particular case of ash bothers me because it looks likes something spilled on my beautiful soap and I was too lazy to wipe it. I want to remove it.

 

[DeeAnna]

You can also try steaming the soap over a pan of simmering water. That might work better for you.

 

[JayJay]

Thanks

 

[JayJay]

Hi again from the OP!

My soap is finally ready to use. I tried steaming the soap by putting it on a cooling rack on top of a boiling pan of water. I thought I was so smart for coming up with this setup. The ash, however, remained. The bar got moist but the ash did not run down or move in any way. I tried giving it a gentle rub. Nothing. :wtf:

Then I boiled a kettle of water and held the soap over the steam stream. The surface entire bar was getting slippery and soft, so I decided to rub it off under running water. I rubbed aggressively. Slowly, most of the white parts on the sides and top came off, but this ring around the edge remains. I feel like it would almost leave a crater around the edges if I take it off. The white part feels like the same consistency as the rest of the soap. In my attempt to get the white off, I really made the soap look used.

I am including the pictures of my poor soap after my attempt to clean it. The pictures show top and bottom of the same bar. My pics upload sideways for some reason. I don't know why they flip. I have tried uploading them rotated in the opposite direction but that doesn't help. I hope it doesn't bother you too much to look at them sideways. :crazy:

Anyway, I feel like these bars would be beautiful if not for the white parts.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Edit to add: It doesn't look like something extra on the top of the soap like my ash normally looks. This almost looks level with the surface of the soap (if that makes sense). I guess I can take a utility knife and try to hand bevel the edge. .... Who am I kidding. For me that would be just as difficult as widdling the darn thing into a tiny soap sculpture. sigh.