crumbly, soft soap - not sure how to proceed?!

[zazazing]

Oh boy! So the batch from last night didn't end up gelling completely, only partially! When I saw that it looked like it might not reach the edges, I actually put a jacket on top of it. But this morning when I looked, there was a ring. This is the first time I've ever gotten a partial...another new challenge.... I can also see that the parts that didn't gel are getting the white spots again. I'm a little afraid to unmold it - I think I'll wait b/c it looks rather soft still and even 18 hours later it's still a bit warm. Is there any way to get this batch to finish the gel process?

That's really interesting about the NDA FO in your country. On the US site it says they're okay for CP and I read the reviews for each fragrance, which were quite good, many of them had been used in CP. But for me, they really didn't work out. I wonder why it's different for the AUS and US sites.

I am going to take a breather on the soap making b/c I"m just having too many misses. I did just purchase a silicone loaf pan to try at a later date. I originally was scared of the loaves b/c I thought I wouldn't be able to cut them straight or well, but I'm willing to give it a try once I recover from all my fails! I was thinking maybe some of my problems stem from the kind of plastic mold I've been using :?:

Thanks again for everything!

 

[ClaraSuds]

You coukd be right about the mould. It looks like a thin slab so your mix may not have enough mass to surface area in order to create the heat required to gel completely without a lot if insulation. Most people use log moulds and so there is little heat loss from the smaller surface area. This batch isn't a goner. Partial gel isn't a make or break and those white areas are just where the soap is in the more opaque state of ungelled soap. It may not be cosmetically preferrable but your soap will still be fine to use if this s the only issue.

 

[new12soap]

Yep, tray molds are harder to get complete gel, too much surface area to hold the heat. plastic molds can NOT go in the oven! Next time you can try putting the mold on top of a heating pad on the counter, pour the soap and immediately cover it all up. maybe a peice of cardboard with a towel on top of that (so as to not smoosh the soap), and leave the heating pad on for an hour or so. That may help. And those lighter spots will fade some with cure.

They still look like very lovely soaps to me

 

[zazazing]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your thoughts. When I was getting a full gel w/ these trays the weather was much warmer. It did cool down almost 20 degrees this last batch, so I think that's the main reason it didn't get the edges. A heating pad is a good idea. It turns out the silicone loaf mold I ordered was out of stock so I need to look for another one. Any rec's? I would like the ease of silicone. I don't think I can handle a wood mold and all that lining. I saw some on Brambleberry but I wish they had reviews on that site.

About the last soap batch, I ended up googling how to finish gel and read about oven process. I know my pvc molds are not meant for the oven (HTH, you must have known I was loose cannon enough to precaution me!), but I put one in there at 150 (although the info said it was supposed to be 170 for 2 hrs) for an hour and it looked like it completed the gel process. I did this less than 24 hours after I had originally made the soap. It bowed the edges of the tray and warped it a bit but nothing too major. I have no idea if I put it in long enough and what exactly happened but I cut both trays (this time w/ no problems) and pictured them both.

The oven one is a lot darker and felt denser when I cut it. The partial gel one evened out slightly and isn't as bad to look at as I initially thought.

 

[ClaraSuds]

Good looking soap... :wink:

 

[zazazing]

Thanks! I'm trying to get there....

Also, I wanted to tell you those NDA essential oils and fragrances that faded out to nothing...well, I used one of those bars for the first time b/c they just finished their 4 week cure and it turns out once the bar suds up, i can smell the fragrance. It's not super strong, but definitely still there. It just doesn't come through in the dry bar!

 

[ClaraSuds]

Fragrancing in soap I think is really tricky. I stopped by a shop with professional CP soaps on offer. They had been scented with EOs and honestly every bar just had some vague herbal smell about it. But I can tell though that star anise is a huge scent in a bar. My house still smells like a licorice factory. I've decided to leave my soaps unscented and scent my homemade lotions instead. Its much cheaper to scent lotion than soap, and more reliable. I don't mind to wash with unscented soap and its just for me right now.

 

[Dennis]

Thanks, guys! So I tried to cut the bars at 48 hours and it's just a mess. Still super soft and gooey dough-like and the outside turned white, almost like it's been spray-painted. I tried the zap test and it seemed fine.

Sounds like soda ash to me. I've had that happen when I cut partially gelled soap too soon. Did you zap test before you cut the first time?

 

[zazazing]

I think you're right and it was soda ash, but even when I cut it, it had kind of uneven color throughout. I never did the zap test but when I was scrunching some discarded parts (I had cut off the crumbly edges) into a ball under water, I tested the lather w/ a ph strip. I don't know when you're supposed to do this but it was about a 9 and this was a few days later. I don't know if that means it's safe?

 

[Dennis]

Give it some time. Do a zap test. If you had done it before the soda ash appeared it probably would have been positive. (ZAP!)
Mine was covered with soda ash after cutting and was soft and squushy kinda. Turned out ok after I left it alone and it hardened after about a week.
It was a batch that I was trying to do a column pour with and failed miserably. It was a mess but the soap eventually was ok. Soda ash won't hurt anything. It's just not real pretty.

NO, I'M NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE FAILED COLUMN POUR. But I might post a couple of pics. Maybe.

 

[zazazing]

Go for it, Dennis! I would love to see some pics. I have been one fail after another but feel like I'm learning a lot.

I tried the zap test and I didn't get a zap but the tip of my tongue tasted a bit more foul than usual. Very strong taste.

Another interesting thing I read was that sometimes you can get that soft doughy crumbly texture when you pour at too thin a trace. That's actually exactly what I had done that batch and never before. I saw it on a soap blog and she had had just that same soft texture and she attributed it to having a trace that was too thin.

I found this cheese slicer at home that I've slicing the soda ash off w/. Depending on the pressure, it can take off very little or a lot. It's very nifty b/c I don't like the look of ash!

 

[Dennis]

The ash will go away as soon as you use the soap.