crystals on top of my soap?

[krissy]

i did a batch around 11 this morning and everything went exactly as i planned it. i did a normal batch with my normal fo's, temps, oils etc. i sprayed it with alcohol and left it in the oven to gel.

now when i went and looked at it, it appears there are small salt like crystals on top of it. i freaked out and touched the crystals and got one stuck to my finger. i zap tested it and it tasted just like salt, no zap at all. i did not add any salt to my batch, my lye was clear, disolved completely and nothing went wrong. has anyone seen something like that before? is it still ok?

 

[evergreen]

Why do you spray the top of CP/CPOP soap with alcohol? I've never heard of this. I looked it up and it appears to be a Melt and Pour practice.

 

[soapsmurf]

Why do you spray the top of CP/CPOP soap with alcohol? I've never heard of this. I looked it up and it appears to be a Melt and Pour practice.

It's not exclusive to melt and pour. It's used there to break surface tension so that embeds and layers will not separate.

In CP, it's used to prevent formation of ash.

 

[soapsmurf]

i did a batch around 11 this morning and everything went exactly as i planned it. i did a normal batch with my normal fo's, temps, oils etc. i sprayed it with alcohol and left it in the oven to gel.

now when i went and looked at it, it appears there are small salt like crystals on top of it. i freaked out and touched the crystals and got one stuck to my finger. i zap tested it and it tasted just like salt, no zap at all. i did not add any salt to my batch, my lye was clear, disolved completely and nothing went wrong. has anyone seen something like that before? is it still ok?

Did it get hotter than usual? I've heard of FO/EOs beading up, but tasting salty... don't know about that.

 

[TessC]

I spray mine to help head off ash with some recipes, just like soapsmurf said.

Krissy, I've never had any sort of crystals but since they don't zap I'd think you'll be okay once it cures.

 

[krissy]

this soap *has* to turn out right. lol, have to give it to someone and wont be able to get more scent in time to do it over.

evergreen-i spray to help prevent ash. it also sometimes give a "gloss" to the top that is pretty.

 

[TessC]

oooh, do you ever get a very faint moiré pattern on the tops from the alcohol? It looks so neat.

 

[krissy]

no, but i had never heard of it before so i might have but not noticed it... lol i hope i get it so i can see it now.

 

[ChrisShepp]

Krissy, as long as its not zappy I would just trim off the tops that have the bizarro crystals on them and business as usual... :wink:

 

[krissy]

do you think i could wash them off? they are not even ugly or anything... just odd. i wish i could get a clear shot of them.

 

[Sunny]

I'd wait a while and if they are still there in a few days, I would either wash them off gently or cut the tops off!

 

[krissy]

lol, i dont know why this happened but all the crystals are soap. they look like salt but are soap now. weird but salvageable. now if only my swirls will turn out as good as they looked while i was pouring!

 

[soapsmurf]

Yay! Let us not forget that "soap" is a salt, too.