Curdled/cottage cheese looking interior - woah what is this?

[MsBien]

I was feeling inventive one day a month ago and I made Green Tea Soap, or I mean I tried to make it. I steeped tea bags and used the tea in place of the water in a CP recipe. I also added the tea leaves at trace.

Anyway, now the soap center is all cottage cheesy. It's not soft, but it's softer than the exterior of the soap. The really weird part is the bumpy-ness of it.

What is this? I've never seen anything like this but I'm thinking it must have something to do with the tea, right? Also, this must be why I couldn't find a recipe to make Green Tea Soap without using FO, right?

Is it safe? It doesn't have any brown watery spots that would indicate DOS (by the way what does DOS stand for?).

Thanks for any insight you can give me, it's strange (and ugly I might add).

Stacie :roll:

 

[Barb]

dos: dreaded orange spots. soaps can get them from using to many short shelf life oils like canola, safflower or oils that are already old or rancid. humidity can also play a factor in dos as well and curing them on certain metals are a problem. now some people can make soaps with high amounts of oils like canola and not ever have a problem. you can still use the soap yourself as this is just a cosmetic condition, but the soaps may not smell to good either. it can happen to an entire batch of soap or it may just effect one or two bars.

got a picture of the soap. i have used brewed tea before for dissolving my lye and never had a problem.

it may have just overheated in the middle of the soap.

as far as the middle being softer if this was just after you sliced it, give it a day or two with some air exposure and it may harden up like the outside. depending on how much liquid you used for dissolving the lye it may not be fully cured down to the middle, even at 6 weeks. soap is dense and cures from the outside in so it takes awhile to penetrate the whole bar.

 

[Maria]

I make green tea soap a few times a month as it is one of my best sellers. That has never happened to me.

 

[IanT]

does it burn when you touch it?? do a tongue test!

do you have any pics?

 

[jcandleattic]

Was there any palm or pko in the recipe? It could be that that didn't get stirred well enough and has some stearic in the soap. Like other said, post some pics so we can see it and also do the zap test to see if it could be lye heavy...

 

[MsBien]

Yes, it does have Palm Oil. It does not burn though. Does that help with the diagnosis?



Thank you again for your help!
Stacie

 

[jcandleattic]

That doesn't look like stearic... It does look a little like DOS, but DOS usually occurs gradually and over a period of time, not right as you cut it.

Sorry, but at this point I'm not sure what it is, someone with more experience will have to clarify it.

 

[IanT]

I dont really even see the cottage-cheesy-ness... it looks ok to me, are you sure you melted your oils completely? either that or it could be mold growing from the tea teaves??? does it appear to be more concentrated around the leaves you put in?? or is it throughout the soap?

 

[jcandleattic]

I just re-read your original post and you said you made this about a month ago or so. Did the dots JUST NOW start showing up? I'll bet it is DOS. It looks like it to me and if they are just now starting to appear instead of when it was cut, I'll bet that's what it is.

 

[Barb]

the only part that resembles cottage cheese to me is on the very top in the middle. it may be just the way it dried, from the picture it looks like it has some ash ( it's hard to tell from the pix).

the texture on the inside of the soap looks fine. if your ground tea was wet when you added it to the soap, the liquid may have just leached out around the leaves to the surrounding soap and stained it.

anytime i have ever gotten dos it was yellow/orange . google dos on handmade soap and click on images. there should be some examples if you need a visual.

 

[MsBien]

Yes, the question I have about it is the texture in the center of the soap. I don't believe it is a case of DOS. I've never seen a texture like this before and just wondered what you all thought about what it might be that caused that.