Do I have unreacted Lye/Need to rebatch?

[TallowSoapDog]

Hi!

I have gotten lucky early in my soap making career and had nothing but great batches.

Recently, I was trying to avoid over-mixing because I did not want the trace to become too-thick and harden before I was able to pour into all molds.

This led to me pouring a mixture that seemed relatively lye-heavy for the first time.

It hurt my hands to touch, and I zap tested (Idiodically) and sure enough - zap! tastes like batteries.

This cured to be an almost different color than I am use to with this recipe, with some spots of darker discoloration, and from my review on this site and others I am worried that the soap still has pockets of unreacted lye. I have posted pictures.

I have been washing my hands and feet with it the last few days and it does not irritate, and it does now pass the zap test but the aesthetics are giving me pause, especially because I sell this soap and do not want to harm anyone else.

Do I need to rebatch this? Any advice is insanely appreciated and I promise to pay it forward.

Thanks in advance!

(Recipe was about 2:1 lye ratio for anyone curious)

 

[Mobjack Bay]

It kind of looks like you have a partial gel along with a chalky consistency in parts due to a weak emulsion. I don't see anything that looks like lye pockets. Did you use a discoloring fragrance? If the soap is not zappy, it's fine to use. For a more thorough assessment you will need to provide a lot more details - recipe, batch size, process, temps, etc.

 

[TallowSoapDog]

It kind of looks like you have a partial gel along with a chalky consistency in parts due to a weak emulsion. I don't see anything that looks like lye pockets. Did you use a discoloring fragrance? If the soap is not zappy, it's fine to use. For a more thorough assessment you will need to provide a lot more details - recipe, batch size, process, temps, etc.

Hey! Thanks for response.

Definitely a weak emulsion. Been trying to get the perfect “trace” lately without over mixing but definitely under mixed this one.

Recipe is just 70oz oil
20oz Water
10oz Lye

Cold processed, mixed oil with lye at about 120 degrees each

Batch size I haven’t measured yet

 

[cmzaha]

Let's figure this out. First off a batter poured at just emulsion will commonly stay zappy for 72 hrs. My lard/tallow soaps I pour when I just barely get a stable emulsion so they are very liquid and I do have to force gel or they will get a partial gel with a very chalky outside, sometimes crumbly outside. I use a 32-33% Lye Concentration, if I use a lower concentration I find I risk my emulsion breaking if I do not take it a little further. Many of my pours will be very liquid when I pour but they do take more time to become zap free. The 72 hr mark is like turning off the light switch.

 

[TallowSoapDog]

Let's figure this out. First off a batter poured at just emulsion will commonly stay zappy for 72 hrs. My lard/tallow soaps I pour when I just barely get a stable emulsion so they are very liquid and I do have to force gel or they will get a partial gel with a very chalky outside, sometimes crumbly outside. I use a 32-33% Lye Concentration, if I use a lower concentration I find I risk my emulsion breaking if I do not take it a little further. Many of my pours will be very liquid when I pour but they do take more time to become zap free. The 72 hr mark is like turning off the light switch.

And this is safe long term?

My soap looks like it has gel pockets and I want to make sure it is not going to harm anyone

 

[cmzaha]

Partial gel only means that soap did not gel to the outer edges of the soap. Gel starts in the middle of your soap and goes out, so if it cools to fast you will only get a partial gel. Until you completely know how your recipe acts it can be hard to control gel in a very liquid batter since the heat of gelling (saponification) can cause an unstable emulsion to break. With time and practice you will learn how thin you can pour your particular formula, one of my go-to recipes I can pour so thin it will take up to an hour actually to set enough to move my mold.

There are some good videos showing emulsion, but it is usually when you see no more shiny oil on top of your batter and the batter just coats the back of your spoon.