First batch, CP

[The Lazy Destroyer]

Made a first batch of CP soap, did a small batch and used small silicone molds, 1.5" squares. Turned out okay, only thing is the tops on all have almost a salted texture to the top. The texture is soap, scrapes off but not sure what caused it.

Used bacon fat. 163 grams of lard, 62 grams of water, 22 grams of lye.
Just mixed the lye water and added it to the melted (slightly warm) fat, did not take temperature of either, first time so kept it simple. At trace added purple coloring (droplets) and 40 drops of cheap lavender scented oil. Left in the oven overnight. Pics are taken 24 hrs after pour.

Consistency appears okay, lathers up okay (as a check, still needs to cure). Works like soap! Overall a success I suppose. Just wondering what caused the bumpy top. Hope the pictures show what I'm talking about, the last one shows it best.

I've done some research but haven't nailed down anything described as the below:

 

[Adirondacker]

I don't know much about making soap yet, but it sounds like soap ash. Can't really tell from the pic though. Looks like your soap went into gel phase too, but I could be totally wrong.


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[My Mountain Soaps]

what you are dealing with is ash. It happens when you soap too hot. So i suggest that you buy two candy thermometers (So that you dont keep dipping the same one from lye to oils, oils to lye, and cause a reaction too soon) and use one in your oils, and one in your lye. I prefer to soap when both are under 110 degrees. Ash wont hurt anything, it just isnt pretty. Also, on your essential oils, you dont want to use more that 3% of your oils in weight. Some essential oils are very "Hot" and can cause your soap to ash, bubble, explode, and can cause irritation to the user if too strong. But i do have to say that soap looks nice for your first batch!

 

[AKjulz]

Did you have the oven on at all? Using silicone molds in warm oven for cpop can cause a weird texture on the top of the soap. Mine looks like tiny beads of moisture, only it's not wet. Fortunately that is only an esthetic problem. That's the only idea I have.


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[cmzaha]

what you are dealing with is ash. It happens when you soap too hot. So i suggest that you buy two candy thermometers (So that you dont keep dipping the same one from lye to oils, oils to lye, and cause a reaction too soon) and use one in your oils, and one in your lye. I prefer to soap when both are under 110 degrees. Ash wont hurt anything, it just isnt pretty. Also, on your essential oils, you dont want to use more that 3% of your oils in weight. Some essential oils are very "Hot" and can cause your soap to ash, bubble, explode, and can cause irritation to the user if too strong. But i do have to say that soap looks nice for your first batch!

I do not find that soaping temp has much to do with ash. I soap room temp put my soaps in the freezer and some just get ash. I do find that some EO's will tend to form ash. Usually the eo's that are heaters are spice ones such as cinnamon, allspice etc. Some Eo's such as lavender can be used at 6%. A good reference is the fragrance calc on Brambleberry's website or The Sage

 

[judymoody]

I think it's mostly ash, perhaps some bubbles from overheating. I've gotten that when using small cavity molds for test soaps when I try to force gel. It's harmless.

I also have found no correlation between soaping temps and ash except that I tend to get less ash if my soap gels than if it doesn't (which would actually imply higher temperatures). But I think more to the point is the soaping oils you use and additives.

Congrats on your first soap! Enjoy!

 

[Lildlege1]

That's lovely soap . I like the way it looks

 

[The Lazy Destroyer]

Thanks for the replies!

Did you have the oven on at all? Using silicone molds in warm oven for cpop can cause a weird texture on the top of the soap. Mine looks like tiny beads of moisture, only it's not wet. Fortunately that is only an esthetic problem. That's the only idea I have.

I only left the oven light on to keep it warm inside but not hot. I see a lot of tutorials using larger molds where they cover with towels but I didn't quite see how I could cover with towels with my smaller silicone molds without distorting or getting the towel in the soap. I'll play around with covering instead of a warm oven next time.

I'd say mine kinda is like what you describe, like tiny beads of moisture. If I rub my finger on the top they rub off and just leave a rough texture.

I did a second batch with different EO along with this first one and it didn't have the bead-like top (although it was a little rough, not smooth), but because I used a cheap plastic mold (and me unmolding a bit early) ruined it.