Gelling & Ashiness - How To Avoid

[Trxflyer]

I've read many posts about gelling and ashing of soaps as they cure and am confused by how best to avoid these issues. Questions...

Gelling

I understand (I think) that gelling occurs when the soap is too hot for too long in spots during the initial curing process. So it's actually really non-uniformed (uneven) heating/cooling right and that's why soapers insulate or put a lid on?

Question 1 - Insulate or place lid/cover over newly poured soap for even cooling to avoid gelling correct?

Question 2 - Which soaps do you not want to insulate or cover at all and want a quick as possible cool down? Milk Soaps? 100% OO? ?????


Ashiness

Question 1 - What is the primary cause? Humidity? Ingredients? Rate of cooling?

Question 2 - Is there particular soap types or processing steps that eventually lead to ashiness?

Question 3 - Best tricks, suggestions to avoid ashiness?


Thanks for helping shed some light on these things for me!

 

[judymoody]

Gel refers to the stage of saponification when the soap becomes translucent and, well, gel-like. Eventually, this phase comes to an end, the soap cools down, and you can unmold and cut it.

What you are referring to in the beginning of your post is "partial gel" when it gels in the middle but not all the way to the edges. When you cut the soap, it looks like a darker circle surrounded by a creamier looking outer rim.

To ensure complete gel, you should insulate or perhaps place your soap mold in an oven set at the lowest setting.

If you want to prevent gel, you can put your soap in the refrigerator or freezer.

There are pros and cons to each approach. Non-gelled soaps are lighter or more pastel colored compared to gelled soaps which tend to have a brighter, slightly translucent look. Gelled soap can be cut and used faster. When you suppress gelling, it slows down saponification so you may have to wait a few days before cutting it and a week or two more of cure before it is optimal to use.

Avoiding gel often done with milk soaps as the lower temperature will keep the sugars in the milk from caramelizing and making your soap tan to brown. It can also prevent overheating.

Ash happens when the exposed surface of your freshly poured soap is exposed to air. Exactly why and how much is a bit of a mystery. IME, I get little or no ash if I gel. If I don't, ash is more likely. I get more ash if I use shea butter. Certain fragrance oils also can contribute to ash.

If you want to avoid it, cover your freshly poured soap with saran wrap or spray it with 92% alcohol. It may not eliminate the problem entirely, but it will help. You could also just embrace the ash.

On occasion with an ungelled soap, I've also gotten ash on cut surfaces after slicing my soap into bars but this is not very common.

 

[JennH]

I had ash on my first 2 batches of soap. I bought some 91% isopropyl alcohol and an inexpensive spray bottle from target. I now mist my soap with the alcohol right after I pour, and usually once or twice more in the first few hours and I have not gotten ash since ( 4 batches)

 

[Trxflyer]

judeymoody - GREAT Response! Thank you so much. I was confused and you told me exactly what information I needed. Phew!

JennH - Thank you for the confirmation! Seems like an alcohol spray bottle is in my future.

 

[melstan775]

Thanks for the awesome tip Jenn. Sounds like a winner!

 

[AngelMomma]

I had ash on my first 2 batches of soap. I bought some 91% isopropyl alcohol and an inexpensive spray bottle from target. I now mist my soap with the alcohol right after I pour, and usually once or twice more in the first few hours and I have not gotten ash since ( 4 batches)

I have the alcohol, and the spray bottle. Yet I forget everytime. Sigh. Good thing all the batches lately have been covered with plastic and have done good. A goats milk batch is coming soon though and I will NEED to remember!

Remember! Remember!.......Maybe a string tied onto a finger will work :lolno:

 

[JennH]

I have the alcohol, and the spray bottle. Yet I forget everytime. Sigh. Good thing all the batches lately have been covered with plastic and have done good. A goats milk batch is coming soon though and I will NEED to remember!

Remember! Remember!.......Maybe a string tied onto a finger will work :lolno:

I keep the spray bottle wih my other supplies, otherwise I would never remember either. I know I won't forget the stick blender, so i keep it with that.

 

[jblaney]

For me, adding beeswax at 1% and doing a water discount of about 20% or more has eliminated ash on my soap. Alcohol spray helps too, but the water discount is what has helped the most.

 

[Trxflyer]

For me, adding beeswax at 1% and doing a water discount of about 20% or more has eliminated ash on my soap. Alcohol spray helps too, but the water discount is what has helped the most.

Thanks jblaney. I saw somewhere else about discounting the water% but have not yet tried discounting at all. I also happen to have a little beeswax on order so may try the beeswax and discounting. Thanks!