Grease or glycerin spots in soap?

[Jibbian]

I just made a tiny test batch, and my final bars have these little spots that look like glycerin or grease (they're slightly transparent), but they're totally dry. I don't see any lye pockets and the PH is between an 8 and 9 (I know this isn't foolproof, but I have litmus paper, so I test anyway).

I've never experienced full-on ricing before, but I did notice the batter was a little lumpy (but not splitting). I tried to stick blend it out, but the batter began to accelerate while remaining lumpy... so I gave up and poured the soap.

Does anyone know what this might be? Can glycerin rivers look like glycerin puddles? Is this from ricing?

If you have any general recipe feedback, I'd appreciate that too! Thank you!

Here's my recipe:

85g Olive Oil (30%)
71g Coconut Oil (25%)
71g Palm Oil (25%)
43g Avocado Oil (15%)
14g Castor Oil (5%)

74g Water
39g Lye

35% Lye Concentration
5% Superfat

Additives:
0.5 tsp. sodium lactate (added to lye)
0.5 tsp. powdered goat's milk (added to oils while heating)
0.5 tsp. red clay (added to oils while heating)
6g Palmarosa Essential Oil (added at trace)
2.5g Lemongrass Essential Oil (added at trace)

 

[Todd Ziegler]

That could be glycerin but it also could be a result of the clay that you used. To me it looks like the results of the clay.

There are plenty of threads on the forum that have been related to problems being caused by the clay that they used. And yours looks like theirs.

 

[Jibbian]

That could be glycerin but it also could be a result of the clay that you used. To me it looks like the results of the clay.

There are plenty of threads on the forum that have been related to problems being caused by the clay that they used. And yours looks like theirs.

That would have never occurred to me! Thanks so much for the info. I don't usually soak the clay in the oils... so maybe that had something to do with it.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

That would have never occurred to me! Thanks so much for the info. I don't usually soak the clay in the oils... so maybe that had something to do with it.

It really doesn't have anything to do with soaking your clay in oil perse. It has more to do with what clay is rather than what is used with it. I personally believe that it has to do with the alkalinity and purity of the clay but I can't prove that.

Just be assured that you are not the only person who has this experience with clay.