Holes, craters, white spots, and slime oh my...

[Jessa]

I’ve made 4 CP batches and I’m running into the same problems with holes, craters, white spots, and a slimey texture during the first few uses.

Any ideas what these spots and holes could be?

I kept it simple and used 4 variations of olive oil and coconut oil. The white bars are coconut oil heavy or 50:50. The brown bar has fragrance oil and is olive oil heavy. The black bar has fragrance oil and activated charcoal.

All bars, except the black one, we’re made over 1.5 months ago. The black one was made last week and has some holes and craters. I’m hoping it won’t meet a similar white spotted fate as my initial batches.

So far I’ve used the first 3 bars and they are a little slimey but lather well. How can I reduce the sliminess?

 

[Obsidian]

The slime is from high OO, reduce it to 35% or lower will stop the slime.
Any soap high in OO will benefit from a long cure, say 6 months to a year.

Try this, see how you like it. superfat at 5%
Lard or palm 50%
Olive 25%
Coconut 20%
Castor 5%

The holes could be from pouring too thick or from air bubbles. What kind of trace are you getting before you pour? Have you noticed bubbles in the batter?

Those little spots almost look like oatmeal or something similar. Did you add anything besides oil/lye and water?

 

[cmzaha]

They look like stearic spots in the middle left soap. The top one does look like it has oatmeal.

 

[Jessa]

The slime is from high OO, reduce it to 35% or lower will stop the slime.
Any soap high in OO will benefit from a long cure, say 6 months to a year.

Try this, see how you like it. superfat at 5%
Lard or palm 50%
Olive 25%
Coconut 20%
Castor 5%

The holes could be from pouring too thick or from air bubbles. What kind of trace are you getting before you pour? Have you noticed bubbles in the batter?

Those little spots almost look like oatmeal or something similar. Did you add anything besides oil/lye and water?

Oh gosh... 6 months or longer to cure! I don't have the patience for that. Thank you for the insight Obsidian. I've been using at least 40% olive oil or higher and will definitely need to reduce it. I decided to not use palm or lard and have been aiming to use the minimum amount of ingredients. Based on other threads I'm assuming a 70% CO and 30% OO would be too drying. Could I offset that with another oil besides lard or palm?

Each batch was poured at thin trace. The first batch (pictured with the most white spots) being poured at the thinnest and maybe false trace? I noticed bubbles in the third batch that has those round holes on the top.

I didn't add any oatmeal. I did add fragrance oil to the batch with the most white spots.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Hmmm - only one more oil? Would you go for two more?
You have there a high cleansing ingredient ( coconut) which also creates lots of bubbles
And a high conditioning oil ( Olive)
How about something for longevity like a butter ( cocoa or shea) or soy wax? Or a bit of each.
And then maybe a little castor - 5% to help creamy, long lasting lather

Or try searching for @Zany_in_CO's 'no-slime castile' on this forum.

 

[Reney Yeater]

I have seen fragrance oil cause white spots if it's not fully incorporated into the batter.

 

[DeeAnna]

Larger air pockets at the ends of the loaf of the black soap -- You say you're pouring at thin trace, but I never see that kind of crater unless I pour when the soap is quite thick. Thick soap traps air in the corners, exactly like this.

Small holes -- Work on better stick blender technique to reduce air bubbles added during mixing

White spots -- A number of reasons. Additives that are pale colored, like oatmeal. Flecks of soap that form if the lye solution is made in a greasy container or stirred with a greasy spatula. Or these flecks can form if the lye solution is made with liquids that contain fat such as coconut milk or dairy. Minor ricing that typically happens from some types of fragrances. High stearic/palmitic soap that forms quickly and in such a way to exclude powdered colorants and other additives. (I doubt the last is your problem because the stearic and palmitic acids in your soap are low.) Using fats that have a high percentage of fatty acids that react fast with lye -- this typically happens when fats are older and starting to oxidize.

 

[cmzaha]

I just knew DeeAnna would explain it well.

 

[amd]

Each batch was poured at thin trace.

Larger air pockets at the ends of the loaf of the black soap -- You say you're pouring at thin trace, but I never see that kind of crater unless I pour when the soap is quite thick. Thick soap traps air in the corners, exactly like this.

I think the best definitions I have ever heard for determining trace are:
thin trace: runny pancake batter
medium trace: runny pudding
thick trace: thick pudding

I suspect that for the black you were working with a medium to thick trace, rather than a thin trace. Were you able to pour it into the mold and did it flow level to fill the corners? That's how a think trace should act. A medium trace may be pourable but does not flow evenly into the mold requiring some manipulation into corners and to be level (smooth) top. A thick trace is not pourable and needs manipulation to get it where it needs to be.

 

[Jessa]

I think the best definitions I have ever heard for determining trace are:
thin trace: runny pancake batter
medium trace: runny pudding
thick trace: thick pudding

I suspect that for the black you were working with a medium to thick trace, rather than a thin trace. Were you able to pour it into the mold and did it flow level to fill the corners? That's how a think trace should act. A medium trace may be pourable but does not flow evenly into the mold requiring some manipulation into corners and to be level (smooth) top. A thick trace is not pourable and needs manipulation to get it where it needs to be.

Thanks Deeana and amd! The descriptions of trace are so helpful! The black bar was not thin trace. It poured slowly into the mold. It wasn’t runny.

The white spots could be from a greasy spatula that was used to mixed the oils and then used again after combining the oils and lye water.

I just made another batch of soap and focused mainly on mixing techniques, pouring at thick trace, and slamming my mold down. I haven’t changed the recipe much (60% CO 40% OO 1tbsp Activated Charcoal, no FO). I am hoping the craters, air bubbles and white spots won’t show up this time around.