Little pits when slicing

[Teresa408]

I got these little marks on the sides of my soap when I sliced them today. Is this a sign of slicing too soon.

These are my first hanger swirls, by the way, I’m so in love with swirls. Lemon lavender and mint lime.

Should I scrape them with the slicer when they harden up?

 

[penelopejane]

The picture is not very clear. Did you use a wire cutter? A knife or pastry cutter or plasterboard spatula will give a smoother cut than a wire cutter but a wire cutter is much quicker!

 

[Teresa408]

The picture is not very clear. Did you use a wire cutter? A knife or pastry cutter or plasterboard spatula will give a smoother cut than a wire cutter but a wire cutter is much quicker!

Thanks for the feedback... here’s a close up of one of the worst ones, and my slicer.

 

[penelopejane]

The white spots could be stearic spots. They are tiny hard lumps and can pull out with a blade cutter and form little holes. Since the spots are in all the sections of the soap not just the white part this is the most likely cause. See if you can feel the lumps.
To avoid these soap around 110*F.

Some dots can be caused by improperly mixed TD or Powdered milk. These then form little hard lumps that pull out with a cutter leaving a little hole.

If they are little broken bubbles it can be caused by lifting the stickblender out of the mix and introducing air into the batter. These can be stopped by burping the SB each time it comes out of the mix. It also helps to bang the mold on a table after pouring.

 

[Teresa408]

Im on my mobile so still can’t see the pic clearly. Sorry not your fault.
The white spots could be stearic spots. They are tiny hard lumps and can pull out with a blade cutter and form little holes.
To avoid these soap around 110*F.

Some dots can be caused by improperly mixed TD or Powdered milk. These then form little hard lumps that pull out with a cutter leaving a little hole.

If they are little broken bubbles it can be caused by lifting the stickblender out of the mix and introducing air into the batter. These can be stopped by burping the SB each time it comes out of the mix. It also helps to bang the mold on a table after pouring.

This is helpful info, thank you. Conveniently enough, my recipe was the same except for some additives, the green one got some goat milk and the purple one got some titanium dioxide. So it’s down to the temperature or whipping bubbles into it. It could be both. I especially think I was a little aggressive getting the colors to blend. I banged on the counter but I guess those little tiny bubbles are sneaky. Thanks again for the feedback, that’s really helpful.

 

[penelopejane]

Stearic spots also appear as swirls so check a few soaps and see if there is evidence of that. Especially check the plain batter where no additives were added. What temp did you soap at?

Some recipes are fine at low temps while others (with Shea butter, CO etc) need a higher temp to be clear of stearic spots.

The top left hand corner of the green one has white spots (not just SB spots). Could be the unmixed powdered milk or stearic spots.
For milk powder and TD mix it well then let it stand for a while before using.

 

[SaltedFig]

There are distinctive marks on the left hand edge of the soap that occur when the soap is cut slightly soft (the soap must have been placed on it's side when it was cut - those drag marks occurs at the end of the cut, when the blade is lifted from the soap - some of the soap is raised, a bit like inverse stamping).

When the soap is soft, it is a little stickier, and tiny bubbles can be exaggerated if the soap is cut soft - the blade is dragging them open.

If you wait a little longer, before cutting, that can help, as does wiping your blade between cuts with a damp cotton teatowel. Dampening the blade slightly between each cut alleviates a lot of the drag (the slight residual moisture on the blade assists with the cut ... see chef video's cutting ganache to see the technique ). Sliding the blade from the soap, instead of lifting it off at the end, can also help.

PS. Because the soap is still fresh, you could slightly moisten a blade and run it backwards over the face of the soap - most of the imperfections will "disappear"

 

[Teresa408]

Stearic spots also appear as swirls so check a few soaps and see if there is evidence of that. Especially check the plain batter where no additives were added. What temp did you soap at?

Some recipes are fine at low temps while others (with Shea butter, CO etc) need a higher temp to be clear of stearic spots.

The top left hand corner of the green one has white spots (not just SB spots). Could be the unmixed powdered milk or stearic spots.
For milk powder and TD mix it well then let it stand for a while before using.

I was at about 120, I think. I think the white you’re seeing might be from the top surface (I didn’t spray with alcohol) or a part of the swirl. The pits look most concentrated in the parts with colorant added. These are a relatively simple OO and CO soap. I think I’ve underestimated the importance of completely submerging the SB. I will try tapping my bowl/pitcher before pouring as well. Thanks for the guidance!

There are distinctive marks on the left hand edge of the soap that occur when the soap is cut slightly soft (the soap must have been placed on it's side when it was cut - those drag marks occurs at the end of the cut, when the blade is lifted from the soap - some of the soap is raised, a bit like inverse stamping).

When the soap is soft, it is a little stickier, and tiny bubbles can be exaggerated if the soap is cut soft - the blade is dragging them open.

If you wait a little longer, before cutting, that can help, as does wiping your blade between cuts with a damp cotton teatowel. Dampening the blade slightly between each cut alleviates a lot of the drag (the slight residual moisture on the blade assists with the cut ... see chef video's cutting ganache to see the technique ). Sliding the blade from the soap, instead of lifting it off at the end, can also help.

PS. Because the soap is still fresh, you could slightly moisten a blade and run it backwards over the face of the soap - most of the imperfections will "disappear"

Thank you so much for the suggestion! I have been meaning to sit down and go through my collection of cured soaps cleaning up the corners and beveling edges so I think I will add this to the project today.

 

[Teresa408]

I scraped them with the flat slicer/scraper tool I have. For whatever reason, a knife was a bit too sharp for me and it distorted the design more. Just wanted to let anyone who has the same problem know that it worked really well.

Thanks SaltedFig and PenelopeJane!

 

[SaltedFig]

I scraped them with the flat slicer/scraper tool I have. For whatever reason, a knife was a bit too sharp for me and it distorted the design more. Just wanted to let anyone who has the same problem know that it worked really well.

Thanks SaltedFig and PenelopeJane!

Glad to have helped!

Yes, if you use a knife, it needs to be drawn backwards (blunt edge first) up the face of the soap (in the opposite direction to your original cut) to avoid cutting the soap, and even then a solid knife can leave little waves, if pressure is applied to a fairly soft soap (it does get easier with practice).
Using your flat blade/scraper is an excellent idea - the flex of the tool would mean the edge against the soap is a little rounder, so it's easier to get a smooth surface

Could we see photo's of the final soap (please )?

 

[Teresa408]

Here you go, SaltedFig! The purple/yellow ones came out cleaner for some reason, while the green ones had a little more smudging. It may have been because of the clay I used in the green, I’m not sure. It’s still better than those bubbles.

I added a photo of another soap I made a few weeks ago, just because when I scraped it, the colors and pattern looked SO much better. I made a big ol’ pile of soap shavings and went through all my soaps cleaning them up a bit. It was very satisfying!