Of course I make it hard on myself with my ingredient choices. But, I love it! Indigo and yellow Brazillian clay.
My first swirl!
- Thread starter TashaBird
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This turned out beautiful!
Thanks! I feel like the fun is just getting started now!!
I sprayed the top with %70 alcohol, can’t find %90. How much is enough/too much? I still got some crystal ashy looking stuff. Emulsion happened really fast, 110F. Can someone reassure me it isn’t lye?
I would do a zap test to be sure. There's no way for us over the internet to know this.
Oh right! Zap test. Will do. It is possible for emulsion to happen in a few minutes, versus 10-15 minutes, like for trace, right?
Catscankim
Well-Known Member
Im not an expert. But i had a few soaps turn out all gloppy because i waited for thin trace. Now my standard is to sb just until all the oils are incorporated... less than a minute. Then i split off and add my colors etc. i try to touch it as little as possible. You can always stick blend more as needed but not take it away lol.
Except for the castile soaps i made. They took forever.
Except for the castile soaps i made. They took forever.
Catscankim
Well-Known Member
Your soaps turned out very pretty!
Pretty soaps, and I like the coloring ingredients.
Yes, emulsion can happen in a few minutes, for sure. Depends on oils used, temps of oil and lye water, amount of stick-blending, etc.
As long as you completely dissolved your lye in the water (and strained out any undissolved pieces), it is very unlikely that the crystals you are seeing are crystalized lye. They are probably the crystalized soda ash that sometimes happens.
Also, CP soap will always zap for the first 24-72 hours until saponification is complete. Thus, a zap test before then isn't going to be accurate for knowing whether it is actually lye-heavy. You can also search other threads and see that even lye-heavy soaps eventually cure out to be neutral, if you give them enough time. That isn't the same thing as crystalized or undissolved lye, which would be dangerous, but again, is unlikely if you followed normal lye solution procedures.
Sorry, I don't use RA so I can't answer that question. I'm sure someone else can.
Yes, emulsion can happen in a few minutes, for sure. Depends on oils used, temps of oil and lye water, amount of stick-blending, etc.
As long as you completely dissolved your lye in the water (and strained out any undissolved pieces), it is very unlikely that the crystals you are seeing are crystalized lye. They are probably the crystalized soda ash that sometimes happens.
Also, CP soap will always zap for the first 24-72 hours until saponification is complete. Thus, a zap test before then isn't going to be accurate for knowing whether it is actually lye-heavy. You can also search other threads and see that even lye-heavy soaps eventually cure out to be neutral, if you give them enough time. That isn't the same thing as crystalized or undissolved lye, which would be dangerous, but again, is unlikely if you followed normal lye solution procedures.
Sorry, I don't use RA so I can't answer that question. I'm sure someone else can.
I love the color blue you got! Was the indigo in powder form? How did you use it?
I separated out about a tablespoon of my liquid oil and mixed 1t PPO, then I mixed that in to part of the batter after emulsion.
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Very nice swirls!
