New Brown Spots on Soap / Still in Mold

AliBx · Jul 17, 2023

Hello!!!

I opened my soap mold cover to take it out of the mold (24hours) and found something to my very surprise.

I'm not understanding what is happening here. I'm wondering with these brown spots are. I use this ingredient ALL THE TIME and I just don't know what these spots are. I can't figure it out. Should I throw out the soap? This is going to be an expensive lost for me. I've been doing this for years. Not a beginner, so I can't wrap my brain around what's going on here. I know it's not dreaded orange spots. It smells lovely. I'm just not sure what's going on.

Any ideas. Please help me understand this.

There are brown spots everywhere. I'm not sure what's going on. You think this has something to do with the emulsification process? Not sure. Please help me understand this.

Relle · Jul 17, 2023

AliBx said:
Hello!!!

I opened my soap mold cover to take it out of the mold (24hours) and found something to my very surprise.

I'm not understanding what is happening here. I'm wondering with these brown spots are. I use this ingredient ALL THE TIME and I just don't know what these spots are. I can't figure it out. Should I throw out the soap? This is going to be an expensive lost for me. I've been doing this for years. Not a beginner, so I can't wrap my brain around what's going on here. I know it's not dreaded orange spots. It smells lovely. I'm just not sure what's going on.

Any ideas. Please help me understand this.

There are brown spots everywhere. I'm not sure what's going on. You think this has something to do with the emulsification process? Not sure. Please help me understand this.

What is the ingredient that you use all the time ? You don't say. It might be helpful that you include your recipe and method so others can troubleshoot, otherwise it's all just guessing.

AliBx · Jul 17, 2023

Sure! Cold Process Method

54.40oz Coconut Oil
54.40oz All Vegetable Shortening
51oz Olive Oil
6.8oz Castor Oil
3.4oz Sunflower Oil

24.05 Lye
Distilled Water was discounted at 12% = 47.34oz of Distilled Water (only 33.32oz)
14oz Aloe Vera Liquid
1oz Sodium Lactate
10tsp Honey

Used a metal swirl stick to make my swirls upon completion. I've only used this stick 8 times and never had an issue with it. The swirl stick was made for cold process soaps.

KiwiMoose · Jul 17, 2023

How timely! Check out this very recent thread by @PuzzledSoapmaker showing how the brown spots are caused by honey...

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/honey-disaster-in-cp.90953/page-2#post-979276

AliBx · Jul 17, 2023

KiwiMoose said:
How timely! Check out this very recent thread by @PuzzledSoapmaker showing how the brown spots are caused by honey...

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/honey-disaster-in-cp.90953/page-2#post-979276

Oh Wow... Mmmm. It's just that I've been doing the same thing for years with no problem. Could it be the honey? This is the second time I'm using it. I didn't have a problem with it the first time, and the soap I made the first time was white. Still scratching my head with this one.

AliOop · Jul 17, 2023

I agree, it's most likely your honey didn't get emulsified enough. Even small changes in temperature can make that happen.

Another possibility is the fragrance oil or essential oil that you used to make it "smell lovely."

You didn't mention which one you used, but they can also cause discolored spots when they aren't blended in well enough. Often those will absorb into the soap over time and mostly disappear, whereas honey spots tend to stick around.

The good news is, whether it is honey spots or fragrance spots, your soap should be just fine to use after it has cured.