Newbie Help - CP soap does not look done

[garland68]

Hello, I am new to Cold process soapmaking and I made my very first batch this past weekend.

The recipe I used was...
16oz Olive Oil
8 oz Coconut
8 oz Castor
4 oz Shea Butter
4 oz Jojoba

with EO and 2 tbsp of Oatmeal.

Everything seemed to go well during the mixing phase but when I unmolded the soap and sliced it up the center of the loaf looks different than the outer. The outer part is a nice vanilla color but the center is darker. It looks as if the center is not done. Both parts seems to have the same texture it's just the color. Is this normal? If not can you think of why this may have happened?

 

[Guest]

Hi!

Congrats on your first batch!

Can you post a pic? It could be that you have a partial gel - meaning that the inside gelled but the outer did not. It's hard to say without looking though. What EO did you use?

Hope you had fun!

 

[garland68]

I used .5 oz of Cedarwood Atlas, .25 Lavender, and 7 drops of Fir Needle. I am making a soap for my dog

I will have to wait until I get home before I can post a pic. I'm at work right now.

Since I am new to this how bad is only having partial gell? Is it all ruined or just the out part that did not gel?

 

[Guest]

No -it's not ruined. It may or may not even out in color. Soap that gels tends to be darker in color and harder. Soap that does not is creamier. It's a matter of preference however - I haven't been successful at stopping gel in my soaps. I just make sure they gel all the way now to avoid the partial gel stain.

 

[garland68]

OK here is the soap. Since this was my first batch I did not use color and I used a silicone loaf pan. I will not be using that again since it is not ridgid enough. The color does look better tonight then it did before. It seems to have lightened a little...

 

[garland68]

I can't seemd to get the pic to post...



OK I figured it out

 

[pjb31apb]

Nice looking soap for your first try I'd say. I wish mine looked like that! I'd say maybe you got a partial gel. But if it passes the "zap" test, then it is done no matter how it looks. Have fun hunting for new molds!

 

[garland68]

I would just like to say that the person that thought of the "zap" test had to be evil! I just did the test and nothing so I gues it is good. It just tastes like crap! I was making soap for my dog so it was REALLY disgusting with all that cedar and fir needle EO!