Problem with my first batch

[Fernanda]

Hello there! After months of research, and one succesful shampoo bar loaf attempt, I went ahead and tried making my first batch of cold process soap.
This is the recipe (I used the lye calculator):

225gr coconut oil (25%)
225gr shea butter (25%)
360gr olive oil (40%)
90gr castor oil (10%)
342gr distilled water
134,7gr lye
31gr EO mix

Everything went well, I just noticed some soda ash, but when I cutted the bar I noticed some strange marbeling/blotches. Somebody know what went wrong?

https://imgur.com/a/yOB87

Ps. Sorry if I make mistakes, I'm practising my english

 

[Susie]

Right off the top of my head, it looks like either:

1) Inadequately mixed ingredients

OR

2) Overheating

Can you tell us what your process was like: Did you soap hot? Which EOs did you use? How thick a trace did you mix to? How old were the oils? Anything else we should know?

P.S. Your English is better than most American's.

 

[IrishLass]

Ditto what Susie said. My first impressions upon looking at your pic are that it most likely overheated in the mold when going through gel. If so, it might not look how you hoped it would, but it will still be good to use.



IrishLass

 

[penelopejane]

It could be that the Shea and coconut weren’t warm enough to be clear so when you mixed it with the other ingredients they almost set so they didn’t mix well enough.

I always keep those hard oils warm (40*C minimum) and stickblend the oils together before adding the lye mix and then stickblend again until light trace.

 

[earlene]

I agree with Susie, IrishLass & penelopjane. Does it zap at all?

What's kind of cool about it is that when I zoomed in on the center most bar of soap, I see either a dog's face or it could be a bovine. Anyway, that one bar has a nice face to it.

edit: spelling correction (the word should be 'face' not 'fact')

 

[Fernanda]

Right off the top of my head, it looks like either:

1) Inadequately mixed ingredients

OR

2) Overheating

Can you tell us what your process was like: Did you soap hot? Which EOs did you use? How thick a trace did you mix to? How old were the oils? Anything else we should know?

P.S. Your English is better than most American's.

I was trying to get the soap to gel, so I kept it warm, but I just put a towel after pouring, and I was checking it every 30 min. It's that enough to overheat it? The room temperature was warm, It's summer now in Argentina

Used a mix of 35% peppermint, 35% lavender, 20% tea tree and 10% patchouli. The oils were brand new, but the essential oils were about 9 months old.

I wasn't sure about the trace, I mixed with the blender and added the EO's when I saw a little bit of trace, it's possible that I rushed a little in this part of the process.

It could be that the Shea and coconut weren’t warm enough to be clear so when you mixed it with the other ingredients they almost set so they didn’t mix well enough.

I always keep those hard oils warm (40*C minimum) and stickblend the oils together before adding the lye mix and then stickblend again until light trace.

I mixed the lye at 115°F/46°C and the oils at 95°F/35°C, and gave them a good stir before going in with the stick blender. Maybe the oils were too cold?

I agree with Susie, IrishLass & penelopjane. Does it zap at all?

What's kind of cool about it is that when I zoomed in on the center most bar of soap, I see either a dog's face or it could be a bovine. Anyway, that one bar has a nice fact to it.

I just tried and it doesn't zap.
Haha, it's true, I see a bovine, will check the others to look for other figures, so I'm not sad that my soap looks weird!

Thank you all for the answers

 

[penelopejane]

I think the oils might have been a bit cool. Did you warm all the oils or only the hard ones? I would heat the hard oils so they are clear and mix them with the other oils which, depending on the weather, might need slight heating to avoid shocking the hard oils when they go into cold liquid oils. Shea and coconut around 100-110 seems to work.

I add fragrances to the oils before the lye and mix well.
This avoids no mixing them in enough and if they speed trace you can work with them.