Separation or glycerin...lake?

[Anstarx]

I made a batch of soap over the weekend and was surprised when I unmolded them- large translucent spot everywhere!
I'm pretty sure I blended it all the way to a medium trace before I pour. I've never had separation for any batches I made before. Only thing I did different than usual is that I didn't put it in the fridge and just left it outside instead. It's quite hot these days so maybe it could be glycerin river? Although by the size of it it's more like glycerin lake.
If it's glycerin, I kinda dig the look.

The recipe I used:
CO 70% 350g
Palm 20% 100g
OO 10% 50g
Lye 85.1g
Water 190g

 

[cmzaha]

To me, it looks like a partial gel that would look different in each soap considering you used individual molds. I find gel harder to achieve in cavity molds.

 

[shunt2011]

I too think it's partial gel. With 70% CO they would likely heat up but not enough in an individual mold to get full gel.

 

[Cellador]

It looks like partial gel to me too. Normally, I avoid it, but I like how yours is somewhat translucent and a bit patterned.

 

[lsg]

I agree with the other posters, it looks like partial gel. IMO, it is is just a cosmetic factor.

 

[DeeAnna]

The soap might have gone through a partial gel, but the bars also look like they have a widespread coating of ash. That's the pale areas. The center of the cut faces is fairly clear of ash, and that's the slightly darker portion.

If you wash one or use a soap plane to remove the outer surface layer, you're going to remove the ash. Then you can actually see the soap to confirm whether it partially gelled or not.

 

[cmzaha]

I see what DeeAnna says is Ash, and I have had ash many times go around a partial gel not affection the section that gelled. One of my soaps I pour in individual cavity silicone molds will always heavily ash around the part that gelled.

 

[Dawni]

My Castile looks like that although I deliberately used different water amounts for different sections of the soap. The ungelled parts have ash, so thick that it's cracking lol, leaving the gelled parts alone like an island in the middle of them. I too used single cavity molds.

 

[Anstarx]

It looks like partial gel to me too. Normally, I avoid it, but I like how yours is somewhat translucent and a bit patterned.

I like it, too! It does add in some flair to this otherwise pure white soap. I'd love to recreate this with a designed soap instead of just dish soaps

The soap might have gone through a partial gel, but the bars also look like they have a widespread coating of ash. That's the pale areas. The center of the cut faces is fairly clear of ash, and that's the slightly darker portion.

If you wash one or use a soap plane to remove the outer surface layer, you're going to remove the ash. Then you can actually see the soap to confirm whether it partially gelled or not.

I see what DeeAnna says is Ash, and I have had ash many times go around a partial gel not affection the section that gelled. One of my soaps I pour in individual cavity silicone molds will always heavily ash around the part that gelled.

I'm at work now so can't really check on my soaps. I'll check for ask tonight.
However, I kinda doubt it's ash surrounding the gel part. The CO in this soap is really high and CO soaps are just very white to begin with-I made 100% CO soap and it's white as print paper. There is also no residue on my fingers when I touched them.
Although I am kinda curious: can hot or cold temperature affect ash? I threw most of my soap into the fridge after pouring and rarely gets any ash.

 

[DeeAnna]

I know soap that's very high in coconut oil can be near white, so maybe that's it. But don't be too quick to dismiss ash. Ash doesn't always rub off on your hands. It can be sodium carbonate which may or may not rub off and/or it can be a thin layer of pale colored soap crystals, which won't rub off.

 

[earlene]

Ash is my assessment, too from looking at the enlarged photo. If you can steam it off or when you dip the bar of soap in hot water, and the surface comes clean without the surface residue, it was ash. Some ash can be very thick and require more steam or hot water, so see if that works. If it does, then maybe another photo to see what the soap looks like without it.

 

[Anstarx]

I don't have ways to steam the soaps so I just soaked them in really hot water for several minutes.
Turns out there is soda ash-and not just on the bottom as I thought. I washed off quite a bit of them.
Now I really dig the gel look.

soaking it...


Cleaned soap



A line up. With my castile soaps on the side.

 

[DeeAnna]

It doesn't look like a partial gel to me. The swirled effect in your soap, now that the ash is gone, looks more similar to what people call "glycerin rivers", except the "rivers" are not glycerin. They're just soap.

Swirls and other mottled patterns like this will happen when soap cools slowly enough that higher molecular weight soap solidifies first while the lower molecular weight soap still liquid. This creates swirly patterns something like the ones in your soap. The swirls are formed by the way the soap batter was poured into the mold.

 

[Anstarx]

It doesn't look like a partial gel to me. The swirled effect in your soap, now that the ash is gone, looks more similar to what people call "glycerin rivers", except the "rivers" are not glycerin. They're just soap.

Swirls and other mottled patterns like this will happen when soap cools slowly enough that higher molecular weight soap solidifies first while the lower molecular weight soap still liquid. This creates swirly patterns something like the ones in your soap. The swirls are formed by the way the soap batter was poured into the mold.

That's what I thought. I've seen pictures of gel phase and I've never see one so translucent like this. I left the mold on my counter after pouring and it's always hot in my kitchen, maybe that contributed to the glycerin river.