Silicone Ice Cube Tray - Ash, Ash Everywhere!

[Noodge]

'ello all, hope you're having a great Easter

My gripe for the week - I have these little silicone ice cube trays I picked up cheap from a charity shop about a year ago with fun shapes, and wanted to use them to make CP embeds

Now a year ago I had no problem. They came out great.

It's a different story now though - it's soda ash city up in here! all around each embed, literally the second I pop them out of the mold! I didnt even think that was possible since they had no air exposure in the mould themselves. hmm.

I would have taken pictures but I was in such a huff about it yesterday that I tossed the whole batch!

Help!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

How long do you leave them in the tray? I’ve used ice cube trays and other kinds of individual cavity molds. Sometimes if I take the soaps out too early they ash, but recipe also plays a role. Lately I’ve been leaving the soaps in the mold for 4-5 days and not having problems. Have you considered cutting the ashy exteriors off and using the rest for confetti?

 

[Noodge]

How long do you leave them in the tray? I’ve used ice cube trays and other kinds of individual cavity molds. Sometimes if I take the soaps out too early they ash, but recipe also plays a role. Lately I’ve been leaving the soaps in the mold for 4-5 days and not having problems. Have you considered cutting the ashy exteriors off and using the rest for confetti?

I think they were in there for about 24 hours, I used 100% coconut so they'd be nice and hard (some of the moulds are quite intricate considering the size)

is coconut considered quite prone to ashing? I'm honestly not sure what to think as they were completely covered in it as I took them out

alas, they are so small that if I did trim them, there wouldn't be much left!

 

[DeeAnna]

If the soap doesn't have ash immediately after the bars are removed from the mold, but get ash shortly thereafter, that suggests to me there is a higher than usual amount of excess alkalinity (excess lye) in the surface of the soap.

Soap in individual soap molds often doesn't get very warm during saponification, so saponification might not have been entirely done at 24 hrs.

A related issue is if your soap didn't get warm enough to go into gel, that seems to contribute to more ash.

Ash seems to vary depending on the amount of water in the recipe. More water (in other words, a lower lye concentration or a higher water:lye ratio) => seems to cause more ash, all other things being equal.

Also if you poured the batter into the molds at emulsion or thin trace, that may produce more ash compared to pouring at thicker trace. I don't know why, just that it seems to be more likely on soap that was poured when thinner versus soap poured when thicker.

 

[Noodge]

Great stuff as always Dee & Mobjack - So my second attempt is:

Again, 100% coconut oil at 20% superfat, so hopefully will heat up enough to gel and no excess lye

Poured at a light-medium trace instead of the emulsion I poured at last time (would have gone thicker but it barely filled the fiddly bits in the mould at the thickness I poured)

Immediately sprayed with 99% RA and wrapped in clingfilm to avoid any air contact

CPOPing as we speak to really force that gel

Gonna try not to touch it for 2 days so hopefully it'll be done by the time I unwrap!

Fingers crossed, and will update with the outcome

 

[Noodge]

So naturally I forgot to update standard, lol

Buuuut after 2 days I was greeted with this:

Boo and hiss

I'm wondering now if it isn't ash at all - looks more like the bloom you get on old chocolate!

Thoughts?