Soda ash

[not_ally]

"Fits in with this ice blue theme so just nice."

It does! Really like the swoopy swirls on the other as well.

 

[GracieRose]

They are beautiful!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Just wanted to share my most recent ash soaps.

Interesting way this red clay soap developed ash randomly in the middle. It was already this way when I cut. So I'm just gonna roll with it.


This one I forgot to wrap after cutting. Developed what I like to call snowflakes of ash. Fits in with this ice blue theme so just nice.

Pretty soaps! That swoosh of ash across the pink soap is unlike anything I've seen before. The spots in the blue and white soap are stearic spots. Are you melting your oils until they are absolutely clear? If not, that should help to eliminate the "snowflakes."

 

[Zuleika]

That swoosh of ash across the pink soap is unlike anything I've seen before.

First time I've seen my soap have such a weird ash pattern. I've got the usual top and sides but never sandwiched in the middle.

Are you melting your oils until they are absolutely clear?

I'm guilty of never melting or heating my oils. Locally, the coldest it ever gets is 25C.
When I made the blue soap, it was probably 28C.
Could be due to me switching from palm olein to regular palm?

 

[DeeAnna]

...I'm guilty of never melting or heating my oils. Locally, the coldest it ever gets is 25C....
Could be due to me switching from palm olein to regular palm?

25C to 28C is 77F to 82F. These are actually quite mild for temperatures. I'm in Iowa, USA, and summer temps here in the Midwestern US get considerably warmer than this. If you're using palm, it needs to be warmer than 25-28C to fully melt. I still need to melt my solid fats (usually lard and coconut oil) when making soap even in the summer.

Regular palm has a higher melting point than palm olein, so it's possible this change may have contributed to the problem you're having with stearic spots.

 

[Zuleika]

Regular palm has a higher melting point than palm olein

I just love how much I can learn here. I never thought of the oils needing heating since my oils are liquid all year round.

I always thought heating oils was for peeps in colder weather. I shall look into heating oils in the next few weeks. I am so terribly lazy as a soaper.

 

[DeeAnna]

I just love how much I can learn here. I never thought of the oils needing heating since my oils are liquid all year round.

I always thought heating oils was for peeps in colder weather. I shall look into heating oils in the next few weeks. I am so terribly lazy as a soaper.

Hey, if you're comfortable doing what you're doing, there's no need to change your methods just because others do something different.