Something Strange happened

[youreapima2]

I was making a batch of soap. My normal 2lb recipe
7 co
7 oo
4 po
4 shea butter
used
6.2 lye masterbatch
2.1 extra water

My first batch came out wonderfully (strawberry); as I was trying out 2 new fo's from Cierra Candles
Very Cherry
Strawberry

TDK colors used
pearl pink as a swirl td as the base color (1st batch strawberry) As I said this came out wonderfully
Queen Katheryn (2nd batch cherry)
TD. (with both)

My cherry batch I used Queen Katheryn as the base but b-4 I mixed it into the master batch, I took out approximately 1 cup to mix a whip topping with TD.

This is where it got real interesting...
I mixed the Q.K. color into the rest of the batch and it took approximately 6-7 minutes with stick blender to trace. I poured into my mold and went to work the TD mixed with 1 cup soap. As I was trying to get to a thick trace as well, out of the corner of my eye I notice the red already in the mold started to rise like bread! But only in the center of the loaf mold. It rose and then split apart. I was like "OH S**t!" and went to try to spread out the top of it that had split wide open. NO I DID NOT HAVE IT COVERED at this time; (perhaps this was my mistake and where things went wrong).
I quickly covered in plastic and went back to working with the td. I could NOT for the life of me get this to go to thick trace. I then sacrificed my hand mixer to the Soap Gods, and tried whipping it, which also did nothing.

My question is mainly why did the soap in the mold start to rise like bread??? Has this ever happened to anyone b-4?

The silicone soap mold itself is very hot too! I mixed the lye & oils at about 120 degrees as I always do with shea butter. I am so tempted to stick thermometer into the soap mold to see how hot it is; as it seemed to become hotter once in the mold.

 

[IrishLass]

It sounds to me like you got a very quick gel that overheated. Gel always starts in the middle of the soap and then spreads outward to the edges, and if the temp gets too hot, it will cause the soap to expand and rise. I have this happen with my 100% CO batches all the time. Certain fragrance oils can cause such reactions, too.

Seeing as how your 2 batches were made with the same formula and soaped at the same temp as each other, and that the strawberry batch proceeded fine and came out great- I'm putting my vote on the Very Cherry FO as being the most likely culprit.

IrishLass

 

[youreapima2]

Thank you IrishLass, After un-molding them both I think the same thing.
The fo is the culprit. It was very hot in the mold even after sitting for 3-4 hours, while the other cooled down nicely.
Unfortunately the strawberry scent got lost in cp but they turned out beautifully.
While the Cherry smell out of this world strong, but don't look so nice.
I will try my luck and post some photos.

 

[youreapima2]

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/44 ... yresi.jpg/

strawberries n' cream (on left)
Cherry bomb (on the right)

 

[youreapima2]

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/68 ... sized.jpg/
Cherry Bomb

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/82 ... sized.jpg/
Strawberries n' Cream

 

[IrishLass]

Although it probably did not turn out how you envisioned it to turn out, I think the Cherry Bomb looks lovely! The Strawberries & Cream soap looks lovely, too.

IrishLass

 

[Beccah]

I have this happen every time I use a specific cold process recipe. But, while it looks crazy at first, I don't touch it and the next day when I go to unmold, it has always settled back down into a flat top. Maybe it happens more than you realize, but because you had the soap uncovered, you realized it?

 

[youreapima2]

I have this happen every time I use a specific cold process recipe. But, while it looks crazy at first, I don't touch it and the next day when I go to unmold, it has always settled back down into a flat top. Maybe it happens more than you realize, but because you had the soap uncovered, you realized it?

It's a possibility, this time it happened to be sitting right next to me uncovered. Every other time it's covered in plastic and wrapped in blankets.