streaks

[moose]

ok, so my soap looks like it has stretch marks. why?
I use palm, and when i first got the bucket i didnt remelt it before measuring out my oils, but only for a couple batches because I'm new to soaping and I didnt know it was necessary. But I have since melted it all and separated it, and i melt it thoroughly and stir before measuring.
Would that make a difference, just those few batched out of the bucket?
I've been reading and some people say you have to soap hotter with palm, so I let the lye and the oils cool to 120 before mixing. Ive also soaped cooler that 100, and neither have made a difference.
What can I do????

 

[Lion Of Judah]

it is kind of hard to say [ on my part ] without seeing a pic of exactly what the "stretch marks" look like. i soap palm kernel hot and low as well , never had the problem.

 

[StarBrown]

Sounds like stearic streaks. What percentage of palm are you using? With pics we could know for sure.

 

[lizflowers42]

Glycerin rivers look like stretch marks too Basically when you soap gets super hot you get little rivers in your soap of trapped glycerin.

 

[moose]

my recipe was
olive 35%
coconut 25%
palm 15%
shea 15%
castor 10%

Ive also used cocoa butter and had it happen as well.
I'll upload a photo when i can find a usb cord. lol

 

[moose]

glycerin rivers. it might be that because it doesnt do it on the very edges. how do you prevent that?

 

[lizflowers42]

Well, you can "non gel" by keeping the soap cool in the fridge for several hours, or not overly insulate your soap if you are forcing gel.

 

[ca_soap]

I'm far from an expert but 15% Shea sounds really high to me. I was reading something a week or so ago talking about how Shea isn't converted to soap by the lye?? Could this be part of the problem??

 

[cmzaha]

I'm far from an expert but 15% Shea sounds really high to me. I was reading something a week or so ago talking about how Shea isn't converted to soap by the lye?? Could this be part of the problem??

I have used up to 75% shea with good results. High shea saponifies just fine. Do not believe all you read online. Sometimes it is better to do small test batches and keep good notes

 

[shunt2011]

It does sound like it just got a bit too hot. Did you use any TD? Sometimes that can cause streaks too.

I've used a high percentage of Shea Butter and not problems at all. I use 10-15 in one of my tried and true recipes and love it.

 

[boyago]

I'm far from an expert but 15% Shea sounds really high to me. I was reading something a week or so ago talking about how Shea isn't converted to soap by the lye?? Could this be part of the problem??

Shea is high in unsaponifiables (bout 7-9% of the butter) but they are good for you.
If you like the technical stuff "These unsaps belong to two distinct chemical groups. The first group is triterpenes, 30 carbon linear and polycyilc hydrocarbons related to squalene (similar to fatty acids in the skin) and polycylic sterols. These sterols are probably responsible for the antifungal properties attributed to shea butter. Additionaly, much of the trierpene content is in the form of cinnamyl esters. Cinnamic acid absorbs UV rays and so some shea butter formulations are used as mild sunblock.
closely related to the triterpines are the carotenoids (vitamin A precursors) and tocopherols (vitamin E). Both classes of compounds are prevelant in the unsaps of shea butter. The other main group of unsapsinclude polyphenolic antioxidants, catechins and a family called flovonoids, which are closely related to the atioxidants found in green tea."
- from Dr. Robert and Katherine McDaniel, Soap Makers Workshop. Krause publications

 

[moose]

I think I may be over insulating. I have a wooden mold with a lid and i put two thick towels around it. Ever since I had a partial gel Ive been kinda over doing it, maybe? I just figured since my house is cold that it wouldnt hurt to have the extra towel. The streaks do seem to shrink a bit once the soap cures. I havent used any TD, just some clays.
thanks everyone for your imput!

 

[moose]

I fixed the problem. I was over insulating. I switched from two big towels to just a tea towel and i havet had the problem since. Thank goodness, because my soaps look sooo much better!