Tiny bumps on cut soap face

[DeeAnna]

I think you have a point, JC.

I've seen "stearic" spots on my soap; they are hard, small lumps that are white in color. I associate them with not heating my fats warm enough to get them fully melted. They remain visible on the surface of the bar no matter what I do to cut or plane the soap.

I have seen air bubbles which can look like white stearic spots on a casual look, but a close check shows them to clearly be small cavities in the soap. They also stay visible no matter how the bars are cut (begin edit) although cutting with a blade sometimes smears the cavities shut and makes them less obvious. (end edit)

Wire cutter bumps are another story. In my experience, they are not white or other color compared with the rest of the soap. Wire cutter bumps are only visible after the bars are cut with a wire. It has not been my experience that they disappear if the soap is cut when firmer, but I agree they are less obvious. They can be removed by planing or simple use in the bath. If I use a flat blade (knife, pastry scraper, etc), they do not appear at all.

In all cases, these are aesthetic issues only that bother some people and don't bother others.

 

[girlfromoz]

While wire-cut soap may be more prone to bumps, that is not a certain outcome, and more is surely at play. Proof is in my Spring Soap post in the Photo Gallery -- all of those were cut with the same wire cutter and nearly identical base recipes, but only the green soap with pink stripes had noticeable bumps.

They are lovely bars and colour combo even with the stearic spots.

 

[jcandleattic]

In all cases, these are aesthetic issues only that bother some people and don't bother others.

This is the crux of it. They do not bother me at all, and I just view them the same way I view wet spots in candles. It's just a part of it and I'm not going to sweat it.

 

[jemgraham]

I think my bumps might be stearic acid now that I’ve seen your pictures....

 

[jcandleattic]

I think my bumps might be stearic acid now that I’ve seen your pictures....

Those do look like stearic spots to me, and not the wire bumps I am talking about.

 

[Lin19687]

I agree

 

[penelopejane]

I think my bumps might be stearic acid now that I’ve seen your pictures....

Improperly dissolved and mixed GM and TD can also cause spots that look like that.

 

[jemgraham]

I’ll keep that in mind, in this case I used nothing but water and oils and the vanilla fragrance which discolored the batch.

 

[Lin19687]

Well, don't spray cut soap with 91% Alcohol I did that thinking it would make sure there was no ash on my cut soap and it all looks like Stearic spots all over.

yeah, not one of my better moments

 

[CaraBou]

Are you sure what you are talking about is not stearic spots instead of wire cutter bumps? The two are completely different things although they can look similar. Heating your hard oils higher would get rid of stearic spots, however, if cut while the soap is still soft you can still get the wire cutter bumps.

How are they different? I'm not saying they're not - just looking to learn. Are stearic spots whiter or otherwise more pronounced? Would you attribute the dots in my green soap to stearic or wi? I realize the two photo sets are a little different in directness of lighting - but no matter how I hold that soap now, in shadow or light, the bumps are not visually pronounced. And just for the record, I realize it does not prove that freezing was responsible for that. Also, that was a large loaf and it was a bit soft on the ends. You can see some wire marks, but the corners were pretty firm.

The dark/marbled soap in my link above was fairly soft when I cut it 4 days ago, as evidenced by the "balled" shavings and the nicked corners, which were too soft to plane well and I had to smooth over. As I run my fingers across the face of that soap now, and also upon the the purple-pink alkanet bars, I really don't feel much - they're pretty smooth. Even the black and white round pumice/coffee bars in post 10 - which are supposed to be rough - are not bumpy in remotely the same way as the green and pink striped soap.

While none of my musings are scientifically rigorous, I had DH run his fingers over all of these same soaps, asking if they were bumpy without telling him why I wanted to know. His answer: only the green & pink striped soap is bumpy. So I'm struggling to understand the concepts here. If those are stearic spots, why did they fade?

I wasn't really planning to make more soap very soon ( I just made a bunch -- shouldn't I stop??) - but maybe there is still more reason!

ETA - Those smileys are a little obnoxious, but since I can't seem to delete them I hope they provide some humor!

 

[jcandleattic]

How are they different?

Stearic spots are caused by undissolved stearic, where as wire cut bumps are caused by the wires of the wire cutter, and have absolutely nothing at all to do with stearic. You can get the wire bumps even if you don't have any or hardly any stearic present in your oils in the first place.

 

[penelopejane]

Cut a slice with a wire cutter and you will probably get the wire cutter spots. Cut the same soap with a blade and there will be no spot.

Stearic spots will be there regardless of the cutting method and can’t be planed off either.

Stearic spots are not hard lumps they are just a part of the soap. TD and goats milk spots can be hard little lumps in the soap.

 

[SoaperForLife]

What about when your stick blender is getting older? I started having problems with bumps that ended up being because my stick blender was ancient and when I switched to a newer model, they ceased to be a problem...

 

[CaraBou]

This soap cut last weekend with wires shows ridges between the different colored batters, but not so much spots. I think it’s the same concept you all are talking about but a different effect. Zoom in if you need to.

 

[DeeAnna]

Cool photo, CaraBou! I am seeing this same ripply effect on some of the bars I made for the April Challenge (sous vide HP) where the colored portions stick out slightly from the uncolored base soap. My colorants are mixed with glycerin rather than water, so my conclusion is a little extra glycerin can cause the same ripples as a little extra water.

Your pic shows these ripples really clearly. Even though I don't consider this a "problem" at all, I'm sure this effect might surprise newer soapers, so maybe your photo would be a good addition to this thread -- https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/a-picture-of-ricing-volcanos-separating-overheating.52097/

 

[penelopejane]

I can get those ripples with no extra water or extra glycerin. Just a wire cutter.
They get a little bit (not much at all) more pronounced over time. When I first cut one I couldn’t see the ripples but they showed up more clearly in a photo.

It might be that the different batters were mixed slightly differently - more trace? Or additives - colour - might slightly alter the texture? Or maybe the glycerin alters the texture a tiny bit?

If I cut the same soap with a knife there are no ripples.

 

[amd]

I'm leaning towards PJ's conclusion regarding batter being mixed slightly differently causing the rippling. I just did a batch of soap 5 weeks ago, when they came off the cure rack over the weekend there was rippling such as CaraBou's photo. For my batch, I brought it to emulsion, separated, added the FO to one portion (it's a discoloring FO) and SB'd to trace. The smaller portion I only added color and brought to trace. I did an ITPS and poured into my mold. My thoughts on it were the same as PJ's, I had different levels of trace.

Sidenote: for the record, I am forehead slapping myself for even trying the ITPS with the discoloring FO. It's taking over the colored portion anyways. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This FO doesn't.

 

[snappyllama]

I get those bumps too sometimes... To minimize them, try running the bar over a hard surface right after cutting.

My theory on it is that they are really teeny air bubbles. I seem to get them worse when I've been sloppy about introducing air into my batter.

 

[PapsSoaper]

Yes i had them in my soap ... But have used a wooden mold with freezer paper... Did i cut too early? Have cut with wire yes. Attaching a pic, nor sure if you can spot those annoying tint bumps...

 

[penelopejane]

Yes i had them in my soap ... But have used a wooden mold with freezer paper... Did i cut too early? Have cut with wire yes. Attaching a pic, nor sure if you can spot those annoying tint bumps...

Try cutting early and it might lessen the bumps. Only problem then is you might get ash but this can be prevented by putting the freshly cut soap into a plastic box with a lid. This prevents the air getting to the soap for a few days and stops ash. Or put the soap on a tray and wrap in plastic wrap for a few days.