Troubles with CP activated charcoal soap

[Merbear]

This is the second batch of a CP soap with activated charcoal in it that has created this ring around the outside. I had to throw out the first batch that did this because after curing, it seemed the lye might still be active because it was extremely drying and hard on my hands. I make all sorts of other soaps without activated charcoal, and they all turn out fine. I’m using almost equal parts of tallow, olive oil and coconut oil. I just cut into this batch, and am hoping it’s going to cure okay, but I’m concerned because of the ring. The top of the loafs were also slightly cracked with a lot of white residue on them. I spray the molds and top with alcohol.
Any advice or ideas of what is happening is welcome!

 

[bookworm42]

It looks like your soap went through partial gel (causing the ring), got hot and cracked, and has soda ash.
Spraying with alcohol can help prevent soda ash but isn't 100%.

Also if you fear your soap is too lye heavy you don't have to throw it away. You can always rebatch it and add a little bit more oil to it. Or let it cure for a long time which tends to help get rid of small amounts of excess lye.

The soap might feel drying due to the high amount of coconut oil. I personally don't use it above 15%. But that is personal preference and if your other batches use that much coconut oil then it's probably something else.

 

[Ekuzo]

I second that. Don't throw it, zap test it.

The pattern of the ring looks interesting - I think I've seen something similar somewhere else, but I'm not sure how it happens exactly (I mean the 'figures' at the outer side of the ring themselves, not the partial gel alone). Like there was moisture when you cut it and once it dried out it formed peaks like those, it's funny and actually looks nice IMO. Or maybe it's just soda ash as well? Anyway, I doubt it's related to lye heaviness.

The color is nice and I hope it doesn't give you black suds, keep us updated!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

In addition to the diagnoses above, it looks like you have glycerin rivers around the partial gel ring. It's speculation without seeing your recipe, but a combination of low lye concentration and overheating will increase the likelihood of rivers.

Soaps with AC tend to form ash and that will be especially true if the lye concentration is on the low side.

The zap test is an easy way to determine if soap is lye heavy.

Without seeing your recipe, and without knowing how much you are superfatting the soap, I would expect high cleansing from a soap that has ~33% coconut oil, and even greater cleansing with the addition of AC and tallow in the mix. High cleansing soap generally leaves my skin feeling very dry which is why I keep my cleansing at 14 or less (usually 20% or less coconut oil).