What is going on? Advice needed

[jbedaded]

Made a batch of CP soap scented with Lavender Surplus fragrance oil (Brambleberry) Also used their colorant (Radiant Plum)

Looked fine when I poured it but developed significant white areas (and a grainy texture) as it was sitting in (silicon) molds.

Made another batch of this previously--same recipe and fragrance, but different pigment. So I thought it was the pigment. Soap was quite usable--just a cosmetic issue.

Recipe:
9.6 oz coconut oil
6.4 oz palm oil
15.04 oz olive oil
0.64 oz cocoa butter
4.5 oz lye
10.45 oz water.

I sprayed surface with 99% alcohol

I need some guidance from you experienced soapers!

 

[lsg]

It looks like soda ash to me. If your soap was poured into individual silicone molds, it probably didn't gel.

 

[jbedaded]

It looks like soda ash to me. If your soap was poured into individual silicone molds, it probably didn't gel.

I forgot to mention ( I just edited my post) that I sprayed the surface with 99% alcohol. The white areas are not limited to the exposed surfaces and they can't be scrubbed off

 

[Obsidian]

Sometimes ash can develop just under the surface like that. I get markings like that sometimes, its just a cosmetic issue.

 

[jbedaded]

Sometimes ash can develop just under the surface like that. I get markings like that sometimes, its just a cosmetic issue.

I this more of a problem in individual molds than loaf molds?

 

[Obsidian]

I've seen it in both when not gelled.

 

[lenarenee]

I agree that it looks like soda ash, and the more stubborn kind that doesn't steam off. It's not harmful at all. As for your question about loaf vs. individual molds;
the individual molds usually don't gel (gel helps prevent ash, but not always). The more mass/volume of batter in a mold helps retain the heat generated by saponification and that is often enough to causing gel phase.

If you like using individual molds, spraying with alcohol then covering with plastic wrap to keep air out can help. Alcohol alone does little for me (difference recipes seem to gel more than others) I think that lavender eo soaps tend to ash more than others, too.

 

[seven8soap]

What temperature did you mix at? It looks like too much water. You used A LOT of water. I wouldn’t go over 7 oz with that much lye. Soap a little cooler and you shouldn’t have any acceleration issues. The most you should use is 9 oz, which makes a 33% lye solution. Soap calc is terrible for that if you leave all the numbers correct. With the liquid/ oil ratio with your next batch, try 25 instead of 33 as well. There’s a big difference. Your cure time will shorten up, too. Just make sure you have everything ready before you add the lye water to oils.