What is wrong with my soap?!

[Monw]

I am new to soapmaking, this is my 12th batch, and first batch with issues. And the worst part is I don’t know what is wrong with this soap/how to fix it even after extensive googling. It has been 24 hours and the soap has a small amount of oily goo on the top. I did touch it, goo is the best description I can give. Is it glycerin? I looked down the side of the mold and the soap looks normal except for the top. The only thing I did differently this time was I sprayed the top with alcohol to try and help with my soda ash issue. I definitely prefer the soda ash problem. The recipe was:
255g water
109g lye
198g coconut oil
113g mango butter
312g olive oil
85g sunflower oil
85g castor oil
2tsp yellow clay added to lye water
And essential oils added at trace.
I ran the recipe through a lye calculator, used a stick blender, and both the oils and lye were 110 deg F when I mixed them. Any advice on how to fix it, or what this stuff is?

 

[AliOop]

I would give it a few days; it will probably reabsorb.

One question I have is why you are using so much water. Were you hot-processing? If not, I'd change your water settings to be somewhere around 33% lye concentration (not water as percent of oils). Using less water will help your batch firm up sooner and shrink/warp less during the cure.

 

[Monw]

Thank you! I will hope it reabsorbs. It is cold process. It was just the amount in the recipe but I did notice when I ran it through the lye calculator that it advised a smaller amount of water. I have been trying different recipes and following them exactly for the most part, there is just a lot to learn! Thank you for the advice, I will try that next time.

 

[Zing]

There is a lot to learn but it is all manageable. Welcome and good luck to you. There are many recipes out there -- but glad to hear you are using a lye calculator because, typos happen. I use essential oils and from time to time find that they can pool on the top -- but they always get reabsorbed

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

If you find a recipe that you like the look of, ignore the water and lye amounts and go with what the calculator says. You'll find most people here do not give the lye amounts when sharing a recipe (unless it's for troubleshooting, like you did - then it's really necessary) to avoid any mistaks.

I mean this generally of course, as there may be a particular reason for using a certain amount of water and/or lye. Example being a hot process recipe which might call for more water, or a high coconut soap which has a higher superfat, and those sorts of things are worth keeping in mind. But usually the important part of the recipe is the mix of oils

 

[KiwiMoose]

High water also equals more soda ash - so you may be able to kill two birds with one stone : )
It looks like it has gelled and some oils have separated out due to the heat, but they will likely reabsorb because it's not much. Gelled soap often has less soda ash too - so I prefer to gel mine.

 

[Becky1024]

Could also be your essential oils. Poor quality essential oils can separate out but then may reabsorb in a few days. What essential oils did you use, and what brand?

 

[earlene]

My first guess was your fragrances, as well. Did you check the safe usage information for each of them and stick to that amount or less? (You did not indicate the amount in your recipe.)

Some fragrances seep out when used in excess, but reabsorb. You could swipe a gloved finger on the oily top & sniff. If it smells strongly of your chosen fragrance, it's likely that at least part of it is fragrance. Sometimes your soaping oils separate out and weep, but often re-absorbs. Eiher way, if it doesn't reabsorb to your satisfaction in a few days (that happened to me once), you can wipe the surface with paper towels to absorb the excess & give it another day or so to be sure no more weeping occurs then cut the soap.

 

[TheGecko]

It was just the amount in the recipe but I did notice when I ran it through the lye calculator that it advised a smaller amount of water.

The whole purpose of using a soap calculator is because typos can be made and those typos can result is something benign or...something dangerous. I ALWAYS run EVERY recipe through a Calculator.

As to your issue...could be that your soap overheated resulting in a separation of fats and water. Could be that you didn't get your EO blended in. Could be that you used too much EO.

A lot of times if you leave it alone for several days, the issue will resolve itself. While you are waiting, run your recipe through a Soap Calculator and check the amounts against what you used. Check the safe usage amount of the EO against what you used. Sit down and run through your process of making this batch against previous batches if you have used the exact same recipe and note any differences.