White spots in my soap.....

[Kgarret8]

So I've made about 6 batches of soap so far. My recipe is as follows

Goats milk (liquid) 13.86oz
Lye flakes 6.07oz
Olive oil 20oz
Coconut oil 10oz
Castor oil 2oz
Fragrance 2oz

I've ran my recipe through a lye calculator with a 4-5% discount. All of my batches have past the "zap" test except for one. Two of the latest batches (which were the first two blended with a stick blender) have white spots on the cut surface. One used whole sale supplies orange clove fragrance the other was Japanese cherry blossom. I let set in silicone loaf molds for 48 hours before removing and cutting. Due to the spots I zap tested them. The orange clove did fine. The Japanese cherry blossom makes my tongue tingle slightly after a few seconds. Does that mean the cherry blossom should be tossed due to being lye heavy or could it be something else?

 

[Lion Of Judah]

no ! do not toss it ! give it some more time curing to see if it gets milder / stop zapping you . if not you can always rebatch with a little touch more oil to balance out the zap. a picture would be nice , to see the type of white spots ... could be soda ash

 

[Kgarret8]

Here are pictures

 

[Kgarret8]

Pic 2

 

[lionprincess00]

Did you dissolve the lye into frozen gm? I've read sometimes, since gm is white, it's hard to see the lye fully dissolve and crystals can be left behind. I'd continue the zap test over the next 24-48 hours, and rebatch per proper instructions before iid consider totally tossing it.

 

[jules92207]

How long after mixing the lye and goats milk together did you pour it in the oils? How long did you stir the goats milk and lye flakes?

 

[Kgarret8]

We mix the the lye flakes into frozen goats milk until dissolved. The process usually takes about 20-30minutes.

 

[Kgarret8]

As soon as it's mixed we pour it into our oil mix.

 

[jules92207]

I am wondering if the lye is globbing (so scientific, huh?) onto the fat in the goats milk. If the little spots are zappy after a few days I would say its undissolved lye and you will need to re-batch, otherwise it could be the former.

Just my thoughts though, hope that helps!

 

[Ellacho]

Those look like bits of undissolved lye... But I would still wait another a week or two and retest it.

 

[Susie]

If that is indeed undissolved lye(only way to know is to zap test a spot, which I would personally hesitate to do), then I would rebatch with all possible haste. I have seen zappy soap get milder, but with undissolved lye being a possibility, I would just not take a chance

 

[Kgarret8]

So if I have to rebatch will I need to add more lye or just melt and mix?

 

[Kgarret8]

I've purchased Ph testers. As soon as they're in I'm going to test and see if I need to rebatch.

 

[Susie]

pH testing of bar soap is notoriously inaccurate. It is just really difficult to know if you have the proper soap to water ratio to measure accurately.

To rebatch, you grate up the solid soap into a crock pot or stainless steel pot of some sort. Be sure it is stainless steel. Not aluminum. Add a small amount of water(one ounce or so) or oil to help it melt down. I would probably start with one tablespoon of each as you already know the soap is zappy. Cook on low until a small amount pulled out and cooled no longer zaps the tongue. The texture is going to be much different than CP soap, and there are more than likely going to be lighter and darker spots throughout. This is normal. Just plop and mash into the mold. This should be ready to cut sooner than CP. I would start testing hardness as soon as it is cool enough to handle without oven mitts.