White spots on my CP soap

[Lia chalid]

I've just unmold my coffee soap, maybe for 5 hours ago, when I cut the soap was totally fine, nothing happened, and I think the soap just a little bit sweating or oily but I didn't really put my attention on that.
But, now, this white spots appear but it doesn't seems like spots, like.. I don't know how to explain this..
Please if you guys understand this situation and how to prevent this to happen, and I want to know too are these soaps still OK to use or not?
And Beside of the recipe, I also add fragrance oil 2,5% of the soap weight, ground coffee 2,8% of the soap weight, and I add sodium lactate 3 tbsp

 

[KiwiMoose]

I think it is fine to use. It could be soda ash? Can you confirm it wasn't there when you cut it, but it appeared afterwards? Is it just on the surface? What happens if you rub it off with a cloth?

 

[lsg]

It looks like soda ash to me. You can just wipe it off with a damp cloth or alcohol.

 

[Lia chalid]

I think it is fine to use. It could be soda ash? Can you confirm it wasn't there when you cut it, but it appeared afterwards? Is it just on the surface? What happens if you rub it off with a cloth?

Yes..!! That spots appeared 5 hours after I cut it... but there's nothing happened when I rub it with a cloth... doesn't change anything,

 

[Lia chalid]

It looks like soda ash to me. You can just wipe it off with a damp cloth or alcohol.

Still the same condition after I wipe it ...

 

[AliOop]

By any chance, did you use any citric acid?

 

[Lia chalid]

By any chance, did you use any citric acid?

No, I only add 3 tbsp sodium lactate

 

[AliOop]

That’s a lot of SL for that batch - probably 3x what I would use. I find that when there are two many salts in the recipe, whether table salt, sodium lactate, sodium citrate, etc., it can definitely produce that crystallized look. It’s also possible that the FO is misbehaving.

As long as those spots aren’t zappy, it’s just cosmetic, and nothing is wrong with the soap, but I’d dial way back on the SL next time.

You might also consider switching from water as percent of oils, to lye concentration. If you haven’t tried that before, start at 33%. That setting will avoid the need to mess with water discounts and will give you more consistent results as you change the recipe size.

Speaking of which, if this is a new recipe, you may want to try 1lb test batches instead of 3lbs at a time. Three pounds is a lot of soap when you don’t know if you will like it, or how it will turn out.

 

[Lia chalid]

That’s a lot of SL for that batch - probably 3x what I would use. I find that when there are two many salts in the recipe, whether table salt, sodium lactate, sodium citrate, etc., it can definitely produce that crystallized look. It’s also possible that the FO is misbehaving.

As long as those spots aren’t zappy, it’s just cosmetic, and nothing is wrong with the soap, but I’d dial way back on the SL next time.

You might also consider switching from water as percent of oils, to lye concentration. If you haven’t tried that before, start at 33%. That setting will avoid the need to mess with water discounts and will give you more consistent results as you change the recipe size.

Speaking of which, if this is a new recipe, you may want to try 1lb test batches instead of 3lbs at a time. Three pounds is a lot of soap when you don’t know if you will like it, or how it will turn out.

Thankyou... but can you tell me what is the differences between water as percent of oils and lye concentration?

 

[AliOop]

You are very welcome!

The "water as percent of oils" setting was originally designed for hot process soap. HP requires more water than CP, due to evaporation during cooking. For CP soap, you want enough for a fluid pour, but not so much that your soap takes a long time to harden and cure. Also, when using water-as-percent-of oils, your amount of water will be very inconsistent between different batch sizes. Larger batches will have too much water, and smaller ones may have less than you'd like for fluidity.

Using lye concentration ensures consistent proportions of water from batch to batch, no matter whether the batch is large or small. It also eliminates the need to figure out a "water discount." Instead, you can just increase or decrease the lye concentration to get the amount of water that works for you. Most CP soapers start around 33% lye concentration. That will give you enough water for a fluid batter if you want to do designs - but it won't take as long to firm up and cure.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes for you.