White streaks/partial gel

[Mschwartz]

I made a honey soap that is 33% lard 32% coconut, 30% olive oil, and 5% castor oil. I added the honey to part of the water called for in the recipe. I put in in the freezer over night and took it out the next morning. That night when I cut it it was partially gelled even after the freezer. The part that wasn’t gelled has white spots and is kind of strange texture. I was going to zap test in a few days . I’m positive I didn’t put too much lye in. I put in a tsp a lb of honey and I’ve never seen this before?

 

[jcandleattic]

Could be steric spots, fragrance pockets, or any number of things. Can you post a picture? We'd be better able to help you if we could actually see the problem in question.

 

[Mschwartz]

 

[Mschwartz]

Here’s the photo. It lathers well after only two days. I combined lye and oil at 115 degrees

 

[jcandleattic]

IMO - those look like steric spots, possibly due to the lard. They happen when the steric separates from the oils and aren't stirred back in, or when soaping too cool. 115° is not too cool, so that should not be the cause.
This is aesthetic only and the soap should perform and cure fine.

 

[AliOop]

I agree with @jcandleattic - stearic spots. Your oils were hot enough when you started, but putting it in the freezer would have caused the outer layers to cool pretty quickly, while the center gelled. You can see that from the awesomely perfect partial-gel ring in the center of the soap, which has far fewer stearic spots. It looks cool so just pretend you did it on purpose.

If you want to prevent this in the future, soap at lower temps, and don't put the soap in the freezer. Instead, raise it up on racks or soup cans, and set a fan to blow on it. That will do a better job of preventing overheating, without causing the stearic acid to cool too quickly and create the white spots. Also, don't cover it except for maybe a light layer of plastic wrap or piece of cardboard over the top to keep it clean and ash-free.

It may take some experimentation to get the right combination of temps, insulation (or lack thereof ), and cooling techniques for this recipe, but fortunately, as stated in the previous post, stearic spots are just cosmetic. I get them a lot since I soap cool and use a lot of lard and tallow.

 

[Mschwartz]

I’ve read stick honey/beer soap or anything with sugar in the fridge to prevent overheating of the soap. I guess I’ll try it without now

 

[AliOop]

I put sugar in all my soaps, and goat milk in many of them, and have never refrigerated them nor had one overheat.

I do soap at room temp, but then I often gel them on a heating pad, unless I'm trying to keep the color lighter.

In any event, many soapers recommend elevation on racks or cans, with a fan blowing, as a much more effective way to prevent overheating than using the fridge or freezer. If you give it a try, let us know how it works out for you!

 

[user 56151]

I put sugar and some type of milk in all of my batches. I always CPOP and have only ever had 2 batches overheat and crack on top.

 

[Zing]

You should totally own that design and tell everyone how skilled you are!! Let's call it the Schwartz Schwirl!