Why does my soap look like this?

[SudsyKat]

I made a coffee soap recently. Here's how it looks (I took pictures both with and without flash):

Actually, I the texture is not that noticeable - I purposely took a detailed picture so you could see it. Still, I'd rather have it be really smooth. Any ideas as to why it might look this way? I actually remember a recent post that might have mentioned something about stereic acid causing this? (maybe, maybe)?

I added the lye to my cold (refrigerated) extra strong brewed coffee. I mixed the oils and lye when both were at 105 degrees. This was my first time using a new HDPE log mold and though I insulated with a towel, the soap didn't gel fully to the edges. That's not my issue here, though. It's the crackly look.

The soap also has 2 Tbsp of the use coffee grounds, which were dried out on a paper towel the night before. The recipe is pretty typical for me. I've used it many times. I measure in grams, so it's pretty precise, but for ease of reading, I'm listing it in ounces:

8 oz. Palm Oil (25%)
8 oz. Coconut Oil (76 degree melt point) (25%)
8 oz. Olive Oil (25%)
3.2 oz. Sunflower Oil (10%)
2.88 oz. Castor Oil (9%)
1.92 oz. Shea Butter (6%)
4.49 oz. lye (that's 5% superfat)
9.56 oz. brewed coffee (but also added 2 oz water when I added my dissolved sugar water to soap mixture at trace), so total liquid is pretty average.

 

[AmyW]

I don't know, but my coffee soap (similar recipe to yours) is the one that's turned out all wacko on me as well. Mine has spots instead of of the marbling though.

Maybe the coffee does something weird with the lye or fats? It's weird, whatever is causing it.

 

[dcornett]

I've seen this once before in one of my batches and I remember a thread that dealt with this same problem that Nancy Rogers had posted some time back. I don't think anyone was ever able to tell her what caused the "crackle effect". Gonna try to post a link to that thread (crossing fingers)
http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewto ... kle+effect

 

[scouter139]

no idea about the crackle...my last coffee recipe used lard, coconut oil, crisco, castor and shea about the same amount of total oils 29 oz and only 3.8 oz of lye. I used 9 oz of coffee, 2T sugar and add 1 1/2 oz of half and half after trace. Came out very nice looking, not super hard but nice looking with the coffee grounds. It doesn't smell very coffee-y but really works as a kitchen soap with odors like garlic and onions. I may try and find a nice coffee fo to add a little more coffee fragrance to make again.

 

[SudsyKat]

Thanks, all, for the input. I guess I'll just embrace the crackle and hope it doesn't happen too often. By the way, Scouter139, I love that you added 1/2 and 1/2 to your coffee soap at trace - that's perfect! I used a coffee FO and it smells wonderful! I take good notes, so if it happens again, maybe I can find a common thread that caused it.

 

[LadyM]

I wish someone knew about this darn crackle!!
I get it every so often and I sure wish I could figure out how to avoid it!

 

[heartandsoap]

I was hoping someone would solve the mystery. I don't have a problem with coffee. I have a problem without it.

I haven't made coffee soap yet but want to.
Everything I cook has onions in it
What is the reason for adding sugar water at trace? I've never done that.

Just musing...
The crackle effect is smaller around the sides and larger in the middle. So whatever is happening is affected by temps.

Are the white crackled areas unsaponified oils?

 

[scouter139]

I thought about that too Heart, that it looked as though the soap had riced or seperated and that the tiny veins were the fats...it could be.

Sudsy, what FO did you use? Did it accelerate at all? Try the half and half...it really made it creamy.

 

[SudsyKat]

Good thought about the temps. I keep thinking it might be an overheating thing (things that "dry out" can get cracks in them, right?). I used WSP's "Coffee Beans" FO.

I don't think (I guess I can't be sure) that there are unsaponified oils because the soap mixture behaved very well. I brought it to a medium trace. Also, they're not really white. It's just the picture. in fact, the cracks are not very noticeable unless you look very closely at the soap.

As for the sugar water at trace, a lot of people say it makes your soap produce more bubbles. I think it probably does, but for me, it also seems to make the soap really "smooth" (minus the crackles). I mean, it feels smooth when you lather it up - kind of creamy. My soaps with sugar are some of my nicest feeling soaps. My beer soap is my favorite, but these are a close second.

 

[LisaNY]

Could it be that your hard oils cooled too much during the process? This happens to me with palm and shea. I find that I have to soap at 110 or higher to avoid that crackle effect. It happened to me with a batch that had shea in it and a batch with pko in it. After that, I soaped at 110 and the problem went away.

 

[SudsyKat]

LisaNY - You may be onto something. That sounds very reasonable - and I usually soap higher, but I've been experimenting with lower temps. In this case, there was really no reason whatsoever to soap at a lower temp - it was not a fancy, complicated soap. Thanks for that!

 

[judymoody]

I had something similar happen to me when I made a coffee soap and I've only seen it with that soap. Only in my case it was very fine white swirls, not crackles. I've seen them referred to as "worm tails." In any event, if I remember correctly from various posts, nobody had a clear answer - some blamed stearic acid that had separated out somehow, some blamed temps and some blamed overheating. So nothing definitive. But interesting that it happened with coffee. In my case I didn't use any fragrance if that helps.

 

[Coconut]

Hi, I'm new here.
I've been making HP soap for awhile, and have tried coffee as the "water" 2 times with bad results both times.
All my other batches have been good (using aloe for the water), so I'm guessing it was the coffee.
Both times, there were white chunks (small - about the size of a pea) throughout the soap. And they were of a different (dry) texture than the soap itself.
The soap never zapped. But, when I tested it with phenol-p, the soap tested clear, but the white chunks turned the phenol-p bright magenta.
So, I threw out both batches.