Yellow Crust?

[Cellador]

I made this batch last night, and I'm trying to determine what caused this yellow crustiness on the top of my soap. It is zapping...my first thought is that it overheated. ?
I used a pretty standard recipe- I did add some honey and CPOP'd it. The only think I did a little differently was sprayed with some 91% alcohol and covered with plastic wrap. Can you "overdo" it and add too much of an alcohol barrier?
EDITED TO ADD: Oh, and the soap is still pretty soft. I'm afraid to pull the liner out of the mold.

 

[SaltedFig]

My first thought was it looks like the fat you get on top of broth

Maybe it overheated and separate in the mold?

 

[toxikon]

Looks like separation due to heat to me as well. Could be the fragrance oil separated out.

 

[Cellador]

Grr... Is it a lost cause? Or will it reabsorb?

 

[Cellador]

Well, I just checked on it again since I took that pic, and it's improving. Still has that film along the top but not zapping everywhere. I'm hoping a couple of days in the mold will allow things to reabsorb & I can just plane off that ugly top. Lol

 

[cmzaha]

You will not know until you de-mold and cut it. Sometimes when soap overheats it will stay mushy in the middle where it tried to separate, that is if it did not separate. I do not insulate honey soap as it tends to really heat up, but if I do notice it not starting to gel I will put it into my gelling crate set-up and keep a close eye on it. As long as you have no leaking cavities when you cut your soap, if it is soft in the middle it will harden but can take a few months.

 

[Spice]

a bad case of ash maybe?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

sprayed with some 91% alcohol and covered with plastic wrap. Can you "overdo" it and add too much of an alcohol barrier?

Not likely, but possibly the problem since you sprayed & covered with plastic wrap that could possibly "trap" the alcohol under the plastic long enough to melt the top, thus getting what looks to me like a thin layer of fat. Alcohol has the ability to melt soap at the rate of 1 part alcohol to 2 parts soap. Better to spritz lightly.

 

[Cellador]

Not likely, but possibly the problem since you sprayed & covered with plastic wrap that could possibly "trap" the alcohol under the plastic long enough to melt the top, thus getting what looks to me like a thin layer of fat. Alcohol has the ability to melt soap at the rate of 1 part alcohol to 2 parts soap. Better to spritz lightly.

Ahh...that may be it then. I did spray with alcohol on another batch, and I got a yellowish soda ash. Maybe that's the culprit...