Teach Soap

About 4 weeks ago I made a batch of soap. I didn't insulate it, and left it to become firm at room temperature. The top developed the white ash that happens at times. Now, when I go to shave the top layer off, the white seems to be more deeply into the bar of soap. There is no zap. I've tried the soap myself, and it seems OK, but I'm curious why the residue is deeper and wanted to be sure it doesn't spell a problem with the soap.
http://tinypic.com/m/4ujviw/2
I wondered if anyone else has experienced this and knew what it might be.
Thanks

The soap looks beautiful in the picture. If you don't have a zap, I would say it is fine. I've never measured how deep ash goes---- it does seem to come more likely when you soap cp at higher temps. Ash only affects the look. Nice swirls by the way!

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Did you swirl in your log?

I had a batch do this, and when mine did it it was a fragrance that accelerated trace, so I kinda had so smoosh it into the mold. There were some air pockets that I pressed out, but in my guesstimation there was air trapped inside my log, and caused the ash inside.

To translate this to YOUR log...perhaps microscopic air got swirled in with your colors, so the ash formed on the air inside? I dunno...

But i agree...the bar looks great!:D

If one of the colors you were swirling with was cooler than the rest, it might have formed ash. Ash can go suprisingly deep sometimes. It's lovely soap anyway, though.

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Thanks so much for the ideas on the ash. The dust fairy loves me. I agree, Knine, that working at cooler temperatures helps. I wrote 110° F in my notes, since I have been working my way down from 120-130. It definitely helps. That's interesting about the idea of air pockets, VincaLeaf. I've read about dropping the mold to get the air bubbles out similar to baking a cake. In both cases, I forget, so I'll have to see if that helps. Right now, I'm using a low, flat 2# mold, but I guess air bubbles can get trapped anywhere. Thank you for the hint on color temperatures, Magic. I've just been adding them at whatever temp. they are at the time. These were lab colors - fushia and moss green - but straight out of the bottle. Thanks for all of the tips. I do enjoy swirling. I'm headed to a Green Tea batch right now.

I would say that'd just ash. Nothing to worry about.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thanks, Soapbuddy. I'm giving some bars away, so now I won't worry. Thanks to everyone for all the help.