Teach Soap

Hello all, first time on the forum and made my first batch of CP soap 2 days ago. Everything seemed to go very well, the soap poured very nicely into the mold, nice and smooth. After letting it sit covered and wrapped for 22 hours I uncovered it, the top had wrinkles and there was a white substance on the top. Not a powder, it was just part of the soap bar and it only went down into the soap maybe a 1/32 of an inch. Touched my tongue to it and no zap, tried to rub it with my finger and it just came off clear. Took the soap out of the mold, cut it into bars and trimmed the wrinkled and white portion off the bars and everything looks to be fine. Any idea what the white substance could have been?? Not sure what other info you might need to comment on this. Tried to add a picture but no luck doing this yet, perhaps from the above description you can comment. Thanks for any advice or help.
Jim

The substance you're describing is called "soda ash", and it's perfectly normal. It's just a byproduct of the saponification process, and it's harmless. It will wash off the first time you use your soap, but many soapers prefer to trim it off, just as you have done.

Spraying your soap with 97% Isopropyl alcohol after you pour it in your mold can reduce the appearance of soda ash. Just give it a light spray after you pour the mold, and again every thirty minutes over the next ninety.

Sounds like you made a good batch of soap on your first try. Congrats!

Congrats on your batch! Sounds fine to me. Now give it a nice cure for 4-6 weeks.

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

Thanks to you both for your input. Takes a load off my mind. The bars really did turn out very nice. It was a batch of patchouli. Now, on to more and different types. Think I will try a goats milk soap next. Once again, thanks and look forward to more learning. I think I've found the right place for that.
Jim