Teach Soap

So happy to be a member of this forum! Hopefully I can get some help figuring out why my last batch (4th ever) is splotchy, brownish and has flakey scales.

My recipe was coconut heavy because it's for my husband and he wanted something very cleansing that didn't feel "lotiony".
180g coconut, 168g olive, 180g palm, 30g shea, 42g castor. 228g water and 86g lye. I used Bramble Berry "Spiced Mahogany"at trace as well as the gel from one long aloe leaf (around 30g if I remember correctly). I scraped the gel from the leaf, blended until it was smooth and then strained it to get just the liquid into my batter.

The soap should discolor from the fragrance but this seems different, too splotchy to be just discoloration. What went wrong? Is the aloe turning it brown? It's very soft but I don't mind that, it's the color that's bugging me, it's like the oil separated out or something. Is this DOS?

Did you use titanium dioxide as a colorant? It looks like you have "glycerin rivers". If so, there's nothing wrong with the soap.
Was the batter thick when you added the aloe? Maybe it didn't get mixed in all the way. You can add it to your water next time. Just discount the water for the amount of aloe juice.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Yep, I agree! Glycerine rivers. Just cosmetic, the soap is still safe to use. You can decrease the water or your temps in the next batch.

http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body- ... ick-guide/

Yes, I did use titanium dioxide.

I do see lines through which I thought might be glycerin rivers. It is good to know that that is what the circular "scaly spots" are!

I added aloe at ~medium trace, I still have a terrible time recognizing thin trace. I swear by the time I no longer have oil come up when I turn on my stick blender the rest of the batter is thickening already. I get maybe 2 minutes of mixing, ~5 bursts, and it's already thicker than in the videos I've see of other people soaping. Then I add the fragrance and RUSH to get it molded.

The soap smells great, I read DOS has a smell, so I'm pretty sure I am ok. Thank you so much for the suggestions!

You don't need to mix until you get trace. I usually blend until the oils/lye water are emulsified (the don't separate) and then hand stir after that. Your recipe has a lot of faster tracing oils (coconut, palm, shea) so you should hand stir more than stick blend.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Titanium dioxide can give you the glycerin rivers. For me, if the soap doesn't gel, I don't get them.

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