Teach Soap

Made my first batch. Olive/Coconut/Shea Butter w/ Melon-Cucumber F.O. 5% No coloring
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My questions:
1. Is the lighter color (chalky) around the edge the color of the final product? Why did this happen?
2. Is evaporation complete when the bar has a uniform color?
3. Does high humidity accelerate the saponification process? (Wife says to make soap in the garage)

I'm sure the F.O. accelerated the trace because scraping the container yielded the top surface.

Another enjoyable hobby added to my life! Soap'n in Indiana

I can't really tell what's going on from the picture. You may be seeing some soda ash which is easily washed off. I believe your recipe will lighten up a little as it cures looking at your ingredients. Did you use refined Shea butter or was it ivory?

Congrats on your first batch! It looks great!
1) The chalky areas on the edge could be where the soap didn't gel fully. It won't change the soap in any way.
2) The soap may never be a uniform color, but should even out somewhat as it cures. I have "power circles" in the centers sometimes when it doesn't gel all the way to the edge. Some soapers hate them, but it doesn't bother me.
3) Humidity probably doesn't accelerate the saponification process as much as ambient temperature. It seems much easier to reach the gel phase in warmer temps. Humidity can affect cure time. It takes longer for evaporation to occur when there's a lot of moisture in the air. Sometimes soap will sweat because the glycerin attracts moisture from the air. Keeping the air moving with a fan helps.

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

Congrats on your first batch!
Now on to your questions.

My questions:
1. Is the lighter color (chalky) around the edge the color of the final product? Why did this happen?
It looks like a partial gel. It should even out somewhat as the soap cures.
2. Is evaporation complete when the bar has a uniform color?
Evaporation is complete when the soap doesn't loose any more weight. Weight the soap now, then again in 4-6 weeks. The color has nothing to do with evaporation.
3. Does high humidity accelerate the saponification process? (Wife says to make soap in the garage)
Humidity should not accelerate the process. But soaping at higher temperatures or using a fragrance that accelerates trace can do that.

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

Nice first batch! Ahh, soaping, an addictive hobby! I wouldn't worry about the color variation. I do a similar recipe and it sometimes turns out that way too. Doesn't affect the soap and my customers have never commented on it.

Two things happen when curing soap. First is saponification when the lye reacts with fatty acids in the oil. If you are doing cold process this should be complete within 2 - 3 days. I have found that humidity has little to no effect on saponfication rate. Temperature does. So I always insulate in the winter, but in the summer it doesn't seem to matter if I do or don't. The other thing that happens is that the water you add to dissolve the lye now has to evaporate out to get a hard bar. This is why you weigh the bar - when the weight stops dropping most of the water has evaporated from the soap (there will probably be a little residual water left). High humidity can slow down the evaporation rate so the bars take longer to dry. Put a fan on the drying soap or turn the AC on to drop the humidity and you should be fine.