Teach Soap

My recent batches of soap have had small white specks in them and also some are showing a faint "crackled" or mosaic-type-look to them. It may be that some of my earlier batches did this also, but I'm noticing it more on the solid colored bars.
According to the zap test, I'm not lye-heavy.

My temps for the batches ran from around 100 F to around 115 F. Ingredients are olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, shea butter, and castor oil. All is melted until clear before combining with lye water. I try to get my lye water and oils at approximately the same temp before combining. Mixed with a stick blender until light-medium trace and then poured into a log mold.

I'm supposed to be making about 80 bars for our church for mother's day (need to start NOW, obviously!), so I'd like to figure out what is going on before I delve into that project.
Pleading for help....

_________________
Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

It would be most helpful if you could post some good photos of this soap,seeing it will give these professionals a better idea as to what could be happening.

_________________
Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

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

The crackle appearance is on the inside of the soap? I get that when a batch gets slightly overheated. My white specks are all from a) stearic acid from palm oil, or b) excess titanium dioxide that precipitates out if you use too much or don't mix it well enough.

_________________
~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

An attempt at including pics....





I had a hard time getting clear shots of these.....I think my lighting is off in this room. Anyway, maybe these will help a bit.....

And a big THANK YOU for the Photobucket details/instructions.......that was what I needed

_________________
Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

Ummm.....just realized these are huge photos. I thought I had resized them correctly, but obviously I still need some practice. I apologize for them being so large.

_________________
Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

Those pics aren't too big. I would say the crackling is from titanium dioxide if you used it.

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

That is what my slight overheat soaps look like. Heat and TD seem to be either our friends or our enemies!

_________________
~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

I didn't use Titanium Dioxide, so it could be the heat. We're in Alabama and it's definitely much warmer here than usual for this time of year (and I just can't bring myself to use the AC yet!). I had a black soap that I made recently and when I noticed that it had started to rise and crack on the top I took it over to a table in front of an open window to cool off some. It turned out fine. (there is a bit of whitish "wisp" to the texture, but not like the batch in these pictures).

So....since I soaped within normal temps (I think this batch was around 110 or 115), I should have left it "as is" and not insulated, right?

_________________
Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

What is your recipe? And what FO/EO is it?

_________________
~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

My recipe:

Olive Oil---30%
Coconut Oil---30%
Palm Oil---26%
Shea Butter---10%
Castor Oil---4%

Water as percent of oil weight: 35%
Super Fat---5%

It has done this "crackling" and small white dot thing with multiple batches, including Cold Water, Eden't Garden, and Jasmine Dreams (all from BB).

_________________
Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

How are you gelling and when do you check? Are you insulating heavily?

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

_________________
Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

Next time you make this same batch, try it without the lid and insulate lightly. You can use a wax paper or clear wrap (like saran wrap) on top to keep the soap top covered. I don't use lids at all on any of my soaps. If you use clear wrap, you should be able to see as the soap starts to gel. It can take a couple of hours before the gelling starts. This also depends on the temp of the soap when poured, fragrance that can heat up the batch, the thickness of the wood mold or how much insulation is used. As soon as the soap is in full gell, take any insulation off so the soap doesn't overheat. Let it come to room temp. Then depending on your formula, you should be able to cut it.

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