Teach Soap

What are these tiny white specks on top of my soap? I poured it this afternoon. When I went to check on it a few hours later, not only was it trying to overheat, but it also had these tiny white specks on the top. I have not had this ever happen before. I quickly put it in the freezer, but the white specks are really bothering me. I took one off and rubbed it between my fingers and it didn't burn my finger like I thought lye would...any ideas? Is it lye that didn't get dissolved all the way? I mixed the lye with frozen goat's milk till all of the milk melted. I then took a stick blender to the soloution before I mixed it with the oils...Here are a couple of pics. I hope the spots show up...




It was a pretty large batch. The white specks only showed up on 3 out of the 4 molds used. Only the ones that gelled. Here is a pic of it right after I poured.

I've had these happen before that were undissolved lye.
They didn't burn my fingers either, but did my tongue.

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The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

So is the whole batch a bust?! My kiddos have been looking forward to this batch...

Do a zap test before you worry too much!

If it is, can you rebatch?

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

Do a zap tast. Do those spots zap? What was your recipe? At what temp did you soap at? Was your goat milk frozen or slushy before adding? Did you use a recipe with palm oil? Answers to these would help us to troubleshoot.

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

Not necessarily a bust. Did you replace the water with 100% goat's milk? Or was it half water / half milk? Did you add the lye to frozen milk? Or did it get slushy first, then added? What was the temp your lye/milk mixture got to? Mine needs to be about 32 degrees (celcius) to ensure all lye is dissolved.

You could try licking a spot. Are they hard when you press on them? Like trying to squash a bit of sand or grit? They could also be small chunks of milk - I had that a couple of times where the lye and milk would sort of combine, but not dissolve.

Have you cut the bars up yet? How does it look when you cut it? I found if there were spots on the top, there were spots inside and usually on the bottom as well.

_________________
The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

Won't be cutting the soap until tomorrow evening, at the earliest. I poured it at around 12:45 this afternoon.

I have never done a zap test before, but will probably give it a try then. What kind of juice do I need to have handy when I do it?

My recipe was:
Castor oil 6oz, Coconut oil 18oz, Lard 30oz, Olive Oil 38oz, Sunflower Oil 12oz, Goat Milk 40oz, and Lye 14.3oz.
I used frozen goat milk, not slushy. Stired it til all of the goat milk had thawed and then used my stick blender on it before I mixed it in with the oils. I didn't measure temps...It did take a little longer than I am used to get it to trace so it was blended for a while.

This is my 7th batch, and the first time I have had this happen.

Any input, or thoughts will be greatly appreciated. I don't want my kiddos to get hurt using the soap...

Your recipe looks ok to me. You superfatted at 5%, correct? Try the zap test on those spots. Have some apple juice handy in case they zap. If the spots don't zap, it's most likely fatty spots from the milk.

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

Okay, so I tried two of the spots. The first one -- nothing. So I dug out a second one just to be sure. I worked the spot in my fingers. It felt like a grain of salt or sand. I touched it to my tounge and got a little tingle... I am guessing that it zapped...

I know nothing about rebatching...is the scent going to go away? I am guessing that the swirls I attempted will be gone as well to.

Sadly the swirls are toast, and most likely the scent too. However! You can do more swirls and add more scent! Though the swirls won't have the fineness of a CP swirl. Sorry your soap zapped you

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

If your scale is accurate, I would rebatch.

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