Teach Soap

Greetings folks,
It;s been a while since I posted, mostly because of two rather young boys, and no soap making for over a year. However, I have started up again with gusto, but have been having a couple of problems that I would be grateful if you help me with...
Mostly the soaps have turned out OK, but have had beading on the surface of the (uncut) blocks that is definitely NaOH heavy. The insides are OK, just the beading on the surface (this happens within 24 hours of pouring, I have checked the recipe amounts, mixing at 36-38oC for oils/NaOH, placed in polystyrene box for insulation and not noticed an obvious gel phase, mixed to heavy trace).
One batch was quite soft and crumbly on the outside for about 1-1.5cm, high pH, so I binned it. Other than forgetting an ingredient or mixing up coconut/palm measures, I have no idea why that happened. This batch was mixed to quite a lilght trace, however, in an attempt to do a nice swirl.
Lastly, I made my first milk-based batch last night following a recipe in a book (it also has honey in it). All went well, but this morning, about 7 hours after the pour (oils and NaOH mixture mixed at 36 C), I had a peak and there are several dark brown spots on the surface. I had added patchouli and cedarwood EO's and a small amount of yellow pigment (which I have never had an issue with before).
So, if anyone could shed any light on the issues above, I would be most grateful indeed

Cheers,
Adam

p.s. Sebastian (3 1/4) and Isaac (1 1/4), my boys, are extremely noisy and into everything!

What were your recipes including liquid and lye amounts? Did you superfat?

_________________
Haven

Hi,
My recipes are as follows (the milk/honey taken from a book with no alterations). All had 200g NaOH and 540g H2O, with around 7% superfat. Stick blender for mixing (which it seems to do within 30-40seconds worth of blending. Into silicone molds, which sit inside a polystyrene box, and a sheet of cardboard over the molds also.

Soap 1 - i have made this shampoo bar several times, but dont remember the beading problem
olive oil - 530g
coconut - 220g
palm - 220g
castor - 300g
hemp - 120g
sweet almond - 76g
neem - 30g

soap 2 - again, made before
olive - 376g
coconut - 300g
apricot butter - 150g
avocado - 150g
palm - 300g
castor - 76g
illipe butter - 76g
kukui nut oil - 76g

soap - 3 (I actually quite like the spotty effect, but I would like reassurance that it is OK to use...)
270g H2O, 270g milk (full fat, not skimmed)
coconut - 376g
palm - 330g
olive - 704g
castor - 45g
cocoa butter - 40g
honey - 2 tablespoons

Other than weighing the individual oils incorrectly (not inconceivable, but I am sure I ddnt), the only other thing is that the ingredients have been sitting around in my garage (coolest place in the house not refrigerated) for around 1 1/2 years - is this likely to affect things?

Again, any help appreciated,
Adam

Here are some soapmaking oils and their shelf life.

Apricot Kernel 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Avocado approx 1 year, keep in cool place
Calendula 6 months to 1 year. According to what oil is used for the infusion
Canola 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Castor approx 1 year, keep in cool place
Cocoa Butter 1 year +, keep in cool place
Coconut 1 year +, keep in cool place
Corn 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Emu 1 year room temp, 3+ frozen
Evening Primrose 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Flaxseed Oil 3 to 6 months refrigerated
Grape seed 3 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Hempseed 3 months refrigerated, 9months frozen
Jojoba Indefinite. Jojoba is not an oil, but a liquid wax.
Mango Butter 1 year, longer if refrigerated
Neem approx 1 year, keep in cool place
Olive 2 years, keep in cool place
Palm approx 1 year, keep in cool place
Peanut 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Safflower approx 1 year, keep in cool place
Sesame 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Shea Butter 1 year, longer if refrigerated
Soybean 3 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Sunflower 3 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Sweet Almond 6 months to 1 year, keep in cool place
Walnut approx 3 months, keep in cool place
Wheatgerm Oil approx 6 months, keep in cool place
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3800

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

Hmmm, based on that, I wonder if the age of the ingredients is a likely factor. I shall leave the cut soap to cure as normal. Having checked the pH of the inside of the soap is fine with no obvious lye pockets.

Adam