Teach Soap

Hi Soapers,

after being away from soaps for some months I am back now.
I made a Lavendel soap with sugar (sorry, posting a picture would be too much time and energy consuming for me, since I haven't done this yet). It is a very nice soap with violet swirl...and undissolved sugar spots all arround the soap. Those are like little dots - just like grainy suggar looks like. I took the part of prepaired oils and mixed sugar in and than add it to the oils before adding lye. Obviously I didn't mix (long) enough.

I was hoping that the spots would go away with curing time but the soap stays pretty much the same all the time. It has been on the curing rack from November 12 and spots are staying there, just like the first day, no brown colour.
I wonder if they would turn brown in next few weeks or even worse : could this be harmfull in any way or should I promote it like a sugar scrub ?
Does any one have the same experience? What can I expect?

Claire

Sugar is water soluble only. You need to dissolve it in a small amount of water first. At this point, the sugar will stay as it is. If it's exfoliating, name it exfoliating soap.

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

Thank you for your answer, Irena.
Funny, but one batch before this one I made the same way but there were no sugar spots in the final product.
But maybe I just think it was made the same way and there was maybe a higher temperature or something else
different.

Claire

I always take a little distilled water from my recipe and heat it a bit and then stir my sugar into it until it is completely dissolved . I add it to the batter after I stir in the lye. This is what works for me. Good luck on your next batch.

MaryLou

Very usefull info, MaryLou, thank you so much... also for your wishes to my next batch!
I will definitely try it next time.
Good luck on soaping to you, too.
Claire

I add my sugar to my lye water, and make sure it is completely dissolved 'before' I add my lye.

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~Jani

I noticed some soapers use sugar and or salt in their recipes , Can anyone explain what is the purpose of it
Thanks in advance

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