Teach Soap

Hey,

So I made some coffee soap yesterday and used a plain batch for the "topping." Overall I love the way it turned out EXCEPT ....

1) There were some air bubbles on the sides of the loaves and a bit of clear liquid. It seemed to evaporate really quick and didn't burn when I touched it. It was almost more like water than anything else (i.e. it didn't really seem oily).

2) The coffee layers are crackled looking. I'm thinking this is because it was at heavy trace (like super thick pudding) by the time I poured. But I'd SO appreciate some feedback on this because I think it sort of detracts from the look of the soap and I'd like to prevent this from happening next time

As long as the soap is still usable I'm happy but gee whiz! All that work for good looks and it goes and does that! LOL.
Karri

PS: Here's a link to a bigger version of the picture so you can see how the soap looks in more detail: http://twitpic.com/5evmtm

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I soap therefore I am.

There are a couple of things that it could be. It could have over-heated, could be stearic, do you use palm oil? Did you make sure to stir it thoroughly after it was melted, and measure/use it then? Pouring when it is at thick trace will get you more air pockets, but that does not cause the stripping effect you have. If it is not stearic, it is over-heating, imho.

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

Hi Tammy,

So you don't think it's because I poured at heavy trace? i.e. the soap was pretty thick. Not seized by any stretch though.

My recipe did have palm oil but I always make sure it's "mixed" very well before pouring/measuring. Have used that palm oil for all my other recipes but no issues. It's the "bag" of palm oil from BB. I always microwave the bag (not for too long though) and then shake it REALLY well before pouring and measuring.

I think I mixed the coffee soap about 110-120...but if you look really close there are some lines/crackling in the light colored soap on the top too but not nearly as bad. I wonder if that coffee soap just heated up the whole shabang way too much once I insulated?

Or maybe the ambient temperature in the room was warmer than usual but that doesn't seem likely. I've been soaping for a few weeks and the house temp has been fairly constant.

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I soap therefore I am.

If you mixed the palm very well then I would say it is over heated. the cracks lead me toward thinking it has over heated. This can be because of the FO, some heat up more than others, because of additives, or because of too much insulation, or any combination thereof. If you covered and wrapped you mold, this probably did it. I have to watch mine because of that too. I ended up not wrapping them anymore, I just cover.

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

No FOs. Just some lav/mint EOs in the light colored "topping." Coffee was the only additive in the coffee layers. I tried a little clay in the white topping but again, not in the coffee layers. (The clay did NOTHING for the color btw. Boo!)

I'm thinking overheating then.

When you say you just "cover" your molds does that mean you just put wax paper or saran wrap over them and NO blankets? Don't you get partial gel? Now that I think about it, I maybe insulated TOO much. Hmm ...

_________________
I soap therefore I am.

Correction: used spearmint/peppermint EOs in the topping. No lavender

_________________
I soap therefore I am.

Karrie my molds have wood lids, so I just use those and I have, knock on wood, never had a problem with a partial gel thus far. Now in the winter I do put the mold into a box or I wrap it with a blanket, one or the other, but both will generally get me a crack on the top. You can cover, or insulate too much, so next time just reduce the number of blankets and see what happens. Or cover with plastic wrap and set into a box or something and see how that works for you. It may take some experimenting to get the perfect temp. for your recipe, but you will get it figured out I am sure. But do remember that you must thoroughly mix your palm oil too, or you may get stearic markings, then at the bottom of your bag you will end up with soap on a stick and that is not fun!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

That makes sense actually. The wood is acting as your insulation but perhaps letting just enough heat out too. I'm waiting for some wood molds from Design Craft that have wood lids. I am really looking forward to having something nice and consistent to pour soap into.

If it's a problem with the palm oil that would worry me. I've been using from the same bag since I started this journey about 3 weeks ago and I'm always so careful to warm it and shake it up really well. Now I'm paranoid about making another batch from that bag. LOL.

The soap looks really good on top and the sides. In fact, the bottom (underside) is beautiful! It has that nice translucency that allows the additives (coffee grounds) to show through and the shade of brown is awesome. But it's all throughout the "cut" sides of the soap that has that crackled look.

You think it's still good soap to use? I did the tongue test just to be sure and no zap! And I feel confident I measured everything just so (ran through a lye calc too).

I can see how this craft could make a grown woman cry. (No, I didn't cry ... this time. Trying to be a big girl about it ...)

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I soap therefore I am.

Karri, just remember that it is 'handcrafted" so perfection is not always necessary. If there is no zap you should be ok... let it cure and give it a handwashing. There are so many variables when it comes to soaping that sometimes there is no one answer. I have one recipe that riced on me and I blammed the EO but then made the same recipe again with a different fragrance and the same thing. That was one way to find out the why. The best thing I could share is to keep very good notes so you can go back and study and compare. By the way I like your soap and think its great that you keep trying new things. I still need to make coffee, beer and wine soap

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Just as long as it doesn't zap, I think you should be fine. Don't be so hard on yourself. I quite like it!

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

I agree with Bubbles and SB, I am sure it will be fine. No zap equals success in my book! And we have all had our fair share of cracks, air bubbles and the like. No worries! The only perfect thing in soap making is that there is no real perfect thing! Lol

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy