Teach Soap

Hi all. I made a batch on saturday and I don't know if I royally screwed it up or not. I had everything going just fine. I seperated out some to color purple (second attempt at a swirl). The entire batch was at a light trace or right before. I colored the little bowl purple and the big batch white. Then I added the fragrance (Frankincense and Myhrr). It seized immediately. Both batches were hard in the bowls. So I dumped it back into my pot and slowly heated it up. I added some more coloring (oxides mixed with distilled water) and that seemed to "smooth" it out. The purple became perfectly smooth but the white was very gooey. So once it was were I could work with it, I spooned it into the mold. First white then purple and so on and so forth until the mold was full. Then I swirled it with a knife. After 24 hours, I took it out of the mold. There were no oils or moisture visible. I cut it and now 4 days later, it is still spongy. There are also very visible white specks throughout it. Not a whole bunch which leads me to believe that is the Titanium Dioxide not completely dissolved. My lye was completely dissolved in my water so I don't think that was it. I always check that several times to make sure. Don't want any little pieces sneaking into my soap. The soap looks really cool and smells great. Do you think I just need it to set and cure much longer than normal? And did I mess it up by reheating it? Thanks.
Here is a picture of it. It is the purple and white one in the middle.

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Haven

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

The excess water you added might have something to do with it as well. How's the soap look? Does it have lots of little bubble in it? I ask because I once whipped air into my soap my accident (not enough to make it float, unfortunately) and it ended up feeling spongy long after it cured because of all the teenie little bubbles in it.

I think someone else earlier was having a problem with white specks/flakes in their soap as well. You didn't, perchance, use palm oil did you?

How do I test for zap? There are a couple of air pockets but I think it is because I didn't whack it on the counter enough when I spooned it into the mold. I did use palm oil. Does that have an affect on it? I have used it in all of my batches with no problems like this before.

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Haven

My problems with Palm Oil are something else. I think your issue sounds like TD lumps.
You can test for zap by running your finger on your soap and then touch your finger to your tongue. Does it zap or sting? Then you have a bunch of Lye still in your soap. ( rinse your mouth out with cool water after.)
You mentioned adding water to your oxides - not knowing how much you added - you may have added too much. I would wait a few days to see if your soap firms up.

_________________
Haven

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