SOAP FAILURE - AIR HOLE AND UNEVEN SOAP -

In my very short soap making experience and gathered information from internet, I have found some tips to avoid soap making failure. I am showing my failed soaps and consideration on them.
日本語の記事はコチラ [ せっけん　失敗談　- 小さい穴と不均一なせっけん - ]

left and center have air hole and right one has uneven texture in the middle of the soap

+++ AIR HOLE +++

Another soaps with air hole

This happens because soap batter gets too thick to pour into mold. Then why it gets so thick? It is TEMPERATURE. I mixed blended oil (Olive, Coconut, Rice Bran, Palm, Castor) and lye solution in high temperature. If you do not put any options, it may be okay. You do not take time to pour when it gets trace but if you want to add color, herbs or making swirl, you have a trouble here. Saponification has to go not so fast.

I made two different soap from same soap batter, so it took time to pour the second one (picture above). The first one (picture on the right) I mixed shaved lemongrass soap to very thick soap batter and got many small air holes.



+++ UNEVEN SOAP +++
It was my laziness, I did not melt solid oil fully before mixed with lye solution. It is solved easy, DON'T BE LAZY!!

SOAP FAILURE - SODA ASH -

In my very short soap making experience and gathered information from internet, I have found some tips to avoid soap making failure. I am showing my failed soaps and consideration on them.
日本語の記事はコチラ [せっけん　失敗談　- ソーダ灰 -]

+++ SODA ASH +++
Soda ash is harmless and mostly happens on the surface of the cold process soaps.
I think controlling temperature during mixing lye and oil, through gel phase is the matter to avoid soda ash. It needs right temperature to saponify thoroughly then the soaps will be solid, smooth on the surface without soda ash.

Ash happened along pink swirl and surface

This soap is made with Olive oil 70%, Palm oil 20%, Coconut oil 10% and herbs (lemon peel and licorice etc.) and pink colorant.

To dissolve Palm oil and Coconut oil, blended oil was warmed up at 35℃ or over. And I did not let lye solution get cooler before mixing with blended oil. To make pink soap for swirl, mix pink ultramarine with small amount of blended oil and when soap batter got trace, mixed pink oil and the soap batter. It was like  thick pink oil rather than pink soap.
 Soap batter got very warm and trace quickly. Poured into mold and covered with towel, and left in the unheated oven.

Ash on surface and waved on the top (Alien Brain!)

This soap is made with Olive oil 75% Coconut oil 25% and herbs and fragrance. To dissolve Coconut oil, blended oil was warmed up and mixed with hot lye solution. It got trace within 10 mins, after poring into mold covered with towel and left in the unheated oven.


Both soaps are very solid and look good though, I want no ash and Alien Brain on my soap. Temperature Control is the key to avoid soda ash, I think.