Liquid on top

by Jack Wang
(Victoria, BC, Canada)

Thanks Cathy and Vinitha for some very very useful advice; my latest batch has turned out great (not seeing any soda ash and no funny liquids on top). I vented the mold several times, which didn't allow it to gel much, but I don't really care at this point. It was hard to believe at first, but this new mold certainly holds heat very well--almost too well.

For anyone interested, this is a castile soap with a bit of kaolin and some calendula for swirl. It took quite a while to trace, but when it did, it almost went straight from light trace to thick trace (I believe it's because of a higher soaping temperature of around 100-105F) and rather vigorous stirring.

p.s. I wanted to add a photo but couldn't without starting a new topic.