Oil on the surface

by Kathreen
(Greece)

I have made my first Bunch using the hot process and i left my soaps to cure in a dry place. The first days i notice Oil on the surface of my bars. Is that normal? It will go in time when the curring process has done after 6 weeks?

I dont think that i have done something wrong in my recipe (i use the soapcalc).

Thanks a lot for your time!

Answer:

I'm not sure if you mean that the soap has seperated in the mold (a greasy layer sitting on top of the soap) of if you mean small beads of oil seem to be appearing on the cut bars after the cure time has started.

If the bars are developing what looks like little beads of oil on the surface, it's probably actually moisture settling on the bars. Curing soap needs to be stored in an area that is cool and dry. By this I mean the air is dry and preferably with some air flow. This will help to take away any of the moisture that is evaporating out of the soap bars.

If oil has seperated out of the soap while in the soap mold when it is insulating it can be due to a few reasons.

*The soap was poured too soon into the soap mold before the soap reached trace.

*The temperature of the soap dropped too quickly in the soap molds.

*Some fragrance oils do not work very well with the cold process method and can seperate out.

*Not enough lye for the amount of oils used...usually a case of mismeasuring.

Good luck,
Cathy