Strange colors of my soap

by V.M
(CA)

Last night I made my new batch of soap. I have included almond oil 3.79%, avocado oil 0.91%, coconut oil 25.99%, grape seed oil 9.05%, olive oil 36.56%, palm oil 23.06%, bees wax 0.64%.

My mistake I guess is adding 9 tablespoons of Chamomile flower & white Bentonite clay instead of 9 teaspoons in 9 lb.

The soap I added in big cardboard mold changed to dark green with white stains all around it. (I guess the white stain is because of the humidity.) As there wasn't enough room I left a small amount of soap in a bucket which looks good. It is light green. But my problem is the color of the big mold. It looks terrible. Is it safe to use?

Thanks for your attention

Answer:

It's a bit hard to tell but either the soap in the cardboard had a partial gel with the outside rim cooling too quickly or you simply have soda ash on top of the soap. This will look like a white powdery bloom sitting on top of the soap. If it is soda ash, just cut the top of the soap off. The soap underneath should be fine. A partial gel will be fine as well. You may find the edges a bit crumbly from cooling too quickly but you can cut that away if you like as well.

The soap in the bucket probably didn't gel and that would account for the colour difference. Gelled soap will be a different colour than non-gelled soap.

Once you cut into the gelled soap you will probably find the colour to be a bit better under the bloomed top and away from the crumbly edges.

Whether it is safe to use or not will not depend on the soaps colour. As long as you used the correct ratio of lye to oils in the recipe and no seperation has occurred, it should be fine. If in doubt you should test the soap before using it.

Cathy