Sunday, March 7, 2010

Soda Ash Goblins

*sigh*

There must be something environmental that's causing MAJOR soda ash on my soaps lately. I've done everything possible to prevent it, but the ash has been showing up 3-5 days into curing.

Every. Single. Time.

I'm frustrated and wondering what the hell I'm going to do now. I've thought about moving the curing rack somewhere else, but because I don't know what's causing the ash, I don't know where to move it.

Batches and batches of beautiful soap ruined.

4 comments:

Jennifer Young said...

Sooo sorry to hear about that.... do you have any idea how to prevent it? Is there any way you can slice it off? Or live with it? Why does it occur? My latest 2 batches are slighly whiter and dryer on top... is that the soda ash you are referring to? Good luck. xo Jen

The Morbid The Merrier said...

Yeah, that would be it. It doesn't hurt the soap, and on some, it gives a really rustic, cool look. On THESE, however, looks baaaad. On my last 2 batches, I left the soap covered with Saran Wrap in the molds for an extra 12 hours. One of them has been curing on the rack for 3 days, and nothing yet. Maybe that's the key... keeping them protected from whatever environmental is going on around here BEFORE they ever hit the rack.

Dreaming Tree Soapworks said...

Soda Ash can be caused by a couple of different things, sometimes it might be the colorant or fragrance oil, others it may be the soap cooling down to fast in the mold (sometimes keeping the saran on it longer helps) and sometimes it has to do with the ambient humidity... only sure fire way I know to beat is is to add a wee bit of beeswax to the batch, but some people object because that no longer makes there soaps non-vegan friendly. So insulate the molds well, keep in covered, and sometimes roll with it dusting the tops with mica is always a good cover up! Good luck in future batches!

Joanna Schmidt said...

I personally hope for ash.