Soda ash...

I remember the first time soda ash appeared on a batch of soap I made. I thought I had done something horribly wrong and the soap was ruined. It's not a good feeling when you think about the money and hard work you put into the soap (this was before I used a stick blender and there was much stirring to get the soap batter to come to trace).

Before tossing it I started researching the thin white layer that had formed on the top of my soap. I was relieved to learn that the soap wasn't ruined and it was a natural reaction of unsaponified lye reacting to air. Soda ash is just sodium carbonate, you may have seen it at the store, it's also known as washing soda.

Soda ash normally washes off the first time the soap is used but it doesn't look very nice on a new bar of soap.

The Minty Loofah Foot Soap, quite a bit of soda ash formed.

There are many suggestions on preventing soda ash, some quite helpful. You can cover the soap with plastic wrap after pouring it into molds preventing air from getting to the soap. You can also lightly spray 91% isopropyl alcohol on exposed areas. I have just purchased this for the first time and plan on trying it on the next cold process soap I make.

Since the Minty Loofah Foot Soap had already formed soda ash I found that many soapers suggest steaming the soap to remove the soda ash so I gave it a try.

The Minty Loofah Foot Soap after steaming off the soda ash.

There is still a bit of soda ash on the bars but it looks quite a bit better. Steaming also made the bars a bit shiny which is kind of cool.

Hopefully I will be able to prevent soda ash from forming in the future but if not, at least I can steam most of it off of the soap. It's always nice to find helpful tips from others who have faced the same issues.