Soap Volcano & Cracking: What To Do?

Sabun Meretak dan Bagaikan Gunung Berapi. Nak Buat Apa?

I had just experimenting putting my cold process soap under 'heat pressure' because i wanted to see what was all this fuss about volcano about ( never really go through it myself, only read about it) and the results was mind blowing. I was literally running around getting excited because i saw my first 'volcano'. So now after the experiment, i can easily tell you guys what not to do so that you don't go through this extreme conditions:-)

Kami di soap lab baru sahaja try experiment baru dimana sabun cold process yang dibuat telah diletakkan dalam situasi yang extreme untuk melihat bagaimana soap 'volcano' terjadi. So lepas ni pastikan sabun yang you buat benda ini tidak terjadi. Seriously membazir sangat sangat

What is soap volcano? Sabun bagaikan gunung berapi. Apa itu?

Its basically when soap is put into the mold, left for few minutes and the soap start expending from inside and rising out of the mold. It looks like its oozing out of the mold. You can take a look at this video below that i managed to take before it overflowed. It was so cool and a little disgusting too! 

Jika you melihat video dibawah, you akan sedar yang sabun yang kita buat bagaikan keluar dari dalam seperti gunung berapi. Memang sayang sangat bila sabun jadi macam ni sebab dah tak cantik dan kekadang dah tak boleh digunakan sebab melimpah-limpah keluar.

How this happens? Bagaimana ini berlaku?

Usually overheating is the cause of this to happen. Other reason why this would happen is when the surface of the soap becomes hard faster than inside of the soap, resulting in cracking. Its usually common in cold countries and very seldom it happens in Malaysia (the volcano) due to our heat and humidity. It wasnt until i had put the soap under extreme condition that i got the volcano effect.

Selalunya perkara ini berlaku kerana sabun terlebih panas. Retakan pulak berlaku apabila permukaan sabun lebih cepat kering daripada dalam sabun. Selalunya benda ini (kes seperti gunung berapi) terjadi di tempat yang sejuk dan amat jarang berlaku di tempat yang panas seperti di Malaysia ini.

How did i do the experiment? Bagaimana experiment dibuat?

1. heated up both the oil and lye solution to 100 degrees before mixing them. Panaskan minyak dan lye solution ke 100 darjah. 

2. Mixed the oil and lye to trace. Campur minyak dan lye (sodium hydroxide) solution.

3. Pour into mold. Masukkan ke dalam acuan

4. Waited for 30 minutes. Tunggu selama 30 minit.

And the results: tada! Apa yang terjadi? Sabun 'bergunung berapi'

So how to prevent this from happening to my beautiful soaps? Bagaimana untuk menghalang benda ini terjadi keatas sabun saya? 

1. To avoid volcano effect: Untuk menghalang 'gunung berapi'

Make sure the lye solution and oils are in room temperature when you mix them. A lot of times i would just add the lye solution while its still hot into the oil mixtures. So far touch wood nothing happened but to totally be safe; wait till its cooled down slightly before mixing with the oil mixture.

Pastikan minyak dan lye solution adalah dalam keadaan suhu bilik sebelum campur.

2. To avoid cracking. Untuk mengelakkan retakan

-Wrap the surface of your soap with cling wrap the first few hours so that the surface doesn't dry up faster than the inside of the soap. Make sure you remove it after few hours or your soap will not solidify and heat will be trapped inside.

-Keep soap in more airy area.

-Make sure the temperature of the soap is almost similar to room temperature.

-balut permukaan acuan dengan plastik atau tuala beberapa jam untuk mengelakkan sabun di permukaan menjadi kering lebih cepat dari dalam dan menyebabkan retakkan. Namun demikian pastikan plastik atau tuala dikelurkan selepas itu kerana cp soap tidak akan mengeras.

If these still happens can i still use my soap? Bolehkah saya menggunakan sabun jika ini berlaku?

Yes its completely safe to use. Only thing is its aesthetically ugly so if you want to use for yourself its fine but selling; Nah!

Iya. Sabun masih selamat digunakkan. Hanya ianya tidak lagi cantik.

How to fix it? Bagaimana nak betulkan keadaan ini?

You can always rebatch your soap if this happens. Of course your soap wouldnt look as gorgeous as initially but at least you can still use them rather than throwing them out. If your soap is still 'wet' you can try to follow this tutorial on how to rebatch using the hot process method. Hardly takes 30mins. 

Anda boleh memasak sabun ini dengan mengunakkan cara hot process seperti tutorial ini.

Hope this helps:-0