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Soap crystallisation after curing
Can someone explain the process of crystallisation of soap molecules to me?
(Sorry my background is geology, so obviously we’re not talking about the same kind of crystals here, right?)
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3 Replies
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Hello @kiwigirl71,
The crystallization of all molecules of any material are basically the same, they depend on temperature, pressure and the presence of impurities. And soap is not so different from any other material.
While it is a very large subject to discuss in a post, you can find a starting point in the following book:
- Soap Manufacturing Technology by Luis Spitz
It has a chapter on the different crystalline structures of the soap, and how they are affected by the different types of molecules, and so on and so forth.
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Thanks! I wasn’t sure if it was just some kind of soap making speak like ‘volcano effect’ or ‘dreaded orange spots’. Interesting book! Thanks for the recommendation!
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Oh and I also just realised soap = salt (of sodium) and salts have a crystalline structure aka crystals. Duh.
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