In the Soap Pan

• The batter will not trace.

  You may have not yet stirred long enough, or you may have mismeasured.

• The batter is chunky.

  The soap has seized, probably due to the addition of fragrance or essential oils. It could also be due to widely different temperatures when you mixed the lye solution with the oils.

• The mixture has separated.

  You have not stirred enough.

• The batter looks curdled.

  The soap may be on the way to seizing, or you're not stirring with a firm enough hand.

• There are specks of pigment that I can't blend.

  You didn't blend them well enough when you added them. Try breaking them up as well as you can.

• There are streaks around the fragrance or essential oil I added.

  Stir the oil very well to dissipate any streaking.

• The oatmeal sinks to the bottom.

  You added the oats before the soap had traced enough. Keep stirring until you achieve a heavier trace.

In the Mold

• Lye water is floating on top of an oily mass.

  You didn't stir well enough. Pour it back into the pan and stir to full trace.

• Oil is floating on top of a saponified mass.

  You may have mismeasured. Stir it well again and wait to see if it separates again.

• Mounds of soap batter won't lie flat.

  The soap has traced heavily. Try smoothing it out as much as you can.

• Bubbles are coming up and making holes in the surface.

  You've incorporated air while blending with the hand blender.

• A thick crust of lye crystals is on top of the soap.

  You've greatly mismeasured and the soap is lye-heavy. You can't save this one, so prepare it for storage until you can take it to a hazardous materials cleanup site.

After Unmolding

• I can't get the soap out of the mold.

  You may have not waited long enough.

• The block of soap is leaking essential oil.

  You've added too much essential oil. It will leak out of the cut bars. This usually isn't a serious problem, but if you are sensitive to the oil, it could be. This is a good candidate for hand milling.

• The block of soap is leaking causticlye solution.

  You've mismeasured and the soap is caustic. Prepare it for disposal.

• The block of soap is sparkly and crusty.

  The batch is lye-heavy and not usable. Prepare it for disposal.

After Cutting

• The soap is crumbly and has sparkly patches.

  The soap is lye-heavy and should not be used.

• There are white streaks that do not leak or sparkle.

  This could be from incomplete stirring of fragrance oils or colorant. This is only an aesthetic problem.

After Curing

• The soap is still soft after three weeks.

  You have probably mismeasured, adding too much water or too much oil.

• The soap is brittle.

  The soap is lye-heavy, and you shouldn't use it.