# same stick blender for cooking and for soap making?



## pumita (Aug 26, 2011)

Do you use the stick blender that you use for soap making for cooking as well? I'm going to make liquid soap and I don't want to buy another stick blender, but I'm a bit concerned about using it for cooking afterwards. Is there any problem with that if I clean it very well?


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## paillo (Aug 26, 2011)

no, no, no! over time the blade on the stickblender will begin to degrade, and everything will definitely taste like soap!!!

what i meant -- the stainless blade will be fine, but the plastic housing will definitely degrade over time...


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## Half Caper Farm (Aug 26, 2011)

Yuck!   :shock:


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## AmyW (Aug 26, 2011)

I use stainless steel bowls and utensils for both, but it's nearly impossible to get every tiny bit of soap from a stick blender (and if there's even a tiny bit of plastic or any other material exposed, you can't anyway) - you'd be spending a lot of time scrubbing meticulously, your time would be better spent getting a cheapy for soap making.


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## pumita (Aug 27, 2011)

*AmyW*

So the soap stuck on the stick blender wouldn't just disolve in water? 

The thing is that I just want to *try* to make liquid soap, I don't know if I will continue with soap making. So I don't want to buy another stick blender. Should I try with a wire whisk instead? Have you ever made liquid soap using a wire whisk only?
As for the stick blender and the wire whisk: They have to be made from stainless steel, right? I couldn't just use a plastic stick blender?


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## citymouse (Aug 27, 2011)

MY stick blender has a SS blade and plastic housing. It works just fine and was not expensive. I would not use my good cooking one for soaping.


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## AmyW (Aug 27, 2011)

Unless you have a 100% enclosed stainless steel shaft where no non-stainless is going to coming in contact with the soap, I wouldn't do it. The soap comes off, yes, but plastic and other materials hold the scents and you don't want your food tasting like what ever soaps you've been making. 

Cheapy plastic stick blenders work fine for soaping. Mine is also plastic ($15 from Amazon, I think walmart has one for $10) with a stainless blade and it works fine.


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## janie (Aug 27, 2011)

No!  They are fairly cheap, I keep all my soaping equipment in a large rubbermaid box, so I don't get confused.


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## carebear (Aug 27, 2011)

When I soaped in the kitchen I used the same stick blender - it had a stainless steel shaft and bell.  It just goes in the dishwasher after use so the soap all washed away.  And the fragrance oils didn't stick to the shaft, being stainless.

I suppose the FOs are not food grade, so probably not the best idea - but heck, it's soap.

I was MUCH more concerned with foods mucking up my soap, truth be told.


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## Guest (Aug 27, 2011)

No, yuck! I have a SS immersion blender for soap and a Vitamix for food. All my soaping containers are soap only. You should never eat out of something you made soap in because of the lye.


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## xyxoxy (Aug 27, 2011)

I don't think it would hurt you to share the same SB for both food and soap but they are cheap enough... why risk it? Look at Goodwill and yardsales for adeal or just get one of the $10-$15 models online or at Kmart etc.


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## carebear (Aug 27, 2011)

TikiBarSoap said:
			
		

> You should never eat out of something you made soap in because of the lye.



Yuk, maybe - but if you are a chemist, then you know that soap doesn't contain lye, and that lye is very water soluble so washing something should render it safe.  

soap doesn't contain lye.  it contains soap, glycerin, and water.


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## busymakinsoap! (Aug 28, 2011)

Apart from the fragrance sticking, I dont really see a problem with it.  
I don't use my stick blender for food but thats because I cant cook  

Although I have a set of soaping equipment, I sometimes use kitchen things in my soap making.  I love using different utensils to get different designs.

My partner complains, but - it's just soap!  We wouldnt have a problem with using soapy water to wash our utensils

Lye ofcourse is different, I have set containers for that.


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## Guest (Aug 28, 2011)

carebear said:
			
		

> TikiBarSoap said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



well the SOAP may not, but the blender sure as heck will, because the oils dont saponify immediately. It takes 12 - 24 hours for the saponification reaction to complete - and the container has to be insulated - so there will be some unreacted lye on the blender, unless you are insulating that too, which you are most likely not and leaving in the sink - making it something I would NOT want to eat off of after using. 

Besides, chemical safety and handling standards specifically state that you can not use items used in chemical processing for food - and if you are selling your soap I would be willing to bet you could get in a heap of trouble for mixing food and chemicals if you were ever inspected.


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## Sunny (Aug 28, 2011)

TikiBarSoap - so you're saying that if i leave my raw soap in my soaping bowl for a couple of days, it won't saponify because my bowl wasn't insulated? i understand what you're saying, tiki - that you don't want lye to get into your food - but that's just not going to happen, soap doesn't NOT become soap just because it's not insulated.

im not trying to jump all over you, i just disagree. lye doesn't stay lye if mixed with right amount of oils and water, as in soap.

i wouldn't use my stick blender for food because of the reasons AmyW suggested - i can never get every single little but of soap out of the inside of my stick blender. my main concern would be that my food would taste like fragrance oil!


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## Guest (Aug 28, 2011)

No, I am saying that it takes 12 - 24 hours for the reaction to complete - and typically for 100% conversion you need to insulate the container. If you just leave the stick blender in the sink, for say 2 days, yeah 99.95% of the lye will probably have reacted - but you still should not use that blender to eat from, because it is being used on chemicals. For instance, we have a lab we do with undergrads where you put tonic water in the fluorometer, and measure the fluorescent decay of the triplet state of the quinone, and even though we are only using tonic water, you cant drink the water because it is in a lab and therefore is a chemical, because it goes in the chemical cabinet. Same for your stick blender.

Its touching lye, so you can't use it for food. What if you somehow messed up the %ages - then you would not react all the lye and there would be an excess (I'm not saying this would necessarily happen, but it  could). Also, there is no way when soaping in your house to document 100% conversion. Yes, we know that the lye reacts completely, but without a thorough analysis you can't know for sure. The conversion could be 99%. Besides, you should keep all your soaping supplied in a separate cabinet, labeled, and with the msds for the lye and any other additives you use, in the event of an audit. Not like that would probably ever happen, but just like with your taxes, better safe than sorry


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## AmyW (Aug 28, 2011)

It's also possible some lye water would be on the SB that isn't mixed with some oil to saponify... kind of a stretch, but it's in that realm of things that could happen.


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## IrishLass (Aug 28, 2011)

Am I the only one that immediately cleans her stickblender after soaping by giving it a few good whirrs on high in a cup of warm, soapy water and then whirring it in clean water to rinse completey off? I could probably also whirr it in a vinegar solution for good measure. 


IrishLass  

Edited to add that I don't use it for cooking. It has a plastic bell on it and I would hate for my next dessert to taste like Green Irish Tweed or something.


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## carebear (Aug 28, 2011)

I always clean mine immediately and then put it in the dishwasher.

As for not using chemicals that are used in the laboratory for food.  Well I'm afraid that most of the folks here are soaping in their kitchens.  I was for a very long time.

And perhaps you would be surprised to read that soap is not really regulated in the US.  But you can research that.

And I reiterate that lye is extremely water soluble.

No one is going to kill themselves, or even hurt themselves from using their stick blender for soap, washing it, and then using it in food.  Might get some yucky taste in your food but that's about it.


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## nattynoo (Aug 28, 2011)

I wash mine immediately after trace. My stick blender is IMMACULATE!! There ain't a single trace of soap on that SS Braun baby. 
AND I use it for cooking...faint. :shock:  :shock:


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## carebear (Aug 28, 2011)

I might also add that I use food grade lye. and food grade oils...

I've got a long history in chemistry - in school and professionally.  Not saying it's not good to follow those lab rules - I certainly do at work - but a healthy dose of reality never hurt anyone.


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## AmyW (Aug 28, 2011)

I reread my post and I'm scratching my head, no idea where that came from LOL I got maybe 2 hours sleep last night and was posting pre-coffee, we'll blame that. 

_but a healthy dose of reality never hurt anyone_
I wish that were always true!


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## carebear (Aug 29, 2011)

TikiBarSoap said:
			
		

> and typically for 100% conversion you need to insulate the container.


where'd you get that?


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