# Soaping From Room Temperature



## GreenAcreHomestead (Jan 19, 2017)

Does anyone have experience with soaping from room temperature? Mainly meaning, using lye water that is at an ambient temperature and not warm/hot?

If so, what was your process like? Can you melt the oils, mix the cool lye water, then soap from there or are there issues that would present?

Thanks!


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## Cactuslily (Jan 19, 2017)

I usually soap at room temp. While lye water is cooling, I add my hard butters together, melt them, then add liquid oils, which bring down temp of heated hard butters.


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## GreenAcreHomestead (Jan 19, 2017)

But at what temp is your lye water when you add it to your oils?


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## shunt2011 (Jan 19, 2017)

I've been soaping at RT for years now.   I masterbatch my lye generally.  If not I make it the night before.   Then I just melt my hard oils/butters, add my liquid and off I go a soaping.  I measure out 10-12 batches at a time.


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## 45parallelsoapco (Jan 19, 2017)

I am not sure what the temperature of the lye water is - i don't think it matters (?)
I melt my hard oils with the lye water - i measure my hard oils into one container.  liquid oils into another.  I mix my water and lye and once it is dissolved, I add it to the hard oils.  It melts it in a few minutes, then I add my liquid oils.  SB, just a bit, then add my fragrance or EO.  SB again, usually til medium trace, then pour into my mold.  

I also do not let my soaps gel.  I stick them in the fridge and pop them out the next day.  The only time they stay in longer then one day is if i use my 7% SF recipe.  That is when i use the lye water that has been in the fridge all night cooling down.

If you ever decide to make whipped bar soap, i will tell you my method for that too!


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## Gerry (Jan 19, 2017)

The only issue I can think of is if your lye is much cooler than the temperature at which your oil needs to be to stay clear.  The lye water could cause the harder oil/wax to solidify and lead to a weird or false trace.  This would be especially true if you're using beeswax or something like that in your oils.


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## shunt2011 (Jan 19, 2017)

Gerry said:


> The only issue I can think of is if your lye is much cooler than the temperature at which your oil needs to be to stay clear. The lye water could cause the harder oil/wax to solidify and lead to a weird or false trace. This would be especially true if you're using beeswax or something like that in your oils.


 
I have never had an issue with it ever.  I've used beeswax, cocoa butter, mango butter, high CO and never false trace.  I just make sure my hard oils/ butter are melted clear.   Of course you need to know your own personal recipe inside and out.


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## Gerry (Jan 19, 2017)

shunt2011 said:


> I have never had an issue with it ever.  I've used beeswax, cocoa butter, mango butter, high CO and never false trace.  I just make sure my hard oils/ butter are melted clear.   Of course you need to know your own personal recipe inside and out.



I'm sure it depends on the initial temperature of your oils as well.  I've always soaped "on the edge" when I need lots of working time, like 2 degrees cooler and my oil would be cloudy before putting in the lye.  Adding lye water 10 degrees cooler than that temperature may not be a great idea (at least that's my theory! Hahaha!).


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## GreenAcreHomestead (Jan 19, 2017)

Very cool to hear.  I masterbatch my oils (I have a set oil recipe for 95% of my soaps), but had not thought of doing the same with lye.  Thanks!!


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## cmzaha (Jan 19, 2017)

shunt2011 said:


> I've been soaping at RT for years now.   I masterbatch my lye generally.  If not I make it the night before.   Then I just melt my hard oils/butters, add my liquid and off I go a soaping.  I measure out 10-12 batches at a time.





shunt2011 said:


> I have never had an issue with it ever.  I've used beeswax, cocoa butter, mango butter, high CO and never false trace.  I just make sure my hard oils/ butter are melted clear.   Of course you need to know your own personal recipe inside and out.


I do exactly the same as above. It is still going to heat up when you mix your oil and lye together


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## GreenAcreHomestead (Jan 19, 2017)

Perfect, perfect!  This will make soaping after work & dinner so much easier!


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## Dahila (Jan 19, 2017)

3 years ago someone said about RT here, and from that day I go down to 33 pr 34 celsius if I can get away with that lows,  Usually I do.  Lot's of time to do swirls and designs


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## Gerry (Jan 19, 2017)

Dahila said:


> 3 years ago someone said about RT here, and from that day I go down to 33 pr 34 celsius if I can get away with that lows,  Usually I do.  Lot's of time to do swirls and designs



33 to 34 Celsius, even in winter? For a Canadian you keep a pretty warm house! :mrgreen:

I often soap as low as 26°C, but the hardest oils I use these days are CO and lard.


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## Dahila (Jan 19, 2017)

Gerry said:


> 33 to 34 Celsius, even in winter? For a Canadian you keep a pretty warm house! :mrgreen:
> 
> I often soap as low as 26°C, but the hardest oils I use these days are CO and lard.



RT is not exactly Room temperature, it is the lowest temp that your coconut will not harden.  33 i think is the lowest for me.  I warm them up 5 min in microwave, then go upstairs to have two cups of coffee when I come downstairs mix lye it goes to cold water , but lye cools very fast , In mean time I just prepare all my additives.  I have 20 at day and night goes down to 17 :lolno:
Garry really 26? Coconut will stay liquid at this but lard? give me the temp for lard so maybe I could have another cuppa


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## Gerry (Jan 19, 2017)

Dahila said:


> RT is not exactly Room temperature, it is the lowest temp that your coconut will not harden.  33 i think is the lowest for me.  I warm them up 5 min in microwave, then go upstairs to have two cups of coffee when I come downstairs mix lye it goes to cold water , but lye cools very fast , In mean time I just prepare all my additives.  I have 20 at day and night goes down to 17 :lolno:
> Garry really 26? Coconut will stay liquid at this but lard? give me the temp for lard so maybe I could have another cuppa



I have some lard that I rendered that's liquid at 20!  But the lard I'm buying seems to stay clear at 26 as long as it's mixed in well with the bulk of my lighter oils while it's nice and warm.  But I know I'm right on the edge because I've forgotten it and have had it cloud up on me more than once when it got a little cooler than this.

It's very interesting how you keep track of time and oil temperature by the number of cups of coffee you've had.  It takes a lot of soaping experience I would think to do that... a lot of coffee drinking experience too! 

I keep my house at 23°C.  My excuse is that if I keep it much cooler my CO is harder to get out of the pail! Hahaha


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## mx5inpenn (Jan 19, 2017)

I melt all my hard oils together until barely clear then add liquid oils. My lye is masterbatched and kept on a shelf in my unheated garage in NW PA. I bring it in first, then gather the rest of my supplies, mix colors, line mold, melt and mix oils. The temp in my house is typically 70 in the winter. The lye solution is still pretty cool when it's added the the oils. The reaction with the oils begins almost instantly and it warms up quickly. I've never gotten false trace either.


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## TeresaT (Jan 19, 2017)

I soap at room temp (which depends on the weather).  In the winter it's harder to do since the hard oils have all solidified. In the summer my lard is nearly liquid since I don't have central air conditioning and it's hot in Tennessee. My lye solution is a 50% master batch that I add my extra liquid to.  That causes it to warm up a bit.  I heat the hard oils up until half of it is melted then I let the residual heat melt the rest of them (stirring helps) before adding the soft oils.  I quit checking the temperature of either the oils or the lye solution about a year ago. If the containers are comfortable to touch, then they're the right temperature to combine to make soap.  So far that has worked well for me.  I haven't had any volcanoes or separation (except for the one time I made a 5# batch using honey and goat milk.  I had never made a large batch like that before and it overheated and separated.  I don't think I SBd long enough, though.)


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## Gerry (Jan 19, 2017)

mx6inpenn said:


> The lye solution is still pretty cool when it's added the the oils. The reaction with the oils begins almost instantly and it warms up quickly. I've never gotten false trace either.



My reaction never goes quickly when I soap at near true RT, but I think that's the point because I want it to go slow.  Perhaps it depends on the mix of oils used.


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## Dahila (Jan 19, 2017)

Lard will slow the trace,


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## Gerry (Jan 19, 2017)

Dahila said:


> Lard will slow the trace,



So will OO.  But I know you already know that! But here's the real test... now how many coffees worth is the difference between a 10% OO and 60% OO recipe trace time when soaped at 32 degrees Celsius with the balance in CO?  *kidding*

The scary thing is that you probably really know this! :mrgreen:


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## TDS (Jan 20, 2017)

I soap close to room temp. I usually lose patience around 85 degrees. I haven't had a problem with false trace either.


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## Lunnamoon (Oct 11, 2017)

All the books and sights I have seen said to soap at 120f-130f I soap at 120 f lye water and 130 for my oils.


I did a soap yesterday my lye  at 98f and oils wet 120 it was was really soft when I cut it .has any one else had that is isue


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## lenarenee (Oct 11, 2017)

Lunnamoon said:


> All the books and sights I have seen said to soap at 120f-130f I soap at 120 f lye water and 130 for my oils.
> 
> 
> I did a soap yesterday my lye  at 98f and oils wet 120 it was was really soft when I cut it .has any one else had that is isue



It wasn't the temps that caused the soft soap. If you share your recipe, we'll check it out - I highly suspect that it's a couple of possibilities: recipe with lots of liquid oils, didn't gel (which is not a problem, it just speeds up saponification) or this recipe simple needs more time to set up before cutting.

But your recipe will help us determine the cause. Also, your soap should be fine barring any mistake with the formula or ingredients.


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## shunt2011 (Oct 12, 2017)

Lunnamoon said:


> All the books and sights I have seen said to soap at 120f-130f I soap at 120 f lye water and 130 for my oils.
> 
> 
> I did a soap yesterday my lye at 98f and oils wet 120 it was was really soft when I cut it .has any one else had that is isue


 
It's not the temperature that caused this.  It could be several different things.  As stated, post your recipe and we can help trouble shoot.


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## divinegoddessoaps17 (Oct 12, 2017)

I always soap at room temperature - gives me more time to do my swirls!


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## jcandleattic (Oct 12, 2017)

I masterbatch both my lye, and my oils and soap at room temp. I could not tell you what the actual temp I soap at, because it depends on the ambient temp of the room at the time. (so somewhere around 75-80 degrees maybe?) Sometimes I do zap my oils in the microwave because they become slushy in the winter time, but never put them in the microwave for more than 30-45 seconds, so they never get that warm - just enough to liquify the oils from being slushy. 



> Originally Posted by *Lunnamoon*
> All the books and sights I have seen said to soap at 120f-130f I soap at 120 f lye water and 130 for my oils.
> 
> 
> I did a soap yesterday my lye at 98f and oils wet 120 it was was really soft when I cut it .has any one else had that is isue



As others have said, it wasn't the temp of your oils/lye combo but most likely something else. 
When soaping at room temp, sometimes you need to insulate to get the soap to gel. Did your soap gel? If not that will keep soap soft a little longer than if you gelled your soap. 
Also as others suggested, if you post your recipe, we'd be better able to diagnose the problem.


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## Lunnamoon (Oct 17, 2017)

I always wrape my mold 2x with old swetters .i soap in the morning and let them sit for overnight them cut them the next day .

My soaps are 40% olive oil,42% coconut oil,6%shea,6%mango ,6%coco butter,
I always fun the recipe threw a bramble berry calculator


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## maxine289 (Oct 17, 2017)

Sometimes there's as much as 20 or 30 degrees difference between my lye water and my oils.  the lye is often around 77 degrees because I make it the night before and leave it to cool, and the oils can be 110  degrees or more because I've melted them in the microwave just prior to mixing with the lye water.  I've never had a problem combining at those temps and have never experienced false trace.  the soap comes out fine.


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## Lunnamoon (Oct 24, 2017)

Thank you for all the tips  every one.


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## cherimuskiet (Jan 29, 2019)

45parallelsoapco said:


> I am not sure what the temperature of the lye water is - i don't think it matters (?)
> I melt my hard oils with the lye water - i measure my hard oils into one container.  liquid oils into another.  I mix my water and lye and once it is dissolved, I add it to the hard oils.  It melts it in a few minutes, then I add my liquid oils.  SB, just a bit, then add my fragrance or EO.  SB again, usually til medium trace, then pour into my mold.
> 
> I also do not let my soaps gel.  I stick them in the fridge and pop them out the next day.  The only time they stay in longer then one day is if i use my 7% SF recipe.  That is when i use the lye water that has been in the fridge all night cooling down.
> ...


I haven't made whipped soap yet, but I think I will.  Would like to see the hype about it.


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## Dahila (Jan 30, 2019)

Gerry said:


> So will OO.  But I know you already know that! But here's the real test... now how many coffees worth is the difference between a 10% OO and 60% OO recipe trace time when soaped at 32 degrees Celsius with the balance in CO?  *kidding*
> 
> The scary thing is that you probably really know this! :mrgreen:


probably another huge cup of cappuccino


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