# So annoyed with myself



## DMack (Oct 22, 2021)

My impatience got the better of me. I live in Scotland where it rains about 75% of the time. I work and have a small child. I soap outside. Today I had a work and child free day, the weather looked ok, rain due later, so I snatched my opportunity to soap but I was against the clock as wouldn’t be child free for long. Stupid. Stupid, stupid. Cos it’s wintry and very cool and I’m used to soaping outdoors I’m used to soaping cool, but my lye got really hot and I had my first volcano. I’m gutted. I know it happens, I’m more annoyed with myself for rushing and fluffing it up. and I have no idea when I can next soap 
postives : I know my mistakes, oils and lye too hot, feeling rushed. I just wanted to vent a bit. Thanks


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## SoapDaddy70 (Oct 22, 2021)

I feel your pain. I rushed through a session once and it was miserable. Had to be somewhere. Thought I could finish before I had to leave. Lye was not cooled down enough. Batter accelerated and barely had time to get it in the mold. Never again. Soaping should not be stressful. Now I make sure I have more than enough time to take it nice and slowly, listen to some music, and take my time. Lesson learned.


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## Megan (Oct 22, 2021)

Yep, something always goes wrong if I am in a time crunch to make soap. Usually if my soap session goes bad, it's either because I feel rushed or because I'm in a bad mood.


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## DMack (Oct 22, 2021)

Yeah. I should have waited. I got all excited as its rained for about a month, and it’s been busy at work and yada yada yada. No excuses. Just gutted about the waste and hoping the mould will be ok  it’s outside cooling off so I can ditch the gunk. I’ve no idea how hot it got. I use a silicon mould so they’re good to about 300 degrees so I might be lucky

I think I answered one of my many questions though. Matters not if use yellow or orange calendula petals. Turns out the same colour


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## Johnez (Oct 23, 2021)

I didn't soap last week for the exact reason your post details. The toddlers, work, and simple fact that even a carved out time slot isn't a guarantee have stymied me for almost the entire summer. :-/ I'm about to implement a time saving idea a few veterans on this forum have shared-master batching. Soapers here commonly premeasure their lye with water for future use, some masterbatch oils as well. It takes some forethought, but if you have a steady system it might make the actual soaping go smoother for you when you catch a 2 hour or so window. Perhaps simply collecting your materials and tools into a container for a planned recipe that is ready to go when your window opens up might help.


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## Tara_H (Oct 23, 2021)

There's certainly a bunch of phases it can be done in if necessary.  Working in fits and starts you can get to the point where the solid oils are measured out into one (covered) container, liquid oils in another, mica weighed, dispersed in oil or water and divided between pouring jugs, and fragrance weighed into a small sealed container.
It's not until the lye hits the oils that you really can't put the brakes on, but everything up to that point can be done in advance.  That was my general approach for a good while when I was struggling with unreliable energy levels and couldn't guarantee I'd get through it in a single pass, but the same also applies to anyone who's pressed for time.


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## DMack (Oct 23, 2021)

Thanks for the comments and tips
Really appreciate it. I’ve more oils ordered and the weather is looking good for Tuesday, it’s also back to school so I’ll have 5 hours to myself.  but I’m going to weigh out my oils the night before


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## Vicki C (Oct 23, 2021)

I think all of us have been there - our excitement gets the better of us. Lately I have tried to stop myself and say okay, what prep work can I do now that will make this go more smoothly tomorrow (or whenever the next soaportunity will be). But don’t beat yourself up, mistakes are how we learn.


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## maryloucb (Oct 23, 2021)

I generally get my lye solution and oils, colorants, essential oils ready the day before. It is much easier to do in stages for me because I’m usually trying to fit it in between a million other things!


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## Mistrael (Oct 23, 2021)

You have my sympathies. I've been wanting to soap for weeks but haven't been able to have time & energy & a migraine free day all at the same time. It gets harder to resist the temptation to say "I can do this, it will be fine" the more time passes.


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## Zany_in_CO (Oct 23, 2021)

DMack said:


> Stupid. Stupid, stupid.


Been there; done that. Join the group. 


Johnez said:


> Soapers here commonly premeasure their lye with water for future use, some masterbatch oils as well.


 When I made soap for wholesale customers, I melted all the oils for 4 batches, divided into 4 5-lb buckets with lids and stored them in the laundry room. I made my lye fresh the night before soaping and put it in the fridge, ready to soap the next morning. Set out fragrance & any additives.


Johnez said:


> Perhaps simply collecting your materials and tools into a container for a planned recipe that is ready to go when your window opens up might help.


 Everyone should have a soaping box with everything in it ready to go when needed


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## Jenna D (Oct 24, 2021)

Johnez said:


> I didn't soap last week for the exact reason your post details. The toddlers, work, and simple fact that even a carved out time slot isn't a guarantee have stymied me for almost the entire summer. :-/ I'm about to implement a time saving idea a few veterans on this forum have shared-master batching. Soapers here commonly premeasure their lye with water for future use, some masterbatch oils as well. It takes some forethought, but if you have a steady system it might make the actual soaping go smoother for you when you catch a 2 hour or so window. Perhaps simply collecting your materials and tools into a container for a planned recipe that is ready to go when your window opens up might help.


I have a question regarding master batching.  How long can you store it prior to use? I had heard you could not go past 1-2 weeks because then you have to deal with evaporation. My day job is very intense. So, I sometimes go 3-4 weeks between batches.


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## Johnez (Oct 24, 2021)

Jenna D said:


> I have a question regarding master batching.  How long can you store it prior to use? I had heard you could not go past 1-2 weeks because then you have to deal with evaporation. My day job is very intense. So, I sometimes go 3-4 weeks between batches.


If it's sealed, evaporation is not going to be a concern. 3-4 weeks definitely should be fine.


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## ResolvableOwl (Oct 24, 2021)

Premixed Lye- losing effectiveness?
					

Sadly I've been occupied and haven't made soap in months. I don't think I've made anything since January. I had mixed up some lye water in containers and sealed them but didn't use it until yesterday when I decided I was sick of seeing those two containers on my shelf and since I'm packing up...




					www.soapmakingforum.com


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## Vicki C (Oct 24, 2021)

Oh boy, I had a soap disaster this evening (right after saying we have all been there) - intended to make four pull throughs, added two FOs that have behaved in the past (but I had never mixed them), and trace accelerated like crazy, ended up doing a sloppy mixed pour into two loaf molds. Gaaaah…. I should have just done some prep work and walked away for the day.


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## KiwiMoose (Oct 24, 2021)

Get back on the horse and ride, ride, ride!  It'll be far behind you soon and just a small blip in your soaping history.


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## TheGecko (Oct 25, 2021)

Jenna D said:


> I have a question regarding master batching.  How long can you store it prior to use? I had heard you could not go past 1-2 weeks because then you have to deal with evaporation. My day job is very intense. So, I sometimes go 3-4 weeks between batches.



The reason I started MBing was because I never seemed to have time to make soap.  After work wasn’t an option and often times on the weekends, by the time I was able to carve out time to make soap…all that prep and clean up for a half hour of fun wasn’t worth it.  Which really sucked because this was something I really wanted to do.

I MB 40lbs of oils/butters. After a great start, it ended up lasting me just over six months (I fell into a funk). I made a batch in September, it’ll be gone in another couple of weeks. I use a food grade 5-gallon container and is tightly sealed when not actively making soap. I also MB my Lye Solution…ready-to-use. Food-grade gallon jugs, tightly sealed, kept in the back of my soap cart (rolling kitchen island). First time I made it, I was constantly weighing it…no evaporation, no ‘lye lint’. I do recommend that you take a paper towel dampened with distilled water and clean the cap and mouth of the jug before putting it away elsewise the lye solution dries and it gets ‘crunchy’ and could affect your seal.

I haven’t had any issues with either


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## Vicki C (Oct 25, 2021)

KiwiMoose said:


> Get back on the horse and ride, ride, ride!  It'll be far behind you soon and just a small blip in your soaping history.


Haha thank you for the encouragement. I feel like I have had a lot of blips lately.


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## DMack (Oct 26, 2021)

Vicki C said:


> Oh boy, I had a soap disaster this evening (right after saying we have all been there) - intended to make four pull throughs, added two FOs that have behaved in the past (but I had never mixed them), and trace accelerated like crazy, ended up doing a sloppy mixed pour into two loaf molds. Gaaaah…. I should have just done some prep work and walked away for the day.


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## DMack (Oct 26, 2021)

TheGecko said:


> The reason I started MBing was because I never seemed to have time to make soap.  After work wasn’t an option and often times on the weekends, by the time I was able to carve out time to make soap…all that prep and clean up for a half hour of fun wasn’t worth it.  Which really sucked because this was something I really wanted to do.
> 
> I MB 40lbs of oils/butters. After a great start, it ended up lasting me just over six months (I fell into a funk). I made a batch in September, it’ll be gone in another couple of weeks. I use a food grade 5-gallon container and is tightly sealed when not actively making soap. I also MB my Lye Solution…ready-to-use. Food-grade gallon jugs, tightly sealed, kept in the back of my soap cart (rolling kitchen island). First time I made it, I was constantly weighing it…no evaporation, no ‘lye lint’. I do recommend that you take a paper towel dampened with distilled water and clean the cap and mouth of the jug before putting it away elsewise the lye solution dries and it gets ‘crunchy’ and could affect your seal.
> 
> I haven’t had any issues with either


So you literally weigh out say 4 times your recipe, melt it and store it? If you use lard or palm as I do at about 40-60% will it solidify again? Then you just weigh out what you need and remelt? I could MB my oils but I don’t think I have anywhere I could store MB lye safely. However it would halve my prep time. Making a lye solution is quicker than sorting out the oils


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## AliOop (Oct 26, 2021)

Yup, you can do any amount of your recipe (4x, 5x, 10x) as long as you can store it properly. I had started MBing lye solution some time ago, and that was a total game-changer. If you can find a good storage spot, it is totally worth the time and effort.

Only recently did I try making a huge masterbatch of oils, and only because I had accidentally added waaayyyy too much ROE to my home-rendered tallow (or was it lard? I've blocked some of the painful details from my mind, haha). Rather than toss it, I invested in a large HDPE container with a lid and made a big MB of oils that I'm still working through. The hard oils did re-solidify, but it's a pretty homogenous gloppy mass inside the container. Before scooping it out to weigh, I do give it a good whir with the paint-stirring attachment for the drill, or just a long spatula now that the container isn't so full.

All that to say, if you are easily distracted, have only smaller windows of time to soap, or just want to create more time to soap, master-batching is AMAZING. If you like trying all different kinds of recipes, then you'll want to do only small (4x or 5x) MBs so you aren't stuck making the same thing all the time.


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## TheGecko (Oct 26, 2021)

DMack said:


> So you literally weigh out say 4 times your recipe, melt it and store it? If you use lard or palm as I do at about 40-60% will it solidify again? Then you just weigh out what you need and remelt? I could MB my oils but I don’t think I have anywhere I could store MB lye safely. However it would halve my prep time. Making a lye solution is quicker than sorting out the oils



Pretty much.  Takes me about a hour since I empty and a clean my bucket out well, then I melt and mix 10lbs at a time.  I could do it all at once, but I'm not as young as I was and would hate to have an accident and trying to clean that mess up.  LOL  And my bucket could hold another 20lbs, but 40lbs is working for me right now.

My recipe is 65% Hard Oils...Coconut and Palm Oils, and Cocoa and Shea Butters.  I store the bucket in the kitchen and even though it can get cold in the house during the Winter, it doesn't get solid...about the consistency of cornbread batter.  During the Summer...it's more like pancake batter.  I do have a commercial paint stirrer that I attach to a drill and I give it a really good stir before using it.  I have a rolling kitchen island that I use as my 'soaping cart' that I store my Lye Solution in.  If I didn't have it, I'd put the jug under the kitchen sink behind the garbage can.

I have a spreadsheet on my wall above my cart. It lists all my molds and I have columns for Oils, Lye and FO. When I want to make soap, I get out whatever mold I am using, check the spreadsheet and then weigh out my stuff. I have a ladle that holds approximately 4oz so if I need 33oz, I tare my bowl, scoop 10 ladles, weigh and take out what I don't need or add a little more in. It goes in microwave at approximately 30 seconds per pound during the winter, 20 during the summer. While that is melting, I weigh out my Lye Solution and add Sodium Hydroxide, and weigh out my FO and add Kaolin Clay.

While it's true that it takes less time to make your Lye Solution (unless you are using milks) than it is to weigh and melt your oils...you have to wait for your Solution to cool down (unless you are doing the Heat Transfer method).

I like the fact that I can come home and whip up a couple of batches of soap in about a half hour.


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## melonpan (Oct 27, 2021)

I'm looking to start masterbatching my oils soon too for the very same reason as you, @DMack - lots of good tips on this thread! 

I just wanted to add that the thing I'm finding useful lately is to use part ice, part water for the lye solution so that the waiting time shortens. I tried with half and half the last time and it was quite an improvement from my usual 30+ minutes wait. 
So if I have to weight my oils during my soaping session I would go the standard route and mix my lye first so it cools down while I do the rest, but when masterbatching the oils beforehand I'm thinking the ice+water lye solution shorthand can also save you some time if you aren't masterbatching your lye solution.


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## Zany_in_CO (Oct 27, 2021)

melonpan said:


> but when masterbatching the oils beforehand I'm thinking the ice+water lye solution shorthand can also save you some time if you aren't masterbatching your lye solution.


Well, don't you have a good head on your shoulders!   Good thinking!


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## TheGecko (Oct 27, 2021)

melonpan said:


> I just wanted to add that the thing I'm finding useful lately is to use part ice, part water for the lye solution



I started with mixing my Lye Solution the usual way...room temp DW and NaOH and waiting hours for it to cool. Then I made it the night before, but got a little bit of Lye Lint from it sitting out overnight in the garage. Then came mixing it and setting it in the sink with water, but that annoyed hubby even though there were two sinks. LOL Then came putting my DW in the frig, but that annoyed hubby as it took up extra room. Then it was frozen DW and room temp DW...until hubby used the cubes for ice tea ("How was I supposed to know they were "special"? "Uh...because they were in a bag instead of the ice bin.") Things improved once we got a separate freezer and I went to just using frozen DW with a little room temp, but when the pandemic hit Europe, I filled the freezer with food and started MBing. I use the sink again to cool down my Lye Solution before putting it in my gallon jugs, but hubby staying out of the kitchen during that hour.

It should be known that hubby is VERY supportive of my soap making...in his way.  He bought me a shelving unit and put it together (so I wouldn't use the washer and dryer).  He encouraged me to get a rolling kitchen island and put it together (no more baskets and taking up the kitchen counters).  He went out one day and bought me restaurant quality trays for curing my soap on (so I'd quit using the cookie sheets).  He reminds me to order Palm Oil on "Palm" Sunday (he's a man).  Seriously though...he really has been very supportive and encouraging.  I came home one day to find a shelf over my cart with all my colorants neatly organized on it.  Another day, it was a wall rack in the garage with all my FOs arranged by supplier with additional space for packaged soap.  He has never once said a word about how much money I have spent and he's is fully aware of how much stuff costs.


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## ResolvableOwl (Oct 27, 2021)

TheGecko said:


> order Palm Oil on "Palm" Sunday (he's a man)


 ← “face palm” emoji (ngl, I had to chuckle)


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## AliOop (Oct 27, 2021)

@TheGecko Palm Sunday 

Almost spit out my Yerba Mate


Seriously though, I love that he’s so supportive. Mine is the same, and I know I’m blessed!!


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## TheGecko (Oct 27, 2021)

AliOop said:


> Seriously though, I love that he’s so supportive. Mine is the same, and I know I’m blessed!!



Well, he should be LOL...he's a retired musician (not by choice).  Fifteen years of rehearsals, fifteen years of gigs, fifteen years of some very expensive equipment (OMG, how many rigs do you need?!?)  Fifteen years of being his (unpaid) roadie, including five years of running sound for one of the bands (also unpaid).  And even though he doesn't play professionally any more, he still gets together with friends at least twice a month to jam and since he doesn't drive anymore...I drop him off and pick him up.

But I consider myself to be very blessed because he is genuinely interested, but at the same time doesn't get overly involved...if that makes sense. He's my sounding board and will offer his opinion, but doesn't try to direct. I've been fortunate not to have made any expensive mistakes...mostly. Twice I've bought 16oz of FOs without testing first and it wasn't good. And twice I have bought some Micas without reading the descriptions only to later to find out that they weren't made for CP, but that was only a few dollars as they were on sale so they don't count. Molds...whatcha going do? Sometimes things go in different direction, sometimes things don't work out as planned. I do try to make careful, thought out purchases, but sometimes it's just cost of R&D so we're good.

We are really hoping to reno the garage next year as I would like to have a dedicated space for soap making and hubby would like to have a work area of his own.  We were going to do it last year, but with Covid the garbage company was only providing construction dumpsters at exorbitant prices and then this year, it was the cost and availability of lumber.


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## DMack (Oct 27, 2021)

TheGecko said:


> I started with mixing my Lye Solution the usual way...room temp DW and NaOH and waiting hours for it to cool. Then I made it the night before, but got a little bit of Lye Lint from it sitting out overnight in the garage. Then came mixing it and setting it in the sink with water, but that annoyed hubby even though there were two sinks. LOL Then came putting my DW in the frig, but that annoyed hubby as it took up extra room. Then it was frozen DW and room temp DW...until hubby used the cubes for ice tea ("How was I supposed to know they were "special"? "Uh...because they were in a bag instead of the ice bin.") Things improved once we got a separate freezer and I went to just using frozen DW with a little room temp, but when the pandemic hit Europe, I filled the freezer with food and started MBing. I use the sink again to cool down my Lye Solution before putting it in my gallon jugs, but hubby staying out of the kitchen during that hour.
> 
> It should be known that hubby is VERY supportive of my soap making...in his way.  He bought me a shelving unit and put it together (so I wouldn't use the washer and dryer).  He encouraged me to get a rolling kitchen island and put it together (no more baskets and taking up the kitchen counters).  He went out one day and bought me restaurant quality trays for curing my soap on (so I'd quit using the cookie sheets).  He reminds me to order Palm Oil on "Palm" Sunday (he's a man).  Seriously though...he really has been very supportive and encouraging.  I came home one day to find a shelf over my cart with all my colorants neatly organized on it.  Another day, it was a wall rack in the garage with all my FOs arranged by supplier with additional space for packaged soap.  He has never once said a word about how much money I have spent and he's is fully aware of how much stuff costs.


He’s a keeper


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## DMack (Oct 27, 2021)

Thank you all so much for the tips, advice, solidarity and support. This has become a really informative thread


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## ResolvableOwl (Oct 28, 2021)

AliOop said:


> ROE to my home-rendered tallow (or was it lard? I've blocked some of the painful details from my mind, haha)


Lard. Pretty sure. Otherwise I'd have called it “cow juice” back then, not “pig juice”.


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## DMack (Nov 1, 2021)

Yay I made soap.  the soap making gods were on my side, the clouds weren’t grey, DH at work, DS at school and I was on a half day. Totally different to last time, much more chilled and I feel a lot happier  bergamot and cedarwood, coloured with calendula I harvested and dried. Can’t wait to cut it in a couple of days


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## Zing (Nov 1, 2021)

DMack said:


> Yay I made soap.  the soap making gods were on my side, the clouds weren’t grey, DH at work, DS at school and I was on a half day. Totally different to last time, much more chilled and I feel a lot happier  bergamot and cedarwood, coloured with calendula I harvested and dried. Can’t wait to cut it in a couple of days


Good to know!  I frequently use 50/50 bergamot/cedarwood essential oils and love it.


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## Dru B. (Nov 3, 2021)

TheGecko said:


> Well, he should be LOL...he's a retired musician (not by choice).  Fifteen years of rehearsals, fifteen years of gigs, fifteen years of some very expensive equipment (OMG, how many rigs do you need?!?)  Fifteen years of being his (unpaid) roadie, including five years of running sound for one of the bands (also unpaid).  And even though he doesn't play professionally any more, he still gets together with friends at least twice a month to jam and since he doesn't drive anymore...I drop him off and pick him up.
> 
> But I consider myself to be very blessed because he is genuinely interested, but at the same time doesn't get overly involved...if that makes sense. He's my sounding board and will offer his opinion, but doesn't try to direct. I've been fortunate not to have made any expensive mistakes...mostly. Twice I've bought 16oz of FOs without testing first and it wasn't good. And twice I have bought some Micas without reading the descriptions only to later to find out that they weren't made for CP, but that was only a few dollars as they were on sale so they don't count. Molds...whatcha going do? Sometimes things go in different direction, sometimes things don't work out as planned. I do try to make careful, thought out purchases, but sometimes it's just cost of R&D so we're good.
> 
> We are really hoping to reno the garage next year as I would like to have a dedicated space for soap making and hubby would like to have a work area of his own.  We were going to do it last year, but with Covid the garbage company was only providing construction dumpsters at exorbitant prices and then this year, it was the cost and availability of lumber.


Haha! I can relate! Right now I am in the fancy guitar room at Guitar Center in Hollywood, reading the Soap Making Forum, while my musician husband plays and…what’s this? Yes, that sure is a beautiful guitar……oh, it’s coming home with us? 
He is also very supportive of my soaping, interested but not too involved, and loves giving it away to his friends.Never complains when I test out all the new fragrance oils when they get delivered.


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## Catscankim (Nov 3, 2021)

Zing said:


> Good to know!  I frequently use 50/50 bergamot/cedarwood essential oils and love it.


One of my favorite smells


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## LynetteO (Nov 3, 2021)

Zany_in_CO said:


> I made my lye fresh the night before soaping and put it in the fridge…


Why do you keep the lye solution in the fridge? Do you set it out to room temp prior to soaping?


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## DMack (Nov 4, 2021)

LynetteO said:


> Why do you keep the lye solution in the fridge? Do you set it out to room temp prior to soaping?


pardon my inexperience, you can use lye from the fridge or room temp and make soap? The heat of lye has nothing or little to do with the outcome?


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## AliOop (Nov 4, 2021)

One actually has to be careful about lye temps getting too low. If I recall correctly, below 65F is when the lye starts to precipitate out of solution. Instead of refrigerating the lye solution overnight, where the temp could get below 65F, it would be better just to leave the lye container out at room temp; it will certainly be cool enough by morning. Those of us who master-batch use room-temp lye solution all the time, and it's wonderful!

@DMack the heat of the solution doesn't have much to do with the creation of soap per se, but it will affect the speed of trace. A very cold lye solution can also cause false trace by causing some oils with high melt-points to resolidify before emulsion is reached. False trace isn't fatal to soapmaking by any means. Usually you can stick-blend through it, or just wait for the mixture to heat up and thin out from the saponification reaction.


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## ResolvableOwl (Nov 4, 2021)

@AliOop recalls correctly! She has said all that is relevant to be aware of in practice. There is no need, nor any advantage of cooling down soap-strength lye solution anywhere below room temperature. Quite the contrary.

For the overly curious, the exhausting details how NaOH in water behaves, are displayed in the _phase diagram:_




__





						Lye water will not clear - stays white ?????????
					

Hi all and TIA for any help/thoughts. My recipe calls for 20% saltwater solution. When I mix lye I use 1142 grams of the saltwater solution and 635 grams of lye crystals. (Total oils in recipe is 4571 grams, but I don't think that matters for my issue.) The lye water stays white and doesn't ever...




					www.soapmakingforum.com
				



Any attempt to cross that jagged line to the right (increasing amount of NaOH) or bottom (cooling) will be punished by NaOH not dissolving/dropping out of the solution.
A safe minimum temperature for 50% NaOH is 60°F/16°C.
If you, for whatever reason, want to keep lye close to 32°F/0°C, this won't go well with more than 30% lye concentration.


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## ScentimentallyYours (Nov 4, 2021)

ResolvableOwl said:


> @AliOop recalls correctly! She has said all that is relevant to be aware of in practice. There is no need, nor any advantage of cooling down soap-strength lye solution anywhere below room temperature. Quite the contrary.
> 
> For the overly curious, the exhausting details how NaOH in water behaves, are displayed in the _phase diagram:_
> 
> ...


Thank you, thank you for posting that link back to the behavior of sodium chloride with lye water. That explained perfectly the strange reactions I saw when making ZNSC and mixing the liquid portion. Sodium chloride did indeed precipitate out of the solution. After dumping my first solution out, I went ahead and made a batch of ZNSC before the sodium Chloride could precipitate, but while the solution was still milky, and it worked perfectly.    there is so much detailed information available on this forum if only we know where to look for it! Thank you again @ResolvableOwl !


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## LynetteO (Nov 4, 2021)

DMack said:


> pardon my inexperience, you can use lye from the fridge or room temp and make soap? The heat of lye has nothing or little to do with the outcome?


I tried a soap experiment where I made my lye solution & mixed my oils on Thursday evening & then Friday night after work I made soap. I gave my oils a 15 second burst in microwave simply because oils looked a bit sludgy. That was it. Added my room temp lye solution & sure enough batter heated nicely due to chemical reaction & the soap turned out Gr8. I even attempted to pipe some soap “icing”. Looks terrible & too sharp but it’s !


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## gww (Nov 4, 2021)

I think it looks great.
Cheers 
gww


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## Zany_in_CO (Nov 4, 2021)

LynetteO said:


> Why do you keep the lye solution in the fridge? Do you set it out to room temp prior to soaping?


Nope. I warm the oils before adding the lye solution. Works for me. Most of my soaps using this method were GM soaps for a wholesale customer.


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## Zany_in_CO (Nov 4, 2021)

ScentimentallyYours said:


> That explained perfectly the strange reactions I saw when making ZNSC and mixing the liquid portion. Sodium chloride did indeed precipitate out of the solution.


Hmmm. For some reason, I don't have that problem when making Faux Sea Water for ZNSC. I add the baking soda and sea salt to maybe a cup (?) of cold water. Stir it a bit, then nuke it until it's totally dissolved -- not yellowish. If it's not clear, then I hit it again. Then I add the rest of the quart of water and store it in the fridge where it sits until the next time I need it.

From one time to the next, I've never had it precipitate out... never even occurred to me... but then, I have been using that technique for dissolving sugar, salt and similar additives ever since I can remember.


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## ResolvableOwl (Nov 5, 2021)

@Zany_in_CO @ScentimentallyYours
Your observations both make sense: lye dramatically reduces the solubility of salt in water:





						Lye water will not clear - stays white ?????????
					

Hi all and TIA for any help/thoughts. My recipe calls for 20% saltwater solution. When I mix lye I use 1142 grams of the saltwater solution and 635 grams of lye crystals. (Total oils in recipe is 4571 grams, but I don't think that matters for my issue.) The lye water stays white and doesn't ever...




					www.soapmakingforum.com
				




Once again, the take-home message is to dissolve all additives in water, and only then the lye.


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## earlene (Nov 5, 2021)

DMack said:


> pardon my inexperience, you can use lye from the fridge or room temp and make soap? The heat of lye has nothing or little to do with the outcome?


No, the heat of the lye solution itself won't stop the oils from heating up, but it can slow and/or prevent over-heating when starting with a cool lye solution.  Soapmakers often use cooling methods to prevent milk soaps from overheating in order to not scorch the milk and to maintain a lighter-colored soap, and for preventing volcanoing in soap recipes that include additives that promote rapid over-heating.


Zany_in_CO said:


> Hmmm. For some reason, I don't have that problem when making Faux Sea Water for ZNSC. I add the baking soda and sea salt to maybe a cup (?) of cold water. Stir it a bit, then nuke it until it's totally dissolved -- not yellowish. If it's not clear, then I hit it again. Then I add the rest of the quart of water and store it in the fridge where it sits until the next time I need it.
> 
> From one time to the next, I've never had it precipitate out... never even occurred to me... but then, I have been using that technique for dissolving sugar, salt and similar additives ever since I can remember.


It's probably the high heat of nuking that makes the difference.  I almost always use boiling hot water (from my tea kettle) when dissolving sugar or salt for soapmaking.  If I were to use my microwave instead, it would be just as hot, of course, but I like my tea kettle. Another difference could be that your Tablespoon of salt was measured slightly differently than @ScentimentallyYours'  Tablespoon (level T vs heaping T, for example.)  



LynetteO said:


> I tried a soap experiment where I made my lye solution & mixed my oils on Thursday evening & then Friday night after work I made soap. I gave my oils a 15 second burst in microwave simply because oils looked a bit sludgy. That was it. Added my room temp lye solution & sure enough batter heated nicely due to chemical reaction & the soap turned out Gr8. I even attempted to pipe some soap “icing”. Looks terrible & too sharp but it’s !
> View attachment 62343


Lovely soap, indeed!  I use a beveler to remove sharp edges (they bother me, too.)  You could do the same or even just use a potato peeler to un-sharpen along the edges of the soap.


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## Basil (Feb 2, 2022)

TheGecko said:


> Pretty much.  Takes me about a hour since I empty and a clean my bucket out well, then I melt and mix 10lbs at a time.  I could do it all at once, but I'm not as young as I was and would hate to have an accident and trying to clean that mess up.  LOL  And my bucket could hold another 20lbs, but 40lbs is working for me right now.
> 
> My recipe is 65% Hard Oils...Coconut and Palm Oils, and Cocoa and Shea Butters.  I store the bucket in the kitchen and even though it can get cold in the house during the Winter, it doesn't get solid...about the consistency of cornbread batter.  During the Summer...it's more like pancake batter.  I do have a commercial paint stirrer that I attach to a drill and I give it a really good stir before using it.  I have a rolling kitchen island that I use as my 'soaping cart' that I store my Lye Solution in.  If I didn't have it, I'd put the jug under the kitchen sink behind the garbage can.
> 
> ...


I just saw this so I’m late in commenting, but the invitation to move in with me is still out there.


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