A graphic reminder of the dangers of lye

[TeaLeavesandTweed]

You may have been working with specific chemicals that nitrile doesn't protect against in your lab. However, in most cases, nitrile gloves are more than adequate protection.

Where I work now, there are a few chemicals that require chloroprene gloves. I also know that things like methylene chloride go through nitrile. You shouldn't have to worry about most aqueous things with nitrile. The only aqueous thing that would worry me would be hydroflouric acid and you don't want to be anywhere near that anyway since its deadly.

For soap, nitrile gloves are great! They provide flexibility and protection.

This is good to know. Thanks! I have a lot of nitrile gloves around since I stopped dyeing my hair with henna, so I'm glad they won't go to waste.

And you're right about HF. I used to use some strong acids to etch metal, and when that happened we broke out the heavy duty gloves, so I was wearing three pairs of gloves! But I never used HF and for that I am glad.

 

[OliveOil2]

I love the 'Onion Goggles' which are what Soap Queen sells for soaping goggles. They are the ones she uses in her videos, I got mine on Amazon. I am more comfortable in these, and less likely to take them off, they are a snug fit, and less prone to getting fogged up. I also use a face shield from Amazon.

 

[snappyllama]

I love the 'Onion Goggles' which are what Soap Queen sells for soaping goggles. They are the ones she uses in her videos, I got mine on Amazon. I am more comfortable in these, and less likely to take them off, they are a snug fit, and less prone to getting fogged up. I also use a face shield from Amazon.

I've got onion googles too, and they are really comfortable. I actually forget I'm wearing them. The work great for cutting onions and peppers too.

 

[mandy318]

My husband works in a factory that processes dairy and he brought me home this great goggle/face shield combo, apron and gloves. I'm a newbie and have only made two batches. I wore a tank top here, but in hind sight, I think I will not do that again. Too much exposed skin.

How do most of you go about protecting yourself from lye fumes? The last batch I made the fumes were stronger than my first one--I had to step away a couple of times while mixing the lye.

 

[not_ally]

Yes, too much exposed skin for me (I would have little batter splatters all over b/c I am not good that way), but what a cool picture! You look like a soaping super-hero. I think it might be your hair

ETA: w/r/t to the lye, I add the lye to the liquid, stir it and then set it by the open kitchen window above my sink. I guess I try to do the mixing part pretty quickly so that I don't sniff too much, so far it has not been bad, and the fumes have not drifted back from the window. It doesn't stay really fume-y for that long, either. I really need to start master batching so that I don't have to deal with it every time, though.

 

[jules92207]

I've had the fumes irritate my skin even so long sleeves are a must for me, but what a cool mask shield!

 

[mandy318]

Yes, too much exposed skin for me (I would have little batter splatters all over b/c I am not good that way), but what a cool picture! You look like a soaping super-hero. I think it might be your hair

ETA: w/r/t to the lye, I add the lye to the liquid, stir it and then set it by the open kitchen window above my sink. I guess I try to do the mixing part pretty quickly so that I don't sniff too much, so far it has not been bad, and the fumes have not drifted back from the window. It doesn't stay really fume-y for that long, either. I really need to start master batching so that I don't have to deal with it every time, though.

I have very little influence over what my hair does or does not do. Putting that mask on and pushing it up on top of my head periodically when I stepped away from the soaping made it very enthusiastic looking. :shock:

 

[mandy318]

I've had the fumes irritate my skin even so long sleeves are a must for me, but what a cool mask shield!

Yeah--I was surprised by the strength of the fumes the last time I soaped. I mix my lye in my kitchen sink and there is a window just above the sink that I keep open. I may put a window fan blowing in reverse in that window next time as an added ventilation effort.

 

[galaxyMLP]

I actually put mine in the sink in the bathroom and turn on the fan. I pour my lye into my water, stir a bit (hold my breath while I do it) and close the door, and leave with the fan on. Then I start preping (or, if its my masterbatch, I go clean the dishes) to make the soap by weighing oils and such.

When I come back, most of the the lye is dissolved and the fumes are gone. I stir a little more the get the last crystals and I let it cool in the closed bathroom with the fan on. It works well for me and I know the dogs can't get anywhere near it (even though they aren't out anyway, extra protection makes me feel better.)

 

[IrishLass]

I wear onion goggles, too. I actually bought mine to cut onions, believe it or not (this was back before BB ever started selling them as soap goggles). I saw them at my local kitchen gadget store and I bought them because my eyes tear up something awful when cutting onions. Anyway, I found them to be so much more comfortable than my regular goggles that I started wearing them for mixing my lye solution and also for actual soaping.

Mixing lye is my least favorite part of soap-making, so I master-batch it 50/50 in large quantities to last me through several batches.

I mix it out in my garage, and for nose/mouth protection, I use 3 tightly-woven triple-ply cotton cloth diapers that I stack on top of each other and fold up letter-style before folding in half sideways, which makes for a wonderful multi-layered barrier to keep the fumes at bay as I am mixing. This I hold over my mouth and nose with one hand, while I mix my solution with the other hand.

Before I hold it over my mouth and nose, I take a very deep breath, and then I slowly let it out as I am mixing. If I need to take a breath (and I normally do after about a minute or so) I just breathe a little through the cloth barrier. To date, no fumes have ever penetrated through the layers when I've taken a breath through them. For what it's worth, it usually takes about 3 minutes for all my lye to dissolve.


IrishLass

 

[DeeAnna]

Keep your lye container covered, folks. Along with good ventilation and safety gear, a cover will help a LOT to keep the amount of mist released to a minimum. Mist ... meaning the visible "smoke" that rises off the lye solution when it's at its hottest. The mist contains the most lye and is the most damaging to anything it touches, including your lungs, nose, and skin.

I put a folded square of paper towel or heavy-duty waxed paper over my lye pitcher right after the lye goes in. I can continue to stir with my spatula, but most of the top is covered. After the lye is all dissolved, I just leave the pitcher covered like this until I'm ready to pour the lye into the fats. The cover gets dropped into the trash after I'm done with it.

Edit: Be sure the covering is loose, not air tight. You don't want any pressure buildup!

 

[galaxyMLP]

OH MY GOSH. You are so smart!!!!!! Will do that from now on!

 

[TeresaT]

I mix my lye on top of the stove directly under the vent with the vent (and light) turned on. I started out mixing in the sink, but the fumes nearly knocked me out. Or maybe it was holding my breath for so long... Anyway, the vent gets rid of the fumes and I don't get light headed.

 

[JayJay]

Keep your lye container covered, folks. Along with good ventilation and safety gear, a cover will help a LOT to keep the amount of mist released to a minimum. Mist ... meaning the visible "smoke" that rises off the lye solution when it's at its hottest. The mist contains the most lye and is the most damaging to anything it touches, including your lungs, nose, and skin.

I put a folded square of paper towel or heavy-duty waxed paper over my lye pitcher right after the lye goes in. I can continue to stir with my spatula, but most of the top is covered. After the lye is all dissolved, I just leave the pitcher covered like this until I'm ready to pour the lye into the fats. The cover gets dropped into the trash after I'm done with it.

Edit: Be sure the covering is loose, not air tight. You don't want any pressure buildup!

Thank you for the information- you are so helpful!

Please never go away from this forum.

 

[DeeAnna]

Teresa -- I also turn on the stove hood full blast as well as use gloves, goggles, and an abundance of caution. But my eyes were opened when I cleaned the stove hood after a year or so of soap making. I was startled to see the lye mist was gradually etching away at the metal of the hood. It doesn't seem like much mist, really, but it is so corrosive that only a little bit can do a fair amount of damage over time.

At that point I realized it was either a 2 cent paper towel cover to reduce the mist in the air ... or eventually the hassle of buying and installing a new $300 stove hood ... and this simple cover is also a good thing for protecting myself. Better to stop the problem at the source than deal with it in the open air.

 

[galaxyMLP]

My range top hood is the worst piece of kitchen equipment I've ever seen in a house before.

The hood sits over the stove (great!) and really sucks up the fumes with a strong fan (even better!) and then it spits them right back out at you with a vent that is about 1 foot above it (seriously?!?). Who came up with that??

My BF who is 6' 2" literally gets smacked in the face with any of the venting. I'm just short enough to miss (5' 4") it but it certainly means I cant use my hood for mixing lye. The fumes would end up being projected all over the house!

 

[DeeAnna]

Yeah, the person who invented those stupid recirculating stove hoods ... should be smacked. The air is supposed to go through some kind of filter that removes odors and grease fumes. Yeah. Right. roblem: Mine vents outside and does a pretty good job ... but I thought if the lye mist is doing a number on my stove hood, what will it do to my respiratory system over time? Ugh......

Once the lye solution is completely dissolved, I don't see much if any (visible) mist evolving. I'm sure there is still some (invisible) evaporation of water from the hot solution, however, which is why I leave the cover on the lye jug and keep the jug under the stove hood, but the biggest hazard is when the mist is coming up from the solution.

Edit: I want to stress again that any cover should be ~~loose~~ so pressure cannot build up inside the lye container. If you seal the container so it's air tight, the pressure created by the heated lye solution can't go anywhere. The container could burst from the pressure, spraying lye solution all over. That's far, far worse than any mist ... so Don't Do That!

 

[Sonya-m]

Teresa -- I also turn on the stove hood full blast as well as use gloves, goggles, and an abundance of caution. But my eyes were opened when I cleaned the stove hood after a year or so of soap making. I was startled to see the lye mist was gradually etching away at the metal of the hood. It doesn't seem like much mist, really, but it is so corrosive that only a little bit can do a fair amount of damage over time.

At that point I realized it was either a 2 cent paper towel cover to reduce the mist in the air ... or eventually the hassle of buying and installing a new $300 stove hood ... and this simple cover is also a good thing for protecting myself. Better to stop the problem at the source than deal with it in the open air.

Omg!! Really? I hadn't thought of it damaging the hood - I always mix my lye under my hood extractor, I won't be anymore!!

 

[DeeAnna]

Surprised me too. That said, I'd much rather have the lye mist going outdoors than staying in my house, so I'm still using the hood. (Although going outside is certainly another option.) I'm just covering the jug too, and I'm not seeing further damage. And I'm not getting any more slight whiffs of lye in the air either.

 

[IrishLass]

The hood sits over the stove (great!) and really sucks up the fumes with a strong fan (even better!) and then it spits them right back out at you with a vent that is about 1 foot above it (seriously?!?). Who came up with that??

Yeah, the person who invented those stupid recirculating stove hoods ... should be smacked.

Oh my goodness! Really? I didn't know such insane things were permitted to even exist! I'm with you- they should be smacked. Thankfully, I have the common-sense kind of hood that vents outside. I wonder if the person that invented the insane one is best friends with the person who invented the first round of those low-water flush toilets that were foisted upon us some years back- you know, the type of toilet that was meant to save on water, but actually wasted 3 or more times more water because it took about 3 or more extra flushes to completely empty the thing? Or maybe they're the same person?


IrishLass