Another newbie question, please help

[pluto1969]

Hey, I have just made my first soap. Castille. I'm not sure I poured it into its primary mold when I was suposse to. The trailings were difficult to spot, especially because I've never seen one before.

So the soapmaking book I have says I need to put the liquid soap mixture into a primary mold and immediately put a lid on it. But then it says to wrap the primary mold in an insulator. I'm not exactly sure what they meant by this so I wrapped it up a bunch of times in plastic wrap and then wrapped it in a towel. Wrong? Please help

Also since this is the first time I have ever used lye I am really paranoid about it. Firstly, is it possible that if some of the caustic soap mix solution splashed on to something even if I cleaned the thing it splashed with regular soap and hot water it can hurt someone? Also how can I be sure my soap is not caustic and won't burn me when I use it.

Any help will be much appreciated. Thank you so much

 

[Lucy]

I sounds like you insulated good. A lid, towel or blanket are all good.

As long as you cleaned your soap area well with a lot of water you should be fine. You can also spray areas after with a white vinegar solution to neutralzie anything left on surface.

 

[Soapmaker Man]

Test it with the ole "tongue test!" After you leave it set in the mold and after you cut the soap, simply place your tongue to the soap and see if it zaps back. The "zap" is kind of like touching a 9 volt battery to your tongue. If you feel a little "tingle" it could be lye heavy. It is imperative that we always weigh all ingredients with a good digital scale. The smaller the batch, the more accurate you need to be. I weigh test batches to the 1/10 of a gram. Try the tongue test in a day or so.

Paul.... :wink: