Bad Advice You Have Read on the Net about Soapmaking

[TessC]

I typically soap most recipes at room temperature, which is ~78-80F for me. It's way easier that way, I mix up my lye solution and set it aside in a safe and secure place to cool while I melt my hard oils. Once they're melted and mixed with the soft oils, I wander off to do something else until both containers are at room temp.

I doesn't work on all recipes, though. Right off the top of my head, the batch I made that was mostly lard and shea butter needed to be warmer to keep it liquid.

 

[carebear]

When working with the more traditional half soft oils recipes I love room temp as described by Tess (but then sometimes I have to warm my molds to encourage gel if it's chilly in the house) . And like her, I have to soap warmer with my high solid oil formulas (110-ish for my 75% coconut oil/25% other solid oil/butter).

 

[oldragbagger]

I have made about 15 batches. Because I am in the experimental stage, every single one of them has been a different recipe. I have soaped all of them at 100-110 degrees and it has worked every time.

 

[Guest]

I have always measured my lye in glass. Then I added it to one stainless pot with the cold water. Then poured that into my other stainless steel soap making pot. Then when ready to go into the oven, pour half back into that first stainless pot. Fewer dishes.

Well the glass bowl was great and had the wearing away word "lye" on the side in permanent marker since we had other matching bowls in the kitchen. I was quite attached to this bowl. It never let me down. It was always ready for use and didn't have to be washed between batches.

Then late one night, 2 am, after coming back from a long weekend of camping with little sleep, our shower wouldn't drain right. Well DH went after with the plunger...again. This time I had the "fix" that would work better than that stupid plunger and his temporary answer. We used that glass bowl, DH holding it while I tried to stir with one hand, with both of us with our shirts over our faces due to the fumes in a small room. He poured when it got too hot to handle but some lye had stuck to the sides. We added more.......cold water. Yup, the glass broke, in DH's hand. So much for my way better solution. Now I use a little plastic bowl recycled from my child's todller days when he'd eat his breakfast quickly to find that train on the bottle.