Can lye/milk soloution be mixed ahead of time?

[ackosel]

Can I mix lye with milk hours ahead of soapmaking? I've read that some people mix their lye soloutuon far enough ahead for it to come to room temperature before using it, and I'm wondering if that will work with milk as the liquid. Whenever I've mixed lye with milk, the resulting solution thickened considerably compared to a water/lye solution. Is it a bad idea to mix it ahead?

 

[dmcgee5034]

I would think this would be a bad idea, as the lye will have more time to react with the fats in the milk. I’ve needed to smooch my milk/lye solution through a strainer because of this - it gets really thick. Hopefully others will weight in with a more sophisticated science based reply, but I’d stick to MB lye with liquids that don’t have fats in them.

 

[ackosel]

I would think this would be a bad idea, as the lye will have more time to react with the fats in the milk. I’ve needed to smooch my milk/lye solution through a strainer because of this - it gets really thick. Hopefully others will weight in with a more sophisticated science based reply, but I’d stick to MB lye with liquids that don’t have fats in them.

Thank you. That was my thought, too, but I wanted to ask anyway. Sometimes answers surprise me!

 

[Ford]

I second @dmcgee5034 comments. mix mine while oils are cooling. One of the few times. My lye and oils are about same temp. I've also gotten some sediment from mixing. Avj to far in advance. Always use a strainer when I add my lye solution. No matter the fluid used.

 

[ackosel]

I second @dmcgee5034 comments. mix mine while oils are cooling. One of the few times. My lye and oils are about same temp. I've also gotten some sediment from mixing. Avj to far in advance. Always use a strainer when I add my lye solution. No matter the fluid used.

Thank you. I'm glad I asked before I ran that experiment!