EDTA - is this the stuff

[Sonya-m]

After reading DeeAnna's experiment again with EDTA and seeing the clarity of the water I want to try it as a chelator for my hard water

Is this the right thing?

 

[not_ally]

Sonya, that looks different from mine. I have it from two sources, both say tetrasodium EDTA. One also has "NA4 Chelate" written on it.

 

[IrishLass]

Sonya- what you have there in your picture is Disodium EDTA, which is different from Tetrasodium EDTA. The difference between the 2 is that the Disodium is for use in products that have a neutral to mildly acidic pH. The best one to use in lye-based soap is the tetrasodium EDTA.

HTH!
IrishLass

 

[Sonya-m]

Thanks guys, in that case I can't seem to find it online at a decent price

 

[galaxyMLP]

What about this one? It might take a while but its free shipping!

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/261820309045?nav=SEARCH&varId=560679699797

 

[Sonya-m]

Thank you!

How much do I need to add to my soap?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

About 2% of oil weight is a good starting point

 

[Sonya-m]

Thanks TEG!

The one in that link has 86% in the title, is this ok?

 

[pamielynn]

http://www.lotioncrafter.com/tetrasodium-edta.html

 

[Sonya-m]

Thanks, unfortunately I'm in the UK so shipping would be too high

 

[LBussy]

Thank you!

How much do I need to add to my soap?

Not to intentionally contradict TEG, however I found IrishLass' approach very easy for me:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showpost.php?p=432635&postcount=19

 

[not_ally]

I second Lee, have a bottle of EDTA mixed as per IL's posts that I use in every batch.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Ah, my bad - I was thinking of sodium citrate

 

[LBussy]

Ah, my bad - I was thinking of sodium citrate

Well I think you can use EDTA up to 3%, but I did not see any decrease in efficacy going from 1% to 0.5% so I'm sticking with the lower concentration.