First lye accident

[lngrid]

I read on another thread about your first batch after this accident. I'm glad your hand healed. I hope you have feeling in those spots again.

I use the granules and something weird happened. I measure my lye in a plastic container on a plastic scale I place at the back of my stove-top because that's directly under my range hood fan. This time I ran short of lye so I placed the container holding the lye I had measured directly onto the metal stove-top for stability and toddled off to the hardware store to get more. I also left the range hood fan running for extra ventilation. When I got back I put the container back onto the scale, opened the new jar of lye and slowly began to pour it in. I saw the tiniest of the granules flying OUT of the container in random directions! I wear glasses, so I bent down to the level of the stove and watched them pour out of the jar then fly away from the container, as if repelled by an opposite electrostatic charge! I finished the pour because I was in the safest place in my home for working with lye, but the tiny granules were all over my stove. Everywhere. Even beneath the burner pans. I set everything carefully aside, took apart the whole top of my stove and washed it with vinegar.

Has anyone had that happen? I'm not afraid of lye but I don't like it escaping supervision like that. What do you think happened and what can I do to prevent it in the future? I have noticed that my lye cakes up a bit after opening. Could that be part of it? I'm boggled by this one.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Has anyone had that happen? I'm not afraid of lye but I don't like it escaping supervision like that. What do you think happened and what can I do to prevent it in the future? I have noticed that my lye cakes up a bit after opening. Could that be part of it? I'm boggled by this one.

Plastic container + lye = static (quite often, but not always)
I have found that this occurs more often when the air is dry rather than humid.

Wipe the OUTSIDE of the lye container with fabric softener before opening.

 

[Overthemoon]

I have had that happen. I now don't measure my lye until right when I am about to use it so it doesn't sit around outside of it's jar.

And thanks by hand is doing pretty well, the patches are rising so it may all heal without crevasses, which is great.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

I have had that happen. I now don't measure my lye until right when I am about to use it so it doesn't sit around outside of it's jar.

And thanks by hand is doing pretty well, the patches are rising so it may all heal without crevasses, which is great.

Robyn, if the infection has cleared up and you are no longer using the ointment, Rosehip oil will help the tissue regenerate. I got some teeny splashes of raw soap on my cheek not too long ago. Fortunately the skin was not broken but the spots burned like mad. Rosehip oil sorted it in less than a day and there is absolutely no trace of the burns.

 

[loveit_latherit]

Glad you are doing better with your burn Robyn! I was just thinking about you yesterday and was wondering how you were. Good luck to a lye free incident future

 

[Overthemoon]

Thank you both. I'm going to pick up rosehip oil on my next day off. Right now I am using aloe vera.

 

[carebear]

Has anyone had that happen? I'm not afraid of lye but I don't like it escaping supervision like that. What do you think happened and what can I do to prevent it in the future? I have noticed that my lye cakes up a bit after opening. Could that be part of it? I'm boggled by this one.

Plastic container + lye = static (quite often, but not always)
I have found that this occurs more often when the air is dry rather than humid.

Wipe the OUTSIDE of the lye container with fabric softener before opening.

also, giving the container (closed tightly!!!) a hard, sharp rap with the handle of a knife or some such thing will help dispel it as well.

 

[lngrid]

Thanks, MagiaDellaLuna, Overthemoon and Carebear the wonderful tips. You guys are the reason I have the signature I do. And I love how supportive SMF is. The only reason I haven't been posting here is because I'm addicted to soaping. OMG! I've been soaping in tiny batches, but my house is still filled with more soap than I can give away. I've made dish soap and laundry soap, too.

I know someone out there is cackling in recognition of a kindred soul. *giggle*

 

[Ceri]

Hi Overthemoon, I hope your burn heals well and quickly..poor you.

Leaping back a page, I too am left handed and have a pet (my tortie & white cat named Elfin) must be something in the water...

 

[evatgirl73]

Overhtemoon, I am so sorry and glad you're healing... wishing you continued fast healing!!!! Scary!

I measure my lye in a plastic container, and wiping the container I'm pouring into (inside) with a dryer sheet helps tremendously. Some days are worse than others, I'll have to try wiping the outside of the lye container as well!

 

[Overthemoon]

Thanks Cera and evatgirl73. Alway check the jar before you carry it anywhere. This was the only time it wasn't properly sealed for me, and it mattered.

 

[djk17]

glad you're healing well Overthemoon!

last month I got raw soap in my eye (tapped the mould on the counter--gently--and a big gob flew out of the mould and landed straight in the eye. Weird thing is I'm usually anal about eye protection when handling lye, but somehow in my head the process is already completed when in the mould. So my glasses were off. Never again, I tell you. Fortunately I had excellent emergency care here and there's no permanent damage. But it's terribly scary!

and BTW I am left-handed and have a cat...spooky...

 

[Overthemoon]

That's frightening. I where glasses so I supposed I always have a minimum of eye protection. Very minimum but still.

Lefties will inheret the Earth with our cats as the supreme masters.

 

[April]

Left handed, four cats or should I say "four masters".

 

[notapantsday]

I'm digging out this old thread because there's one thing I'm interested in and I have never really figured it out:

If you get a little splash of lye on your (uncovered) arm, face or anywhere else without noticing - does it hurt? Is there any way to notice it without looking for discoloration of the skin or other signs?

I'm always wearing long gloves and safety goggles and I have worked with lye and other dangerous chemicals long before starting to make soap, but I never really had an accident. And I'm often a bit paranoid when I have a tiny itch on my cheek that maybe somehow, a little drop of lye jumped out of the container and onto my cheek.

 

[Misschief]

I'm digging out this old thread because there's one thing I'm interested in and I have never really figured it out:

If you get a little splash of lye on your (uncovered) arm, face or anywhere else without noticing - does it hurt? Is there any way to notice it without looking for discoloration of the skin or other signs?

I've had droplets on my skin and you can certainly feel it; it burns but it's not painful per se. You will definitely know it if you get it on your skin. I get frustrated with rubber gloves so I don't always remember to put them on; I am very careful, though; no overly enthusiastic stirring. I certainly wouldn't want to get it in or near my eyes, that's for sure. And whenever I do get it on my skin, I immediately rinse with cool water.

 

[lenarenee]

From my experience, one or a few tiny droplets of lye/water solution on the skin itches or sting....just enough to get noticed and make me do a quick water rinse off. But my lye concentration is usually about 30%.

So far, any emulsified or traced batter splashes have been very small, and I see them, rinse very very well under running water (oil sticks to skin better).

The worst lye incident, was from forgetting gloves, my hands were wet, and I touched the bottle of lye crystals directly - that felt like getting cut by a razor blade...it was sharp and instant. Quickly ran my hand under running water for a full minute, and there was no sign of any damage.

When I soap, I often get weird little itchy sensations. Most I suspect are just from my mind constantly evaluating every little sensation and wondering if there's lye on me. When in doubt, I rinse!

 

[notapantsday]

When I soap, I often get weird little itchy sensations. Most I suspect are just from my mind constantly evaluating every little sensation and wondering if there's lye on me.

Same here. It's like when I'm in bed and I hear a mosquito, every other second I think it has just landed on my skin even though it's probably just sitting on the wall, waiting for me to finally stop flailing my arms and fall asleep.

What I've learned is that Lye loses a lot of its danger if you immediately rinse it off with lots of water. But of course you have to notice... Seems like you do, at least from your experience.

 

[cgpeanut]

Turns out I did not seal my lye container properly after I last used it. Since I was putting it away in a moving box I didn't wear my gloves. Horrible mistake! The container spilled, on me, my hand while I caught it. Lye got on to a couple of fresh nicks on my hand and after vinegar and lots of water, the cuts are, umm brown. This is disconcerting.

No vinegar!!!!!! only running cold water and lots of it.

 

[notapantsday]

That's what I learned as well. Don't know where that vinegar idea originated, I've never seen it in any MSDS.