Glass and lye; truth or myth?

[Shelley D]

I don’t really understand why folks use a double-boiler to melt their oils. All that extra time, the water, the extra bowl… for what? You can easily achieve a low-temp melt in a stainless pot right on the the burner, turned down as low as you’d like.

To me, using a double-boiler to melt soaping oils is one of those soapy myths that is perpetuated despite providing no real benefit.

I understand ~ it was a habit I picked up when I started working with oils for use on my body, to replace lotion. When I learned it was best to keep the melting temps around 100° (lower if possible) for a slow melt to maintain as many of the nourishing qualities of each oil as possible, that became my method of choice. I have a cheap-o electric stove and it's hard to control the temperature of the elements consistently (old school coils, not the nice new flat top elements they have now). I have it figured out by the size of my pot, how much water to put in it (about an inch), keep it at a simmer (between 2-3 on the setting), that will melt my butters and oils slowly enough. I now know it doesn't matter with soap, so melt them faster, then mix my lye solution, then let both come down a bit and soap closer to 100°, just my personal preference, probably because I work with milks

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

I have an induction cooker that allows me to set the temperature. It’s very handy for soaping. I set master batched oils in a polypropylene jug in a pan of water to gently warm them up.

 

[Vicki C]

I have an induction cooker that allows me to set the temperature. It’s very handy for soaping. I set master batched oils in a polypropylene jug in a pan of water to gently warm them up.

I want one. They look amazing!

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

I want one. They look amazing!

As far as soaping tools go, an induction cooker is not that expensive @Vicki C, a good investment. You could use an induction cooktop in your soap room. It saves on electricity/gas and is safer than a burner. I bought this one from Amazon because I can set the temp to hold steady. I took a magnet into the store to test the bottom of soup pots and found an affordable stainless one to use. I have a ring that sits inside the pot of water to keep the #5 PP bottle elevated off the floor of the pot, creating a double boiler. Last year I rendered suet on the induction cooktop. For those who hate the smell of rendering fats in the house, the cooktop is portable and could be used outside.

Should I add that sometimes I even use the induction cooktop for making dinner?

 

[TheGecko]

Ssshhh ~ I don't wear gloves either, but I didn't want to say put loud My back is literally to the sink when I work, plus I keep the vinegar handy just in case

I wore all the safety equipment my first year: Safety glasses, gloves, long sleeves and pants, shoes. Safety glasses were the first to go since I wear glasses...they would fog my glasses and caused headaches because they pressed against my regular glasses. Long sleeves and pants and shoes were the next thing to go. I do wear long leggings during cooler months, but have always rolled up my sleeves when cooking/baking and am too old to change that habit even when my arms get itchy when making up my Lye Solution (Master Batched), but I'd rather be able to easily rinse off my arms than have it on my clothes hanging out. Unless it's cold, I've been going barefoot all my life. First thing I do when I get home is take off my shoes. And unless there is a client in the office, I run around barefoot there too. And yes, I have a scar on my right foot from not taking care of a few grains of NaOH, but lesson learned. And I've already mentioned why I don't wear gloves. In all honesty...I take what Mike Rowe calls a 'safety third' approach to safety because he's not wrong when he said that we have become too reliant on safety equipment to keep us safe instead of being safe in the first place.

I use vinegar too, but only to neutralize any lye left on my work surfaces or floor. It's not good to put on your skin...water works better.

 

[Misschief]

As far as soaping tools go, an induction cooker is not that expensive @Vicki C, a good investment. You could use an induction cooktop in your soap room. It saves on electricity/gas and is safer than a burner. I bought this one from Amazon because I can set the temp to hold steady. I took a magnet into the store to test the bottom of soup pots and found an affordable stainless one to use. I have a ring that sits inside the pot of water to keep the #5 PP bottle elevated off the floor of the pot, creating a double boiler. Last year I rendered suet on the induction cooktop. For those who hate the smell of rendering fats in the house, the cooktop is portable and could be used outside.

Should I add that sometimes I even use the induction cooktop for making dinner?

I looked at getting one some time back but none of my cookware will work with it. There's no way I'm buying more cookware so the induction cooker is off the table for now.

 

[AliOop]

I use vinegar too, but only to neutralize any lye left on my work surfaces or floor. It's not good to put on your skin...water works better.

Thanks for mentioning that, @TheGecko. I was also intended to reply to @Shelley D to confirm that she hopefully doesn't use vinegar to remove any lye splashes from her skin, since that will exacerbate the burn by increasing the exothermic (heat) reaction. Many of us here know this, but it bears repeating for newbies that the SDS for treating skin contact with lye is always always to flush continuously with cool running water- never vinegar. However, as you noted, the vinegar is great for cleaning surfaces or utensils.

 

[Shelley D]

Thanks for mentioning that, @TheGecko. I was also intended to reply to @Shelley D to confirm that she hopefully doesn't use vinegar to remove any lye splashes from her skin, since that will exacerbate the burn by increasing the exothermic (heat) reaction. Many of us here know this, but it bears repeating for newbies that the SDS for treating skin contact with lye is always always to flush continuously with cool running water- never vinegar. However, as you noted, the vinegar is great for cleaning surfaces or utensils.

I was trying to reply but kept getting interrupted, dang job!
Yes, literally everything Gecho stated is what I have learned and basically in the same order! Those safety goggles were the first thing to go! But i do wear glasses so my eyes are still somewhat protected. Long sleeves, bye bye, not in Florida! I live in flip flops, which is almost bare footed. And cold water rinsing has worked so far for the few stray specs that have landed on my skin, the vinegar has been a "just in case" because I read it somewhere but I haven't even used it yet. I'm not really as aggressive as I sound, and my deep buckets block most of my sloshes, thank goodness!

Edited to add: I'm not some rogue rebel. I was indeed very leery, almost scared of working with lye so took every precaution from the beginning to be sure. I bought safety goggles that were supposed to be roomy enough to fit over my prescription glasses, but they were not, and I could not see without my Rx glasses, so I couldn't use the goggles. As for the long sleeves, long pants, shoes ~ even though I wasn't allergic to the clothing, being covered makes me hot and hot aggrevates my rashes, even for an hour or 2, so one by one those layers were eliminated also. I just learned to be very, very careful.

 

[AliOop]

@Shelley D I am so glad you haven't used the vinegar!

I was taught by old soaping blogs to use vinegar if lye splashed on my skin. I didn't learn for years - till I joined SMF, in fact! - that it was the WRONG thing to do for skin safety. Fortunately I never had a serious incident!

 

[Shelley D]

@Shelley D I am so glad you haven't used the vinegar!

I was taught by old soaping blogs to use vinegar if lye splashed on my skin. I didn't learn for years - till I joined SMF, in fact! - that it was the WRONG thing to do for skin safety. Fortunately I never had a serious incident!

I saw a YouTube soap maker mention that she uses the lye neutralizer shampoo, the kind you use when washing out a perm, on her soap making utensils and bowls. I thought that seemed a bit much since for the most part it has already become soap, especially if you let it sit overnight or for a day or 2

 

[AliOop]

I saw a YouTube soap maker mention that she uses the lye neutralizer shampoo, the kind you use when washing out a perm, on her soap making utensils and bowls. I thought that seemed a bit much since for the most part it has already become soap, especially if you let it sit overnight or for a day or 2

Agreed! I'd rather use the lazy - and cheap! - method of saponification.

 

[TheGecko]

Edited to add: I'm not some rogue rebel. I was indeed very leery, almost scared of working with lye so took every precaution from the beginning to be sure. I bought safety goggles that were supposed to be roomy enough to fit over my prescription glasses, but they were not, and I could not see without my Rx glasses, so I couldn't use the goggles. As for the long sleeves, long pants, shoes ~ even though I wasn't allergic to the clothing, being covered makes me hot and hot aggrevates my rashes, even for an hour or 2, so one by one those layers were eliminated also. I just learned to be very, very careful.

I'm a semi-rebel. I'm a sole proprietor, I work out of my kitchen, and I don't make videos so I do what works well for me and doesn't negatively affect my performance or products...I still follow good manufacturing processes.