I should have realized something was wrong when it too several hours to her the oil and lye to change to that vasaline consistency,but since it was my first time making soap, I had no idea. Put it in molds yesterday, and still pretty soft. Is there anything I can do to salvage this batch? Any help is much appreciated. Thank you!
Hot Process Failure - Used Liquid Lye
- Thread starter mrscow
- Start date
Help Support Soapmaking Forum:
You want help, but you have to do your homework first -- give us more useful information. Provide your recipe -- ALL ingredients, ALL in weights -- and also explain in detail how you made the soap.
And what specifically do you mean by "liquid lye"? If it is a product you bought at the store, please give the name and a link to the manufacturer's website or an ingredients list from the bottle.
And what specifically do you mean by "liquid lye"? If it is a product you bought at the store, please give the name and a link to the manufacturer's website or an ingredients list from the bottle.
Thank you so much. First time soaping and I hoping to give these for Christmas.
28.57 (810 grams) Home rendered Lard
2.12 (60 grams) castor oil
28.57 (810 grams) tallow (home rendered)
23.28 (660 grams) virgin coconut oil
23.28 (660 grams) olive oil
Heat oils until all liquid in crockpot.
Mixed 15.01 oz (425 grams) Rooto 100% Lye Liquid with 40.21 (1140 grams) of distilled water.
Used stick blender until I think it traced. Thicker pancake batter consistany. Stirred when almost bubbling over took close to 3 hours. When got thick added 3.9 oz of essential oils. Put into molds and now over 24 hours later still soft, like cream cheese.
28.57 (810 grams) Home rendered Lard
2.12 (60 grams) castor oil
28.57 (810 grams) tallow (home rendered)
23.28 (660 grams) virgin coconut oil
23.28 (660 grams) olive oil
Heat oils until all liquid in crockpot.
Mixed 15.01 oz (425 grams) Rooto 100% Lye Liquid with 40.21 (1140 grams) of distilled water.
Used stick blender until I think it traced. Thicker pancake batter consistany. Stirred when almost bubbling over took close to 3 hours. When got thick added 3.9 oz of essential oils. Put into molds and now over 24 hours later still soft, like cream cheese.
Was this lye NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide) or KOH (Potassium Hydroxide)?
Oh, it doesn't have a water percent? Does it say something like % w/w on the bottle or %w/v?
Do you remember where you purchased it from?
Do you remember where you purchased it from?
snappyllama
Supporting Member
I'll check your recipe in a sec, but I think your problem is the liquid lye. It's mostly water if I recall correctly from seeing it on a shelf. So if you took your lye calculator's lye weight... youve got way too much water and not enough lye.
Also, it really isn't recommended that first batches of soap go for gifts since you can hurt people with incorectly made soap. There isn't enough time to even cure HP before Christmas - it needs a long cure to be any good - just like CP.
Also, it really isn't recommended that first batches of soap go for gifts since you can hurt people with incorectly made soap. There isn't enough time to even cure HP before Christmas - it needs a long cure to be any good - just like CP.
snappyllama
Supporting Member
Just checked it on SoapCalc... You used exactly the right amounts for powdered sodium hydroxide. I'm afraid your batch isn't going to work. I'll see if I can find the percentages of lye to water so you can use the rest of the bottle with doing some maths...
I purchased it from a small mom and pop store in town. I did test the ph and it was at 8 before I put it into molds. I thought HP could be used right away, but should be cured for a week so the bar would be firmer. HP needs 5-6 weeks too? Does this soap just need to dry more, or do I have to heat it again and add more lye?
snappyllama
Supporting Member
Is it this: http://www.essentialhardware.com/ro...m_medium=cpc&gclid=CICp-_ya5MkCFQymaQodEPgKCg
That one uses 14% potassium hydroxide (the kind of lye used to make liquid soap - not bar soap).
That one uses 14% potassium hydroxide (the kind of lye used to make liquid soap - not bar soap).
snappyllama
Supporting Member
You could call the number on the bottle and ask them about the percentage. Once you have that, you *might* be able to use the bottle on future batches. I'm going to make up some numbers now...
Your recipe calls for 1140gm water and 425gm lye. Whether you can use it in soap depends on the solution strength. I threw together this check for you. If the container has less than 37% lye, I wouldn't use it since your water amounts will be too far off.
Your recipe calls for 1140gm water and 425gm lye. Whether you can use it in soap depends on the solution strength. I threw together this check for you. If the container has less than 37% lye, I wouldn't use it since your water amounts will be too far off.
northwoodsgal
Member
Hi mrscow-- I totally understand your predicament of getting local access to NaOH (sodium hydroxide).
Don't know if you have access to a Lowes in your area, but I use this "drain cleaner" in a pinch when I'm out of lye that I've ordered online.
It's granular sodium hydroxide (without additives) and I haven't had any problems soaping with it, such as inaccuracy of lye percentage or dreaded orange spots (DOS). It works great for me in hot process. When I can't make it to the store and I'm in a hurry, I use Amazon Prime for a quick delivery of lye. Typically, I just wait out a delivery from a chemist supply, but when you gotta soap, you gotta soap!! ;-)
Good luck! Happy Holidays!
I am going to second getting it from the internet. You know exactly what you are getting when you order it from soaping suppliers. It is also MUCH cheaper than buying it locally. Here are a couple of good options:
http://www.essentialdepot.com/product/NAOH-2-FOOD_GRADE.html Check out their whole list of prices on various weights of NaOH.
http://www.thelyeguy.com/store.php?crn=211 If you think you are going to be making LOTS of soap. I am only a hobby soaper, and I live in a very humid area, so I don't buy this much at one time.
http://www.essentialdepot.com/product/NAOH-2-FOOD_GRADE.html Check out their whole list of prices on various weights of NaOH.
http://www.thelyeguy.com/store.php?crn=211 If you think you are going to be making LOTS of soap. I am only a hobby soaper, and I live in a very humid area, so I don't buy this much at one time.
I'm late to the party, but I thought about using a liquid drain cleaner too when I first started out and had trouble finding solid lye. When I checked into the ingredients of the liquid product, however, I realized there was way more water and not enough lye in the mixture. It would have been really tough for me to make decent soap using this kind of product.
Now that I've been soaping for a few years and participated in the "lye heavy soap" thread a year or so back, I am pretty sure I could make soap with a liquid drain cleaner, but this is a challenge better suited for an intermediate or advanced soap maker, not a novice. And I'm not sure I'd do it anyway, even though I think it's do-able with the skills I now have. Commercial liquid drain cleaners are often not just water and lye. The risk of weird things in my soap is just not worth it.
Now that I've been soaping for a few years and participated in the "lye heavy soap" thread a year or so back, I am pretty sure I could make soap with a liquid drain cleaner, but this is a challenge better suited for an intermediate or advanced soap maker, not a novice. And I'm not sure I'd do it anyway, even though I think it's do-able with the skills I now have. Commercial liquid drain cleaners are often not just water and lye. The risk of weird things in my soap is just not worth it.
My local Ace hardware does still sell granulated lye as a drain cleaner so that's worth looking into if you have one close by.
Suzie gave great links for online sellers.
Welcome to the forum. As you can see there are lots of very knowledgeable and experienced soap makers here. I am not one of them
.
Suzie gave great links for online sellers.
Welcome to the forum. As you can see there are lots of very knowledgeable and experienced soap makers here. I am not one of them
.
