I have a few n00b dumb questions

[DawnM]

Sorry! I know, I know...but I've read a few soapmaking books and have google searched a LOT of times, and I can't find these answers. I've made @ 6 batches of soap over the past month or so-that's the extent of my experience.

First, EXACTLY what do lye pockets or lye heavy soap look like? I don't *think* that I've ever had a lye heavy batch, but I don't really know for certain because I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I don't have ph testing strips (the only kind I could find in pool supply stores only went up to @ 8 ph--is that the right kind?) I've done that zap test for all the soap I've ever made, and I've never had a zap, but I've read that's not really reliable all the time?

Can a batch of soap get only ONE lye pocket, and if it does, is the whole batch no good? I cut a batch of hemp oil soap that I know I didn't mismeasure the lye for today, and that I mixed to heavy trace (a lot heavier than I meant to, thank you very much cannabis flower FO)and one single piece of it had what looked like an air hole with un-absorbed oil in it. No zap AT ALL-but is THAT a lye pocket?

DO I sound paranoid? Lol--I REALLY want to know what I'm looking for. I don't want to burn my skin in a month when I go to use this stuff!



One more--is the only issue with an oil-heavy soap that it could or will go rancid quickly? If that's the case, if I made a tiny batch (1 lb) of soap and I know that it came out oil heavy, can I just let it cure and use it all before I use anything else, or is it no good and needs to be rebatched or thrown out?


Again--SORRY! Like I said, I TRIED to find these answers myself, but I'm not finding them! Thanks!!

If there's streaks of what looks like clear glycerin soap in a cut piece, is THAT lye pockets, even if it does absolutely nothing when you put your tongue to it?

 

[opalgirl]

I don't know what lye pockets look like but I have done the tongue zap test. You will definitely know if it is lye heavy

You probably got some FO that didn't mix in. I've had FO pockets when the soap seized quickly. If there are a lot you can rebatch with good results.

Not sure what you mean about "oil heavy". Sometimes if there is oil on top right after unmolding it will soak back into the soap. If it's too oily you could rebatch it. Rebatching is a PITA but I personally think the lather on a rebatched soap is great.

I sure there will be different thoughts but I've encountered some of those issues. Good luck.

 

[krissy]

i haven't had lye pockets per se but i have had where there was undissolved lye in the finished soap and it was through out the bar. they zapped and looked like little white pockets of powder. i threw the batch pit because me and rebatching dont get along well.

for the pockets with oil in them, if it doesn't zap i just rinse them off and let them cure like any other batch before i use them.

 

[carebear]

lye pockets are spaces in your soap that have caustic liquid (lye solution) in them. what you had, if it wasn't caustic, was probably just a mixing thing - I wouldn't worry unless you saw it at more than one cut surface.

lye heavy isn't generally you can see, or at least always recoginze by sight.

zap testing is MORE reliable than trying to test the pH with strips (or a meter). so worry not.

 

[DawnM]

Ok-thanks!