lye refuses to dissolve completely

[Woodi]

Just recently, after 10 years of making soap the same way and using the same lye.....today, the lye will not dissolve! I tried it twice, ruining some oils in the process.....so the second time, I just added the undissolved gunk in anyways....wish it luck!

I wonder if the lye just isn't as finely ground as usual. I suspect the granules are slightly larger....I bought it from Home Hardware; it's their store brand.

anyone else ever have this problem?

 

[KD]

bad lye

I had this problem about 18 months ago, in Canada. I have always bought my lye in the 3 kg jugs from Home Hardware. In a new shipment of lye, the texture was different - finer grains. My soap was turning out extremely soft and sort of gummy, and I noticed that my lye solution was always grainy. The soap failed to firm up even after weeks. I called HH and told them what had happened, and they replaced my lye. There had been a number of other complaints from soapmakers besides me. They did acknowledge it as a dissolving issue, and it hasn't happened since. Are you noticing a difference in the consistency of the actual granules like I did?

 

[lsg]

I agree that the company should replace the faulty lye.

 

[Woodi]

Yes, KD....I find that the granules are bigger than usual. They look like little balls.

Back to HH I go with my 2 jugs of lye, see if they will replace them. But with what?....more of the same? Yikes...it makes soapmaking so much more challenging when one's usually reliable suppliers start gumming things up.

Last year my palm oil supplier dried up, and it took me weeks to locate a new one. Never easy huh?....but perhaps this is all part of the fun of soapmaking.

 

[cp chick]

I bought the 3kg jug of lye from HH and haven't had any problems with it dissolving. Maybe I got one of the better batches. Yes, they do have the appearance of little balls, about 2 mm in dia. All I know is those little suckers roll when they hit a hard surface...

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I don't think your soap will be any good Woodi. I noticed undissolved lye once as I was pouring into the oils and couldn't stop so hoped for the best. Twas no good sadly, it was stinky, it was oozy and it was dangerous, so I chucked it.

Last week I had problems too. I stirred my jug of lye and noticed lots of undissolved crystals but this time I figured that I had somehow added too much caustic soda. As it turned out, the scales were stuffed. :roll:

 

[Woodi]

You're right Bubbles....I had to discard the whole batch of 25 bars, sob. Now I need to do some serious lye testing, as I have 3 jugs of the stuff, and I cannot tell which one I used for that last batch. A lye-testing I will go.....

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Sorry about your batch Woodi. Are your jugs clear plastic? I wonder if undissolved crystals will be sitting at the bottom of the jug? Good luck and let us know how you go. :wink:

 

[Woodi]

I dissolved a new batch of lye yesterday, using a new bottle of HH lye, and it worked! Back in business. Yes, the jugs are plastic.

 

[busymakinsoap!]

My Nana was a soapmaker and gave me loads of her old ingredients. In the lot she gave me there was a bucket of lye. Parts of the lye grains were bigger and when I added it to the water some parts did not react or disolve.

I dont think the container was air tight and they absorbed moisture from the air resulting in no reaction when added to water.

Thats my theory any way Perhaps somewhere along the line your lye wasnt packaged correctly or exposed to water