Lye static.. beads went everywhere

[jnl]

i was scared of lye at first
but then i kept forgetting the soap batter was dangerous and kept touching it with my bare hands (after soap poured and clean up done and gloves removed). never burned me or anything.
so now the only thing i worry about is if any lye beads get on the floor that my dog might lick up
so far no spills

Not trying to talk lightly of lye safty but i really dont get all the precautions people take when soaping, gloves and goggles? unless you got some lye directly in your eye balls or drank the stuff i just dont see it causing any damage.. i've gotten soap batter on my hands on more then a few occasions it did nothing at all, i just rinsed it off, i even got a splash of lye water on my skin and just washed it off and nothing happened, static threw some beads on my hand 2 weeks ago, they stuck to the skin so i had to wash them off, again nothing happened..

i really think its only dangerous if left unchecked on skin for a long time or if it lands in soft tissue (aka eyes).

 

[jnl]

yikes! 12 hours later?! you would think the lye would be much less reactive by then

That's crazy talk. Yeah if you get some on your hands they won't auto ignite or drop to the floor, but lye burns are pretty crappy. If you get to a sink right away your not going to have a problem MOST of the time. Allot of the time you might not know that you got some on you, a splash to the eye can be devastating. Also the soap batter is much more dilute that the lye mix but is still pretty caustic. Here is a picture of my eye. This happened 12 hours after soaping while cleaning up. I'm fairly certain it was just cool batter that I inadvertently transferred to my eye, There is another member got hot batter in her eye and had to go to the hospital to get patched up. I'm not saying to wear a hazmat suite but at the very least wear the goggles and respect what you are doing.
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[jnl]

i wore swimming goggles once when i cut onions and it made NO difference
my eyes still burned bad
part of the problem can be from it coming through the air
but i think part of it is it being absorbed through your skin
if someone rubs garlic on your feet you can taste it
i have not yet tried goggles AND gloves for cutting onions

i only have crappy plastic safety glasses to wear over my real glasses for soaping
i cant wear goggles because i have to wear glasses to see properly (developed an allergy to contacts)

my brother once was cutting wood and wearing proper safety glasses and somehow a chunk of wood got into his eye through the side. he had a big splinter sticking out of his eyeball. he was lucky it was in the white part, not the iris! the hospital removed the splinter but then he had to go back again later because there was still a tiny piece stuck in there. yikes!!

so i am paranoid about things coming in through the sides of my glasses

Those are way cool goggles, kaychaystack!

I always wear goggles. Like DeeAnna said, they're a given. My go-to goggles are actually those that are sold as 'onion goggles'. I bought them several years ago at my local cooking supply store (long before Brambleberry started selling them) to use them for their original, intended purpose, which is to prevent tearing up while cutting onions (for which they work great, btw!), but then I discovered how wonderful they were for soaping, and it wasn't long before they started pulling double duty. They're very comfortable, and the foam lining creates a complete gap-less seal on my face so that nothing can get through to my eyes. I love them so much that I now have 3 pairs. lol


IrishLass

 

[lillybella]

reinbeau who's working on chemical resistant aprons?

 

[reinbeau]

It's an effort called Ashley's Aprons, are you on Facebook, Lillybella?

 

[boyago]

yikes! 12 hours later?! you would think the lye would be much less reactive by then

Well, in the spirit of clarity, transparency, and all things too often absent on the interweb I couldn't say with absolute certainty that it was the batter. It could have been anything from a errant bead of lye, soap batter, or any damn thing. But when you tell it THat way it makes for a pretty lame cautionary tale about the dangers of soap making.

But, I am pretty sure it was the batter and am not willing to re-test for a similar reaction.

 

[OliveOil2]

IrishLass you have me beat, I have two pairs of onion goggles, and they are amazing! Sometimes they are a good price on Amazon, just depends. There is no comparison between the onion goggles and swimming goggles. For someone who wears glasses there are some great face shields available.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Onions - like lye fumes - are not an issue under an extraction hood.......

 

[reinbeau]

Onions - like lye fumes - are not an issue under an extraction hood.......

Or with a downdraft exhaust

 

[DeeAnna]

Today's science trivia:

When cutting onions, what burns the eyes is the gaseous sulfur compounds rising from the cut surface of the onion. These gases react with the eye's tears to make sulfuric acid. It isn't anything absorbed by the skin or whatever.

That's why a sweet onion (Vidalia is an example) doesn't cause as much burn -- these onions are grown in low-sulfur soil, so they have less sulfur in them to cause trouble. That's also part of the reason why sweet onions are not good keeping onions -- the sulfur in regular onions helps preserve them longer.

Onion goggles work because they form an air tight seal around the eyes, preventing the sulfur gases from reaching the eye. Swimming goggles are designed to seal against water pressure and may not form as secure of a seal when worn out of the water.

If you are in the US and want a great selection of goggles, see: http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/ If your goggles fog up easily, consider goggles with a two layer lens: http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/254-du-40097.html If you want a goggle with a "cheater" bifocal for less-than-perfect eyesight, these "reader" goggles might work well: http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/bf61.html Both seal gently but fully around the eye area, have a comfortable wide adjustable headband, and are not overly expensive.

 

[lillybella]

What are downdraft exhausts and extraction hoods?

reinbeau I do have a FB account. Is Ashley's Aprons on FB?

 

[reinbeau]

Yes it is, lillybella.

 

[lillybella]

Hi reinbeau, I looked under Ashley's Aprons, but I couldn't find it. Is it under another name?
Thank you.

 

[reinbeau]

Hi reinbeau, I looked under Ashley's Aprons, but I couldn't find it. Is it under another name?
Thank you.

It's Ashlee's Aprons and I think it's a secret group because of some judgemental nastiness that was going on. Send me a friend request there, Ann Rein, and I'll get you added.

 

[big]

Update: I didn't die and nothing was affected, so it looks like I've beaten the terrorists in my kitchen and floor. I'm definitely exercising even more caution next time.. on the plus side, the soap turned out good; now I wait.

 

[Sislea]

My body puts off a lot of static naturally. Would the dryer sheet work on me? I've had this problem since I was little. DH won't come near me if I am holding a metal object cause I will zap him. I haven't worked with lye as of yet as I am still reading blogs, webpages, and watching videos but this topic caught my eye and made me curious.

 

[Dorymae]

Actually it will! I have one brush with a dryer sheet pushed through the bristles because there are days my hair is so full of charge I look like I saw a ghost! A quick brush with the dryer sheet and all is good.

I also keep one in my purse for when my skirt decides it has something against my pantyhose. Nothing like having your skirt rising up on its own! Lol - I love dryer sheets.

 

[Sislea]

Actually it will! I have one brush with a dryer sheet pushed through the bristles because there are days my hair is so full of charge I look like I saw a ghost! A quick brush with the dryer sheet and all is good.

Thanks for the tip! Nothing is more aggravating than trying to get ready for a company dinner and my hair strands wanting to touch the ceiling.:wtf:

I also keep one in my purse for when my skirt decides it has something against my pantyhose. Nothing like having your skirt rising up on its own! Lol - I love dryer sheets.

I quit wearing skirts with panty hose. I resorted to thick tights, they don't seam to be as much of a static problem for me.

OK now that it is daylight out, maybe I can also ask the question I originally intended to about static and lye being that my body loves static.

When I do venture into finally making my soap, am I going to have a problem with lye "fireworking" on me? So, otherwise, I should definitely do the dryer sheet before opening the container?

 

[Dorymae]

If I felt I was carrying a static charge I would rub a dryer sheet down my front and around my arms. Certainly wipe out your lye cup with one.

 

[snappyllama]

it you're worried about the little pellets, you can buy lye in flake format. BB and WSP both sell them like that. It's a bit more work to get the flakes to dissolve in cold water/milks, but I prefer them to the pellets. I think they bounce less and are easier to spot. One downside is that the containers have a bit of lye dust when you open them... so I do that outside the first time.