Lye with no water or solution

[egapevets]

Hi all,

I have a question about weighing out the correct amount of lye for a batch and instead of diluting it in water, goats milk adding it directly to the olive oil.

Question:
...is this possible?
...has this been discussed on the forum? (If so please share thread)
...safe? unsafe?

 

[DeeAnna]

Solid sodium hydroxide is not soluble in fats - in other words, it will not dissolve. Put some solid NaOH in some fat and see for yourself. It won't explode if you do just this much. However...

DANGER -- DO NOT add water to a mixture of solid NaOH and fat. If you do, there IS a definite risk of getting sprayed with a mixture of steam, concentrated NaOH, and fat. I'm not saying it WILL happen, but it COULD happen.​

Yes it's been discussed on the forum, at least indirectly. Not all that long ago, a newbie dumped solid NaOH in their soap batter and ended up with flakes of solid NaOH in the finished soap. After a long round of trying to troubleshoot the problems with this soap, it finally came out that the soap maker didn't understand solid NaOH had to be dissolved first in water. I'm not sure why there was that gap in their education, but this was a serious one. I don't have a link - you'll need to find that for yourself.

No, I personally would never do this.

 

[egapevets]

Solid sodium hydroxide is not soluble in fats - in other words, it will not dissolve. Put some solid NaOH in some fat and see for yourself. It won't explode if you do just this much. However...

DANGER -- DO NOT add water to a mixture of solid NaOH and fat. If you do, there IS a definite risk of getting sprayed with a mixture of steam, concentrated NaOH, and fat. I'm not saying it WILL happen, but it COULD happen.​

Yes it's been discussed on the forum, at least indirectly. Not all that long ago, a newbie dumped solid NaOH in their soap batter and ended up with flakes of solid NaOH in the finished soap. After a long round of trying to troubleshoot the problems with this soap, it finally came out that the soap maker didn't understand solid NaOH had to be dissolved first in water. I'm not sure why there was that gap in their education, but this was a serious one. I don't have a link - you'll need to find that for yourself.

No, I personally would never do this.

 

[egapevets]

Thank you, Makes sense...I will strike this off my “try this” list.