Master batching in mason jars?

[Navaria]

In 2 weeks we will be moving to to campground for the summer. It will take up too much room to take all my various oils and such so I plan on master batching them. Since my batches all call for 32 oz of oils, can I use mason jars as containers? My thought would be I can just put the whole jar in hot water or the microwave to melt the oils and they won't take much room to store. Has anyone tried this? Do you think it will work?

 

[DeeAnna]

The likelihood of breakage is much higher in a camper or travel trailer, so I have a strict rule about no glass in my camper. Also 32 weight ounces of fats will need more room than a quart jar (32 volume ounces).

 

[kchaystack]

In 2 weeks we will be moving to to campground for the summer. It will take up too much room to take all my various oils and such so I plan on master batching them. Since my batches all call for 32 oz of oils, can I use mason jars as containers? My thought would be I can just put the whole jar in hot water or the microwave to melt the oils and they won't take much room to store. Has anyone tried this? Do you think it will work?

Yes, you could.

The drawback to this is you will need to pour the oils out of the jar when you make soap, and most of the jars are not ideal to use a spatula to scrape out most of the oil that will be left behind.

You do not want to make soap in a mason jar. Exposure to your lye will slowly etch the glass and make it brittle. Also glass in general is susceptible to thermal shock. Placing a warm jar on a cooler surface can make it shatter.

So you should not be mixing your lye in glass.

What I do us use paint mixing containers from a hardware store. They are the right plastic, you can buy lids for them, and they are very affordable.

I measure out 4 - 5 batches out at a time, put a sticker on the lid with my base oil (either lard or palm) and put the lid on. The fit in a small microwave fine when I need to melt them down, and they have a good sized opening so you can scrape to your hearts content.

These are what I use. Lids are another $1 or so.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-2-5-qt-Natural-Multi-Mix-Container-3-Pack-210216/204303497

 

[Navaria]

Our camper is there from April-October and doesn't move. We live there for 5 months which is why I'm teying to figure a eay to soap there lol. I'm not too worried about the glass breakage. I paint mason jars and use them as solar lamps in our site as well as storage inside to help keep out moisture. All the glass comes out before it moves lol. But you're right about the weight/volume issues. I didn't even think about that. Shoot. Back to the drawing board.

Yes, you could.

The drawback to this is you will need to pour the oils out of the jar when you make soap, and most of the jars are not ideal to use a spatula to scrape out most of the oil that will be left behind.

You do not want to make soap in a mason jar. Exposure to your lye will slowly etch the glass and make it brittle. Also glass in general is susceptible to thermal shock. Placing a warm jar on a cooler surface can make it shatter.

So you should not be mixing your lye in glass.

What I do us use paint mixing containers from a hardware store. They are the right plastic, you can buy lids for them, and they are very affordable.

I measure out 4 - 5 batches out at a time, put a sticker on the lid with my base oil (either lard or palm) and put the lid on. The fit in a small microwave fine when I need to melt them down, and they have a good sized opening so you can scrape to your hearts content.

These are what I use. Lids are another $1 or so.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-2-5-qt-Natural-Multi-Mix-Container-3-Pack-210216/204303497

Oh no! I would never mix lye in glass of any kind lol. I meant for compact storage only. But I didn't think about the volume/weight issue. These however look perfect! And you're right, the price is very good! Much better than biying a bunch of Rubbermaid containers! Doyou mix your soap up right in the container or take the oils out and mix in something else?

 

[dixiedragon]

I love the idea of moving to a campground for long periods of time!

 

[carlyjones]

paint mixing containers, brilliant!

 

[kchaystack]

Oh no! I would never mix lye in glass of any kind lol. I meant for compact storage only. But I didn't think about the volume/weight issue. These however look perfect! And you're right, the price is very good! Much better than biying a bunch of Rubbermaid containers! Doyou mix your soap up right in the container or take the oils out and mix in something else?

I mix it in these. I then portion it out into the 1qt size you can get (or into smaller plastic cups if small enough.

 

[cmzaha]

You can purchase larger mason jars, I have some that are 64 oz. Most of the time I find them at Michael's but have found them in stores such as Winco or Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041SWYFQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[dixiedragon]

Check restaurants for giant condiment jars. I know that Jimmie Johns uses the 1 gallon jars of mayo and mustard. They are big, sturdy and have a screw-on lid and FREE. You may need to run them through the dishwasher to get them truly clean, though.

 

[Seawolfe]

I do just this when I go to our soap meetups. Oils in mason jars (some in quart, some in smaller, cause I use more than one will hold), lye solution with CA and sugar already added in the bottles that the lye comes in. Stuff that I worry about gets put in the mixing buckets &/or in gallon sized ziplocks. Oh and EO blends go in empty EO bottles

 

[Navaria]

I do just this when I go to our soap meetups. Oils in mason jars (some in quart, some in smaller, cause I use more than one will hold), lye solution with CA and sugar already added in the bottles that the lye comes in. Stuff that I worry about gets put in the mixing buckets &/or in gallon sized ziplocks. Oh and EO blends go in empty EO bottles

So many awesome ideas! Thank you! When you say lye solution in the bottles it came in, do you mean the white plastic straight bottles or does yours come in a pour type bottle. If it's the first, do they leak? I sure don't want one to fall over and spill lye water on everything.

 

[TeresaT]

I master batch my oil 10 pounds at a time then split it into 2 pound batches. There are disposable "Glad" and "Rubbermaid" storage containers that hold four cups and are perfect for 32 oz oil. I use (and reuse) those all of the time. Mine are square; however, they have round ones, too. Just make sure you get the four cup volume containers or larger.

 

[Navaria]

I have a few of those but would need to get dedicated oil ones. As I was organizing my basement/soap space today I came across an unopened box of wide mouth mason jars I accidentally bought for canning. That's what made me think of using the jars in the first place. But now I'm kind of loving the paint mixing bucket idea lol

 

[Seawolfe]

So many awesome ideas! Thank you! When you say lye solution in the bottles it came in, do you mean the white plastic straight bottles or does yours come in a pour type bottle. If it's the first, do they leak? I sure don't want one to fall over and spill lye water on everything.

I mean the HDPE plastic bottles that the dry lye comes in. I close them and then put them in gallon ziplocs and then wedged in upright in the buckets.

 

[Navaria]

Ah that's a good idea too! Lol