DianaMoon
Well-Known Member
I did my first batch, and I survived.
I scrupulously observed all the safety measures, until the very end, when....
I cleaned up my equipment (plastic yogurt container in which I mixed the lye, plastic tub in which I measured out the lie, whisk, plastic spoon, stainless steel pot) in the bathtub under lots of cold water. Is this OK?
I made the mistake of doing this with bare hands. I'm OK, but I think that one should wear the gloves even while handling cold water rinsed utensils that lye has been in. My hands are very dry.
I measured my lye in a small plastic container. It was very slick. What's going on there, chemically?
About the batch, I don't know. My real mistake was jumping the gun & doing it with a whisk and not waiting until I bought a stick blender, but whatever, I never did reach trace. I did reach a point where the mix didn't look as if it would separate. Maybe I gave up too easily. The mixture is now in molds in a wooden box outside my apartment.
Thank God, no splashing, and I wore my safety goggles, but I "perceive" that there are fumes in my apartment. All the windows & fans are on. My door is open.
Honest confession: I cannot say that I enjoyed working with lye. I live in a small apartment & if I had my druthers, I'd work with lye outside.
I won't do another batch until I've gotten a stick blender, and a thermometer. I used my instant read for the oil but went by touch with the lye water. Maybe I messed up there.
I scrupulously observed all the safety measures, until the very end, when....
I cleaned up my equipment (plastic yogurt container in which I mixed the lye, plastic tub in which I measured out the lie, whisk, plastic spoon, stainless steel pot) in the bathtub under lots of cold water. Is this OK?
I made the mistake of doing this with bare hands. I'm OK, but I think that one should wear the gloves even while handling cold water rinsed utensils that lye has been in. My hands are very dry.
I measured my lye in a small plastic container. It was very slick. What's going on there, chemically?
About the batch, I don't know. My real mistake was jumping the gun & doing it with a whisk and not waiting until I bought a stick blender, but whatever, I never did reach trace. I did reach a point where the mix didn't look as if it would separate. Maybe I gave up too easily. The mixture is now in molds in a wooden box outside my apartment.
Thank God, no splashing, and I wore my safety goggles, but I "perceive" that there are fumes in my apartment. All the windows & fans are on. My door is open.
Honest confession: I cannot say that I enjoyed working with lye. I live in a small apartment & if I had my druthers, I'd work with lye outside.
I won't do another batch until I've gotten a stick blender, and a thermometer. I used my instant read for the oil but went by touch with the lye water. Maybe I messed up there.
That's why I master-batch it in a large enough quantity that will last me through making about 7 to 8 batches of soap spread out over several months (lye solution, if stored properly, will last indefinitely- we're talking years). Instead of going through the hassle of making a fresh batch of lye solution each time I soap, I only need to mix up a master-batch of lye about 2 or 3 times a year.
