newbie equipment question

[sudsyannie]

How important is it to have soley-for-soap equipment? I have a hand blender but I use it frequently for food prep; would I be unwise to use it for emulsifying the lye and oils? TOTAL newbie - hope that's not too dumb of a question!

Thanks!

 

[NancyRogers]

You should have stuff that is strictly for soap making. The only exceptions I make are for the spoons I use to scoop out oils/fats and the spoon I use to stir the oils while melting. Anything that comes in contact with the lye or fragrance oils is reserved only for soap making.

 

[Jezzy]

I have a bunch of soap only stuff too. I wrote soap on everything so there us no confusion!

 

[rubyslippers]

Not a dumb question sudsyannie! As the old saying goes "better to be safe than sorry"......I have only dedicated soaping equipment and it is kept in my soaping cabinet away from my food prep equipment.

 

[honor435]

you mean a stick blender? you can get used ones for cheap. I wouldnt use a hand mixer.

 

[sudsyannie]

thanks, all! It's as I feared; I have to find another hand blender and *place* for the equipment, lol. Good to know and confirm.

 

[carebear]

Until I moved out into the soap lab, I shared equipment for soaping with food. Nothing I use in soap, aside from the FOs and some colorants, is not food grade. Soap washes away.

The only things I wouldn't share are some plastics which absorb scent. And lye isn't very nice to a crockpot so if you like that shiny finish that makes it easy to clean after cooking a roast you may not want to use it for soap.

If you are selling, consider dedicated equipment. If you are making lotions, I'd absolutely use dedicated equipment. For hobby soap I see nothing wrong with sharing equipment.

Personally.

 

[FloridaSoaper]

My soap pots and buckets are only soap, some of my utensils I mix between soap and food, but only if they're stainless steel spoons, never plastic or wood...and of course anything that just touches oils is fine. I sometimes use some of my small fruit bowls (they are cheap corelle) to measure eo's in...but I hand wash them and then put them through the dishwasher and I've never been able to detect a smell after 2 washes. But I've stopped doing this and now only use bowls only for soapmaking. I only used bowls that are for food when I was in a pinch and didn't have a soapmaking stash yet. Hmmm...I think that's it really...just never use plastic or wood with food again if you've used it with your lye. (or the pot/pitcher/jar you use to measure/mix your lye in)