I finally got my EDTA in, so I HAD to make soap. Bear in mind that I have not made soap in 3 months, and never in the apartment. My NaOH masterbatch was brown. I did not use it. I made fresh NaOH/water for both batches, then had to wait for it to cool down. Then I did every other prep I could, and ended up going to the grocery store to keep myself from soaping hot. I have higher expectations of the appearance of the soap now that I have been swirling a while. Needless to say, I am about to masterbatch the rest of the NaOH, and some KOH also.
Now I Remember Why I Masterbatched
- Thread starter Susie
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I've never masterbatched my NaOH because I like to soap warmer and it takes me a lot longer to warm the lye than to cool it. If I'm only doing a single batch I mix then put it in the sink in cold tap water. The longest I've had to wait for it to cool down is about 15 min.
I soap warmer too because I use recipes high in lard. I don't have problems soaping around 110-120 F if that's my plan. I warm the fats instead so they're a few degrees warmer than I want and use room temp masterbatched lye solution. The fat weighs much more than the lye solution, so the lye won't cool the soap batter down as much as you might think. I haven't (yet) seen a reason to warm the lye solution -- I don't want to increase the risk of spills any more than necessary.
Rusti
Well-Known Member
With the other people in this house and no dedicated space of my own really for soap stuff (besides a rolling shelf in the basement) I make my lye solution each time I soap. But I fill a second container with ice water and after the NaOH has dissolved I just set the cup it's in down into the ice water. It's cooled to about 100 degrees by the time I've weighed out and melted my oils.
I also warm my oils and use my room temp masterbatch
What I like about masterbatching the lye, is that I don't have to deal with the lye fumes quite so often.
I'm surprised you went so long without soaping, Susie!
I'm surprised you went so long without soaping, Susie!
I was gearing up for The Great Soap Giveaway 2017, so I made about 400 bars of soap between February and April of this year. I had lots and lots of soap ends and damaged bars for both of us.
Then, at the beginning of May, my husband found out they were closing his store, so we had to job hunt. I was low on supplies, and did not want to order more in case he ended up on unemployment.
He ended up transferring to the DFW metroplex. So then it was the move. We hunted a house, but the housing market here is insane. So, we ended up in a 1 BR apartment. Tiny, but we only had 2 weeks to get here, so desperation ruled.
I would still be using up my stash from before, but we have hard water here, and I am peeling from head to toe from I guess the soap scum. All that changed is the water. So, I had to make soap. And I figured out that I got spoiled using masterbatched lyes while making all that soap.
So, all my plans to start selling went down the tubes. My new job does not give Saturdays off for me to hit any local markets. And my wholesaling potential was all tied to the location. So, it is what it is, and life rolls on. It just was not meant to be for right now.
I am sure opportunities await you, Susie. Hope you get settled into your new location and routines quickly.
I have to tell you that getting used to being around almost 6.5 million people is going to be one of the biggest challenges.
Wow, Susie, that's quite an adjustment! I am glad you both found and hope you happiness in your jobs. The mere thought of downsizing so much is almost overwhelming just wondering how I would manage!
One of my favorite things about Texas is the well-planned out access to highways from the city streets. Not many states have so well layed out roads. I don't do much more than drive past the DFW area usually and now that my son & his family have moved from San Antonio to Houston, I'll probably be traveling a totally different route.
One of my favorite things about Texas is the well-planned out access to highways from the city streets. Not many states have so well layed out roads. I don't do much more than drive past the DFW area usually and now that my son & his family have moved from San Antonio to Houston, I'll probably be traveling a totally different route.
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