Outdoor soapers

[artemis]

As I sit on the patio, watching the pollen, bugs and bits of plant drift by, I was wondering:

How do outdoor soapers keep debris out of their soap batter? Or, do you only mix the lye outside?

Maybe I just have more stuff floating around.

Here's the view from the patio.

 

[Christine Beale]

I don't soap outside, but I do like having doors and windows open. My hubby gives me heck because even though I have a sliding screen door on my shop, I tend to leave it wide open so the dogs can visit if they want. I usually don't let them visit when I am actually making soap though, more when I am trimming and packaging. Here's a picture of my view from my patio... my soap shop!

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I don't soap outside' however I mix my lye in the garage' usually the door is open so its good air circulation even though my lye is covered right after mixing.

 

[ImpKit]

Outside soaping is a foreign concept to me. I use soap to get the outside off my outsides. >_> lol

Lacking any place better to do it, I mix my lye up in my kitchen after making sure the space is clear and clean. I also use 60-75% distilled water ice cubes for my water and the rest in liquid distilled water. So I rarely end up with any kind of caustic vapor. When I get around to making my coffee soap I'll brew up the coffee and freeze most of it for the same purpose.

 

[KimW]

I soap outside using the "heat transfer" method when I do larger batches and then usually towards the end of summer. I soap under our back deck just outside our basement walkout so there's not a lot of debris flying around. Not near as lovely a space as @artemis or Christine Beale, but it's a nice space nonetheless.

 

[dragonmaker]

I soap outside on my porch so it’s sheltered from the wind. I had a bug fall in the batter this last time and I just picked it out and moved on. I don’t usually get debris in my soap, but the few times it’s gotten a little dusty, I just rinse/scrape off the top layer and move on. I let the soap harden enough to be moved, then transport it to a shelf up high to finish saponifying and cure. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than my young people sticking their fingers in raw soap batter thinking it’s cake batter...

 

[ResolvableOwl]

How do outdoor soapers keep debris out of their soap batter?

It's a matter of attitude to either call it “debris”, or “botanicals”

Or, do you only mix the lye outside?

Lately, I've started to dissolve lye in a plastic container with a lid (not absolutely airtight so that it wouldn't burst). The lye itself and its nasty fumes stay inside, while debris, foliage, curious insects, curious humans, and airborne carbon dioxide (soda crystals forming on top of open lye containers) stay out. It can stay there for as long as I need to prepare everything else and/or until the lye has reached operating temperature.

That said, soaping outside is out of question for me anyway, since I prefer short paths to tap water, stovetop, oven, the drawer with extra spatulas etc., and light in the very likely case it's again becoming late with soapmaking

 

[KimW]

It's a matter of attitude to either call it “debris”, or “botanicals”

 

[AAShillito]

We've already hit 100 degrees here. I mix my lye in the garage and move it back into my 80 degree kitchen lol. If I soaped outside I'd melt into the sidewalk.

 

[Tara_H]

It's still chilly enough here to need a fire in the evenings!

I've never considered soaping outside, but it sounds stressful... Certainly around here there are too many insects, leaves, cats, chickens, that might try to get in to the batter! Plus I'm bound to forget something and need to grab it halfway through, so I like being where I have everything to hand.

When I mix lye, I do it in the sink just under the big window, and keep the window open. But thanks to the miracle of masterbatching, I don't need to do it very often now. The fumes and heat generated from topping up the water to the required solution are much less to deal with.

 

[KimW]

Here I sit, enjoying some afternoon coffee and suddenly I have this video in my head, complete with flailing arms and flying batter in attempts to shoo all the "botanicals" away from the soap batter.

Certainly around here there are too many insects, leaves, cats, chickens, that might try to get in to the batter!

 

[curlycoat2]

I soap outside at a very large Lost Trades fair here in Australia. For two days (one weekend) I soap outside 6 times a day from mixing lye, blending eos, adding oils and butters etc and bringing to trace and moulding. All under a marquee in either blistering heat or rain or average weather. Debris has never been an issue that I have noticed

 

[earlene]

As I sit on the patio, watching the pollen, bugs and bits of plant drift by, I was wondering:

How do outdoor soapers keep debris out of their soap batter? Or, do you only mix the lye outside?

Maybe I just have more stuff floating around.

Here's the view from the patio.

I recently re-watched a video of an outdoor soaper who mentions covering the soap with gauze when leaving it unattended to prevent debris from falling in. She also makes to soap under an overhang (covered area) but a breeze could easily come up.

ETA: I've also seen videos of outdoor soapers who don't have an overhang, but just sky above their soaping areas. I suspect they avoid soaping in high wind conditions.