Room temp method - does it work well?

[rebekahp]

As per the title, I just came across this tonight & wonder if it works?

 

[carebear]

if by room temp you mean adding fresh hot lye solution to room temp, unmelted oils then.... kinda sorta for some...

you will still need to pre-melt very hard oils (cocoa butter), and even if you do that you can still end up with inconsistent results.

but some find it works - I don't know if it's dependent on equipment (soaping containers that hold heat better, or less well), on recipe, on technique.

for me - not a good choice even with 100% coconut oil

 

[xraygrl]

I tried it way back when and moved on....didn't work well for me with my recipe.

 

[rubyslippers]

Gave it a try once when I was in a hurry to get a batch made....partially premelted my hard oils & then mixed my lye solution and immediately poured it into the oils to finish melting them. I didn't have any problems and will try that method again sometime in the future. I just prefer to work at cooler temps.

 

[Becky]

It works perfectly for me.

I pre-make my lye solution and batch up a 20 litre drum full of my oils and let it cool to room temperature. When I want to soap, I just measure out what I need of each.

 

[TessC]

Different people define the room temp method in different ways. To some it's just what carebear said, using the hot lye solution to melt your oils. Other people let their melted oils/butters cool to room temp and mix them with lye solution that's also been allowed to cool to room temp. The latter works well for me because my recipe doesn't use a ton of hard oils and my room temperature is pretty warm as a rule.

 

[carebear]

I'm like tess. I used to call it RTCP (room temp cold pour) but now I don't call it anything LOL.

pre melt and mix the oils & butters, make up the lye solution, let both cool to near room temp - no higher than 110F.

 

[MissMori]

By the definition carebare gave, I guess I've been doing RTCP all along and didn't know it. I always let my lye and oil cool to about 95 to 100 degrees. I don't take the temperature, just feel the side of the container and when I can't tell the difference between my body temp (temp of hands) and the containers, I make soap.

An aside, wouldn't true room temp be at whatever your room happened to be. I made soap the other day when it was 95 degrees. Hot to me, but the soap loved it. In the winter, if I let the oils and lye cool all the way, I'd be making soap at anywhere from 40 degrees (morning) to 60 degrees (afternoon). Perhaps room temperature is a misnomer.

I've found that 95 to 100 degrees works well for me. I get the best texture to the final soap.

In the Soapmaker's Companion, many of the recipes call for a temperature of 80 to 100 degrees.

 

[soapbuddy]

I combine my oils and lye when the pot and pitcher are warm to touch from my hands, but a little higher than skin temp.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

What Soapbuddy said. I took the temp once to check and it was 40C.

 

[punkflash54]

ive done it and it worked fine. i usually do hot process though