"Room temperature" method

[delicious]

I've been reading about making soap for a while already. It had always seemed quite complicated to juggle the temperatures and have the lye/water solutions and oils at the same temperature at the same time. I don't cook (we eat a raw diet in the house, so we don't even have a stove!) so it seems even more scary.
But the other day, while picking up the soap making subject again, I stumbled upon an article explaning the so called "room temperature" method.

So now this got me wondering: do some of you not heat your oils (even solid ones) and ignore temperatures in general?
Is it easier/harder for a newcomer (more troubleshooting)?
Does that make the soap a different quality?
Does the soap go up higher in temperatures? If so, how much higher? And do you need to insulate less because the temperatures are higher?

Any opinions on this way of doing it?

 

[soapbuddy]

This method is harder for a newbie. If you get a false trace, you could end up with lye pockets. If you use beeswax, you do need to melt it along with oils or butters.

 

[judymoody]

Do you have a microwave or a hot plate?

As soapbuddy mentioned, beeswax and hard or brittle oils like palm kernel oil or cocoa butter really should be melted down.

But I'm not too fussy about temperatures. As long as my oils are liquid and the container is warm to the touch (ditto for the lye), I go for it. When I started I drove myself crazy trying to get them to exactly the same temperature.

ETA: I've heard of people melting their hard oils in their cars in the summertime.

 

[Fyrja]

I've found that if I keep the oil and lye within 10 degrees of each other there are no problems. Of course I try to soap at as cool a temperature as I can without the oils starting to re-solidify. Usually in the 90 to 100 range. This causes me less grief with overheating as I live in a really really hot and humid area of the country.

 

[delicious]

Do you have a microwave or a hot plate?

As soapbuddy mentioned, beeswax and hard or brittle oils like palm kernel oil or cocoa butter really should be melted down.

But I'm not too fussy about temperatures. As long as my oils are liquid and the container is warm to the touch (ditto for the lye), I go for it. When I started I drove myself crazy trying to get them to exactly the same temperature.

ETA: I've heard of people melting their hard oils in their cars in the summertime.

=> I don't have a car and it's chilly autumn now where I am
=> I'll be using liquid oils anyway. I don't plan on using beeswax and I don't have access to palm oil or cocoa or shea butter. So the hardest oil I'll have will be coconut which melts at a really low temperature. I could pre melt it in a double boiler with hot tap water and add the other oils to warm them up a little and keep the coconut oil liquid.

This method is harder for a newbie. If you get a false trace, you could end up with lye pockets. If you use beeswax, you do need to melt it along with oils or butters.

=> a false trace is when the hard oils solidify, right? So if I don't use hard oils it should work... right?

 

[soapbuddy]

False trace can happen with any oils, not just the so called hard oils. Can you put your soap pot in the sink and fill the sink with very warm to hot water? That should get the oils to a higher then room temp.

 

[delicious]

False trace can happen with any oils, not just the so called hard oils. Can you put your soap pot in the sink and fill the sink with very warm to hot water? That should get the oils to a higher then room temp.

Yes, I guess I'll do that.

 

[cp chick]

I did one batch of room temp soap. I poured the lye mixture over the hard oils and once fully melted added the soft oils. It traced fine and things went well until I tried to unmold the next day, when I found out that it took longer to set than my regular CP. It was frustrating (for someone who hates waiting), though I think if I'd left them another day they would have been fine. I'd be open to trying it again sometime.

 

[chrisnkelley]

I worried about this at first too. Now, as recommended in Smart Soapmaking (Anne Watson), I just get my oils and lye to somewhere between 90 and 110 degrees. The lye might be 110 and the fats might be 90 - it works. You don't have to be exact in my experience. I find that if I put my fats in the micro and melt them, then mix my lye into my cold water, they both get down to temp aprox the same time, in about 10ish minutes.

 

[JackiK]

I didn't start using the room temp method until my first floral FO seized up on me. Now, I do it most of the time for convenience. I'll melt my oils and mix my lye/water before I go to work. When I return, they get mixed together.

Yes, it does take longer to set up and be ready for cutting. I guess my patience level is increasing in my old age, so that doesn't bother me.

 

[delicious]

I'll melt my oils and mix my lye/water before I go to work. When I return, they get mixed together..

What? You let them sit all day?!

 

[JackiK]

I'll melt my oils and mix my lye/water before I go to work. When I return, they get mixed together..

What? You let them sit all day?!

Yes.

 

[gettinaclue]

I've only made one batch of Castile soap, and I did it at room temperature. I mixed my lye and water and let it sit for a few hours. Both the lye and oil were at room temp when I soaped.

It took a long time for it to set up, but from what I understand, it was because I used a PVC tube for a mold, and also the general nature of the type of soap I made. (traditional Castile with nothing but lye water and olive oil)

 

[ToniD]

I've never used the room temp method where I melted my solid oils with the warm lye solution, but I never heat my olive when I do castile. I don't worry about if my lye and oils are the same temp.

 

[delicious]

I've only made one batch of Castile soap, and I did it at room temperature. I mixed my lye and water and let it sit for a few hours. Both the lye and oil were at room temp when I soaped.

Oh, I get it: it's not only that you can ignore the temperature, but they also do not need to be hot at all, not even the lye (as long as everything is liquid). Sounds stupid, but I hadn't realized what it actually meant!
I thought that you just leave everything as it comes (no added heat), but you can also let everything sit until it is actually ROOM TEMP.
Yep, I got it (I think. - I'll probably look back in a few years after making loads of soap and think that I really didn't get anything at the time! lol ).

 

[busymakinsoap!]

delicious - just to clarify - there seem to be two types of 'room temps' mentioned here

That recipe is referred to is called as RTM or RTP?? sorry cant remember, its something like that anyway - this is where you poor your scalding hot lye water onto the UNMELTED oils to melt them. some people love it - I havnt tried it, but i wouldnt, from what I have heard there are a lot of things that can go wrong.

Combining your oils and lye water at room temp is a different story, this is where you combine your water and lye, melt your oils and then let sit. There are also things that can go wrong with this, its great for if your have tricky addidtives such as milk and fragrance - but it can cause problems too. Such as steric and false trace.

I think if you are new to soaping, soaping at 110 degrees with both lye and oils is the best way to go. If you have problems with an additive, then take it down to room temp.

 

[delicious]

Thank you for clarifying. I kind of had the impression that there were two different ways.

 

[jennikate]

If i understand correctly you dont have stove microwave ect but fact that you are going to use mostly liquid oils makes it less tricky if you put cocunut oil in sink with hot water that should get it melted than add lye water to oils . Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[delicious]

Ok, so I got the blender and scale and I just couldn't see myself waiting another week or more until I go in town to get the coconut oil, so I decided to do a first go with 100% olive oil to make castile soap.

I placed the oil in my jug and set that in a bucket of hot tap water for a while (10min?).
The temp of the oil rose from 17°C (62.6 °F) to 33°C (91,4°F).

I didn't measure the temperature of the water and lye solution, but I guess it was in the right range.

While mixing the soap, around the begining of trace I checked the soap's temperature and it was at 43°C (109.4°F).

By the way, as I'm not used to the fahrenheit system, each time I read the temperatures in explanations, I imagine really hot stuff (100°C=212°F), and it gets me confused. I know I have to wrap my head aroud it, but it just keeps coming back at me. It isn't that hot and it's not hard to get the temperatures right after all.

About the soap now: I used a PVC tube as a mold, wraped it in a newspaper first and then in a towel but the soap just doesn't seem to heat at.
My house is pretty cold now (17°C=62.6°F), I wonder if that plays a part.
Will the saponification take place regardless?

 

[busymakinsoap!]

If your soaping at low temps and its cold, and your soap doesnt gell the saponification process will take longer.

You can put your batch in the freezer to prevent gell and it will still saponify.

As long as your measurements are correct it will happen Just might take a few days before you can unmold