soaping now, question!

[Zing]

Soapers, I am waiting for my lye liquid and oils to cool down. My question to you all is, is my lye liquid okay? I dissolved sugar in distilled water, then added lye. It is a very light yellow, like really weak lemonade. It's only the 2nd time I've used sugar. Is it okay? Should I start over?

 

[Babyshoes]

I've not used sugar often, but it usually goes yellow or orange and the soap has been fine.

 

[VikingChick]

It looks ok to me.

 

[Zing]

Whew! Thanks!

 

[dibbles]

It's fine - have fun!

 

[Tara_H]

Interesting! My lye sometimes goes pinkish after adding simple syrup but I've never noticed any subsequent problems.

 

[Albertina]

What does sugar add to the quality of the soap? I have never used it.

 

[KiwiMoose]

What does sugar add to the quality of the soap? I have never used it.

Bubbles

 

[Albertina]

Cool. Thank you. What percentage in the lye solution?

 

[KiwiMoose]

You need to dissolve the sugar fully in the distilled water before adding the lye. Usually about 1 tsp per 500 gms of soap. Make sure you stir well after adding the lye too - otherwise you could end up with a hard layer of toffee on the bottom of your lye solution. Be careful because it will heat up quicker than plain water.

 

[Albertina]

Thank you kiwi moose.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

My question to you all is, is my lye liquid okay?

Alkaline solution accelerates caramelisation, to a point where it can start browning at room temperature. It is expected that just about any sugar might yellow. Fresh, highly purified cane/beet sugar shouldn't be very prone, but small amounts of glucose/fructose (the natural decomposition products of sucrose) can already cause discolouration.
Nothing to worry about – except in case the colour interferes with ambitions for a maximally pale soap.

When in doubt, sugar alcohols (read: sorbitol) work at least as good as lather boosters, and don't discolour in the alkaline at all.


Btw, your lye is not okay. The crossed bones are missing under the skull ☠. Seriously, the “toxic” pictogram isn't the accurate warning sign, since lye is not toxic, but corrosive. But being overly drastic in deterring uninvolved/careless/distracted flatmates, outweighs toxicological nitpicking in any case. I'm always happy when I see people in YouTube videos, here, or elsewhere, to take chemical burn precautions seriously.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Thank you kiwi moose.

TIP: To be sure she gets notification, put an @ before the name:

@KiwiMoose

 

[ccsslb]

Make sure you stir well after adding the lye too - otherwise you could end up with a hard layer of toffee on the bottom of your lye solution.

Yep. I've done that and it's a pain in the neck to get it stirred into the solution, especially since I didn't notice until after it had cooled down.

 

[CpnDouchette]

I add a top of sugar to my water before adding lye and it always goes that colour. Its the sugar caramelising. It doesn't seem to affect the end product as far as I can tell.

 

[Zing]

Gasp! I have been toxicologically incorrect! I hate that when that happens!
Here! Are you happy now, @ResolvableOwl?! My main thing was warning my two very smart but often clueless teenagers from unintentional chaos and destruction.

 

[KimW]

What would be really funny is if one of them decided to be a hmmmmm....I'll use the term from over the pond here.... cheeky monkey and wrote "TRUTH!" at the bottom (get it?)... or "NO LYE!".....yeah - be glad I never baby sat for you.

 

[TheGecko]

My main thing was warning my two very smart but often clueless teenagers from unintentional chaos and destruction.

I can't draw so I just wrote "Danger!!! Danger!!! Drinking this will kill you!!" all over my gallon jug. Which reminds me...it's empty. Daughter used the last of my Lye Solution for the kitchen drain.

 

[KiwiMoose]

What would be really funny is if one of them decided to be a hmmmmm....I'll use the term from over the pond here.... cheeky monkey and wrote "TRUTH!" at the bottom (get it?)... or "NO LYE!".....yeah - be glad I never baby sat for you.

yeah - cheeky monkey = smart a** here.

 

[VikingChick]

I mean, if you want to get all technical about it, this is the SDS symbol for lye:

I doubt I could draw that, though