soapmaking without lye?

[questingmuse]

Does the hot lye stay hot after you add in your fragrances and the rest of your oils?

Just curious.

~Traci

 

[NEASoapWorks]

SADD

That struck me as funny NEA - true but funny.

We could make it into an acronym - Don't Soap S.A.D.D.

:wink:

Yes, we could! I didn't catch that!

Does the hot lye stay hot after you add in your fragrances and the rest of your oils?

Hey Traci!
The lye is dissolved in the water (adding the lye to the water), to make a lye solution. Some soapers soap with hot lye water, using the heat to melt the oils, which is called RTCP (Room Temperature Cold Process). You can also let your lye water cool down to room temperature, and add it to your room temperature oils/butters, also called RTCP. Or, you can let your lye water and melted oils cool down, to approx. 90-110 degrees, and then combine them. I used to do that. I don't anymore.

So, when you combine the temp of the lye solution, with the temp of the oils/butters, you have the temperature of your soap batter. So, if you use hot lye water, with cool oils butters, you'll get a warm soap batter. Then, once you get things going, by stirring/stickblending the oils and lye solution, the temperature of your soap batter will rise a few degrees, indicating that saponification is taking place.

Fragrance oils can cause the temperature of your soap batter to rise — sometimes too much, causing separation and/or seizing.

I may have given you too much info, and I'm not sure if I explained it well. If not, come back for clarification.

HTH 8)

 

[cdwinsby]

Your scent should be one of the last things you add to your soap base. The mixture may cool a little while mixing but it will heat back up again and hit the gel stage. The whole mix will take on a transparent look. After a few hours it will cool back down and become opaque again.

 

[busymammaof3]

Thanks ladies.

I have been doing M&P for a couple of years, but as has been said it's not really making the soap from start to finish which is what I wanted to try.

It seems to be cheaper in my calculations to M&P....but I'm not sure the costs or availability of lye

Any suggestions on locations, I tried my grocery stores and at Meijer's locally, with no luck.

~Questing Muse

Hi Questioning Muse!

I have 3 young children, ages 7, 5 and 4. I started making CP soap when they were a little younger. I have had minor burns on my hands from not being careful, being in a hurry, etc. So, now, like the rest of you guys have said, I USE GLOVES! LOL as long as you wear long sleaves, wear gloves you'll be perfectly fine.

I open my windows before I start, so the fumes of the lye don't overpower me, my family or my pets. And it's fine.

I keep a few old, long sleeved shirts in my closet...just for soap making. So, if they get a little bleached from the lye/water droplets or splashing...it's no big deal.

I purchase my sodium hydroxide from one place, online. I searched high and low, far and wide to find a place locally I could buy it. None of the hardware stores carry it. Wal-Mart doesn't carry red Devil anymore. And Red Devil isn't 100% Sodium Hydroxide now, anyway.

This is where I buy mine, right now. http://www.brambleberry.com/supplies.html#lye and they now have it in flake form. Which I really like. The granulated form seems messier. And like one of you said, they come in strong, thick plastic, child proof containers. They have those lids, like most child-proof over the counter meds have, now. They are clearly, and boldly labeled. I keep apple cider vinegar around, just in case I get into contact with the lye/water solution. It hasn't happened since I started wearing long sleeves and gloves. But, just in case, I can quickly neutralize the burning.

Hope that helped!

 

[pepperi27]

Is it possible to make cp directly in crockpot? I'm no where near ready to try making anything yet. Just curious cause someone mentioned a rtcp? Is that how you would make it?