Speek things up!

[amanda131]

Is there anyway to make the lye cool down faster?? I'm trying to make soap during nap time and really need the lye to cool down faster! Can I stick it in the fridge or will this screw everything up??

 

[LizRNBSN]

I would like to know an answer to this too. One time I added ice, dont know if that is okay or not and did not seem to help. The next time I put my lye water cup in the sink in ice water but it is still so slow!

 

[amanda131]

hmmmm, Pardon my typo in the subject line too!!

 

[LJA]

You can stick the container into an ice bath...that helps.

 

[artisan soaps]

..

 

[Guest]

Instead of weighing out water -- weigh out ice.
Weigh the lye.
Pour the lye over the ice, while stirring.
Continue to stir until the lye is dissolved.
You'll have a container of room temp lye/water

 

[NatureandNurture]

When I was in a hurry, I used a water bath. Stir the lye/water the whole time you are cooling to get it down in a hurry. Keeping the solution moving will get the temp down much faster than just waiting.

 

[amanda131]

vary good info! but how do you know how much ice to use? how do you know how many cubes makes how many oz. of water??

 

[Vic1963]

You weigh the ice........just like you do the water.

Put your bowl on the scale...and 00 out the scale, and just instead of weighing water......weigh your ice .


I use from 50 to 75% ice , you don't get all those lye fumes as bad either when you use ice.

Like say you need 20 oz of liquid, you could weight up 15 oz of ice and 5 oz of water, to make your 20 oz.

 

[amanda131]

Sweet! I"m totally doing that next time!! Maybe even tonight!!

 

[Guest]

I use about 75% ice too , I make sure the lye is dissolved in the 25% water first , then add my ice cubes .

Kitn

 

[carebear]

uh yea - you can put it in the fridge. assuming there is no risk that someone will grab it and drink it (fatal) or spilling it (still dangerous). you can even stick it in the freezer. In either case, make sure the lye is completely dissolved first or you could end up with a lump at the bottom (stir until the solution has cleared).

or set your container into an ice bath

or plan ahead.

 

[IrishLass]

Yep- what Carebear said. I've put mine in the fridge a few times and all was well.

IrishLass

 

[rubato456]

glass containers take much longer to cool than a stainless steel container does. i make my lye solution in a stainless steel container and stick that in my freezer. it cools down fairly quickly. i like the idea of using ice cubes. hadn't thought of that.

 

[amanda131]

I tried the ice. I needed 18.2 oz of water so I mixed my lye with 4oz of water and 14.2oz of ice. It was at 80 degrees instintly. That's a LOT cooler that I usually work with! I usually mix my lye with my oils at about 100 degrees! Oh well, we'll see how it turns out!

 

[hem06]

I do ice, too.

 

[tangled_panda]

Ice cold water works great. . . I used bottled water straight from the fridge, mixed the lye water before I got the oils going, and it was luke warm by the time I added it to the oils.

 

[honor435]

stirring , while conatainer is surrounded by ice bath, shouldnt take more than 10 min. I use plastic measuring cup, what are you using for lye/water?

 

[amanda131]

I'm using a glass measuring cup