Storing your lye, prevent greasy soap

[Guest]

Just recently read an article that you should store your lye in plastic zip bags rather than in a bucket. As the lye will absorb the moisture when the bucket is opened - you will see chunks in your lye - as it is absorbing moisture. I have never heard of this. I bought my lye in a large plastic bag which already had clumps in it. The article states that if your lye has absorbed moisture it will not absorb all of the oil and you will end up with oily soap. Has anyone heard of this or experienced this?

 

[soapbuddy]

If your lye has any hard lumps that means moisture got to it and your measurements will be off. So yes, it could make your soap greasy as some of the lye will not be active. I buy my lye in 50 lb. bags and those are store in buckets with a tight fitting lid.

 

[oh2bejoy]

I had the same problem....is it possible to rebatch my greasy batch? or should I just grate it and add it to a new soap batch? Thanks in advance...

 

[soapbuddy]

I had the same problem....is it possible to rebatch my greasy batch? or should I just grate it and add it to a new soap batch? Thanks in advance...

If it doesn't zap, just shred it and add it to another batch.

 

[Lindy]

I have bought in 50 lb bags before and also stored it in pails that are airtight. I've had lumps which I just crush up and use the lye. Never had a problem with oily soap or lye heavy either....

 

[bigfinger76]

While it's true that lye absorbs moisture and can therefore affect the weight, it will not affect the lye's reactivity itself.
Think about it. If that were the case, dissolving it in water prior to mixing would ruin it.

 

[LadyM]

I bought my lye in a large plastic bag which already had clumps in it.

If you have clumps in a fresh bag, you can just easily crush the clumps it's totally fine.
Those are different than lye that's been exposed over and over to moisture in the air etc and has hard solid clumps.

 

[busymakinsoap!]

I had some lye handed down to me from my nana who was a soap maker. It was in a bucket and had obviously absorbed water over time.
The lye was hard as a rock in some places, and the loose bits were larger and did not react when put in water. I believe they had already had their reaction.

so I guess over an extended period of time your lye would become useless if not stored air tight, but I personally think this would take a looong time