Unpleasant smell when stirring soap paste

[Jor224]

When I blended my soap paste during early phase of tracing, there was often sharp smell that stung my nose, and I have worn my mask. I suspected this to come from the KOH. Is it poisonous? How to remove the smell? My family has concern as I make this in kitchen.

 

[shunt2011]

It's not likely the KOH. It throws off fumes when first mixed until dissolved and it seems to dissipate for the most part. What oils are you using? Are they burning? May just be a combination of the KOH and oils mixed. Turn on a vent fan (I always have it on when soaping).

 

[Jor224]

The smell was so sharp, I couldn't breath during the blending process. The place where I did it has not vent fan, thus I planned to do this upstairs next time. The smell only appeared when the soap paste was mixed using immersion blender while it is still watery. Once it become like thick mayonnaise, its safe to breath while blending the paste.

 

[shunt2011]

I've never had that happen while mixing my lye with the oils. So, no help here sorry.

 

[Jor224]

So when you're mixing lye with oil and breathe near it without mask, there is no harmful feeling on your nose?

 

[Obsidian]

So when you're mixing lye with oil and breathe near it without mask, there is no harmful feeling on your nose?

I've never experienced that either. I have however gotten too close the lye solution while mixing it and it did burn my nose. There was no scent though, just a chemical burning.

KoH and NaOH fumes aren't toxic, they won't poison you. They are caustic and can burn your nose/throat if you were to breath them in. You would only breath them for a second before the unpleasantness makes you move away.

How long are you letting your KoH solution cool before mixing it in the oils? Try letting it cool to room temp next time.

Let your family know its safe to mix in your kitchen, its not leaving toxins.

 

[shunt2011]

So when you're mixing lye with oil and breathe near it without mask, there is no harmful feeling on your nose?

I don't put my face close enough or over it. As I've said several times, I've not had a problem when mixing. I've gotten a some fumes while mixing the lye and water but now keep my face far enough away from that too.

 

[DeeAnna]

If there is obvious mist (steam) rising from the lye solution, you definitely don't want to breathe the mist. But that stops fairly quickly after the lye solution is fully dissolved. Keep the top of the lye solution container lightly covered to reduce the amount of mist that escapes into the open air. And work in an area with good air ventilation.

I don't choose to put my face near lye solution or soap batter, but if there is no mist in the air from these liquids, it's normally fairly safe to work nearby without a respirator. Are you mixing the soap batter in such a way that droplets of the batter are getting into the air? If so, you need to find another way to mix the batter that doesn't do this.

You haven't said anything about your recipe, so I have no way of knowing if your other ingredients are causing this problem.

What I can say is if you ever breathe lye mist, even a little bit of the mist, you will quickly learn it's not a smell. Your nose and possibly your eyes will burn badly. The irritation is not an odor and it's not something you can ignore.

Lye mist doesn't travel far from the source, so if other people farther away are smelling this, it's not the lye solution -- it's some other problem.

 

[Jor224]

Yes, let me change my word from "unpleasant smell" to "burn my nose". What I mean is that fumes came out and burn my nose, not a long lasting unpleasant scent like someone just fart inside a car.

I purposely didn't let it cool so I can use the heat to speed up tracing.

I've never experienced that either. I have however gotten too close the lye solution while mixing it and it did burn my nose. There was no scent though, just a chemical burning.

KoH and NaOH fumes aren't toxic, they won't poison you. They are caustic and can burn your nose/throat if you were to breath them in. You would only breath them for a second before the unpleasantness makes you move away.

How long are you letting your KoH solution cool before mixing it in the oils? Try letting it cool to room temp next time.

Let your family know its safe to mix in your kitchen, its not leaving toxins.

Hi, my other ingredients are canola oil, coconut oil, palm oil, sunflower oil. I always make them in small batch, TOW 50-100gr. Maybe the immersion blender is too much for that. I remember this didn't happen when I used whisk, but whisk is slow.

If there is obvious mist (steam) rising from the lye solution, you definitely don't want to breathe the mist. But that stops fairly quickly after the lye solution is fully dissolved. Keep the top of the lye solution container lightly covered to reduce the amount of mist that escapes into the open air. And work in an area with good air ventilation.

I don't choose to put my face near lye solution or soap batter, but if there is no mist in the air from these liquids, it's normally fairly safe to work nearby without a respirator. Are you mixing the soap batter in such a way that droplets of the batter are getting into the air? If so, you need to find another way to mix the batter that doesn't do this.

You haven't said anything about your recipe, so I have no way of knowing if your other ingredients are causing this problem.

What I can say is if you ever breathe lye mist, even a little bit of the mist, you will quickly learn it's not a smell. Your nose and possibly your eyes will burn badly. The irritation is not an odor and it's not something you can ignore.

Lye mist doesn't travel far from the source, so if other people farther away are smelling this, it's not the lye solution -- it's some other problem.