Vinegar?

[BrewerGeorge]

Just read Teresa talk about using vinegar to replace some water in soap. To avoid hijacking that thread, I'm starting another. I did search, but all the results seem to revolve around laundry, so I'm asking...

How can you possibly put vinegar without doing more than just bumping the superfat? What does the sodium acetate do to finished soap? Is it similar to the sodium lactate hardener, or the sodium citrate chelator?

 

[IrishLass]

Here are 2 threads started by TOMH regarding vinegar in soap :

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=59148&highlight=vinegar
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=59295&highlight=vinegar


IrishLass

 

[Steve85569]

Similar to SL, more so that than the citrate.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

So I've read a bunch of these threads and am still wondering one thing : what about the reaction heat of substituting vinegar for the water? How much hotter will it get?

 

[Pepsi Girl]

I made soap with vinegar and I don't remember it getting extra hot. It was nice soap. I made it because Hazel made me do it:wink::wink:And because we were talking about it on this forum. But I will not likely do it again.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=49761

 

[topofmurrayhill]

So I've read a bunch of these threads and am still wondering one thing : what about the reaction heat of substituting vinegar for the water? How much hotter will it get?

It will get significantly hotter, by some tens of degrees depending on how much vinegar is substituted for water. However, the boiling point of lye goes up dramatically with increasing concentration. It appears there's not a realistic danger of the solution boiling. The boiling point of a 33% solution is somewhere around 250 F. I mentioned some of the temps I saw and I don't think they reached 200 F. The sodium acetate might even further raise the boiling point.

Sodium acetate and sodium lactate are similar in their effects on sodium soap. Sodium acetate seems to work just as well if not better.