What do we need to know about the Thermal Transfer Method?

[squeakycleanuk]

There seems to be more discussion on this thread about using lye safely, than there does about the method of thermal transfer itself. Is that because this method is regarded as being less safe in some way than other methods of soaping?

 

[siobhan1011]

I think it was because I said that I dump my oils in the lye water

 

[stargazer44]

My very first soap batch was the one in the youtube video posted. I have done room temp, thermal, and using thermometers.... and my favorite by far is the thermal. I have been able to do all my recipes using this method with no issues. I don't use lemon juice in any of recipes. I think she just uses that in her recipe - not sure why. What I have found works best is I make sure all of my hard oils are mashed up so they melt quickly, and I start with my hardest oils first. I am bad - I do add my oil to my lye water. But I use a deep pot, wear long gloves and googles, and am very careful to spoon in so I don't have splashing. I find the water stays hotter this way, ensuring my oils melt and I don't have to throw it on the stove.

 

[sistrum]

This is the way I was taught to make soap decades ago, I think I made a post about it when I first joined. I would post a link if I knew how.

 

[DeeAnna]

Is this it, Sis? http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f11/way-grams-taught-me-11821/

 

[MaitriBB]

That's how I was making my soap for a while until I started making goat's milk soap, and then my lye mixture wouldn't get hot enough to melt the oils because the frozen GM was cooling it down.

 

[melstan775]

Remember how NaOH heats up when you put it in water? Guess what? Lye also generates lots of heat when it reacts with vinegar. If you put vinegar on your skin to neutralize a lye splash, you are adding insult to injury. You will end up with a chemical burn AND a thermal burn.

Just use LOTS of COLD water. Lots. Thoroughly but gently wipe off any soap batter, and rinse, rinse, rinse, and rinse some more. You want to make sure you rinse off every bit of the chemical, so rinse far longer than you think is necessary -- the first aid rule-of-thumb is 15 minutes.

I bolded the parts of your quote which are a contraindication. Lye reacts with water, but use water to get it out. Why why why does the problem also have to be the solution in this case?? LOL. Lye burns hurt bad.

I had my first bad one a couple batches ago. A splash of batter found its way into my glove and festered on my wrist til I was really feeling it. Off to the sink we go, rinse rinse rinse. Burn burn burn. rinse rinse rinse, burn burn burn. I finally grabbed the palmolive and washed washed washed and rinsed rinsed rinsed and the sting finally went down. I did then grab the vinegar and applied it, and yep, it burned, but only for a few seconds. Then I rinsed, palmolive washed again, and rinsed. Lye burn effectively put out.

Now funny this, there is a little bit of a scar , but I could swear the burn was on the side of my wrist near my thumb and the scar is on the back of my wrist, by my forearm. Odd to say the least.

 

[AngelMomma]

Melissa, that DOES NOT sound pleasant at all!!!!!! Glad you are ok.

 

[squeakycleanuk]

Here in the UK we have to have an MSDS (safety details) for all our ingredients and on the safety sheets for Lye it states to rinse with water, there is no mention of vinegar at all.

 

[DeeAnna]

I bolded the parts of your quote which are a contraindication. Lye reacts with water, but use water to get it out. Why why why does the problem also have to be the solution in this case??...

There's no contradiction at all. I was trying to illustrate a point, but obviously I didn't succeed.

Let me try again.

Delete my first two sentences in the section of my post that you quoted. Re-read the rest of that quote, and see if my essential point is clear.

--DeeAnna