What do you melt your oils in?

[shawnswife]

I plop all my oils in a plastic bowl/pitcher..."blitcher" from the $ store and zap them for about 1 min 40 seconds. Perfect every time.

EXACTLY :razz:

 

[Crocoturtle]

I melt my oils in a SS pot from Family Dollar or a glass batter bowl. I make my lye solution in this
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00192IQIQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Which is totally awesome and I might have to order another one since it's on sale. I just use this
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009WE45/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
thermometer. Even though I don't soap at exact temperatures I like that this one gives me an exact temperature.

 

[marghewitt]

I have an old stainless steel dutch oven and an electric burner I use in my dining room. I only melt 4 to 6 pounds of oils at a time in it. I use an old plastic bowl to mix my lye water in.

 

[tyerod]

you don't even need to melt hard oils if doing CP soaps. Cut the hard soap into small pieces and stick in a sturdy clean bucket. mix lye in separate container, then add to the oils. The heat from lye solution quickly melts the hard oils. I don't use thermometers either

I like this idea. I am gonna try it on my next batch. I usually heated the oil gently until the solids were almost melted then shut off the heat. Never thought of using the heat generated by the lye addition. I use my SS soup pot for soaping and have no concerns about cooking in it after its cleaned.

 

[melstan775]

I found a stainless steel stock pot at Walmart for 8 dollars. I figure I can melt my oils in it on the stovetop. Otherwise I also found the three nesting mixing bowls there for 5. So I could melt oils in the big one, use the smaller ones for lye and water, then mix the Le I to the water and then mix the lyewater into the big bowl. The only thing I don't like about the bowls is they are round. Cylinders like buckets seem better. I'm probably over thinking this but I am also trying to reduce my costs. Thinks on it some more.

 

[Soapsense]

For Lye, I bought a plastic/dishwasher safe 2 qt. pitcher for 97 cents at wal-mart

 

[melstan775]

For Lye, I bought a plastic/dishwasher safe 2 qt. pitcher for 97 cents at wal-mart

That's what I thought for mixing lye and water but don't you still need a separate container to weigh the right amount of lye in?

 

[VanessaP]

Last year when we had the smooth top electric stovetop, I would put my hard oils in my SS bucket/pot on the stove to melt on the simmer burner. Then I'd measure out my liquid oils and just set them close and pour in once the hard oils were melted. The metal will hold enough heat to (hopefully) keep the hard oils from re-solidifying before adding the lye mixture.

However, now that I'm using my 5qt paint mixer HDPE "bucket" from walmart, I heat my liquid oils (or the softer hard oils like coconut and palm) for about a minute on high. I melt my hard stuff like PKO and cocoa butter in a pyrex in the microwave on medium in 45 second increments between stirring then pour into the liquid oils and give it another 30-60 seconds. If I need to, I let it sit for a few minutes to cool off to an easier to work with temp. Much easier than waiting for the SS pots to cool down LOL Also the HDPE pours more cleanly away from the sides so its not as hard to scrape out.

 

[VanessaP]

That's what I thought for mixing lye and water but don't you still need a separate container to weigh the right amount of lye in?

I bought a bag of 12oz paper cups at Sam's Club so I can use disposable items to weigh my lye in but not plastic, yanno. They hold a decent amount, and I can use 2 if I need to make a particularly large batch. In hindsight, I probably should have bought the 16oz ones, but I'm sure I'll be in Sam's again for OO soon. I'm masterbatching my lye as soon as I get my silk in, and will be using a 1 gallon lock n lock pitcher as they are air and water tight.

 

[KrisAnt]

I use a stainless steel pot on the stove over low heat. I melt the hard oils then remove it from the stove and add the liquid oils.

 

[RocknRoll]

First I mix my lye/water and set it in a sink with cool water. Then I have a small crock pot that I melt my shea butter/cocoa butter with. Once they are melted I shut off the pot, then to that I add in my palm and coconut oils and they melt pretty fast with the residul heat. Meanwhile in my big glass pyrex I have room temp olive and castor oils. Once the hard oils are all melted (doesnt take long) I mix them with my room temp oils. At this point I add in my goats milk/coconut milk/ half & half (whatever milk I am using) and oatmeal, honey or any other additives and gently emulsify with stick blender. Then I add TD if using it and add scent as well. Gently mix and then finally I add my strained lye solution. (My new motto is to "add lye last" and it works beautifully for me.) My lye is also room temp by the time I add it. I hate thermometers and I'm so thankful I discovered the "room temp" method. This has definately contributed to my overall soaping success, I havent had a botched batch since using this method and Its sooo less stressful because there are no time constraint windows or matching of temps. If something comes up I can walk away and come right back to where I left off. I love soaping cool!

 

[CaliChan]

I use a stainless steel pot on the stove over low heat. I melt the hard oils then remove it from the stove and add the liquid oils.

Do your temp do your oils come to when you do that? Ive consitterd it but I try and get my oils between 90-100 degrees by the time i take them off the stove

 

[danahuff]

I melt my hard oils, like shea and cocoa butters, palm oil, and coconut oil, in the microwave. I don't heat up my soft oils. By the time I combine the two, I'm close to soaping temp.

 

[Crocoturtle]

For Lye, I bought a plastic/dishwasher safe 2 qt. pitcher for 97 cents at wal-mart

i used to work for someone who used plastic pitchers for mixing lye. She had a variety some name brand like tupperware and some cheapos. Whenever I would mix lye in them it would put off serious fumes and almost black vapors. When I started soaping at my own house I bought that little enamel pot and I get like zero vapors when I mix the lye. Both of our soaps come out the same but I feel like the pot is a better thingamajig.

 

[nebetmiw]

I use a plastic storage bowl for my hard oils and put them in the microwave. Once melted I pour them into my big SS bowl and then add my liquid oil.

 

[cerelife]

Hi Mel!
I might be doing this an oddball way, but it has always worked great for me. I only soap in 2 lb batches and I usually do several batches in a soaping session, since I like to try different things.
I have 2 Rubbermaid pitchers that I measure my water in, and I have a plastic gravy boat (from Publix) that I measure my lye in after wiping it down with fabric softener sheets to prevent the lye crystals from flying out of it! I used to use 3 pitchers, but the lye water in the third tended to get too cool by the time I was ready for it, so two works best for me. I add silk to my lye water, so the clear pitchers are great for checking that all my lye and silk is fully dissolved.
I weigh out my hard oils first into a pyrex measuring cup (I have them in 3 sizes...6 cup, 4 cup and 2 cup). The hard oils go in the 6 cup size and I microwave them at 30 second pulses to keep the glass from getting too hot. Melt..stir, melt.. stir. While I'm doing that, I measure out my room temp oils into the 4 cup size. When the hard oils are melted, I add the room temp oils and check the temp of both my oils and my lye water. When I first starting making soap, I used a candy thermometer, but it was a real PITA, so I just quit checking temps since so many folks say they don't bother with it. This didn't work so great for me since I'm apparently just not good at judging temps and I tended to soap hot..the soap was fine, but I got that concave top due to the heat and some of my FO's suffered from my bad judgement. BTW, I gel, so it might not matter as much if you don't. I bought an infrared thermometer gun from Harbor Freight last year for $29 with one of the DH's coupons...this thing makes soaping so much easier! I've found that my soap is the best when both my lye water and oils are between 110-120.
I mix my oils and lye water together in plastic buckets my DH brings home from his job as an aircraft avionics guy...industrial size "Wypall" containers (maybe 2 gallon size?). All the guys save them for him now, so I have about 20! It's nice to not have to clean them more than once a month...by then the residue is "skin-friendly" soap as opposed to second-day soap...and I return the favor by sending free soap to work with my DH! Win-win situation, since I get some great feedback and ideas for new soap from the DH's co-workers and their wives

 

[Desert Karen]

I bought most of what I have, at thrift stores. I got a stick blender for $3. A measuring cup with a long, narrow lip where I can easily fill soaps into an old ice cube tray, for samples. I got two thermometers at Big Lot's. I also decided to buy new spatulas, plastic measuring cups, a stainless bowl that I met my oils in, and a whisks at B.L. I took my OLD spatulas, etc, and put them with my soaping supplies. I got a cheap plastic tablecloth for $1 at, what else, but the Dollar Store. I bought 2 Sterlight pitchers at Wal Mart, for my lye, and water. I also buy my EO's at Clarks (healthfood store) and most of my oils. It's way less expensive to do that then to fork out $ for shipping. I bought my soap molds, which is 2 loaf molds that hold 3lb. each and a 3rd mold that I can use for soap, but it has markers in it for where to cut...and each cut yeilds about 5oz cut of soap. I spent my Christmas bonus on soaping supplies. I spent about $500.00 It seems like a lot of $, but that includes a load of EO's, FO's and my oils. I have some awesome oils, and trying to figure out where I can use my macadamia nut oil.

 

[MaitriBB]

I like this idea. I am gonna try it on my next batch. I usually heated the oil gently until the solids were almost melted then shut off the heat. Never thought of using the heat generated by the lye addition. I use my SS soup pot for soaping and have no concerns about cooking in it after its cleaned.

That's exactly how I did it before I started using goat's milk as my liquid instead of water. Because I freeze the GM and pour the lye over it as it melts, the liquid doesn't get hot enough to melt the oils. Hence the crock pot now. It sure was easier before!

 

[MaitriBB]

That's what I thought for mixing lye and water but don't you still need a separate container to weigh the right amount of lye in?

You can get quart-size HDPE containers at Lowe's or another hardware store for around $1 each. I have 2, one for measuring the lye and one for the water.

 

[melstan775]

You can get quart-size HDPE containers at Lowe's or another hardware store for around $1 each. I have 2, one for measuring the lye and one for the water.

Thnks Maitri. That's kind of what I was thinking. How's fumes and vapors
With plastic? Croco mentions better results using enamel.