What is your lye mixing container made out of?

[dcornett]

I've always used a rubbermade pitcher with no problems (except it could be smaller LOL)

 

[eleraine]

PP# 5 here - it's a 1 liter measuring pitcher.

 

[ghia61]

Would lye/water solution react with silicone? I see many people use silicone molds. Thanks

 

[Maythorn]

I never thought of using plastic because I thought it would melt or warp but I use a heatproof spatula to stir my soap. Must be made of the same type of thing.

By the way, thanks for all your information given here. I'm going to check out that Rubbermaid pitcher.

Does everyone scrape the lye water out of the pot or container? I do this to get all of it. Not real fun though.

 

[carebear]

i don't.

 

[PrairieCraft]

I don't scrape my rubbermaid lye pitcher out either. There's a potential for spattering the stuff on yourself doing that.

 

[ElkRiverSoapCo]

stainless steel

 

[BakingNana]

One thing to add.

Some of the older books (maybe even newer ones - who knows?) out there have glass bottles or containers recommended for mixing lye. If you are loaning out books or giving one, you'll want to check on this and make the correction before passing it on.

 

[Cuckoo Bananas]

What's the issues regarding the quality of stainless steel? I was planning on making a bigger soap batch this time and was going to use a jumbo stainless steel pot that I got from a cheapo store as my mixing pot (I've used it before for mixing soap).....and so I was thinking about using my usual stainless steel mixing pot as my big lye mixer this time.

I'm sure the quality of stainless steel wouldn't be that great but if it's been fine for mixing soap for a couple of years I imagine it would be fine for mixing the lye water???? Pipe up if anyone knows any dangers of this...

 

[AmyW]

I recycled a plastic coffee (folgers) can; the new ones have a nifty handle and it's tall and straight sided enough that it directs the fumes up into the stove vent.

 

[ElkRiverSoapCo]

Stainless steel is safe to use. You need to watch for the other ones like aluminum. Those are no good!

 

[carebear]

I recycled a plastic coffee (folgers) can; the new ones have a nifty handle and it's tall and straight sided enough that it directs the fumes up into the stove vent.

Just be careful about the stove vent - the "filters" are often aluminum and the fumes are caustic, so with enough exposure...

 

[Sanguine]

I've been using a tupperware jar that seems to be able to take some heat, not sure if it's good for it though...

 

[maya]

i use a restaurant lidded bucket that is number 5 plastic.

 

[fiddletree]

I use a stainless steel pitcher/pot thing. It's great!

 

[dirrdee]

regarding Pryex, I would NOT use it ever for lye. Couple years ago, my DIL put a wet pryex dish on top of a warm burner on the stove (at Thanksgiving) and it EXPLODED, seriously, it was awful and glass got into all of our prepared food, and we had to throw it out. I cant imagine the castastrophe of having burns all over from that...dont do it!

Sorry, that was my mom lecture...I use a stainless pan, and also it cools much faster in an ice bath than glass or ceramic.

 

[AmyW]

I recycled a plastic coffee (folgers) can; the new ones have a nifty handle and it's tall and straight sided enough that it directs the fumes up into the stove vent.

Just be careful about the stove vent - the "filters" are often aluminum and the fumes are caustic, so with enough exposure...

Yep, I knew I was leaving something out of my post! They get changed regularly, and I'll have a soaping room soon and will use fans to direct it out the window then. The windows in my inlaw's kitchen are higher up and with the way the kitchen is set up, I don't have a good way to direct a fan.

Can't wait for our own house...

 

[Maythorn]

regarding Pryex, I would NOT use it ever for lye. Couple years ago, my DIL put a wet pryex dish on top of a warm burner on the stove (at Thanksgiving) and it EXPLODED, seriously, it was awful and glass got into all of our prepared food, and we had to throw it out. I cant imagine the castastrophe of having burns all over from that...dont do it!

Sorry, that was my mom lecture...I use a stainless pan, and also it cools much faster in an ice bath than glass or ceramic.

How awful. There went that meal it sounds like. I used a pyrex cup for mixing lye when I first started out and now I shudder to think about it. Very small batches but still.

 

[green soap]

Wow! this is terrible to lose your thanksgiving meal!

DH gifted me a nestling set of 3 flexible silicone 'beakers' for that purpose. You could call them measuring cups, but the shape is more like a beaker. I use the quart sized one. I make pretty small batches, but I like the deep walls, just in case the lye gets mad at anything pre-existing in that silicone beaker. You know, honey in the water, goat milk, weird teas....so far so good. The walls of the 'beaker' appear to have zero reaction to the lye, unlike some tupperware stuff i was using previously. I really like them for lye, and for the ocasional swirl I do (transfer batter and color), and they are reserved for these purposes. Also, I have been immersing the whole thing in a pot (SS) of cold water, and the lye cools pretty fast.

Before that wonderful gadget, and before the tupperware, I was using pyrex. I stopped as soon as I read this thread. Did I ever tell you nice folks how much I appreciate the information sharing in this forum?

I had an empty pyrex measuring cup shatter when I dropped it on a not very hard surface. I had been using it to measure the dry lye. This alerted me to the pyrex issue right away. I am now using SS to measure the lye. What does everybody else use?

 

[scrubbie]

This is mine. These are chemical resistant and can be autoclaved which means 274 degrees at 30 psi, if I remember rightly from my dental days. I spoke to company myself. At 5.25 I got 3
http://secure.sciencecompany.com/Plasti ... -C644.aspx

My size
http://secure.sciencecompany.com/Plasti ... 1C644.aspx

I got my chem aprons here and my safety gear.
Yuppers: here are auto clave temps and times. So these pitchers
are good. I like them a little tall.
http://www.sterilizers.com/autoclave-ti ... chart.html