White Film on Lye Mix

[daisy8]

I have noticed a white sort of film on the lye mix after it has cooled down. Could it be caused by lime in the water? It doesn't seem to be unmixed lye.

 

[three_little_fishes]

I noticed it when I used tap water a few times in NC. Since using distilled water (because I now live in the #1 place for nasty water) I get crystal clear lye water.

 

[Lotus]

Going off of what fishes said, I use tap water, at this time. We have really good water (which is about to change if a stupid bill passes). When I mixed mine with coffee (also made with tap water), it had a crema like top on it, but I haven't noticed anything unusual with my "just water" lye mixtures.

 

[Ruthie]

I've noticed it at times more so when I used tap water but to a lesser extent with water from my Brita. Your lye water is fine, but you can strain it if you want. Be sure your strainer is lye-proof though.

 

[daisy8]

Thanks for the responses.

 

[DeeAnna]

A film of white stuff on the top of lye solution may be sodium carbonate formed when the sodium hydroxide reacts with carbon dioxide in the air. It's pretty much harmless, although a large amount of it means your lye is going to be less effective when you use it to make soap. The best thing is to use lye solution fairly soon after making it.

One thing to keep in mind is that dissolved metals in your tap water may contribute to DOS. I'm not saying tap water ~always~ causes DOS, just saying it ~could~ increase the chances of DOS.

 

[newbie]

Also, if you are mixing your lye in plastic that has gone through the dishwasher, there can be some oils that remain on the plastic, from the other things in the dishwasher. Oils left on the plastic can saponify and cause some white soap to float on the surface. I suppose which it is might depend on how long you are leaving your lye solution to cool.

 

[soapguy]

Though it is true that soaps absorb water from the air and forms sodium carbonate, While cooling the NaOH, I have noticed a certain amount of crystalization of Na0H on sides and the surface of the soln. I simply scrape them back into soln by mixing the NaOH soln. Of course these could be a combination of NaOH and Na2C03, but I really don't care.

 

[Candybee]

I've seen the white film and crystalization in my lye water before. I'm a little ashamed to admit the film was from using a plastic bowl that had traces of oils from last batch. I have since learned to clean my bowls squeaky clean. As far as the crystalization goes, I had experimented with using the smallest amounts of water for my lye and found too little water gets me more crystalization. I've been able to use the lye water in any case and neither effected the outcome of the soap that I could tell.