Teach Soap

Hi Guys , hope you can help me.

I picked up in another thread about 'masterbatching'. What i was wondering was, if I premix my Lye solution do I just use it at the temperature it is and is this ok, or if not how do i reheat it?

I usually combine my oils and lye at about 40-45 C - so my room temperature is going to be lower than that.

Any help you can give me would be gratefully received as I can see this saving me loads of hanging about waiting for the lye to cool and give me time to make lots more soap.

BTW - what would you store the solution in?

Thanks everyone.

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www.labyrinthsoap.com

Never try to heat your lye solution! Think caustic volcano.. yikes! And I would store it in a heavy duty plastic container.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Hi allylorraine! Yes, that's correct about pre-mxing your lye. It's very dangerous to reheat your lye, but you can warm it a bit by placing the container in a bowl or sink with hot water. You can store it in a stainless pitcher or heavy duty plastic pitcher with a tight lid.

If you have a recipe you use all the time, you can also masterbatch your oils in premeasured amounts so they'll be ready to use.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thanks guys, the reheating hadn't occurred to me - oops

But i am still worried about the difference in the temperature between the lye and the oils. I was taught that I needed to have the oil and the lye within a few degrees of each other and that they should be between 35-50 C . Room temperature for my premixed Lye is going to be about 10 c.

Sorry if I am missing something obvious here or am being a bit slow.

Your help (and patience) is very much appreciated.

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www.labyrinthsoap.com

I don't do RTCP as I have had problems with false trace due to room temp oils or undissolved stearic, which needs a higher temp to melt. Temps don't need to be exact. I go by touch. If the lye water is warm to the touch (but not burning) and so are the oils, I know that I'm good to go.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thanks Soapbuddy - and everyone, great advice.

i think I will think this one over

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www.labyrinthsoap.com

I may be wrong because I am definitely not an expert, but I think that as long as your oils are warm enough the lye temp being cooler than the oils doesn't matter too much unless its frozen, then I could see that being a problem.

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Kristen D. Vineyard
visit my blog http://washwithvegetables.blogspot.com

Thanks lunasear, I think I might give it a go on a small batch and see what happens.

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www.labyrinthsoap.com