Teach Soap

Was the water ice cold when you added the lye? Did you try to cool it off too quickly?

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

No, the water was room temperature. I did not try to cool it off too quickly. I just mixed it in and let it sit there.

What do I do?

Looks like 4 or 5 tiny crystals of lye in the bottom are not dissolving. What do I do?

Could you just strain the lye solution to get the crystals out before you pour it into your oils?

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

They're too tiny.

Even if you poured it through a coffee filter?

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

It looks like I crushed them all up, and I stirred it. I don't see any left. Is there anything else I should do to check after I unmold them besides the zap test?

How tiny are they? I pour all my lye solution through a standard strainer and it catches sugar specks...

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The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

I would strain it just to be on the safe side! Carefully!
Did you keep stirring til the water was clear? You need to do that, otherwise you will end up with lye on the bottom of your container.

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

I kept stirring till it was completely clear. My sister was the one posting for me earlier in another room. After it was clear I saw 4 or 5 tiny little specks in the bottom and I kept stirring and they weren't dissolving so I freaked. I have never had that happen before. I crushed them with my spoon finally, (I have nothing in my house to strain it with) it looked completely clear, no specks, so I went ahead and made the soap. It is currently sitting in a mold right now. This was the worst batch of cp ever!! It traced really, really fast and I use a recipe that has always traced slow and I used well behaving fo's. I was suppose to make two more batches tonight. Forget that crap! I'll do those tomorrow. Is there anyway besides the zap test to check it tomorrow night when I cut it?

Your tongue would be the best indicator as it's sensitive. Do you have any coffee filters? Those can be used to strain if need be.

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

Going to buy some in the morning! I usually do the tongue test on the inside of the first bar I cut. (my sample bar) If there are any in dissolved crystals in the soap (like I said to me it looked like they finally dissolved) will there be any signs or will I see something?

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

Should I test each bar to be on the safe side then?