Teach Soap

So I was getting ready to make soap with Buttermilk and as soon as I added the lye to the milk it started to curdle on me...is it safe to say that I can't use it?

and if I can't how do I dispose of this lye water safely?

update...
So I decided to dispose of the lye mixture slowly down the drain.

But boy are the Gremlins after me tonight! I decided to continue to make the soap with distilled water since I already had all my oils ready. As soon as I added my lye water to the oils my soap started to curdle! I could not believe it. I tried to smooth it out as much as I could, but it's not going to work. I poured it in the mold and wait for it to set and then dispose of it. I am thinking that my lye may have been to hot for my oils. Oils were at 94 and lye water at 112. Do you think that is what happened?

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Roxana
*** Just keep trying
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Take and freeze your milk, then add the lye to the frozen milk, slowly. It will stink (and turn orangey), but it won't burn.
Milk heats up a lot, as you have already learned, so you either need to use a slurry or you can set your lye container in ice water. But then you must make sure that the water doesn't enter your bath and you have more of a mess, as far as I am concerned. I weigh out the milk and put it into an ice cube tray or just baggies. It makes no difference, as long as it is mostly frozen when you add the lye.

As far as dumping the lye, it is the main ingredient in most drain cleaners, so you just gave your sink a treatment!

Hang in there, it is an adventure!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

I use the same method as Tammy.
You can also use just enough water to dissolve your lye and then add the rest of the water amount as milk at trace.

If it doesn't curdle too badly, you can sometimes stick blend it smooth again. But if it gets all dark brown and nasty, it needs to be dumped.

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

I understand the milk part. I have read and watched a few people do diffrent things for milk , haveing it slushy and useing an ice bath to haveing it completly frozen and adding the lye directly and slowly onto it so it melts.
BUt why would water act like that ?

Did you add a fragrance to your oils before adding the lye water? I don't think that temperature difference would have caused the curdling.

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

"But boy are the Gremlins after me tonight! I decided to continue to make the soap with distilled water since I already had all my oils ready. As soon as I added my lye water to the oils my soap started to curdle! I could not believe it. I tried to smooth it out as much as I could, but it's not going to work. I poured it in the mold and wait for it to set and then dispose of it. I am thinking that my lye may have been to hot for my oils. Oils were at 94 and lye water at 112. Do you think that is what happened?"

Sorry, I didn't respond to this part.
Your temp was fine. As long as they are within 10 degrees or so of each other they are fine. And often, when they are not, they are still fine in the end. So this was not a culprit.

What was in your oils? Did you have a fragrance or colorant already added? If so, it sounds like it was that, that it riced. If not, it was probably something in your pot. Was it cleaned and properly rinsed? When your batter rices you can often get it beaten down and pour it and it will still be good. Occasionally it is not, but most often it is.

_________________
Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

Yes, I added the fragrance to my oils and I think that did it. I used Ginger Pear from BB

3 lbs of soap

_________________
Roxana
*** Just keep trying
Follow my Soaping Journey at:

Ginger pear did the same to me with one of my batches. I'll bet that's your culprit. I blended it like no tomorrow and ended up in the end rebatching the whole deal.