Teach Soap

FFS

This has never happened before, measured out my water and lye correctly and was dissolving my lye water
UNTIL it went green!!!!

Using a stainless steel pot. Used this recipe without any hassle before. Any ideas why this could be happening?

So P***ED OFF

Stainless is an alloy. Even though stainless is resistant to corrosion, it does break down over time. I’d venture a bet that the green water is from the copper or nickel content in the alloy.

Lye will "eat" stainless, much slower than some plastics, but will "eat" it none the less. I've moved to plastic and am staying there. I had the stainless steel pitcher from BB and it too is starting to make my lye green and icky smelling. I've moved to an old jug we found in the cupboard and a plastic "beaker" that came with my kitchen aid professional line stick blender (FYI, don't get the kitchen aid professional line SB!!! OMG it is hard to use, and I have huge strong hands! I can barely push that button!) You can find all sorts of plastic beakers from online scientific supply stores, and they are generally very conservatively priced too!

_________________
~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Here is a good place too:

_________________
~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

On the plastic topic...I have been looking for some plastic soaping bowls that I have seen Ann Marie using in her videos(with pour spouts) and wonder if I should be looking for something specific? I also use a glass pyrex for my soap batter, which I have read can leave glass splints over time in your batter which is why I would like to change it up! I now use plastic for my lye instead of the pyrex measure cup I have been using!

_________________
www.fostersfields.ca
https://www.facebook.com/FostersFields

I'm gonna try a plastic bowl. Would glass be ok to use? Or would that shatter due to the heat?

Really interesting what you have all said.

Thank you ladies for helping me

No glass or Pyrex. Plastic is your safest bet.

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

just so's ya know

_________________

Dawn

Oh yeah. Pyrex oven glass, beware. And even labware: I made the mistake early on, buying imported Chinese beakers. (Big beakers, 2L and 3L and so on, are pricey)
And soon there were none. The glass they use is ok; however they use only half as much, so the glassware shatters or cracks really easily. I've been dissolving lye in a stainless pan for a couple of years and there's no visible sign of damage yet. For splitting a batter into separate colours I use lab beakers; the glass hasn't shown any change as yet. As liked above, I also like the graduated heavy-duty plastic lab jugs, they come in all sizes - I have some 3L ones - not too expensive, very durable.

Go to your nearest Walmart into the housewares department. For $3.97 you can get a heavy duty plastic pitcher for mixing your lye water. It works beautifully. I've used it on more than 40 large batches of lye water. I also use the 4 cup plastic measuring cups for mixing colorant and raw soap. At Smart & Final I got a bunch of black plastic serving spoons which work great for mixing colorant into raw soap. My BIG molds are plastic storage boxes from Home Depot (makes 30-33 bars at a time) for $4 each.

DO NOT use glass for any reason. It etches and splinters into your product. Really not a good thing.

I do use a glass candy thermometer though. I use stainless steel pots for mixing my lye water into my oils.

The $20 Hamilton Beach stick blender works great. The stick twists onto the base, which means it comes off for cleaning! It also comes with a mixer whip in case you want to use that to whip your soaps!

Jill