Solar soap making? Seems hot enough....

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Jamison

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I didn't see way to search subject only...


With the heat in my area, I could easily melt oils. Interesting concept. I love not using electricity when available.


One could probably even create a heat collecting type device when it's not really warm. Same type of concept as a solar-cooker.
 
I have tried this. Kind of by accident. I was making a very large batch (for me) so I decided to do it outside. A friend wanted to learn so i waited for them to arrive, they were 2 hrs late. It was about 100 degrees outside. by the time i got ready to blend it was all ready and melted. It was exciting. So i proceeded. Poured in the lye and began using my SB. It took a long time to trace on a tried and true recipe but it did finally. I figured it was because nothing was cooling off. The bad part happened when i poured. All looked well, i left it outside uninsulated. The heat took over and it began to crack. I caught it before it got too bad.

So if you use the heat to melt your oils, this works great... but don't soap outside in 100 degree weather.
 
I don't think I'd want to be outside making soap if it was 100 degrees anyway! ha

Interesting... so let everything heat/melt outside, then take it inside to stir. I like it!
 
Neato! That's how I melted my last huge bucket of palm oil when it first arrived so I could mix it up. Don't know what I'll do when the weather cools off, tho. I know you can cook solar in the winter, but do you think if hubby built a large solar thing my bucket would melt in the winter? Those big buckets are a pain, but they're so much cheaper! You guys ever tried this in the winter?
 
BakingNana said:
Neato! That's how I melted my last huge bucket of palm oil when it first arrived so I could mix it up. Don't know what I'll do when the weather cools off, tho. I know you can cook solar in the winter, but do you think if hubby built a large solar thing my bucket would melt in the winter? Those big buckets are a pain, but they're so much cheaper! You guys ever tried this in the winter?

You'd want anything facing south in the winter (well, depending on hemisphere I suppose).

How about some sort of metal rod that sits in the oil and the other end being hit w/ sun rays. Might help a bit... focused heat on the rod with one of these solar oven type things.

Check out "cold frame" as well.... those are used for keeping plants outside during the winter.
 
Have a cold frame I could put some sort of heat source into, but it's not tall enough for the bucket. Suppose if the solar getup faced south and you put a piece of glass over it, it would help concentrate the heat enough. Worth a try. Thanks for the idea!
 
Most oils will melt if you set them in a sink of hot water, even shea.
 
Hope my soaping sink can take the weight--it's one of those heavy plastic type laundry tubs. I've always melted the smaller buckets that way. Guess I'll find out!
 
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