lye didn't dissolve?

Got all my stuff measured out last night so I could get started off early this morning. Added my lye to my water and there are granules that didn't dissolve. Never had this problem before. I didn't cover anything, could that have something to do with it? I'm guessing I will have to strain my lye mix before adding it to my oils?

I always stir my lye as I add it to the water, until it all dissolves. I have never had a problem with lye not dissolving. Where did you buy your lye? How much lye didn't dissolve? I have never strained lye water, but I guess you can try it.

Was it clear after you stirred it last night?

Measured out all my stuff in different containers last night. Mixed them this morning. Added my lye to my water this morning and did stir as I always do. Just some in there wouldn't dissolve. Not a lot but still, never had this problem. Made soap yesterday with the same ingredients but just mixed it up and finished it. It was all fine.

What is the amount of lye and water?

The only thing I can think of, is if the lye absorbed a lot of moisture overnight, it may have gotten "clumpy" (yeah, very scientific term :twisted: ). Provided you have at least approximately the same amount of water as lye by weight, and the water is not super hard or anything, it should all dissolve. Just keep stirring. At room temperature (20C), you can dissolve 111g of lye in 100 ml of water. (Not that I am recommending such a strong solution in soap making) ...

If you strain out the lye granules, your formula will be off since essentially you are using less lye.

I was thinking lint but for me that takes leaving lye overnight to get sometimes.
What do the floaters look like? Do they seem bigger than actual lye beads that you are using or a different shape?

I have strained lye before- it should be fine (though I'm not promising). I would strain it through a stainless strainer and soap as usual. It has worked fine for me but my floaters weren't undissolved lye they were bigger than my lye beads almost like white flakes if that makes sense.

I've gotten floaters in lye solution. They're bigger than the lye beads and some are roundish similar to lye beads but others are kind of flat. There have been discussions about floaters and you'll find the other topics if you use "floaters" or "undissolved" as your keywords. Long story short - it's generally not lye. I found that if I hand wash my pitcher, I get floaters the next time I use it. I don't get floaters if I run it through the dishwasher. My understanding of what was occurring in my case was because I add vinegar, water and Dawn into the pitcher and then clean my utensils in it. Then I wash out the pitcher. I wasn't getting minute quantities of oil and soap out so the floaters were traces of oil/detergent which were saponifying as I dissolved the lye for a new batch. I still get them occasionally since I don't put the pitcher in the dishwasher every time I use it. I had floaters the last time I made a batch and now I'm wishing I had taken a picture. It would have made a great reference.

This may not be what caused your floaters. I'm just mentioning this as a possibility. Like Stinkydancer, I strain the lye solution through stainless steel mesh (it's actually the insert for a kitchen drain - works great) and use it. I haven't had any issues with doing it this way.

Yep what Hazel said!

Even lye that has absorbed moisture from the air will dissolve, you're just not going to get an accurate weight for the lye because it contains some water.

Floaters do happen and as long as you're straining it, you're fine.

Ir seems like my lye gets sandy in the can as it gets depleted and it's a lot harder to dissolve. I'll put it in dry glass measuring cup to measure out the grams and it sticks to the sides of the glass. New lye doesn't do that.

Maythorn said:

Ir seems like my lye gets sandy in the can as it gets depleted and it's a lot harder to dissolve. I'll put it in dry glass measuring cup to measure out the grams and it sticks to the sides of the glass. New lye doesn't do that.

Click to expand...

I've noticed this at times as well.

Try rubbing a dryer sheet onto your glass or anything else you are using to measure out your lye to help keep it from sticking or climbing...

But would that work if it's sticking from moisture it might have absorbed not static electricity?

Probably not. I have lye that has absorbed some moisture and it doesn't stick as long as I wipe the container....

Sounds like a good idea, Lindy. clumping (or jumping for that matter) lye I'd like to avoid.

I have had this happen must confess I was in a really big hurry and didn't give it a good stir like I normally do and ended up with like a hard crystalised crust on the bottom of my jug!!!!!