Honey Didn't Dissolve?

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hmlove1218

hmlove1218

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I've used honey multiple times and never had this issue. It only partially dissolved in my lye water and now I have this thick sticky stuff floating in my lye water.

Procedure:
Added 2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp citric acid to water and fully dossolved.
Added my lye to my water and allowed it to cool some.
Added 2 TBSP honey

The only thing different than every other time is the citric acid. I'm making a shampoo bar and wanted to experiment.

Should I dump it out and start over?
 
Go figure... after I ask it starts behaving and dissolved.. I stirred it for 10 minutes trying to get it to cooperate
 
Honey won't dissolve in cold water so it may have waited to dissolve until the lye heated the solution enough. That's a bit of a guess, so take it for what it's worth.

I'd suggest you lightly warm the honey, dissolve your citric acid and honey in plain water, and then add the lye. The acid won't react with the honey -- both are acidic. Citric acid and the sugars in honey do react with lye, so it's best if they are fully mixed into the water to prevent any localized reaction from messing up the solution.

The reason why I say this is table sugar will dissolve fine in olain water, but will make ugly clumps if added to lye solution. The time I learned that lesson was not my finest moment. :roll:
 
The water was still warm to the touch from the initial reaction with the lye. I add the honey after adding the lye because it's easier for me to keep it from boiling over that way. I only added the honey first once. Luckily I was outside when the "explosion" happened and it missed me. Now I add the lye, let it cool off to the point I can comfortably hold the pitcher and then add the honey. Guess today it just didn't want to cooperate ha.

Glad to know the CA didn't cause the stubborness.
 
I add 1 oz boiling water to my honey(same as I do sugar), mix well, then set it aside to cool before adding my NaOH to the remainder of the water. Then I add the two liquids together. Am I making this more complicated than it needs to be?(You know me and extra steps.)
 
I've always added my honey to the oils before heating (gently warming, actually). It mixes in fairly well.

You still get the discoloration when you add the lye, resulting in a rather pretty pale tan at 1 tsp PPO and a darker amber at 1 Tbsp PPO.

I also confess to adding my sodium lactate to the oils instead of the lye water...
 

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