Obsidian
Well-Known Member
I need some chemistry advice deeanna, I don't know what I just created
I had been wanting to make a alum crystal deodorant soap like soaping101 does. Its a simple addition of alum crystals dissolved in the lye solution.
Well, I finally got around to trying it today but I dissolved the alum first then added the lye. When adding the lye, it volcanoed and got extremely hot but cooled very quickly
Everything dissolved but there was a lot of white sludge, similar to when you make brine soap. The smell is what had me worried though, it smelled like bad perm solution, ammonia and burned hair.
I was actually afraid to add the stuff to the oils, I didn't know what kind of chemical reaction I might get. Went ahead and mixed it all up, no other weird reactions and it traced just fine.
I have to wonder though, why did it volcano and did any of the lye get destroyed? Will my soap be ok? Was my mistake dissolving the alum first?
I had been wanting to make a alum crystal deodorant soap like soaping101 does. Its a simple addition of alum crystals dissolved in the lye solution.
Well, I finally got around to trying it today but I dissolved the alum first then added the lye. When adding the lye, it volcanoed and got extremely hot but cooled very quickly
Everything dissolved but there was a lot of white sludge, similar to when you make brine soap. The smell is what had me worried though, it smelled like bad perm solution, ammonia and burned hair.
I was actually afraid to add the stuff to the oils, I didn't know what kind of chemical reaction I might get. Went ahead and mixed it all up, no other weird reactions and it traced just fine.
I have to wonder though, why did it volcano and did any of the lye get destroyed? Will my soap be ok? Was my mistake dissolving the alum first?