Lumpy Lye

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jkglobal

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Hi
I have several plastic bottles of lye. Some of them are further sealed in plastic wrap. I was going to make soap today and I find they are clumpy. To me that indicates that some moisture has made it in. They are mainly free flowing, but the clumps worry me. I am not sure if it is still safe to use. These are large clumps that won't pass thru the opening. So I would have to pour the lye around them. Do you have any advice as to the use of this lye? Or experience with this type issue? I am wondering if it is safe to work with. Don't want any explosions.
Thanks, Jan
:-?
 
No explosions, promise. Yes, the clumps probably mean your NaOH has absorbed some water. That's pretty common. If you can shake the container and break up the lumps fairly easily, the problem isn't too bad. The safest way to shake a container of dry NaOH is to first check that the lid is tightly screwed on the container, and then put a finger or two over the lid as insurance and shake the container firmly.

You may want to consider using a larger secondary container in which you would store your NaOH containers. The outer "dry bucket" needs to be one that can be sealed tightly -- a 5 gallon bucket with lid works well. You can also add a desiccant (chemical that absorbs water vapor from the air) to the outer bucket to keep the humidity in the dry bucket as low as possible. This kind of storage will help keep your NaOH as dry and clump free as possible. KCHaystack shared his dry bucket idea awhile back and I've been using it since and think it works well. Click the link below to view my soapy stuff articles and you'll find an article about KC's dry bucket idea.
 
No explosions, promise. Yes, the clumps probably mean your NaOH has absorbed some water. That's pretty common.

Hi. Follow up. Now they are almost solid and shaking doesn’t break them up. Is it unsafe to chop them with a wooden spoon?
 
I agree with Shari (shunt) -- If the lumps don't break apart fairly easily because they're so solid and hard, I would be doubtful that this NaOH is pure enough to make good soap.

Sometimes the lumps are surrounded by normal looking granules or flakes. If that is the case with your NaOH, I'd think about removing and discarding the hard lumps and using only the granules/flakes. But if the whole thing is pretty much hard lumps, that's not a good sign. I would avoid using this NaOH.

It's hard to say without actually seeing the NaOH you have, so I hope my advice makes sense for your situation.
 

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