what equipment should be used ONLY for soap?

What equipment should be used ONLY for soap?

Obviously my lye jug and plastic stirring spoon and any plastic items that contact unsaponified soap could retain a soap/chemical flavor.

But can my metal or glass items, such as ladle, pot, hand blender, glass bowl i measure lye into, pyrex measuring cups, etc be used for food after thorough washing (I had wash then put in the dishwasher)?

What about my crock pot that is ceramic? Can I use my food crock pot, or do I need to get one just for soaping?

What about silicone spatulas/spoons/molds?

I can't speak for anyone else, but the following soap-making tools pull double duty for me (for soap making and food prep/cooking): anything stainless steel and anything glass (although I never use glass in which to mix my lye solution for long-term safety reasons).

As far as plastics and silicones go, I keep separate sets of those.

I don't use a crockpot for soaping, but I should think it would be okay unless the any of the FO has eaten away or absorbed into the glaze somehow? In that case, it's probably best to have one for soap and one for food. Hopefully those that use crocks will chime in on that.


IrishLass

Thanks!

What is the problem with lye solution in glass? just that it might heat too much and crack the glass?

I am currently using a plastic jug for my lye water, but I would like to switch to stainless steel or something else because I dont like the thought of the lye and/or heat possibly leeching chemicals out of the plastic.

IrishLass said:

I can't speak for anyone else, but the following soap-making tools pull double duty for me (for soap making and food prep/cooking): anything stainless steel and anything glass (although I never use glass in which to mix my lye solution for long-term safety reasons).

As far as plastics and silicones go, I keep separate sets of those.

I don't use a crockpot for soaping, but I should think it would be okay unless the any of the FO has eaten away or absorbed into the glaze somehow? In that case, it's probably best to have one for soap and one for food. Hopefully those that use crocks will chime in on that.


IrishLass

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I am not sure if I would use anything for soap or lotions making in my kitchen. I have everything seperate. Two SB sticks one for soap one for lotions, both stainless. Beakers, bowls and thousand of other items. The only exception is my hand mixer which i use for emulsified scrubs, and I use it not so often for cooking.

jnl said:

Thanks!

What is the problem with lye solution in glass? just that it might heat too much and crack the glass?

I am currently using a plastic jug for my lye water, but I would like to switch to stainless steel or something else because I dont like the thought of the lye and/or heat possibly leeching chemicals out of the plastic.

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Over time glass can get micro etched and break without warning. It is best to use either stainless steel or plastic (with a 2 or 5 at the bottom).

jnl said:

Thanks!

What is the problem with lye solution in glass? just that it might heat too much and crack the glass?

I am currently using a plastic jug for my lye water, but I would like to switch to stainless steel or something else because I dont like the thought of the lye and/or heat possibly leeching chemicals out of the plastic.

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The high alkalinity of lye solutions is like chemical kryptonite to glass, even tempered glass. It'll etch it little by little and gradually weaken it until one day- kaboom -the glass shatters. Since this has happened to several soapers over the years while they were soaping (with broken glass and lye solution going everywhere), we recommend against mixing lye solution in glass. Over a long period of time, even plastic will degrade and may possibly develop a crack or two, but any ensuing adverse results from that are not anywhere near as dramatic or as dangerous as having lye solution-filled glass shatter on you.

Stainless steel is great. Many use that as their lye solution-mixing vessel.


IrishLass

good to know!

i once had water explode in a pyrex dish on me. pulled it out of the microwave and it was not boiling and then the slight jolt when i put it on the counter made the entire amount of water explode into gas. the glass went flying across the room and scared the hell out of me! good thing that was just water! there was actually no water to clean up because it had all turned to gas, and the glass didnt even break!! almost gave me a heart attack tho.

I have a separate crock pot for soaping. I got it for next to nothing at a thrift store, and it does the job. Even glazed ceramic can be slightly porous, especially as they get etched by various materials with use, so I think that it's a good investment.

I guess I'm the oddball. It is soap people! I wash it well and use it for whatever I want. It is the wash it well part you need to be sure of.

Dorymae said:

I guess I'm the oddball. It is soap people! I wash it well and use it for whatever I want. It is the wash it well part you need to be sure of.

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I mostly just don't want my chili to taste like my FOs Plus, if you have a fairly nice crockpot, making soap in it will reduce it's life expectancy due to etching.

ariella42 said:

I mostly just don't want my chili to taste like my FOs Plus, if you have a fairly nice crockpot, making soap in it will reduce it's life expectancy due to etching.

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Baking soda will remove FO even from plastic. Honestly I'm not concerned with reducing the life of my crocks. I get them very cheap secondhand and if they etch or break I just go buy another. To me they are tools, they do the job well but don't need to look pretty. If I were to leave them out on display I might think differently.

I use separate plastic items for soaping, and my crock pot is not the one I use for cooking. The reason is that it is very old(1986), and the crock does not pull out for washing like the new one does. Also, the EO's have etched the plastic lid. I would not hesitate to use the stainless steel items for food.

I don't get too terribly fussy about what I use for soaping vs. what I use for food. Lye so quickly breaks down into relatively safe byproducts -- I just can't get worried about it. I have a separate set of 3 bowls, a couple of spatulas, some small cheap cups and pitchers, and a stick blender for lotion and soap making, but it's mainly for convenience. The only thing that I'd think twice about using for food is the stick blender. It's the most likely item for cross contamination, since the mixer shaft is not tightly sealed. But I have a very nice stick blender that DH gave me for food prep, so that's not a problem.

I'm in the group that just keeps eo and of things separate. Lye and oils are both used in cooking, soap is used for cleaning - so no real need to keep it just for me.

That said, the scent is on a lot of things, so I have a fair amount of pure soaping stuff now. But to start out, no need to go crazy buying new things

jnl said:

good to know!

i once had water explode in a pyrex dish on me. pulled it out of the microwave and it was not boiling and then the slight jolt when i put it on the counter made the entire amount of water explode into gas. the glass went flying across the room and scared the hell out of me! good thing that was just water! there was actually no water to clean up because it had all turned to gas, and the glass didnt even break!! almost gave me a heart attack tho.

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Off topic, but I'm guessing it was distilled water? I've heard distilled water doesn't boil like "normal" water and only boils when encountering a force (ie. The bang on the counter). You're lucky your hands didn't get burned.

The only things I do have separate are anything plastic /silicone. I find they hold the FO smell regardless of using baking soda or anything else. Anything stainless I don't worry about.

jnl said:

i once had water explode in a pyrex dish on me. pulled it out of the microwave and it was not boiling and then the slight jolt when i put it on the counter made the entire amount of water explode into gas. the glass went flying across the room and scared the hell out of me! good thing that was just water! there was actually no water to clean up because it had all turned to gas, and the glass didnt even break!! almost gave me a heart attack tho.

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hmlove1218 said:

Off topic, but I'm guessing it was distilled water? I've heard distilled water doesn't boil like "normal" water and only boils when encountering a force (ie. The bang on the counter). You're lucky your hands didn't get burned.

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A similar thing happened to my hubby back when he was in college. He heated up water in a tea cup in the microwave for about a minute or so (just plain tap water), took it out, and while he was yet holding the cup in his hand, the calm-looking water all of a sudden boiled up, leapt out of the cup, and gave him severe burns on his forehead. I think they were 3rd degree burns because he wasn't allowed to be exposed to the sun for weeks and had to treat the area with Silvadene cream and bandages. Thankfully, the college let him take his classes via computer (which was a new thing at that time, being in the early '80's).

IrishLass

My only items that are 100% soap only are my silicone molds (some of them are baking molds) and my lye pitcher. The lye pitcher b/c pitchers are so cheap (I get mine for 50 cents at Salvation Army) and the molds b/c I don't want to bake food in something that held soap.

I mostly try to keep my silicone spatulas seperate from my cooking silicone spatulas, but it's not 100%.

I have a crock pot that is only for soap, b/c I got it for $4 at SA and I don't want to risk a spill ruining a fancier crock pot. But if we for some reason really needed to cook in it, I'd have no problem with giving it a thorough washing and using it for food.

I use my glass measuring cups (small, medium and large) and stainless steel measuring spoons for food and soap. I do not use plastic measuring spoons or cups for anything soap related except herbs or something. No FOs and no soap in plastic measuring cups and spoons.

IrishLass said:

A similar thing happened to my hubby back when he was in college. He heated up water in a tea cup in the microwave for about a minute or so (just plain tap water), took it out, and while he was yet holding the cup in his hand, the calm-looking water all of a sudden boiled up, leapt out of the cup, and gave him severe burns on his forehead. I think they were 3rd degree burns because he wasn't allowed to be exposed to the sun for weeks and had to treat the area with Silvadene cream and bandages. Thankfully, the college let him take his classes via computer (which was a new thing at that time, being in the early '80's).

IrishLass

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This is 'super heated' water (water in a liquid stage above the boiling point). It sometimes happens if you heat water in a container that is extremely smooth on the inside. Glass and ceramics with a very smooth enamel will be prone to it. It just takes a trigger to cause the water to suddenly boil. A bump, putting a spoon or teabag or some kind of substance that dives a nucleation point for steam bubbles to form. Usually tap water has enough other stuff dissolved in it that help prevent this - but it can still happen.

To prevent this put a clean wooded skewer or chopstick in the container with the water. The rough texture of the wood gives plenty of microscopic bumps and crevasses to act as nucleation points for steam.

It has been 23+ years since my chemistry classes so I don't remember much more of the why that that. But when we were boiling water in the lab we always added 1 or 2 pieces of broken ceramic as a boiling chip to prevent this from happening.


Edit- the exploding glass happens when you take glass that has been heated and have it suddenly cool faster than it can handle. SO putting in on a cold counter, in a sink, anything where the temperature difference is very large. SO while you might not think your room temp counter is cold - when you put glass that is near 212F (if it was used to boil water for example) that can be enough thermal shock to cause it to shatter.

hmlove1218 said:

Off topic, but I'm guessing it was distilled water? I've heard distilled water doesn't boil like "normal" water and only boils when encountering a force (ie. The bang on the counter). You're lucky your hands didn't get burned.

Click to expand...

I had this happen with tap water in a pyrex measuring cup. Was boiling water for jello and it didn't look like it boiled but as soon as I stirred it, it the water sprayed out of it and the glass exploded. It was so scary.