What do you melt your oils in?

[VanessaP]

No matter what I have mixed my lye in, there are going to be fumes - the fumes are from the reaction of the lye to the liquid. The colder my water is (or the more ice I use), the less fumes I smell. I have never had black vapors/steam from mixing my lye in my PP #5 pitcher from Walmart. The HDPE quart containers are a little too bendable for my tastes for mixing up lye solution. And yes, I will say it. I am too lazy to use a SS container to mix my lye in because I don't want to have to do an ice bath since the metal will keep the heat and take longer to cool down. I'd be afraid of using something that is enamel coated because if you get a chip in the enamel, depending on what is under it, your lye can have a very bad reaction.

 

[MaitriBB]

Thnks Maitri. That's kind of what I was thinking. How's fumes and vapors
With plastic? Croco mentions better results using enamel.

I use goat's milk which is always icy/slushy when I add the lye, so I rarely get vapors or strong fumes. IIRC, with water, I would get fairly strong fumes/vapors when using distilled water in the quart plastic containers. Just go away for a few minutes and come back when the water's clear

 

[melstan775]

Thank you all for your lovely, detailed, and varied responses. I'm glad such a simple question sparked such a lively conversation about mixing methods.
I have decided I am going to get the 3 nesting bowls with the lips to mix lye/water/oils in respectively. Wal-mart has a set for $6.00. But I want a bucket to mix it all up in, and **** it the dollar store has one, so buck it. (cheesy pun intended). So now all I need is lye and a scale and I'm good to go. That will have to wait til next month though, I got bills to pay. Boo for bills!

 

[RagingMammoth]

some big old handle pot.

 

[SueSoap]

I have a plastic batter bowl that I use, and it works great in the microwave.

 

[kellistarr]

I usually melt mine in a stainless steel double boiler or in my soap pot, which is stainless steel. I'm not opposed to plastic this or that or glass, but I usually just measure out and melt oils in the stainless steel pot because if I need to hot process I can just stick my pot in the oven.

 

[Shannon_m]

I melt my oils in plastic gladware type bowls (because that's what I store them in) in the microwave. Well my palm and coconut oils at least. My cocoa butter I melt in glass pyrex measuring cups in the microwave and then melt the shea in the heated cocoa butter.

 

[Badger]

I haven't made my soap yet, but I bought some plastic bowls that are microwave safe at the dollar store and plan to use one of those for melting my oils.

 

[christinak]

I suppose in the summer I will use the microwave but now I melt everything on my woodburning stove! I fill some water in a stainless steel pan and put a canning jar ring in the bottom. Then I put a bowl on that to melt my (beeswax if Im doing balm)...then I just dump all my other butters and oils in until it's melted. Works great!

 

[Cherry Bomb]

I melt my oils in a large 8 cup Pyrex measuring bowl with a handle. It's microwaveable safe and cost around $14.99 at Kroger. This is perfect for me since at the moment I usually make 3 lb batches I also have enough room to use my stick blender and its easy to pour with the handle.

 

[melstan775]

I melt my oils in a large 8 cup Pyrex measuring bowl with a handle. It's microwaveable safe and cost around $14.99 at Kroger. This is perfect for me since at the moment I usually make 3 lb batches I also have enough room to use my stick blender and its easy to pour with the handle.

Best. Idea. Ever.

 

[Desert Karen]

No matter what I have mixed my lye in, there are going to be fumes - the fumes are from the reaction of the lye to the liquid. The colder my water is (or the more ice I use), the less fumes I smell. I have never had black vapors/steam from mixing my lye in my PP #5 pitcher from Walmart. The HDPE quart containers are a little too bendable for my tastes for mixing up lye solution. And yes, I will say it. I am too lazy to use a SS container to mix my lye in because I don't want to have to do an ice bath since the metal will keep the heat and take longer to cool down. I'd be afraid of using something that is enamel coated because if you get a chip in the enamel, depending on what is under it, your lye can have a very bad reaction.

I use a pitcher from Wal Mart, Sterlite. I have one for my lye and one for water. They are microwave safe. For my oils I have a large SS pot that I got at Big Lots. I have two plastic measuring cups, 4 C size, and that's what I use for melting oils. Once melted I dump them into the SS pot that is on the stove, if I need to heat them up to accept the lye. I have a 4 oz, glass measure from BL to measure scents. I've not had any problems with the plastic. I cool down the lye in the sink where I fill with water and ice up to the line of the top of the lye. Just have to make sure you don't out in so much water that the pitcher floats.

 

[paillo]

I know a lot of soapers use Pyrex, but I'm scared of it, having read horror stories of Pyrex breaking. Those big 8-cup ones are so tempting, and I see that David Fisher of about.com uses them in his videos. Not me though, I'll stick to my sturdy plastic bowls with a spout.

 

[LunaLion]

I have my own little soaping station in the corner of our dining room, so I heat my oils in a crockpot on the table. So far this is my favorite and easiest way to heat oil considering the layout of my house.