50% Lye Solution?

[return2300]

I'm interested in trying to use this instead of the powder every time. I'm not sure how to make it work with the soap calculator though. If I select lye concentration and set it to 50% the value for how much water and lye to add are the same in the calculated recipe. For example next to water it says 2.35 ounces and next to lye it says 2.35 ounces.

My question is given the provide example would I use 4.7 ounces of my prepared 50% solution?



Please help! Thanks

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome return2300!

I make a 50% lye solution all the time for all my batches.

Adjusting a 50% solution for your soap batches is really simple. First, enter your regular recipe into a soap calculator just the same as you would normally do, i.e., with your preferred superfat level and preferred lye solution strength or water amount that you normally like to soap with, etc... and then write down the water and lye amounts that the calculator gives you for your recipe.

Now, take your written lye and water amounts that the calc gave you, and apply this simple, 2-part equation:

1) Lye Amount multiplied by 2 equals how much of the premade 50% lye solution to weigh out for your batch.

2) Water Amount minus the lye amount that you wrote down equals how much extra water to add to your batch.

This math equation will work for any batch no matter what size it is or what lye concentration you want to soap with........just as long as you are working from a 50% master-batch solution.


HTH!
IrishLass

 

[Mollybygolly]

Hmmm...This is Greek to me. Why would you want your soap batter to be 50% lye solution? Wouldn't that be terribly harsh on your skin?

 

[boyago]

Hmmm...This is Greek to me. Why would you want your soap batter to be 50% lye solution? Wouldn't that be terribly harsh on your skin?

They are talking about pre-mixing the lye solution (also called master batching) it's so you don't need to mix your lye with the water at the start of every soaping session. The 50% solution is half (in this case) NaOH and half water by weight. You can mix up a big batch and keep it on hand.
You would then add this 50% solution to your oils and then add the difference in your recipes water. There are quite a few recent threads about master batching lye if you want to check it out.

 

[girlishcharm2004]

This made me laugh. The point of keeping a 50% lye-50% water solution is so that you can readily add the amount of water necessary to make whatever concentration you want. You might want a 28% solution sometimes or a 33% solution. I almost always use 33% solution, so making a 50% solution seemed like the same amount of work because I would still have to add water. You could easily just make a 33% solution and not worry about having to add any water if you always use a 33% solution. However, you are able to eliminate some of the wait time for the lye to cool if it's mostly pre-mixed already for which ever lye concentration you decide to use.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

There are a number of current threads on this topic, too - lots of info about how people use it even with things like milk and so on

 

[pamielynn]

I use a 50% solution so I don't have to sit around and wait for freshly mixed lye to cool down.

 

[JustBeachy]

I use a 50% solution so I don't have to sit around and wait for freshly mixed lye to cool down.

I could see that.

I soap hot though and use different amounts of CM. For me it would just be adding steps and measuring. I've never seen the bother of just mixing up some lye water, but that's just what works for me.

I get to be a creature of habit, :razz:

 

[DeeAnna]

I think this is a case of different strokes for different folks. I don't master batch lye or fats either ... but I can quite see why others do.

If I didn't have a day job where I have to be super efficient and focused or if I made a lot of soap often, then it would be more appealing to make my soaping an efficient and streamlined process. But part of what I like about my soaping is that I get to "play chemist", and pull out all the intriguing odd tools of the trade, and be happily and in-efficiently creative.

 

[Susie]

I'm so glad I am not the only person that enjoys playing chemist(we call it my mad scientist persona).

 

[shunt2011]

I do masterbatch my oils and want to masterbatch my lye but haven't gotten around to doing it yet. I already soap at room temp most times so that will help me a great deal. I hate waiting for the lye to cool. Right now I usually make my lye in the morning and then it's ready to go when I get home from work.

 

[IrishLass]

The reason I like to master-batch mine is because I find mixing lye solution to be the worst, most annoying part of soap-making- what, with having to make sure no-one else is around in my solution-making space so that they don't inadvertently breathe in any fumes, preparing my tussah silk to dissolve more easily/quickly, applying the extra safety gear, etc..... I think that if I had to do that every time the fancy struck to make some soap, I probably wouldn't make much, if any soap! lol It just makes things much less time-consuming and much more hassle-free for me.


IrishLass

 

[girlishcharm2004]

The reason I like to master-batch mine is because I find mixing lye solution to be the worst, most annoying part of soap-making- what, with having to make sure no-one else is around in my solution-making space so that they don't inadvertently breathe in any fumes, preparing my tussah silk to dissolve more easily/quickly, applying the extra safety gear, etc..... I think that if I had to do that every time the fancy struck to make some soap, I probably wouldn't make much, if any soap! lol It just makes things much less time-consuming and much more hassle-free for me.


IrishLass

Yes! This is the biggest deterrent for me -- measuring out the lye! It's like, "Oh, I'd like to make..." then I think about what I need to prepare and think, "Ugh, lye. Maybe I'll make it tomorrow."

http://www.soapmakingforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[return2300]

Thanks for all of the feedback. So after reviewing responses my mind is whirring with questions. I think the one at the top of my mind is how important is the water? I compared different solutions using the calculator on a simple 100% coconut recipe.

Using the 38% water in oil option (calculator default) the calculator gave the following results:

172.36g water
66.49g lye
which equals
238.85g of 27.8% lye solution

Using the Lye Concentration option (next line down) and inserting 50% the calculator gave the following results:

66.49g water
66.49g lye
which equals
132.98g of 50% lye solution

Ultimately it seems that the calculator is telling me to just use less of the more concentrated solution. This seems to make more sense than diluting my 50% solution. Previous research in soap making always talks about evaporating water from soap. What if you just put less in from the beginning?

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[IrishLass]

The 38% "Water as per Oils" in SoapCalc (or a 27.8% lye solution, aka "water as % of lye") is considered to be a "full-water" amount. The only time I would want to soap with a full-water amount is when I'm either HPing, or when I'm working with a very ill-behaved FO.

All other times, I use less water- usually a 33% lye solution, but sometimes even less water than that if I'm making a very high olive oil batch. I have never soaped with a straight-up 50% solution, though. Although I master-batch my solution at 50%, I always dilute it to use in my batches, because the less and less water you use in your batch, the faster and faster things move, which carries with it the potential for increased problems occurring. There are not many soap-makers that soap with a straight-up 50% solution, but those that do are very experienced and know the risks, and are prepared for them.

IrishLass

 

[sethkaylyn]

I'm so glad I read your reply irishlass. I've been soaping with 38% but I'll be changing that to 33%. I just hope I don't run into problems.

 

[JustBeachy]

The reason I like to master-batch mine is because I find mixing lye solution to be the worst, most annoying part of soap-making- what, with having to make sure no-one else is around in my solution-making space so that they don't inadvertently breathe in any fumes, preparing my tussah silk to dissolve more easily/quickly, applying the extra safety gear, etc..... I think that if I had to do that every time the fancy struck to make some soap, I probably wouldn't make much, if any soap! lol It just makes things much less time-consuming and much more hassle-free for me.


IrishLass

Yes! This is the biggest deterrent for me -- measuring out the lye! It's like, "Oh, I'd like to make..." then I think about what I need to prepare and think, "Ugh, lye. Maybe I'll make it tomorrow."

Or, you both could just join the bad boy club. I'm horrible about safety equipment, so it's just one more thing to weigh out and just fits right in there with the rest of the process.

On second thought, you fine ladies keep doing it the right way. I'll hold down the idiot fort by myself. 8)

 

[pamielynn]

I dilute to 35%. I'll go up to 30% with those prickly "flowery" FOs (I'm talking to YOU, lilac), but I imagine the batch would be pretty soft with all that water in the first example.