An admission of stupidity with lye

[lpstephy85]

I am posting this to have this a lesson for any and all soap makers. I don't know if it was the fact I had someone with me and showing them my soap making process, or if I was ignorant but I had a volcano accident this weekend. No, it wasn't water into lye because I know better about that. It happened to be that I had heated up my water to melt my sugar since I was making HP. I didn't allow the water to cool enough and added my lye. As soon as I started stirring, I had an instant boil. I assume I reached the temp of boiling point. Needless to say, I am glad I make my soap in my basement. I had my mom buy some white vinegar and poured it on the concrete and soaked it up. I have been walking on paper bags in that area since I am a little paranoid.

So, a lessons learned this weekend: Use room temp or lower water when mixing the lye solution, always have extra towels near by, and have distilled white vinegar.

 

[heartsong]

oh my goodness! so glad you weren't hurt! I've made many blunders over the years, (like knocking premixed lye onto the floor trying to avoid stepping on the cat) but I've never had a volcano! a cautionary tale, indeed! since my first accident with the cat, I've always mixed my lye in the kitchen sink.

 

[three_little_fishes]

I'm so glad that you're ok! Good reminder to us all to be cautious. Whew...I'm sorry you went through that!

 

[Sammi_552]

Happy to hear you are okay. Thank you for sharing your experience. I always put the container in my sink to mix the water/lye. I probably would have never suspected that warming the water to dissolve the sugar would create a volcano. Thanks again.

 

[lpstephy85]

Happy to hear you are okay. Thank you for sharing your experience. I always put the container in my sink to mix the water/lye. I probably would have never suspected that warming the water to dissolve the sugar would create a volcano. Thanks again.

Yeah, I will be using the utility tub now to mix my solution (sans warm water) from now on.

 

[cmzaha]

Glad to hear you are alright. With sugar and hot water that is certainly a recipe for disaster. Sugar causes heating on it's own. I am sure we have all made mistakes!! I know I have. Just a bit of a side note, I am tried numerous times mixing water into my lye and it does not volcano. I am one that just does not believe all I read.... Although I do still add the lye to my water because it is just easier to mix the the water in lye. I learned to mix my lye in the sink after blowing up a wine mix. The alcohol had been simmered off but it overheated and created a volcano

 

[Candybee]

Glad to hear you and your viewer were not hurt. I'm sure that is something you will remember for a long time.

Why don't you add the sugar at light trace or right after you add your lye mixture to your oils? I use honey and preheat it to liquify it and temper it with cold liquid. I always add my honey mix to my oils after I add my lye solution. Also, I keep my distilled water in the refridgerator so it is always chilled. I only use chilled water to make my lye mix. That way you won't have to worry about it heating up too much. My lye solution never goes over 170-175 degrees F when I do it this way.

 

[CaraCara]

Not stupidity at all, stuff happens. Glad that no one was injured.

 

[lpstephy85]

Glad to hear you and your viewer were not hurt. I'm sure that is something you will remember for a long time.

Why don't you add the sugar at light trace or right after you add your lye mixture to your oils? I use honey and preheat it to liquify it and temper it with cold liquid. I always add my honey mix to my oils after I add my lye solution. Also, I keep my distilled water in the refridgerator so it is always chilled. I only use chilled water to make my lye mix. That way you won't have to worry about it heating up too much. My lye solution never goes over 170-175 degrees F when I do it this way.

I will have to try adding it at trace or in the oils, I never thought of that. Thanks for the tip!!

 

[OliveOil2]

That is scary, and a good reminder to how volatile sodium hydroxide is. Glad to hear you are OK!!! Just yesterday I was wondering about adding sugar to my water, or to the oils at trace. After your experience the choice is easy.

 

[GreenEggsAndPam]

Wow, thanks for sharing!

I am a newbie, and yesterday I made a batch using tea> Before I mixed in the lye, I thought about the temp being close to boiling already (since I steeped the tea). I'd noticed before that when I mix in my lye, the water temp goes from room temp (about 75) to over 180 degrees. So, I paused, and let the tea cool off first. I had to put it into the freezer for a while and chilled it down to 70 degrees. Then when I mixed my lye solution, the temp still went up to 200 degrees! At our elevation, that is around boiling temp. I was really glad I had chilled it prior, and am even more glad after reading your post!

Great warning!

 

[Skatergirl46]

Glad you're ok! Yeah, the sugar does seem to cause the temp of the water to get pretty high. I put my lye water container inside of a Home Depot 5 gal. bucket with an ice bath in it to keep the temp down. It also contains any possible spills.

 

[MegMatt927]

Thanks for the tip. That totally sounds like something I would do, so I'll keep that in mind. I'm glad to hear you didn't get hurt and everyone is okay

 

[lpstephy85]

Glad you're ok! Yeah, the sugar does seem to cause the temp of the water to get pretty high. I put my lye water container inside of a Home Depot 5 gal. bucket with an ice bath in it to keep the temp down. It also contains any possible spills.

Hmm, that might be a better idea then using my utility tub to mix everything since it is across the room :think:

 

[Moody Glenn]

I'm a bit late but sending my heartfelt "thank goodness you are safe" note. Sooner or later we all experience (hopefully only once and no more) an encounter with the power and danger of lye. Oh well, lesson learned. Soapmaking isn't for wimps so you passed your test of bravery in face of adversity. Thanks for the reminder!