Are the ingredients still good to use?

[SippingTea]

Hello! This is my first post on this forum. I had gotten into soap making a while ago but then I had to stop because of the time constraint and limited space. I kept all the butters/oils and the lye. I know it’s been at least a year since I ordered all the ingredients that I kept. Are the ingredients still good to use? All the oils/butters look okay. What should I look for to determine if I need to restock? What about the lye? Should I just dispose of it (safely and correctly) and buy new lye? Thank you so much for the help.

 

[AliOop]

Welcome back to soaping! If you kept the lye in an airtight container away from light and moisture, it should be fine.

The oils and butters may be fine if you stored them in airtight containers, away from heat and light. Some oils like canola, sunflower, and safflower do have shorter shelf lives unless they are the high oleic versions. Open the containers and see if they smell fresh. If so, and if you are making the soap for personal use only, then I'd use them if I were you.

 

[SippingTea]

Welcome back to soaping! If you kept the lye in an airtight container away from light and moisture, it should be fine.

The oils and butters may be fine if you stored them in airtight containers, away from heat and light. Some oils like canola, sunflower, and safflower do have shorter shelf lives unless they are the high oleic versions. Open the containers and see if they smell fresh. If so, and if you are making the soap for personal use only, then I'd use them if I were you.

Thank you so much! Hello! So I kept all the butters and the oils in the boxes/bags they came in and I kept them all in a cabinet. I double bagged a few like the cocoa butter because I could still kinda smell it. I kept the lye container in the box it came in but it was left out. So the box itself got light but not the container. A friend asked me if I could make some for their friend and I said yes. So it’s not exactly personal use and I’m pretty sure she’s going to try and give me money for them even if I tell her no. Will the lye be safe to use?

 

[TheGecko]

Check to see if the lye has any clumps. Hard clumps you definitely want to toss. Soft clumps that break apart at a touch will be okay.

 

[AliOop]

The lye should be just fine, as long as it was in an airtight container. One way to test it is to take 2 oz of distilled water, and stir in 2 oz of lye to that water. The solution should become hot - right around 180 F - within two minutes or so. Assuming that happens, you know your lye is still good.

ETA: what Gecko said is important, too!