Bad Advice You Have Read on the Net about Soapmaking

[Inodoro Pereyra]

You got that right Inodoro , he would have some explaining to do and then some :shock: .

Yep. not to mention having to deal with lye, and maybe fuel, spilled all over the place, and maybe all over his body.
Like Einstein said: "Only the Universe and human stupidity are infinite, and I'm not sure about the Universe."

 

[xyxoxy]

I think if you crashed a plane full of lye into a lake you would surely win a Darwin award.

 

[carebear]

I think if you crashed a plane full of lye into a lake you'd have no problem unless you and the lye stayed in the plane as it filled with water - if it was a small plane and you had a lot of lye. Otherwise it'd be so dilute it'd be a non event.

I know that USPS regulations say they won't allow lye to be shipped via air. And various airlines may have rules about it. Not sure it's a law, though. Anyone know about the legal status of it?

 

[Guest]

It is illegal in Canada , it has to be shipped ground.

Kitn

 

[Guest]

I think she mixes lye in a speghetti sauce jar with a wooden spoon (not to beat the dead horse about lye and glass). I mean she seems like a really fun person but it's a little reckless to be giving video lessons on something you have only just started.

I've seen that vid if it's the same spaghetti jar and I copied the jar idea and have been mixing lye in a huge coffee jar since I started making soap (6 months ago). Thankfully nothing has exploded however, if the jar did break it would be no biggy. I mix the lye in the coffee jar which sits in my 16 quart stainless steel container. No breaks yet thankfully.

 

[IanT]

It is illegal in Canada , it has to be shipped ground.

Kitn

same here... because if it gets wet (which is pretty much imminent if its in a cargo bay because of the condensation of water upon taking off/landing and changing altitudes).... its could reduce the integrity of the aircraft and lead to potential injury

 

[safire_6]

Don't know if this is bad advice or not 'cuz I've only been making soap since April but a S Cavitch book that I started with says that she always superfats at 10%. Most everyone on this forum recommends 6-7%. So now I have to ask why?

 

[carebear]

actually I superfat between 5% and 20% so while I used to think it was bad advice (I have that book too) - I no longer think so.

 

[ChrissyB]

Superfat all depends on the oils you are using, for me anyway.

 

[Egzandra]

How high can you superfat without the soap going rancid, and if you superfat on the high side how long will the soap last? :?

 

[carebear]

according to Dr Dunn's work, the level of superfat is not an issue with DOS - only the selection of your oils. I myself have trouble coming to terms with that, tho it makes sense on a certain level.

But as I said, I superfat up to 20%.

as for how long your soap will last - well that depends on your formula as a whole, your cure period, how much water you use, your additives... hard to say LOL.

 

[safire_6]

Can you help me understand this? When superfatting at 10% my bars are firmer. At 6% they are softer. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Or would it be because of the oils I used:

10% recipe = palm, olive, coconut
6% recipe = palm, olive, coconut, castor, beeswax

 

[carebear]

it would be the recipe you use, the amount of water you soap with, and the cure time.

in MY experience, I've not seen a difference in hardness with the same recipe when shifting the superfat small amounts. actually most of my formulas are very hard and I don't even see a difference between 10% and 20%.

 

[safire_6]

Why then, do most say to use 6-7% and not 10%?

 

[oldragbagger]

according to Dr Dunn's work, the level of superfat is not an issue with DOS - only the selection of your oils. I myself have trouble coming to terms with that, tho it makes sense on a certain level.

Actually, that makes perfect sense to me. If you think about it, there are oils you can leave in your cupboard for years, and while you may not particularly want to cook with them after that amount of time, they are not rancid, just old. (I found a bottle of olive oil in the back of my cupboard with a date of 2003 on it, it looks fine.)

Then there are other oils that it says clearly on the bottle to Refrigerate After Opening so you know darn well those oils are much more fragile and become unstable after being exposed to oxygen. I would say if you have any of those oils in your soap, DOS might be more of a threat.

I use anywhere between 8-10% regularly and have had no problems with the bars hardening up.

 

[carebear]

I honestly don't know! I was taught 5-6% and told to stray from it risks soft bars, DOS and giving birth to children with 3 nipples. Well the triple nipple thing might be correct (my daughter has 3) but the DOS thing and the soft soap haven't played out for me.

Go figure.

 

[TessC]

I've superfatted every one of my batches between 7-20%. 8-10% is where the majority of my batches are, and I've not had a single soft batch or DOS. I think the 5-6% is just the standard that a lot of people stick with because it's been used for a long time and proven to be safe and reliable for so many.

I bookmarked the single oil properties pdf and try to be mindful of it when I'm working out my recipes in SoapCalc, especially the hardness and DOS columns. I do use some of the oils that produced DOS in their single oil test bars, but not in huge percentages, and not in combination with a lot of other oils that are prone to DOS.

The color pics are incredibly helpful, too, when I want a lighter or darker color to go with a particular scent, so that has been an invaluable resource.

 

[oldragbagger]

Thanks, Tess. That's good info!

I just saved that PDF file to my computer. Awesome.

 

[IrishLass]

Why then, do most say to use 6-7% and not 10%?

It really comes down to personal preferences and what works for you or doesn't work for you.... You just need to experiment to find where your limits lie (or lay....I keep forgetting which word is proper to use in which context).

Having said that, though, many calculators are set at a default buffer zone of 5%. This is because the SAP #'s of oils and fats can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and from lot number to lot number, etc..., and so somebody, somewhere came up with 5% as being the least, general, 'safe' percent that one should be able to soap at without putting ones soap into the danger zone of being lye heavy as a result of all the varying SAP #'s. You can experiment and soap lower or higher than that, though. I've soaped as low as 3% and as high as 20% with no adverse results (except in a batch with 30% canola at about an 8 to 10% S/F, that is- major DOS for me).

IrishLass

 

[safire_6]

All of this feedback sure helps ease my mind, thank you so much. Really, this forum is so helpful. As long as we are on the subject, and I know it's been addresses many times, Is there a "general" temp to soap at? I've been doing a lot of reading about temps and haven't been able to find anything concrete. Is there a general guideline? Do floral fo's tend to keep from seizing at lower temps, when are higher temps appropriate? Is there somewhere that gives a good explaination so I don't have to keep bugging you?