Carly B
Well-Known Member
I've been soaping for about a year and a half--I'm still in that stage where it's fun playing with SoapCalc and experimenting
with different oils. Other than my brine soap, which friends and family have specifically requested, I don't think I've done the
exact same recipe twice. The only constant has been the lye.
But the last few batches of soap I've made, I've noticed that after 24 hours, they're still really soft, even the batches that have a high
percentage of harder oils. When they do come out of the mold, they're sticky, and really soft inside. And the stickiness seems to last
about a week or so, although they do eventually harden up. I thought maybe it was because I add silk to the masterbatched lye, but no, I've
had batches of soap with silk that have been quite hard within hours.
So I puzzled over it, and realized that the last masterbatch of lye I made was with a different brand of lye. I've always used Comstar lye in
the past, but this last masterbatch was made with Belle Chemical lye. I even made a batch of the brine soap, and it didn't harden up right
away like the other batches of brine soap I made.
Am I just grasping at straws looking for an answer? When I get more Comstar lye I'm going to replicate the batch I just made to compare, but in the interim,
has anyone else noticed different results depending upon the brand of lye?
with different oils. Other than my brine soap, which friends and family have specifically requested, I don't think I've done the
exact same recipe twice. The only constant has been the lye.
But the last few batches of soap I've made, I've noticed that after 24 hours, they're still really soft, even the batches that have a high
percentage of harder oils. When they do come out of the mold, they're sticky, and really soft inside. And the stickiness seems to last
about a week or so, although they do eventually harden up. I thought maybe it was because I add silk to the masterbatched lye, but no, I've
had batches of soap with silk that have been quite hard within hours.
So I puzzled over it, and realized that the last masterbatch of lye I made was with a different brand of lye. I've always used Comstar lye in
the past, but this last masterbatch was made with Belle Chemical lye. I even made a batch of the brine soap, and it didn't harden up right
away like the other batches of brine soap I made.
Am I just grasping at straws looking for an answer? When I get more Comstar lye I'm going to replicate the batch I just made to compare, but in the interim,
has anyone else noticed different results depending upon the brand of lye?