Citric acid lye solution problem.

[Lord Bentley]

Hello everyone. I am not a beginner but I am new to chelating.
I started using citric acid to Chelate and overall it’s working great. (About a year) BUT for the second time since I began using citric acid, I’m getting crystals in my lye solution but only when I make it the night before and MOST times it does not crystallize. I typically make my solution and use it the next day. I cover it with plastic wrap over night. Sometimes I use it right away as soon as it cools enough. In other words, sometimes it doesn’t sit over night and in that case I never have a problem.
I had this happen another time and I discarded the mix and started over.
I know my measurements were the same as always. (Barring some unusual oversight)
When I reheat it, the crystals dissolves back in *almost completely if I get it hot enough.
#1 can I use it if I get it dissolved all the way? I hope I can get it completely dissolved again
#2 what causes this to happen only intermittently?
Thanks to anyone who can help me.

Oh and I should add I use citric acid at 2%

 

[AliOop]

I can't say exactly why this is happening, but it's not uncommon in general for solutions to precipitate when they sit, change temperature, etc.

Yes, you can use this solution if you get it completely dissolved. I find the easiest way to do this is to add a little bit more water. Even a tablespoon will creates an exothermic reaction, heating the solution with no need to use any other heat source.

However, my general practice is to mix my additives in water that is separate from the liquid used for my lye solution. That avoids most precipitation issues for me.

Hope that helps.

 

[UnScented Arizona]

I can't say exactly why this is happening, but it's not uncommon in general for solutions to precipitate when they sit, change temperature, etc.

Yes, you can use this solution if you get it completely dissolved. I find the easiest way to do this is to add a little bit more water. Even a tablespoon will creates an exothermic reaction, heating the solution with no need to use any other heat source.

However, my general practice is to mix my additives in water that is separate from the liquid used for my lye solution. That avoids most precipitation issues for me.

Hope that helps.

When do you add the water with citric acid back in? 1) add to oil before lye solution? or 2) add to lye solution and then add to oils?

 

[katili]

When do you add the water with citric acid back in? 1) add to oil before lye solution? or 2) add to lye solution and then add to oils?

I master batch my lye, so if I mix any of my additional water with an additive I usually add that to my oils (and if any of my additional liquid is something besides water, I put that in my oils too). The only thing that gets added in my premixed lye solution is plain water, and sodium lactate. There are other ways of course but this is how I prefer to work.

 

[AliOop]

When do you add the water with citric acid back in? 1) add to oil before lye solution? or 2) add to lye solution and then add to oils?

Back when I still used citric acid, I would add it to the lye solution, and then quickly pour the mix through a strainer into my oils.

I found that if I added the CA mix to the oils separately from the lye solution , this caused the oils to cool down too far, and I was getting stearic spots. I do use a lot of high stearic fats (lard, tallow), and soap at low temps, so this might not be an issue for others.

I've since switched to sodium citrate, and I add that and the sorbitol to my master-batched 40% lye solution. That's been working very well for me. All I have to do is measure and melt the oils, measure out my lye solution, and go.