How to Make Soap - Soapmaking Guide for Beginners

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Hi everyone,

Overall is very well written, but I also can not agree with:

"Nonreactive pitcher or container to mix lye into water (NOT PYREX OR GLASS!!!!)"
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PYREX is tempered glass compound and can be used in oven at much higher temperatures. And glass (incl. Pyrex) is one of the most nonreactive surfaces we have ...except for hydrofluoric acid... I always use Pyrex pitchers for mixing lye and soap and and they look as new as before.
Better to add a note - "GRADUALLY stir lye into water". I actually use COLD BATH for Pyrex pitcher where I disolve lye to:
(a) prevent irritating fumes from hot lye and
(b) better control temp before mixing - I hate to wait the whole eternity until it gets cool enough to mix.

I also use soaping containers and stick blender (stainless steel full immersion length) without any hesitations for FOOD - lye and fresh soap is CAUSTIC, NOT TOXIC, normal basic soap is practically "food-grade" safe, the safest soap to wash the dishes, actually. SO why to be afraid of using same utensils??
Oh! and remember - pretzels are actually bathed in lye solution before backing to get that chick "Bretzel" look and special taste, so much for lye "toxicity"... if it is pure of course (but any other would not do good for soaping either).

One should be careful using some fragrances perhaps... But then again - if everything should be non-reactive (on which I totally agree), it will not pick up any of it either (here Pyrex is definitely better than plastic).
Pyrex becomes etched and weakened over time due to the lye. I use plastic (#5) juice containers from the Dollar Store and never have to worry about glass breakage.
 
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