Ice(oat milk) & lye mix gone bad

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Ash

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New to soaping... i have done 4 batches. Not sure what confidence juice i had this day but ... i made 2/3 (the goal was three) at the same time. Nevertheless, i say that to ask ... what happened???.

i did oat milk frozen cubes to replace my water and thats when the world went crazy.
It became thick and gooey then smelled like ammonia after the lye was added. The mix never became fluid so i just stopped for the day. I attached my soaps and the lye oat mix.

***I did 6 something in oat cubes and added the rest of room temp water to get 7.84 liquids then added 3.50 lye.
 

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Please provide your recipe so you can have feedback and can get help.
 
Are you sure you added all the water required in the recipe?

I always do 50 water/50 liquid replacement of the water required in the recipe when I add oat milk or any other liquid replacement. This means you mix the lye with 50% of the water required in the recipe and let it cool. Then you can use 50% of the recipe's water as goats milk or any other milk and you don't have to worry about freezing anything or bad smells or burnt soap.
 
Are you sure you added all the water required in the recipe?

I always do 50 water/50 liquid replacement of the water required in the recipe when I add oat milk or any other liquid replacement. This means you mix the lye with 50% of the water required in the recipe and let it cool. Then you can use 50% of the recipe's water as goats milk or any other milk and you don't have to worry about freezing anything or bad smells or burnt soap.

i only added the oat cubes as the water replacement.
 
I think you're misunderstanding PenelopeJane's advice about the 50 water/50 liquid replacement method.

Divide the total water for the recipe in half. One half is plain water. The other half is the oat milk.

Make make the lye solution with the plain water. The oat milk gets added to the oils.

This "split method" is good to use with troublesome water-based liquids to avoid problems such as yours.
 
Besides the starchy of the Oat Milk, since you only used ice cubes it was most likely way to cold for the lye to dissolve properly. I very seldom mix anything other than water for my lye solution and use the split method explained above. I have found it can make a difference how you make your Oat Milk, How did you make yours?
 
I made a very similiar substance this week! It was supposed to be a soap with coconut milk and heavy cream , but OMG! It was orangish brown and smelled awful. Got very good analysis and advice from the excellent soapers here, but am nowhere near ready to try THAT again.
 
I think you're misunderstanding PenelopeJane's advice about the 50 water/50 liquid replacement method.

Divide the total water for the recipe in half. One half is plain water. The other half is the oat milk.

Make make the lye solution with the plain water. The oat milk gets added to the oils.

This "split method" is good to use with troublesome water-based liquids to avoid problems such as yours.

i was explaining what i did. After reading her post i saw where i went wrong. My assumption was i used water ... lol to make the oat milk so that should replace it. ‍♀️ I did it w/ avocados and that went well so I thought that could b applied too. So question Milks and juices(no sugar) do the 50/50 and add the liquid to the oil?
 
I made a very similiar substance this week! It was supposed to be a soap with coconut milk and heavy cream , but OMG! It was orangish brown and smelled awful. Got very good analysis and advice from the excellent soapers here, but am nowhere near ready to try THAT again.
Lol i got the same confidence juice of doing three different soaps at once ima try again but w/ the new found tips from everyone. Probably today or this week.

Besides the starchy of the Oat Milk, since you only used ice cubes it was most likely way to cold for the lye to dissolve properly. I very seldom mix anything other than water for my lye solution and use the split method explained above. I have found it can make a difference how you make your Oat Milk, How did you make yours?
Ahh it was
  • 1.5 oz oats
    • 5.7 oz water
I blended the mix then sprained it and froze it. I saw someone do it w/ avocados so I assumed it could be done for everything. Now im scared to do my carrots i did. I made them cubes as well.
 
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Lol i got the same confidence juice of doing three different soaps at once ima try again but w/ the new found tips from everyone. Probably today or this week.
I had confidence after having my Ione swirl turn out good. I am going to try that one again and hope for more Beginner’s Luck!
 
I am new to soap making and heard that you don't have to wait for your oils and lye to be within 10 degrees of each other. Is this true? Can I just make my lye/water solution and pour into my oils without waiting? Too afraid to try :)
 
I am new to soap making and heard that you don't have to wait for your oils and lye to be within 10 degrees of each other. Is this true? Can I just make my lye/water solution and pour into my oils without waiting? Too afraid to try :)
You don't have to have your oils and lye to be 10* of each other.
I do but I am aiming for a really consistent result.
You will probably find it is a bit easier to make soap if you wait for the lye/water to cool to at least hand warm.
 
I am new to soap making and heard that you don't have to wait for your oils and lye to be within 10 degrees of each other. Is this true? Can I just make my lye/water solution and pour into my oils without waiting? Too afraid to try :)

You posted the same question several times. Please try to post them once. You'll get more responses.
 
i was explaining what i did. After reading her post i saw where i went wrong. My assumption was i used water ... lol to make the oat milk so that should replace it. ‍♀️ I did it w/ avocados and that went well so I thought that could b applied too. So question Milks and juices(no sugar) do the 50/50 and add the liquid to the oil?
In general you can replace the water in a recipe with any liquid or mashed vegetable.
However, sometimes, mixing the lye with the alternative liquid burns, becomes sludgy, just doesn't work out right. It is far easier to do the split method.
 
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New to soaping... i have done 4 batches. Not sure what confidence juice i had this day but ... i made 2/3 (the goal was three) at the same time. Nevertheless, i say that to ask ... what happened???.

i did oat milk frozen cubes to replace my water and thats when the world went crazy.
It became thick and gooey then smelled like ammonia after the lye was added. The mix never became fluid so i just stopped for the day. I attached my soaps and the lye oat mix.

***I did 6 something in oat cubes and added the rest of room temp water to get 7.84 liquids then added 3.50 lye.

I haven’t read all the other replies so I apologize if I repeat anything.

I make Goat Milk Soap with 100% frozen goat milk. There is a slight ammonia smell, but it goes away. It also thickens up, but that is because of the fats in the milk that the lye is binding to. I’m guessing that the lye is binding to the starch in the oat milk, and when you heat starch, it thickens fast. I’m sure it’s been suggested that you go with a 50/50 solution...50% of your water as water mixed with the lye and 50% of your water as oat milk mixed with your oils. Just make sure the water is not less than lye.
 
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