Lye Clumps :shock:

[DWinMadison]

Oops...got in a hurry and poured my water into lye...didn't explode, so I thought I was golden. Went to pour the mixture into my oils and a huge clump of caked lye came out into the oils. I blended for a long time and think I got all the clumps broken up. Will it likely saponify or should I throw it out? What signs should I look for that it's not ok? It was a small batch to try my Dalmation spot idea (which I think worked pretty well), so no big loss if I toss it. I do want to see how it looks even if I don't keep it.

 

[RocknRoll]

Inspect it real careful when you cut into it. If you see any clumps of crystalization within the soap I would probably rebatch it. I hope it works out for you though! Im excited to see it! I always strain my lye because you just never know what might go plopping into your soap batter lol!

 

[twinmom]

I must be missing something here so please be kind. If you have water which is clear, wouldn't you be able to see any undisolved lye? If you were using milk I can see how you might miss completely disolving the lye. So glad to hear you didn't have an explosion!! Hope you were wearing your safety protection!!! 8)

I love this site always keeps me learning!

 

[DWinMadison]

I must be missing something here so please be kind. If you have water which is clear, wouldn't you be able to see any undisolved lye? If you were using milk I can see how you might miss completely disolving the lye. So glad to hear you didn't have an explosion!! Hope you were wearing your safety protection!!! 8)

I love this site always keeps me learning!

One would think but the white was sitting in a disk on the bottom of my plastic cup. I thought the bottom felt gritty when I was stirring it, but it never downed on me that lye was down there. I was cooling the lye water in a ice bath to speed things up. I think for the future, I will mix lye at room temp and just wait for it to cool on its own.

I'll look at it tomorrow, but will likely discard it. I'm not even sure I trust it in a rebatch. Would hat give a loved one a lye burn from an undissolved clump. One way or the other, I'll post pics as a learning experience for all.

 

[DWinMadison]

Inspect it real careful when you cut into it. If you see any clumps of crystalization within the soap I would probably rebatch it. I hope it works out for you though! Im excited to see it! I always strain my lye because you just never know what might go plopping into your soap batter lol!

What do you strain it through?

 

[Crocoturtle]

I must be missing something here so please be kind. If you have water which is clear, wouldn't you be able to see any undisolved lye? If you were using milk I can see how you might miss completely disolving the lye. So glad to hear you didn't have an explosion!! Hope you were wearing your safety protection!!! 8)

I love this site always keeps me learning!

I don't know about DW but I mix my lye in a white container. Hardened lye is white. I actually got some kind of lye build up in the bottom of it and it decided to chunk out one day and I thought it was the bottom of my container cracking and breaking into the water :shock:
that day was a comedy of errors I had to (safely) pour out and remeasure my lye 3 times.

 

[RocknRoll]

What do you strain it through?

I just use a plain ol strainer, the metal kind with the fine mesh. (dollar store)It sits right on top my bowl of oils and I pour the lye olution right through it. Everytime it catches a small amount of undisolved bits.

 

[CaliChan]

I just use a plain ol strainer, the metal kind with the fine mesh. (dollar store)It sits right on top my bowl of oils and I pour the lye olution right through it. Everytime it catches a small amount of undisolved bits.

I started doing that because i found that even when i was mixing my lye with plain water there would sometimes be some clouding floating at the top of the lye/water so i strain it to get what ever that stuff is out!

 

[RocknRoll]

I started doing that because i found that even when i was mixing my lye with plain water there would sometimes be some clouding floating at the top of the lye/water so i strain it to get what ever that stuff is out!

Me too! I find that everytime I concentrate the lye water (by taking away 50% of the water and using milk in its place to add later) I get that floaty white stuff. The strainer works great in keeping it out of my soap!

 

[DWinMadison]

I just use a plain ol strainer, the metal kind with the fine mesh. (dollar store)It sits right on top my bowl of oils and I pour the lye olution right through it. Everytime it catches a small amount of undisolved bits.

I'm always scared stuff like that s aluminum. But wish I'd done it this time.

 

[twinmom]

Oh I understand now. I use a stainless steel bowl so I am able to visualize the bottom as long as I am using water, not milk. Love this sight and the sharing of ideas!!