Lye Heavy Batch....again :(

[dianne70]

Hi there.....some of you may remember that I posted about a month ago about a batch of soap that I made that ended up Lye Heavy....even though I was 100% sure that I had weighed everything correctly. Well it has happened again...and once again I am sure that I weighed everything right....so my assumption is that sometimes my scales read wrong....not all the time as it is only once in a while. So they are going to get turfed, and I am going to buy a new set that hopefully won't do this to me. All I can say is that I am not happy with where I got the scales from, as I also got a thermometer from there as well and it broke within a week of using it....live and learn

 

[Marilyna]

How do you know the soap is lye heavy?

 

[CaliChan]

what recipe did you use?

 

[Lindy]

Yes let's start with your recipe and see if it is there is an error in it. If you think it is your scales, then I recommend you get some new ones. You can find half decent digital ones from Walmart for under $20. The third thing I am going to recommend is to start weighing everything in grams. It is so much more accurate and errors made in weighing are greatly reduced, or at least the likelihood of disasters is greatly reduce.

 

[dianne70]

Hi guys.....I weigh everything in grams. The recipe is 250 g Coconut oil, 250 g Palm Oil and 500 g Olive oil, 350 ml water and 141 g lye. It has come out the same as the last batch....very crumbly...can't even cut this one without it crumbling to pieces. And the zap i got was amazing Even more bummed because it was a "ball soap" that I had spent the morning rolling the balls for Oh well...off to the shops for me to get a new scale...and no soaping until I get one, as I don't want to waste any more EO's or Oils. I knew something was wrong when I poured the lye/water mix into the oils....it immediately went kind of strange on me....kind of ricey...anyway, can't dwell...now I can spend my time setting up my new online store instead!!

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Where are you getting your lye from, and is it 100% Sodium Hydroxide? Is it food grade or technical grade?

 

[dianne70]

Where are you getting your lye from, and is it 100% Sodium Hydroxide? Is it food grade or technical grade?

The sodium hydroxide I'm using is what I have always used.....100%....even says on the front that it is used in soap making . I'm thinking it has to be the scales, but don't know why they would only do it to me every now and again. It has only happened twice, and I zap test pretty much every single bar, so I know that the rest I have made are fine.....it's really got me beat. So I will get a new scale, and see if it happens again. :-|

 

[new12soap]

Here's the part I don't get, if your scales are malfunctioning how are you only getting too much lye? They weigh everything else fine but the lye, both times, is what is inaccurate? I hope a new scale will solve your problem, but that just strikes me as curious. Please keep us updated.

 

[DWinMadison]

The sodium hydroxide I'm using is what I have always used.....100%....even says on the front that it is used in soap making . I'm thinking it has to be the scales, but don't know why they would only do it to me every now and again. It has only happened twice, and I zap test pretty much every single bar, so I know that the rest I have made are fine.....it's really got me beat. So I will get a new scale, and see if it happens again. :-|

Well, I clearly know what you're doing, so I'm going with scales too. Depending on where of get your new scales, use them to test our old ones and of the old ones are OK, maybe you could return them.

 

[dianne70]

Here's the part I don't get, if your scales are malfunctioning how are you only getting too much lye? They weigh everything else fine but the lye, both times, is what is inaccurate? I hope a new scale will solve your problem, but that just strikes me as curious. Please keep us updated.

i don't get it either......the last batch that did this to me was made on the same day as another batch which was fine! Maybe it's me, and I think i am weighing the right amounts, but I'm not.....I don't get it....wish I did.....but I will get a new scale and see if it helps. It has only happened twice in about 70 batches of soap, so I guess that isn't too bad......

 

[RocknRoll]

i don't get it either......the last batch that did this to me was made on the same day as another batch which was fine! Maybe it's me, and I think i am weighing the right amounts, but I'm not.....I don't get it....wish I did.....but I will get a new scale and see if it helps. It has only happened twice in about 70 batches of soap, so I guess that isn't too bad......

twice in 70 batches isnt bad at all! ...maybe it isnt the scale! I hope you find out so you can start making soap again :mrgreen:

 

[melstan775]

Dianne could the problem be that you're forgetting to 0 your scale every time you add an ingredient? If you forget, or if you bump your bowl, or if your measuring surface isnt' exactly level, your measurement could be off.

 

[dianne70]

Definitely taring the scale everytime....the bench surface may be the culprit....live in quite an old house so I'm guessing that the floors, and hence the benches would not be level.....will try a few things and check it out.....our little post office has one of those old time scales where you add the weights to weigh things....might take a can of tomatoes or something down and get them to weigh it and then I can weigh it on my scale to see if it is right.....like I said....it has got me beat!

 

[Crocoturtle]

On my scale it is pretty easy to accidentally switch units. One day I had to pour out my lye 3 times because I kept not being sure whether I had the right units. :-? Now I watch the units as I watch the numbers.

 

[Lindy]

I'm in an older home too and I promise you there isn't a true level surface in the place. But my scales are fine. Maybe try changing out your battery? Other than that you have me at a loss.

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

Remember you can test your scale with 5 quarters. Do you pre-mix or master-batch your lye? If so, could you be calculating it wrong when mixing it for these batches?

 

[Relle]

Remember you can test your scale with 5 quarters. Do you pre-mix or master-batch your lye? If so, could you be calculating it wrong when mixing it for these batches?

We live in Australia and don't have quarters so can't check with that method.

 

[Relle]

Yes let's start with your recipe and see if it is there is an error in it. If you think it is your scales, then I recommend you get some new ones. You can find half decent digital ones from Walmart for under $20. The third thing I am going to recommend is to start weighing everything in grams. It is so much more accurate and errors made in weighing are greatly reduced, or at least the likelihood of disasters is greatly reduce.

Lindy, no Walmart here in Australia :sad:. Dianne - dh bought my scales at Aldi when they had them on special (you'd have to look out for them) and they weigh in 1 grm increments , or you could try K- Mart ( don't know what they would have though ).

 

[Lindy]

Lindy, no Walmart here in Australia :sad:. Dianne - dh bought my scales at Aldi when they had them on special (you'd have to look out for them) and they weigh in 1 grm increments , or you could try K- Mart ( don't know what they would have though ).

Oh well then - oops :lolno: