LYE temp.

[Poojagandhi]

Hello ,

I am a beginner , this was my first attempt , I read it that the LYe temp. rises above 100 degrees , but in my case it only reached 77 degrees , what went wrong ???

16oz olive oil
2oz lye
6 oz water

 

[Jezzy]

Hi! i don't have an answer about the temp. Sorry

how did your soap turn out?

 

[ChrisShepp]

I read it that the LYe temp. rises above 100 degrees , but in my case it only reached 77 degrees , what went wrong ???

As long as the lye dissolved completely in the water, nothing! Several different things can affect that - the temperature of the water when you start, how quickly you add the lye, etc. When I make my lye solution, I start with half ice cubes, half water. I add the lye slowly and it never goes above 48 degrees C (125 F). I choose to do this because I like to soap at 32.5 C (90 F) and I don't have to wait as long.

Since you are making 100% Olive, you could probably soap at a fairly high temperature without overheating, I'd probably do that around 54 C (130 F) personally.

 

[agriffin]

Did your soap turn out?

What was the temp of your water that you added the lye to it? How many ounce of lye and how many ounces of water? If it's super diluted it might be a lower temp.

Was your lye properly stored? Was it hard and chunky when you opened the container? Sometimes if not properly stored lye easily absorbs moisture from the air and this can really mess you up when soaping. If your lye has absorbed a ton of moisture when you add it to your water, you're adding lye (+absorbed moisture) and your measurements won't be correct and it WILL be lower in temp. Ask me how I know. :roll:

Even using ice cold water my lye water gets much hotter than that.

Oh and are you measuring C or F?

 

[Poojagandhi]

I am talking about Degrees (C) , the water was not ice cold that i used .

My soap is still setting in , i Guess , been 2 days n its in mold n kinda not fully set .

 

[ChrisShepp]

Don't panic! Give it a few more days - maybe a week total - before you attempt to unmold. As I mentioned before, high Olive %'s can saponify very slowly and stay very soft for a while.

If after a week it is still not where it should be, let us know and we'll help you troubleshoot.

 

[KnowWhat]

When they say your lye temp will be over 100 degrees, they are talking fahrenheit. Your 77 degrees C is way over 100 degrees F. Im sure you'll be just fine.

 

[IrishLass]

When they say your lye temp will be over 100 degrees, they are talking fahrenheit. Your 77 degrees C is way over 100 degrees F. Im sure you'll be just fine.

Exactly.

At 77 degreesC, it looks like your lye acted precisely as it should, which means your soap will be just fine.

Since you used 100% olive oil and a full water amount, it's to be expected that your soap will not be ready to unmold right away. That's the nature of 100% olive oil soaps made with a full water amount. Sometimes it can take as long as a week or so to be able to unmold such soaps. You can speed up the time it takes to unmold by using a 33% (or more) lye solution. With a steeper lye solution, you will be able to unmold within 12-24 hours as opposed to many days.

Regarding the temp confusion- a good majority of us on the forum reside in the USA where we still use the Fahrenheit system, and it looks like that's where all the mix-up stemmed from. To avoid any possible misunderstandings with our international members, I always try to put an 'F' or a 'C' whenever I mention temps (i.e. 100 degreesF, or 0 degreesC) to indicate which system I'm using.

IrishLass

 

[Poojagandhi]

I simply love this forum , so happy for d fact that everyone is there to help , thanks a lot .

Shall wait for a week , hope for d best