Lye water not heating?

[SillyKitty]

Just started my very first batch of soap. I got the lye from brambleberry, because I didn't want to take my chances with the stuff you can get from the hardware store.

But of course I have problems anyway. The lye dissolved completely into the water just fine, but it never seemed to react at all. No heating, no nothing. It just looks like normal, cold water to me.

I measured everything correctly. The water is distilled. I followed everything to a T and yet nada.

I can't find any answers as to why this would happen. Any ideas? I was really excited to start making soap but then of course something completely weird has to go and happen.

 

[AustinStraight]

Did you try making soap with it? What was your recipe?

 

[FlybyStardancer]

What did you mix it in? Was the water cold to start with? Did you actually touch the outside of the container to see if it was heating up? Because it doesn't look like it's boiling or anything, the container just feels warm and you might see some mist rising from the container.

 

[Jeanea]

I would try it anyways. I would be more concerned if the lye didn't dissolve. Someone correct me if I'm wrong....maybe you walked away for a few minutes and it cooled during that time. Are you using a thermometer, cold water, ice bath, cold room? I find on colder days my lye water cools quickly. I would still give it a go as long as there arent any white chips or balls in the solution.

 

[SillyKitty]

I mixed it in a stainless steel pot with room temp water. When I mixed it it was as if I was just mixing ordinary salt into the water, no mist, no visible reaction at all, nothing. I went to the store to get a digital thermometer to be sure (I started with a dial one) but the temp of the water is now 50 only 30 minutes later...so I doubt it ever heated at all.

Since it's dissolved, do you think it would still work if I warmed the solution by letting the pot sit in a bath of warm water? I don't want to waste my oils, so unsure.

 

[Obsidian]

Your lye water doesn't have to be warm to make soap, if the lye is good it will still create the chemical reaction needed. sounds odd that its 50* though, is your house cold? If you want it warm, you can put the pot in a bowl of hot water.

Soaping with room temp oils/lye can make your soap trace slower so don't be discouraged if it doesn't trace quickly. Don't burn up your stick blender trying to force it into trace, it will happen.

 

[Belinda02]

A small batch with plenty of water runs cooler than a large batch. And the size of ur container can cool ur solution.

 

[SillyKitty]

We do keep it pretty cool in my house, so that combined with a large cold container probably did it. Thanks guys! I'm warming the lye pot a bit in a warm bath and we'll see how it goes.

 

[Seawolfe]

If you watch a couple of soap making vids, you can see that the reaction really isn't visible when you add lye to water. But put your hand against the container and you can feel it heat up.

 

[SillyKitty]

Made the soap and got trace within five minutes - so everything went great! I guess I was just expecting more of a reaction from everything I've been reading, but you're right it's not as dramatic as I imagined. Thanks for the advice given or I might have gotten rid of perfectly good lye water