lye with floaties

[goatlady]

Hi all. I am new to making soap. I have started with the CP method. My first batch turned out really well. My lye when it was mixed with distilled water was clear and dissolved nicely. my second and third batch though my lye water has floaties in it. What am I doing wrong? The soap on those two batches hardened fine but does have a powder appearance slightly to it, not bad but is there.

 

[Badger]

I don't think you are doing anything wrong. I know my lye water has a few particles that float in it on occasion. I know some people choose to strain their lye water (Make sure to use a stainless steel strainer, not aluminum). As to the powder that is forming on the soap, it sounds like it is ash, which is not uncommon. It helps to spray the tops of your soap with a little 91% alcohol after you pour and then cover the top with saran wrap. The ash is harmless and is only cosmetic. It can be steamed or washed off. I hope this is helpful, and welcome from another newbie

 

[goatlady]

Thank you Badger! I was worried maybe I was not stirring it enough or something. The powder on top is not bad at all and may be that my first batch having different EOs in it is why you don't see it? The two I made yesterday are a tea tree oil and the other was with no EOs, just plain for laundry and such. I will try the alcohol trick!

 

[christinak]

Sometimes if I put my spoon in to mix it and it was in the oils I will get some floaties...no problem though, once it's all together it won't matter

 

[lsg]

It is probably just impurities. I would strain the lye solution using a stainless steel strainer as Badger suggested and move on. No need to worry about the effect on the finished product.

 

[goatlady]

Thank you! I will pick up a strainer for that and give that a shot!

 

[100%Natural]

In most cases the floaties are fine and are caused by residue either in the water, container or stirring utensil. It's the sinkers you need to be extra wary of. I highly suggest you PH test those bars on all surfaces though. Sometimes the lye separates and works its way to the top of the bars. This can usually be taken care of by washing off the bars. Soda ash and lye separation look the same so testing is the only way to know for sure. Phenolphthalein solution is my go to for more accurate testing.

 

[lsg]

Hi all. I am new to making soap. I have started with the CP method. My first batch turned out really well. My lye when it was mixed with distilled water was clear and dissolved nicely. my second and third batch though my lye water has floaties in it. What am I doing wrong? The soap on those two batches hardened fine but does have a powder appearance slightly to it, not bad but is there.

It sounds like soda ash, you can test your soap using the tongue zap test. Soda ash can be wiped off. The ash part may show a higher pH than the rest of the soap. My suggestion is to wipe off the soda ash with a wet cloth and then do a zap test.

 

[goatlady]

Okay I tried the zap test and no zap, just soap. blah! haha. That's a good thing though

 

[chicklet]

I read here once (a while back) that someone thought the floaties they were getting might be because they washed out the container they mix their lye in with dishwashing detergent. They thought maybe some of the detergent residue stayed in the container and would resurface when they mixed their next batch. I don't know if that's valid or not, but it made sense to me so I only rinse my lye/water pitcher out with clear water before putting it away.

 

[RocknRoll]

The only time I ever get floaties is when my lye water is concentrated, like when i use milk in place for half of the water called for. I just strain it and have not had any problems with the finished product.

 

[bodhi]

Its been mentioned a couple times, but its good info so here you go again. Get a little stainless steel mesh strainer and keep it handy.

 

[goatlady]

Great ideas and suggestions everyone! Also going to pick up a new strainer and will also dedicate specific utensils to the lye and oil vs rinsing them off and going back and forth.

 

[Desert Karen]

Hi all. I am new to making soap. I have started with the CP method. My first batch turned out really well. My lye when it was mixed with distilled water was clear and dissolved nicely. my second and third batch though my lye water has floaties in it. What am I doing wrong? The soap on those two batches hardened fine but does have a powder appearance slightly to it, not bad but is there.

I know this is an older post, but I recently had this happen to me, where my lye water had tiny bits floating in it...but I knew what is was. I had broken one of my thermometer's so I had to use the same one to test both lye and oil. I know you see this coming.....I hadn't cleaned off the business end off well enough after I tested the oil then stuck it in the lye. Now I wash the tip off with some rubbing alcohol and a clean paper towel. I really do need another thermometer.

 

[ocean_soul]

I've had this happen to me a lot. Thinking it was because I didn't clean my dishes well enough so I started cleaning triple washing them and wiping them down to no avail. That said I read from Amanda on Lovin Soap blog say the following:

You might see some floating white filmy stuff. Give it a mix. This is just because it is such a concentrated solution and the lye is reacting to the carbon in the air and forming sodium carbonate. Lye (undissolved crust) stuck to the bottom of your container is bad…white floaties are not.

 

[goatlady]

Straining it seems to have fixed it. Thanks!

 

[SudsyPM]

I've had the floaties too and wondered what the heck I did wrong. The weird thing I noticed is that I tend to get them when I use the hardware "plumbing" lye in a pinch vs. using the lye flakes or pearls I get from soap making suppliers. I did as advised on here and just strained it out and the soap came out just fine. But I still don't like the idea..makes me paranoid about lye pockets :crazy:.