As I understand it, metal is to be avoided in soap-making due to potential increase in DOS, so no storing soap on wire racks. Also, people use gear ties instead of actual metal hangers due to DOS. But, when do they also use wire whisks and stainless steel blenders with impunity. So confused!!
newbie question re: metal
- Thread starter MGM
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Stick-blender blades are also stainless steel, and most of us use stick-blenders to make soap and never bat an eye when encouraging others to do so as well. 
I've personally never had a problem with stainless steel causing DOS in my soap. All my soap pots except for one are stainless, my whisk is stainless, and I even have a soap-dish in the master bathroom that is stainless.....and no DOS in 13+ years of soaping except for a batch made with lots of canola that was superfatted at 25 %, and another batch made with lavender EO that had oxidized.
IrishLass
I've personally never had a problem with stainless steel causing DOS in my soap. All my soap pots except for one are stainless, my whisk is stainless, and I even have a soap-dish in the master bathroom that is stainless.....and no DOS in 13+ years of soaping except for a batch made with lots of canola that was superfatted at 25 %, and another batch made with lavender EO that had oxidized.
IrishLass
The quality of stainless steel matters as well. One of our members once wrote about the different grades of SS and recommended the better quality rather than the lower quality for working with soap. Here is his post: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/is-there-a-test-for-stainless-steel.63938/#post-650639
I have noticed that very cheap whisks made of metal can turn color and start to deteriorate very quickly when used to make soap, so I avoid those cheap metal whisks. They may say 'stainless steel', but I just don't trust the quality. I prefer silicone whisks because I don't want some bits & pieces of a cheap metal alloy falling off into my soap and living there inside the finished soap.
Searching for SS hangers was a big deal for me because they can be pretty hard to find. I do quite a bit of traveling, and did finally find some that I do use for a hanger swirl, but they are very hard to cut and even harder to bend to shape. But I wanted a very thin swirl tool for a very long mold and most of the gear ties that are long enough are way thicker than I wanted.
High quality SS racks are very expensive. We have some that we kept after we closed the restaurant. They are fabulous compared to their cheaper counterparts, but I don't use them for soap; they live in the garage for garage-related storage. Even so, we have always used the plastic mats that came with them to line the racks and make clean-up easier anyway. So if I were ever to commandeer even one of them for soap stuff, I'd be using the plastic liners.
I have noticed that very cheap whisks made of metal can turn color and start to deteriorate very quickly when used to make soap, so I avoid those cheap metal whisks. They may say 'stainless steel', but I just don't trust the quality. I prefer silicone whisks because I don't want some bits & pieces of a cheap metal alloy falling off into my soap and living there inside the finished soap.
Searching for SS hangers was a big deal for me because they can be pretty hard to find. I do quite a bit of traveling, and did finally find some that I do use for a hanger swirl, but they are very hard to cut and even harder to bend to shape. But I wanted a very thin swirl tool for a very long mold and most of the gear ties that are long enough are way thicker than I wanted.
High quality SS racks are very expensive. We have some that we kept after we closed the restaurant. They are fabulous compared to their cheaper counterparts, but I don't use them for soap; they live in the garage for garage-related storage. Even so, we have always used the plastic mats that came with them to line the racks and make clean-up easier anyway. So if I were ever to commandeer even one of them for soap stuff, I'd be using the plastic liners.
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