So I was distracted while making soap and instead of pouring my lye solution in my oils, I poured my oils in the lye solution. I was worried my soap will not turn out well but before I finished pouring the oils, the soap was nicely emulsified. I will not repeat it again but I was amazed how smoothly the soap turned out to be.
Pouring solution in oil
- Thread starter allane
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The soap should be fine. It's just safer to pour the lye into the oils. Less risk of splashing.
dixiedragon
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Honestly, I assumed we poured the lye water into the oils b/c there is less lye water than oils, so it's easier to pour a plastic pitcher of lye water vs a metal pot of oils.
For normal soaping with ingredients that are warm or cool to the touch, it doesn't matter which way you combine the lye solution with the fats -- lye into oils or oils into lye. Whichever way works best for you is fine. I usually pour lye into fat for much the same reason as Dixie, but I've done it the other way 'round on occasion.
I do want to warn about a safety hazard that can occur if you pour cool lye solution into very hot fat. By "very hot" I mean fat that is close to or hotter than the boiling point of water. The hot fat will instantly heat the lye solution and create steam that erupts out of the soap pot. This will cause a dangerous spray of hot fat and lye solution to spatter all over.
I do want to warn about a safety hazard that can occur if you pour cool lye solution into very hot fat. By "very hot" I mean fat that is close to or hotter than the boiling point of water. The hot fat will instantly heat the lye solution and create steam that erupts out of the soap pot. This will cause a dangerous spray of hot fat and lye solution to spatter all over.
If you've ever fried chicken or doughnuts in hot fat, you know what I mean about the spattering. Add NaOH to the mix, and the situation can get real scary real quick.
The solution in this case is either (1) to have the lye solution and fat at roughly the same temperature if you must start soaping with ingredients that hot or (2) to not heat your ingredients that hot before combining them -- heat the ingredients after they are mixed together.
This is an unusual situation, but I know it happens from time to time. In particular, some soapers are trying a hot process soaping method that requires the ingredients to be very hot. It's likely they could encounter this safety hazard, so I'm trying to spread the word.
For new soapers -- Don't get confused about this discussion about how to combine lye solution and fat. This is a different thing than how to properly make lye solution by mixing water with NaOH (or KOH). This is an unusual situation, but I know it happens from time to time. In particular, some soapers are trying a hot process soaping method that requires the ingredients to be very hot. It's likely they could encounter this safety hazard, so I'm trying to spread the word.
When mixing NaOH with water to make a lye solution, it's important to always add NaOH to the water, rather than vice versa, for safety's sake.
If you pour a small amount of water into a large amount of NaOH, a lot of heat will be released. That could cause spattering of concentrated lye solution in your face. Not safe.
If you pour a small amount of water into a large amount of NaOH, a lot of heat will be released. That could cause spattering of concentrated lye solution in your face. Not safe.
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