Question about Lye

[Araseth]

Hi, I'm new to all this but really excited to give it a try. I'm a student so currently staying in a small room with a window, which is where I would like to make my soap. I was just wondering if this will be ventilated enough with the window open? And if anyone can tell me what I should expect for the smell of the lye, will it be too strong do you think? Thanks in advance

 

[Sunny]

Lye has a very strong odor when mixed with water, definitely do not breathe it in. Letting the fumes out a window should work just fine though.

 

[Araseth]

Thanks very much for your quick reply, very helpful ^^

 

[agriffin]

Do you have a vent-a-hood on your oven? I mix mine under one of those...so it sucks the fumes right out.

But yes, a window should work as well.

 

[gunner]

I was scared to death to do soap in my kitchen since I have kids and dogs, but, really, I don't even notice the fumes from the lye unless I'm pretty close to it. I just hold my breath while I stir it into my water (sitting in the sink) and walk away for a minute or two, then stir some more to make sure the lye is dissolved.

 

[Araseth]

Unfortunately I don't have on of those vent-a-hoods, will see how the window goes. Thanks for abating my concerns about the lye. Feeling much more confident now I know what to expect.

 

[cerelife]

I make soap in the kitchen, with all the dogs and cats confined in other areas of our house. My sense of smell is a bit faulty due to chronic allergy/sinus issues. When I make my lyewater, I just turn my face away from the pitcher, and stir at arm's length. I don't smell anything, but I do feel a "burn" in my nose when the lye and water heat up, so when I feel this I just step away for a minute.

 

[Deda]

You have a source of running water close to where you're going to soap, right?

 

[Araseth]

Yep got running water

 

[judymoody]

The fumes dissipate really quickly. When it's too cold to mix outside, I mix mine in the garage (no ventilation) and the smell is gone within a minute or so.

 

[HenleyNatural]

A trick I've been doing lately is to cover my lye after I give it a good mix. The cover helps to keep the lye fumes down.

 

[xyxoxy]

Your window should be fine... but you could add one of those dual window fans and set it to pull air out.

I pre-mix my lye outside in large batches so when I actually make my soap there are few if any fumes to deal with. There are lots of threads on this subject (master batching) if you want to consider this option.

 

[Northland Naturals]

if you stir in a tbs of sugar to your water before you mix in the lye it really helps control the fumes i've found. i do 1 tbs PPO.