CookbookChef
Well-Known Member
LYE HEAVY LIQUID SOAP
NOTE!!! 3 UPDATES ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST
Hi, Now I have a NEW problem. My liquid soaps have not been lye heavy, except for one time. That one time that it was zappy, I just let it cook longer, and then it was fine. It later, within hours, became good usable soap that was no longer zappy.
Now, yesterday I did 2 crock pots, running at the same time. One crock pot had a 1 pound batch going, and the 2nd crock pot had a 2 pound batch going. Both were Liquid Soap. Now, about 7 hours later went to check and BOTH batches were lye heavy and zappy. I turned on the heat (due to the fact I was using Irishlass recipe where you make your soap without the heat on) so I turned on the heat and remelted the zappy soap. About 4 hours later the 1 pound batch was no longer zappy and I even double checked using PHENOPHTHALEIN Drops. And the one pound batch did NOT turn pink when tested. But, the 2 pound batch DID turn pink when tested and the paste zapped me still. So, I cooked it on low all night long. Still zappy in the morning. I let the paste just Sit around all day, and checked it now tonight. It is still zappy and the paste still shows a bright pink.
So now what? If possible, I do NOT want to add any borax or citric acid to it, I do have this available if need be, but I just dont want to use it. Is it possible to just keep cooking it and it will turn into usable soap, eventually? I mean, the other crock worked out that way!! But with cooking it all night, you would think that would of been enough. So, ya, I am confused. I am open to suggestions as that is 2 full pounds of soap paste that I dont want to just throw away, I do believe somehow it is fixable. If I were the one answering this question for somebody else, I would just say keep cooking it longer....but...lol, I did that, 2 more times...and the 2nd time cooked for at least 8 hours. I really dont know what could of gone wrong. I do not that when I added the lye water to the ONE pound batch, the liquid with the oils was nice and runny, like water. But when I added the lye water to the TWO pound batch, it turned kind of thick...almost right away, almost as if I had used sodium instead of KOH....but I double checked, I did use Koh. Even now, the soap paste is paste, it looks like brown gravy that set up as apposed to shiny taffy like the one pound paste looks like. This thick gravy FEELS like taffy, but has a very plain look to it, not glossy at all. I am open to suggestions on how to fix a very high lye heavy paste. Can I just add some more oil to it, so that the lye has something to eat? lol
UPDATE!!!!!!
I went and started to re read all the posts from the start of this thread. I got to about number 50 thru 72 and in this zone I learned about a problem with somebody not adding enough glycerin, and had zappy soap. The end to it was that the person was informed to add the missing glycerin and re heat the paste. They did so and this made the paste turn into soap and show up not zappy later. The part about my ABOVE statement that I guess I forgot to add is that while mixing up and cooking my lye glycerin on the stove, I had about a full teaspoon of lye that was undesolved. I could not get it to ever desolve. I ended up taking that un desolved lye out and adding in some NEW lye, ABOUT the same amount as I took out. I placed back into my pot ABOUT the same amount of glycerin....so, 1:1....this is why I think I am lye heavy. I needed to add the glycerin in at a 3:1 amount. So, I am about to add approximately 4 teaspoons of glycerin back into the crock pot of paste, and put in on low to mix this in, then give it a few hours. I am in high hopes that this will do the trick and I will get a past that runs no pink with the Pheno drops later. And no tongue zap!! I could just add about 2 teaspoons glycerin in, but I am going to add 4 teaspoons in as the extra glycerin surely will not hurt it, I am just covering myself here. Oh well, live and learn. I will report back late tonight, or in the morning the outcome. This thread is SUPER VALUABLE to anybody doing liquid soap as it is starting to answer its OWN questions now. I see that MOST problems or issues have already been covered, this is good for the person who can not wait for a response, like me tonight. Re reading the thread gave me what I THINK is my answer. I will update later
OK UPDATE NUMBER 2
Its no good!! The glycerin I added did nothing. Been cooking it on low for 3 more hours. Still showing bright pink Pheno. I just added 1 full ounce of Castor Oil to the paste and mixed it in well. I figure its a 2 pound batch so one ounce of ANY oil shouldn't hurt it, well, any meaning the same oils I used to begin with. Anyway, yes, this is an experiment now for sure. Will this one ounce of castor oil help it??? I will report back yet another update later. Time will tell.(it really is super lye heavy I think, I have really BRIGHT pink pheno when its tested)
UPDATE NUMBER 3
Nope...Still pink pheno and the zap test is still zappy. I will not just turn off the crock pot and let it set up to paste overnight. Hopefully by morning it will be fine. But as of now everything I have done, adding the glycerin, adding an ounce of castor oil...nothing has worked. Not even a LONG cook time in the crock pot. oh well. I KNOW Irishlasses recipe works as I have made it over and over again with great success. This fault was my own, I truly thought taking out those bits of lye that were stubborn and would not melt, and then putting in new lye in its place, I really figured that would work. Maybe for someone else it might of, but for me, in this 24 hours portion of time, it did not. Ok folks, I bid you farwell and sleep well. I will check on the zappy paste in the morning.
NOTE!!! 3 UPDATES ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST
Hi, Now I have a NEW problem. My liquid soaps have not been lye heavy, except for one time. That one time that it was zappy, I just let it cook longer, and then it was fine. It later, within hours, became good usable soap that was no longer zappy.
Now, yesterday I did 2 crock pots, running at the same time. One crock pot had a 1 pound batch going, and the 2nd crock pot had a 2 pound batch going. Both were Liquid Soap. Now, about 7 hours later went to check and BOTH batches were lye heavy and zappy. I turned on the heat (due to the fact I was using Irishlass recipe where you make your soap without the heat on) so I turned on the heat and remelted the zappy soap. About 4 hours later the 1 pound batch was no longer zappy and I even double checked using PHENOPHTHALEIN Drops. And the one pound batch did NOT turn pink when tested. But, the 2 pound batch DID turn pink when tested and the paste zapped me still. So, I cooked it on low all night long. Still zappy in the morning. I let the paste just Sit around all day, and checked it now tonight. It is still zappy and the paste still shows a bright pink.
So now what? If possible, I do NOT want to add any borax or citric acid to it, I do have this available if need be, but I just dont want to use it. Is it possible to just keep cooking it and it will turn into usable soap, eventually? I mean, the other crock worked out that way!! But with cooking it all night, you would think that would of been enough. So, ya, I am confused. I am open to suggestions as that is 2 full pounds of soap paste that I dont want to just throw away, I do believe somehow it is fixable. If I were the one answering this question for somebody else, I would just say keep cooking it longer....but...lol, I did that, 2 more times...and the 2nd time cooked for at least 8 hours. I really dont know what could of gone wrong. I do not that when I added the lye water to the ONE pound batch, the liquid with the oils was nice and runny, like water. But when I added the lye water to the TWO pound batch, it turned kind of thick...almost right away, almost as if I had used sodium instead of KOH....but I double checked, I did use Koh. Even now, the soap paste is paste, it looks like brown gravy that set up as apposed to shiny taffy like the one pound paste looks like. This thick gravy FEELS like taffy, but has a very plain look to it, not glossy at all. I am open to suggestions on how to fix a very high lye heavy paste. Can I just add some more oil to it, so that the lye has something to eat? lol
UPDATE!!!!!!
I went and started to re read all the posts from the start of this thread. I got to about number 50 thru 72 and in this zone I learned about a problem with somebody not adding enough glycerin, and had zappy soap. The end to it was that the person was informed to add the missing glycerin and re heat the paste. They did so and this made the paste turn into soap and show up not zappy later. The part about my ABOVE statement that I guess I forgot to add is that while mixing up and cooking my lye glycerin on the stove, I had about a full teaspoon of lye that was undesolved. I could not get it to ever desolve. I ended up taking that un desolved lye out and adding in some NEW lye, ABOUT the same amount as I took out. I placed back into my pot ABOUT the same amount of glycerin....so, 1:1....this is why I think I am lye heavy. I needed to add the glycerin in at a 3:1 amount. So, I am about to add approximately 4 teaspoons of glycerin back into the crock pot of paste, and put in on low to mix this in, then give it a few hours. I am in high hopes that this will do the trick and I will get a past that runs no pink with the Pheno drops later. And no tongue zap!! I could just add about 2 teaspoons glycerin in, but I am going to add 4 teaspoons in as the extra glycerin surely will not hurt it, I am just covering myself here. Oh well, live and learn. I will report back late tonight, or in the morning the outcome. This thread is SUPER VALUABLE to anybody doing liquid soap as it is starting to answer its OWN questions now. I see that MOST problems or issues have already been covered, this is good for the person who can not wait for a response, like me tonight. Re reading the thread gave me what I THINK is my answer. I will update later
OK UPDATE NUMBER 2
Its no good!! The glycerin I added did nothing. Been cooking it on low for 3 more hours. Still showing bright pink Pheno. I just added 1 full ounce of Castor Oil to the paste and mixed it in well. I figure its a 2 pound batch so one ounce of ANY oil shouldn't hurt it, well, any meaning the same oils I used to begin with. Anyway, yes, this is an experiment now for sure. Will this one ounce of castor oil help it??? I will report back yet another update later. Time will tell.(it really is super lye heavy I think, I have really BRIGHT pink pheno when its tested)
UPDATE NUMBER 3
Nope...Still pink pheno and the zap test is still zappy. I will not just turn off the crock pot and let it set up to paste overnight. Hopefully by morning it will be fine. But as of now everything I have done, adding the glycerin, adding an ounce of castor oil...nothing has worked. Not even a LONG cook time in the crock pot. oh well. I KNOW Irishlasses recipe works as I have made it over and over again with great success. This fault was my own, I truly thought taking out those bits of lye that were stubborn and would not melt, and then putting in new lye in its place, I really figured that would work. Maybe for someone else it might of, but for me, in this 24 hours portion of time, it did not. Ok folks, I bid you farwell and sleep well. I will check on the zappy paste in the morning.
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