Straining lye solution...

[nurse_75]

Honest Q,

I have been watching Youtube vids of ITP to get some ideas and one soaper who has copious vids on there strained her lye as she added it to her oils. There was what I thought to be quite a large amount of undissolved lye that came out in a clump at the end and she kind of mushed it through the strainer with her spatula.

My Q is would leaving that undissolved lye out of the recipe affect anything? I wouldnt imagine that not fully dissolving your lye is best practise and perhaps more due to laziness or apathy.

Perhaps being a newbie I am overcautious but I tend to spend a long time making sure my lye is dissolved before I move onto the oils.

PS - any of you out there want to put your hands up and fess-up to Youtube vids... I would love to watch how you all soap. I found Lyn on there!

Thanks,

Sharna

 

[krissy]

i always always always make sure my lye has fully dissolved. i dont want any chunks of lye sitting in my soap. that is dangerous.

 

[fiddletree]

not putting all the lye in would increase your superfat.

It seems like a lot of extra work and uncertainty to use a strainer, smoosh the extra lye through, and hope that it distributes evenly (I doubt it would.... the point of a lye solution is to dissolve the lye!). Personally, I'd rather just add the lye slowly and give my lye solution a few extra stirs to make sure it dissolves. I would never put undissolved lye in my soap, ack! I don't like getting or giving chemical burns.

 

[Healinya]

There's a chance that it wasn't undissolved lye, but rather debris from not washing the lye pitcher enough from last use... I used to strain those floaters when I saw them, u.til carebear suggested to soap as normal... I have never had a problem. Can u share link? I would like to see what they look like.

 

[soapbuddy]

If the lye does not fully dissolve, then get new lye. Straining lye is another thing to add of more things that can go wrong. I've only done this once with what I thought was a stainless steel strainer (made in China). It wasn't stainless and it made a blackish mess. Enough said.

 

[agriffin]

Yes, I don't get this. I've heard of several soapmakers that strain their lye.

I also know one soapmaker who has been soaping for years and strains her lye/goat's milk. Huh? That makes no sense to me.

 

[Maythorn]

I've never had to strain lye. I just stir and stir and it's dissolved. Sometimes as it cools there are soft little clumps but those get blasted away by the stick blender.

 

[Pentazole]

Since lye is readily soluble in water, it doesn't take much effort to dissolve it. It's possible that the person is not using enough water. I've used 10% water (per oil weight) before and when I do, the lye first dissolves, but as soon as the solution temperature cools down a bit much of the lye recrystallizes due to supersaturation. With 15% water, the lye does recrystallize, but to a much lesser extent. I always strain my lye. However, if I do get chunks, I don't force them through, I just guestimate less superfat. In the video, does the strained lye look flaky? If so then it is most likely recrystallized.

 

[nurse_75]

[ame="http://youtu.be/AqsxfKIzjts"]http://youtu.be/AqsxfKIzjts[/ame]

That is the link to the video. I apologise if this person is a member here as my intention is one of educating myself as a novice soaper and not one of ridicule.

I do love the kaleidoscope of colours though. I might have misheard but I believe she refers to it as kaleidosoap.

Sharna

 

[IrishLass]

Oh! That's KB Smimmer! She's a great soapmaker that I know from another forum- well, I don't personally know her, but she's very knowledgeable and many of her posts have been helpful to me. That stuff you see her straining out is not lye- I'd bet good money on it. It looks more like remnants left over from her silk and/or the floaty, soapy dross that forms when mixing lye in a container that's been washed out with soap.


IrishLass

 

[morena_mama]

The tussah silk I use doesn't fully dissolve so I strain my lye water

 

[dOttY]

I strain. But only to sieve out any remnants of Tussah Silk

Stainless steel strainer, naturally

 

[nurse_75]

Thanks guys,

I knew you would set me straight. I wasnt sure why she mentioned straining it. I did notice it was a steel mesh strainer.

Had to google tussah silk, but i had read about people adding silk to their soaps.

Sharna

 

[Maythorn]

I didn't know silk doesn't fully dissolve and cooperate. I will be aware of that if I ever try it.

 

[carebear]

I don't worry about the silk. Even if it's gloppy I don't ever see it in the soap.

When I use it, I put it the water and add the lye in on top of it. I stir to dissolve the lye then weigh down the silk with the spoon and leave it u til I'm ready to use the solution. Then I use it, glop or no glop.