The volcano effect!!

[Lefki]

This morning I had my first soap making disaster! I woke up and had this brilliant idea of making a cinnamon/clove/honey soap. I boiled some distilled water with cinnamon and cloves, I added some honey and let it cool. I prepared my lye and started pouring it into the liquid..... and then, oh God, I saw the volcano! It started pouring all over the place, my bench, the floor.... everywhere. Thank God I was wearing my gloves (I sometimes forget them). Anyway, I didn't panic and tried to save everything it could be saved.
After this, I had some of the lye mixture still in my bowl, so I decided to continue with it anyway. I recalculated my oils and started my soap. It traced really fast and of course I forgot to add the FO. I used a cavity mold. I'm very curious about this "thing" I made :roll: Even though I forgot the FO it smells really good (not so strong though) and it has a wonderful brown color. I will upload a picture tomorrow.
So, what did I do wrong??? I don't want to create another volcano in my kitchen, never ever ever again...

PS. If it turns out well, I will name it "The Santorini soap" :wink:

 

[100%Natural]

It is likely because you added the honey to the water and then used it to dissolve your lye. I always add my honey to my oils before mixing the final batter.

 

[seven]

Ditto what natural said. It is better not to mix the honey/cinnamon/clove/whatever mixture to the lye. Add it to the batter at trace or to the oils before you add the lye, and you'll be fine.

 

[renata]

Oh my, that's terrible!

I was always wondering...does lye solution damage floor, clothes?

 

[MzMolly65]

No helpful comments from me, I'm too new to soap BUT .. sorry for the volcano, your soap still sounds yummy! Looking forward to pics.

 

[Dennis]

Santorini Surprise - Extremely Limited Edition of high quality handmade soap with only the finest natural ingredients. Our soaps are mindful of a simpler time when artisan products were the rule of the day, not a sought out rarity. :idea:

No copyright exists on the above.

 

[cmzaha]

You really should have dumped it all and started over, since you really can have no idea how much lye was left in the bowl. Honey causes heating and the infusion of clove and cinnamon may have also caused over-heating. On a side note, I would not infuse cinnamon and clove since they are skin irritants. Better to use safe levels of eo's for cinnamon and clove, which will also cause heating problems of soap batter, added in at trace. Not knowing how much honey you added in the water you were infusing, or the temp you poured your water in the lye it is hard to say what actually caused the volcano. This infusion should have been slushy cold before adding into the lye. Beers, wines, etc will also do this. If it ever happens again throw it all away and start over.

 

[cmzaha]

Here is a great post on how to clean up lye spills. BTW this is how I have always cleaned up per my msds sheet instructions
http://www.soapalooza.com/blog/2014/01/how-to-handle-a-lye-spill/

 

[tildy]

the honey in your water used to dissolve the lye caused that volcano. SAme thing will happen with regular sugar also.

Like the other soapmakers suggested, always add your honey at light trace. Also remember, honey will make the batch heat up in the mold also... you can end up with a soap volcano in the mold if you soap with too hot of oils and lye solution also. It can souffle up in the mold and actually spill over... so watch your batch at first to make sure it does not heat up like that. You will have to 'poke' it down... lol.

 

[pjdxxxwa]

Oh, the overflow! and what I know.

Honey is a heater. Next time make sure you have a tall plastic pitcher and SS whisk - and add your lye s-l-o-w-l-y. That should solve it if you are doing CP. If you are doing HP then use an oval crock pot (low heat) and only fill half full because it will rise. Place the crock on a SS cookie sheet. IF it overflows, no worries. Just lift the sheet and scrape it back in the crock. :angel:

Delores (Boone) Kirkwood:wink:

This morning I had my first soap making disaster! I woke up and had this brilliant idea of making a cinnamon/clove/honey soap. I boiled some distilled water with cinnamon and cloves, I added some honey and let it cool. I prepared my lye and started pouring it into the liquid..... and then, oh God, I saw the volcano! It started pouring all over the place, my bench, the floor.... everywhere. ….
So, what did I do wrong??? I don't want to create another volcano in my kitchen, never ever ever again...:

 

[pjdxxxwa]

Lye is an extra strong base (think bleach as weak) …so if you can't use bleach…do not use lye.

 

[pjdxxxwa]

You really should have dumped it all and started over, since you really can have no idea how much lye was left in the bowl. Honey causes heating and the infusion of clove and cinnamon may have also caused over-heating. On a side note, I would not infuse cinnamon and clove since they are skin irritants. Better to use safe levels of eo's for cinnamon and clove, which will also cause heating problems of soap batter, added in at trace. Not knowing how much honey you added in the water you were infusing, or the temp you poured your water in the lye it is hard to say what actually caused the volcano. This infusion should have been slushy cold before adding into the lye. Beers, wines, etc will also do this. If it ever happens again throw it all away and start over.

Even FO's of cinnamon and many others can be skin irritants. I found that I like Allspice berry EO for that warm, sweet herbal smell and that saves money also.

 

[Roseem76]

I had the same thing happen to me over Christmas, my own fault really, I stupidly added my lye to a hot green tea mixture even though I kept thinking that I should really chill it first. I've not jumped so high in ages, it was a very high volcano! I did think I would ruin my kitchen bench and wooden floors, but caustic soda only likes to eat natural products - ie me (of course I wasn't wearing gloves or anything). I've learnt my lesson though!

 

[tyerod]

Oh my, that's terrible!

I was always wondering...does lye solution damage floor, clothes?

It can. It depends on the material, the strength of the solution and how long it is contact. I believe for most kitchen surfaces if the spill is cleaned in a timely manner there should not be any damage. I would remove and rinse clothes that come into contact with your lye solution in cold water to help dilute the solution farther.

 

[Lefki]

Thank you all for your answers and sorry for my late answer.

So it was my stupidity which caused all these. Of course I have added honey before, but not in the lye. It was the first time, and now I learned the hard way that I shouldn't. :neutral:

After the volcano, I wiped my marble bench with a wet cloth and lots of water. There is no problem, the surface is perfect. Nothing happened to the floor either. Likely there were no splits on my cloths.

I had no idea about the skin irritations. Here in Greece I can find soaps made of cinnamon infusion everywhere, and never thought that it could be dangerous... Of course I will run every test I can think of before I give my soap to someone to use it.

Now, two days later, the soap has a dark beige color and no scent at all. It came out of the mold as usual, no problems at all and it's hard as usual.

This is it:

 

[pjdxxxwa]

The soap is lovely even if it has no scent. In times like this (when you lose a scent, or it disappears) you have made the perfect soap for people who are sensitive to fragrances. :wink:

Thank you all for your answers and sorry for my late

Now, two days later, the soap has a dark beige color and no scent at all. It came out of the mold as usual, no problems at all and it's hard as usual.