Victoria Lewis
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- Mar 2, 2018
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Hi all,
I am a relative newbie to CP soap making having only made about 10 batches so far. At the moment I am only making small 1KG batches with a water to lye ratio of approx 2.4 : 1.
The last two batches that I have made, on mixing my lye solution, there has been small white parts resting on the bottom of my container. No attempt to smoosh these, or mix them in has resulted in them dissolving.
At first I thought they might be from oil transfer but they are kinda crunchy not soft. I don't think they are undissolved lye as I am using plenty of water, stirring well and the water is crystal clear other than these bright white, crunchy particles. The lye water heats up to a good 160F+. I have searched the good old internet and just came across a post about sodium hydroxide turning to soda ash (sodium carbonate) if exposed to co2, so I wondered if these white crunchy bits could be bits soda ash lurking on the inside of my lye mixing container instead of undissolved lye?
I don't wash my lye containers with anything, I just rinse them and air dry. Maybe I am not rinsing them well enough, or in hot enough water?
Any insights or thoughts would be really appreciated.
I went on to use the solution leaving out (most of) the crunchy bits, but these are just experimental batches to practice with colours and fragrances as much as anything else, so I won't be overly upset if they can't be used or need to be rebatched.
I am a relative newbie to CP soap making having only made about 10 batches so far. At the moment I am only making small 1KG batches with a water to lye ratio of approx 2.4 : 1.
The last two batches that I have made, on mixing my lye solution, there has been small white parts resting on the bottom of my container. No attempt to smoosh these, or mix them in has resulted in them dissolving.
At first I thought they might be from oil transfer but they are kinda crunchy not soft. I don't think they are undissolved lye as I am using plenty of water, stirring well and the water is crystal clear other than these bright white, crunchy particles. The lye water heats up to a good 160F+. I have searched the good old internet and just came across a post about sodium hydroxide turning to soda ash (sodium carbonate) if exposed to co2, so I wondered if these white crunchy bits could be bits soda ash lurking on the inside of my lye mixing container instead of undissolved lye?
I don't wash my lye containers with anything, I just rinse them and air dry. Maybe I am not rinsing them well enough, or in hot enough water?
Any insights or thoughts would be really appreciated.
I went on to use the solution leaving out (most of) the crunchy bits, but these are just experimental batches to practice with colours and fragrances as much as anything else, so I won't be overly upset if they can't be used or need to be rebatched.
