Undissolved lye?

[Bigbadwolf]

Hi friends,
I tried making a carrot and honey CP soap. Pre froze goat milk ice cubes and added carrot juice to top up the water amount. When I mixed with lye I mixed slowly but there was white flakes I thought may be particles of goat milk? I didn’t take a pic Is it possible that the ice cubes and refrigerated carrot juice made it too cold for lye to dissolve?

 

[lsg]

Lye heats up the liquid when added. Add a little lye at-a-time and stir well between additions. You can always strain the lye liquid to make sure no lye particles are left in the mix.

 

[DeeAnna]

If you don't have at least a vague idea about the temp of the lye solution, there's no good way to know if it was too cold, but, yeah, it could have been too cold.

If the sides of the container were pleasantly warm to the touch when you were done making the solution, it's likely the solution was warm enough for the NaOH to fully dissolve. In this case, it's likely the white flakes were soap that formed when the milkfat in the milk reacted with the NaOH as you were making the lye solution.

If the lye solution was still cool to the touch when you were done adding the NaOH, there is a good chance not all of the NaOH was dissolved. Use your stirring implement to feel on the bottom of the container for anything gritty -- if you feel grit, there is probably still solid NaOH and you should keep stirring. Also, as lsg recommended, it's also wise to strain the lye solution catch any NaOH particles.

 

[Bigbadwolf]

Thank you both for the reply! The temp of the lye solution was 98 degrees. I’m so relieved now, thought I was going to have to toss this! Really appreciate the feedback