volcano! and lye burns

[paillo]

so i was making fresh pear soap last night. ripe pears are really sweet. what does REALLY sweet mean? SUGAR! what does extra sugar mean with lye? VOLCANO!!!! DUH!!!!

so, volcano indeed. why didn't i mix the lye in the sink? because it was full of pots from the day's earlier batch i hadn't finished cleaning up. duh!!!!

so my first instinct? SAVE THE HARDWOOD FLOOR! what does that mean? GRAB THE VOLCANO and get it into the sink!! so i did, barehanded. where were my gloves? beside the sink. DUH!!

no major damage, skin on a couple of fingers will probably blister, and i went through a lot of ice and fresh aloe from my plant by the sink.

lessons learned?
DON'T GET COMPLACENT. experience doesn't mean you won't do Really Stupid Things.
ALWAYS USE YOUR SAFETY GEAR. never again will i work with lye without gloves.
ALWAYS WORK WHERE YOU HAVE TOTAL ACCESS TO THE SINK. always clean up before you start something new.

glad neither i nor the hardwood floor is damaged. the pear soap? it's a goner. what a humbling experience.

 

[judymoody]

A good reminder for all of us to be mindful of safety.

Did I ever tell the story of how I tried to wipe down the stick blender before unplugging it? Thankfully, no major harm done and a mistake you only make once.

I'm glad you weren't injured more seriously.

 

[new12soap]

Thank you for the reminder, we all have a tendency to get complacent with experience, but lye is NEVER without risk.

So glad that both you and your wood floors survived.

 

[Hazel]

I'm so glad you weren't seriously injured. I agree with new12soap's soap about getting complacent with experience. It's something everyone should keep in mind that no matter how experienced you are - accidents can happen. Thanks for the safety reminder.

@judymoody

I remember you posting about the SB incident awhile back.

 

[ToniD]

How scary, glad you are not too seriously hurt, though even so, ouch!

I always have the temptation not to clean up one batch before I start the next. Good reminder to have a clear work area to avoid accidents.

 

[MegaSoap]

yes thank you for the reminder! i mixed my lye solution the other day without gloves and knew it was a bad idea while i was doing it. luckily things were fine, but they may not always be. was also just complaining to myself about having to clean up every time, even though i do, now i'll do it without so many complaints. so it's a great reminder!

 

[Cally]

I bought some gloves specifically for use mixing with chemicals but I find them thick, they make my hands sore to grab anything and they are quite slippery. I was going to just take them off and not use them on my last batch, first attempt with wine. It spitted and splattered a ton (luckily it was in the sink). I think after that I will always be wearing my safety gear. However this brings up a question that I would like to ask.... What kind of gloves do you all use? I've seen many people using just disposable gloves but I don't want to throw that much away, and I might want something thicker and that will go up my arms partway. What do you all prefer to use?

 

[Pepsi Girl]

WOW! So glad your OK. I have to say I'm very naughty about safety.

 

[Lindy]

Oh no!!! That is horrible. Thank you for sharing the experience and reminding us how dangerous lye can be... I really hope your burns aren't too bad... :?

 

[Hazel]

What kind of gloves do you all use? I've seen many people using just disposable gloves but I don't want to throw that much away, and I might want something thicker and that will go up my arms partway. What do you all prefer to use?

I use the yellow gloves for dish washing. At first I thought they were awkward to wear but I eventually got used to them.

 

[new12soap]

I use the chemical-resistant gloves from the hardware store. They are green, they were cheap, they come a little way up my forearms, and they aren't very thick so I can still "feel" through them.

 

[Cally]

I feel like such an idiot, I got distracted halfway through my first post and I completely forgot to express my sympathies. I've always feared a lye burn, I've even googled pictures of some of them, they look so awful and painful, I'm so glad that you had something to put on it to lessen the pain

 

[Lynnz]

Glad your burns are not to extensive keep the Aloe going it is awsome stuff. I read of raw soap splattering into a soaper eyes and now my goggles go on at the very start and dont come off till the clean up is done

 

[Relle]

My last and only lye burns took 3 months to heal. Keep up the aloe.

 

[Seventeen Soaps]

Glad everything turned out ok!

I bought some washing up gloves from a discount store, they have fancy ends which means they go up your arm a little further as you always get a splash of raw soap where ever the glove isn't and haven't had an issue since.