Water usage - Lye water and excess

[twinkiesmommy2009]

I've read different things about water content. At first I thought that anything I added to water, tea, etc would be mixed with the lye, but then I read posts where some soap makers are adding excess water (I guess amounts not needed to be mixed with lye) and purees when they begin blending their oils with the lye water to make the soap.

I'm using Soapmaker 3 and I noticed too that in recipes I can count additives as part of the water and adjust the water to account for that. If I'm using a tea as part of the water do I always mix it with the lye, or not necessarily? When would I use tea as an additive but not adjust the water?

Can somebody please give me basic guidelines to follow, like a minimum amount of water that must be mixed with the lye, and under what circumstances I wouldn't include it with the lye water but would instead add it when mixing the soap?

I hope that made sense. lol I had to take some pain meds.

 

[pamielynn]

You don't have to mix it with lye. Say I'm using aloe juice alongside some distilled water. In SM3, I list let's say 10oz aloe juice as an additive. I click "adjust water". Now my water amount goes down to 8 oz instead of the 18 I was going to use. I can then mix my lye with 8 oz water and add the 10 aloe juice to the oil pot. People do this with milks or purees as well.

If I want to use aloe juice as my WHOLE liquid, I can do the same, but input 18 oz aloe juice and my water amount goes to zero, but I know that I'm going to put that aloe juice in with my lye. *I'm just totally making up these numbers.

Does that make sense and sort of answer your question?

ETA: you must use at least a 50/50 liquid to sodium hydroxide amount. Say 8 oz lye to 8oz water/aloe juice then make up the difference with something else, like a puree or milk.

 

[twinkiesmommy2009]

Thank you! So as long as I mix at least 50:50 with lye, the rest can be added to my oils. Got it. Thanks!

 

[IrishLass]

Lye needs to be mixed with at least an equal amount of water or other liquid in order to be able to dissolve properly- i.e., 1 part lye to 1 part liquid. This is what is known as a 50% lye solution.

Although there are some who soap with a straight-up 50% lye solution, I would venture to say that the majority of us use more water than that in our batches of soap, because more water usually = a slower/more easy-going pace, which leaves more time for fancy swirls and/or for dealing with ornery FOs, etc..

I myself like to soap with a 33% lye solution most of the time (1 part lye to 2 parts liquid). Any additional liquid-like substances that I might add to my batch, such as avocado puree, or egg yolk, or tomato paste, or sodium lactate, etc... are not included in my 33% lye solution. I just add those things in as extras. But that's just me. I know that others do take such things into account when figuring their lye solution %, but I find that the extra moisture they bring to my soap is so trivial that I really can't be bothered with accounting for them in my overall solution %.

The liquids that I do make sure to take account of and include in my lye solution % (besides water), are juices such as aloe juice, carrot or cucumber juice, and milks such as goat milk, or coconut milk, etc..... If I ever had a mind to use tea, I would include that as part of my lye solution % as well. That doesn't necessarily mean that I'll mix my lye with those other liquids, though. As a matter of preference, what I normally do when I include juices and milks as part of my overall lye solution % is to first mix my lye with the least amount of water needed (50%), and then add the remainder of my lye solution % in the form of juices or milks to my oils (they soap nicer for me that way).

I hope that makes sense. Hopefully others will chime in soon.
(woops, I just saw that Pam chimed in and gave you a good answer)


IrishLass