After I made all of my oil kits, I made 20 lye kits to match. I calculated how much lye I would need for each soap kit using the lye calculator. For having 6% excess fat, each lye kit would need to have 2.2 oz of Sodium Hydroxide. Before measuring my lye, I needed to put on some safety equipment. That included an apron, goggles, and gloves. I also got out a small bottle of vinegar in case I spilled the lye on myself.
When measuring dry lye, I first found that my spoon was too far above my scale and container. The stream of lye went from my spoon to the container and out all over the counter. I went from 4 inches above my container to just above the lip of my jar. If lye were not caustic and much bigger the round balls would look like child’s play!
I also learned that lye will suck water right out of the air, even in dry, dry Utah! If I worked to slowly the lye began to cling to the edges of my container making it hard to measure out. It was like trying to measure sugar from a damp container. What a mess! The lye went every where except where I wanted it to go. Some of the lye on the counter turned into droplets it collected so much water! Wow, I didn’t know we even had that much water in the air.
I am so glad that I was wearing gloves and goggles due to the mess I made. That was a good reminder of safety first. During clean up, after I had washed the counters and scale down with water I rinsed with vinegar to make sure everything was cleaned up. Though I smelled slightly of vinegar I am glad to know the counters are safe.
Now that all of my kits have been made, I am very nervous and excited. I don’t have to wait, I am ready to go. I am just not sure if I am quite ready to be the woman behind the immersion blender just yet! I guess we shall see how the soap making turns out. Wish me luck!
I LOVE the idea of making “kits” for your oils and lye. Quick question, though. What type of containers specifically do you use to store your oil kits and your lye kits?
We use clean empty jars from products that we have emptied in the blog kitchen. This is our way of recycling containers! You can also use empty jars that screw closed and have a tight seal.
Hi Taylor!
It’s fun to watch a newbie with her first batch of CP soapmaking. Wish you had been around 10 years ago when I first started!!
Anyway – I’d like to pass a little tip I learned along the way regarding static electricity and lye.
Before I measure out my lye, I wipe everything down with a dryer sheet. I found Bounce sheets work the best. I wipe down the inside and outside of my lye container, the stainless steel spoon I use for scooping out the lye, the “hole” spoon (from MMS of course!) that I will use to stir my lye solution and I even run the dryer sheet across the top and sides of my scale (which is wrapped in a clear plastic bag so it doesn’t get damaged).
The only thing I can’t stand is the smell of the Bounce dryer sheets ;o( I tried unscented dryer sheets – and they did NOT work as well – don’t know why!!
HTH,
Kathy
Kathy,
Now THAT is interesting! Static is probably the biggest problem of all people who measure lye.
I’d never thought about that before!