Lye bubbles?

by Cristy
(Maine)

I just made my very first batch of soap and took it out of the mold.

There is a little bit of greasy oil on the surface, and the soap itself has very tiny bubbles.

I can't tell for sure if they are air or lye. The lye was completely dissolved when I added it. Both things were at 100 degrees.

I have a hand mixer just like the video on you tube that you have about tracing, so I think I stirred it plenty.

I'm afraid to use the soap if it has excess lye. What should I change for next time, do you think?

Answer:

Because you have a layer of oil on top of your soap, my first guess would be that you had a false trace and poured the soap too soon.

When using a stick blender it is very important to hand stir periodically. For some reason the stick blender makes the soap look thicker than it actually is and you need to stir it down with a whisk in order to see how far along the trace actually is.

As for bubbles....stick blenders also tend to trap air bubbles into the soap batter...some stick blenders are worse than others. Try to keep the stick blender submerged while blending so that you are not incorporting more air into the mix.

If the bubbles have liquid in them or hard white bits, then I wouldn't suggest using the soap since it could be lye.

The liquid will turn white papertowel brown if it is lye.

Good luck,
Cathy