Should I throw away soap that has too much lye?

by Ella
(Lafayette, LA)

I think I failed miserably at my first attempt at making soap.

I used 16oz of ROOTO lye to 1 quart of water and 1 quart of different oils (melted tallow, olive oil, coconut oil) and 1 oz. of lemongrass oil.

The product came out choppy and flaky. It smells real good, but could that much lye be harmful to use on skin or should I try to use your rebatching method, or just throw it all out?

Thanks,

Ella

Answer:

I would definitely throw the soap out...sorry! Do not under any circumstances try to use the soap on your skin.

It is important to weigh out all your ingredients when making handmade cold process soaps and to not use liquid measurements like quarts or liters.

Try using one of my basic recipes and be sure to read up on the process of soap making before you start.

Read through my site....you'll find it's full of useful information on how to make great handmade soaps.

Good luck,
Cathy

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Should I throw away soap that has too much lye?

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Lye Calculator
by: Debbie

When ever you have a recipe that requires lye, always run it through a soap calculator to make sure there are no mistakes in the formula. Here's a link to a lye calculator.
http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php

Good luck on your next batch of soap!! : )

~Debbie

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never waste soap
by: Vinithta

You need not throw soap that has too much lie. You could use it for laundry. Laundry soap requires to be a bit more alkaline than bath soap.
look for instructions on how to make laundry soap gel.

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Just a suggestion
by: Anonymous

The Sage.com have a recent entry on rebatching soap. I would ask them about it, since they just posted an article about it on their blog. I've heard of two different ways that it might be saved...one adding oils and another adding water and heating it in the oven... I've heard of many success stories. I actually just messed up my first batch yesterday! But mine turned solid instantly cause of too much milk and not enought time to put it in the mold... I will be rebatching mine for ulgy free gifts for customers. Good luck!

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Throwing away lye heavy soap
by: Debbie

This soap is too lye heavy to use on clothing, it's going to eat the fibers. If you are using too much lye, it will saponify your oils, but it will still be lye heavy. That is the reason that we use the lye calculator. When you are making laundry soap, you take no lye discount.... thus the lye will saponify your oils 100%, but you still use a lye calculator.

When I make soap, I like to add a little tussah silk fibers to the lye water. The lye in the water dissolves the silk....if it can dissolve silk, it can dissolve your clothing.

After lye and oils have saponified, the lye is no longer in the soap, but if too much lye is used (as in this recipe) your soap is going to be lye heavy. When using any caustic chemical, you have to be precise in the measurements. Always use a soap calculator.

Better safe than sorry : )

~Debbie

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silk fibers in lye water?
by: Donna

Debbie,why exactly do you like to add tussah silk fibers to the lye water? And why tussah rather than domesticated? Thanks.

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Adding Silk to Soap
by: Debbie

Donna~ The silk fibers add a luxurious soft feel to the lather of the soap.

I've used regular silk fabric, and the results were good but not quite as dramatic as the tussah silk. If you have some silk at home, cut it into small pieces & add it to your lye water. I love the difference that silk makes. You only need a small amount. The recommendation for tussah is a thimble sized piece per 3 pound batch.

HTH
~Debbie

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Flake lye vs. beads
by: Anonymous

I used a Lye calc. for my recipe and it said to use 6.08 oz of lye which would have been a 5% discount. However the flaked lye i am useing seemed like so much when i weighed it out.

I think my scale might be off by .1 of an ounce but that shouldn't make that much of a difference should it especially figuring in a lye discount.

I was trying to unmold my cold precess soap last night after 24 hours and i didn't use gloves. I couldn't get it out and decided to leave it in another 24 hours and leave it in the freezer for a day as well...however my hands are extremly irritated today.

I know I shouldn't have touched it without gloves but I only came in contact with a little and my hands are extremly irritated.

Is there a chance there is way too much lye in my soap..or will I only know for sure with a ph test after 6 weeks or longer?

Answer:

I'm guessing that you are making a batch of soap that has an oil weight of approx. 40 ounces. That's about what you would need for 6.08 ounces of lye.

There is a chance that your soap has too much lye in it but I think it would be a weighing error and not if the scale is out by a very small amount. I don't think being out by .1 ounces out of 6.08 ounces with a 5% lye discount should cause the soap to be lye heavy. If anything it would only reduce the superfat to about 4% or so.

I would first make sure that the scale is only out a little. Try weighing something that has a known weight.

If the scale is out by a lot or if your batch isn't using anywhere near 40 ounces of oil in it, I would scrap the soap.

If it's not out by any large amount, I would give the soap some time to cure. Perhaps you are particularily sensitive to the raw soap. My hands will feel quite dry if I handle it too soon. If you are still irritated by the soap after the cure, then you may have made a weighing error.

Cathy

PS...if the scale is out even a little bit, be cautious when it comes to small batches as that small amount can definitely cause the soap to be lye heavy when working with little numbers.

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