# first time soÃ p maker advise



## cnsranch (Sep 29, 2010)

So I ordered my soap making kit from Hoegger goat supply, and I will be jumping into my first batch shortly after Christmas. Do y'all have any good advice or tricks that will help me be successful? A lady once told me that I need to make sure I have vinegar for if I spill the lye that is will counter act it. I have read and not seen this anywhere have any of you ever heard this?


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## Guest (Dec 22, 2014)

Lye is wicked, wicked stuff. Keep it out of your face and off of your skin and don't breathe the fumes.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

The very best thing to do for a lye spill is to dilute, dilute, dilute with WATER (not vinegar).

Vinegar reacts with lye and creates heat ... something you don't want to encounter with a lye burn. Water dilutes the lye and rinses it away.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

If you wear glasses, wear them. Otherwise, get some cheap goggles. Lye is easily rinsed off with water. In fact, have a washcloth that you&#8217;ve gotten wet so it is right there for you next to your chair. If you have lavender e.o., put this on a burn after rinsing it off. Best thing is to rinse or wipe off, then use soap and water, then if it still hurts, use the lavender.

Start with the simplest recipe. You can make an olive oil only soap, but it takes a while to trace and will make a silky but thin lather. Use pomace, not virgin oil. If making a small batch, use a blender stick. If making a larger batch (15 oz dry lye or more) don&#8217;t use the stick. Using 20 &#8722; 25% coconut oil and the rest olive oil will give you a lovely soap with a nice lather. Learn what you are doing before using the fancy oils, dying, etc. You need to first concentrate on learning what the trace looks like and keeping everything safe.

Some essential oils will lengthen the time to trace, others will hasten it. You are pretty safe with lavender.


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## Dinghy (Dec 9, 2014)

Go on You Tube, and watch as many videos as you can about soap making. There is a whole series from one lady called "Soaping 101". It's an excellent way to learn all about it. Just be careful.....making soap can be addictive! Lol


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## hippygirl (Apr 3, 2010)

And go ahead and make some room...you're gonna need it to store all the batches that will follow your first successful one, along with colorants, EOs, and maybe FOs, molds, cutters...

When I started making soap, I said I'd make a couple of small batches for personal use...my resolve lasted for about 2.3 seconds after I used my first bar from my first batch (which was lard-based).

Much money spent after that for colorants, EOs, FOs, but I found, in the end, that I prefer unscented, uncolored...so guess who has a LOT of colorants, EOs, and FOs taking up valuable shelf space in her shop?


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## NostalgicGranny (Aug 22, 2007)

Vinegar is an old wives tale. Flush with copious amounts of water if you get any lye on you. 

Have extra lye and ols on hand you are going to love it and want to make another batch right away. Keep pets children out of the way.


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## cnsranch (Sep 29, 2010)

Thanks for all the advice! I know I'm gonna love it!


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## weendogmom (Mar 14, 2013)

Be prepared to mess up the first batch or two - I think its mandatory. 

Vinegar is not a wives tale - It's an acid, acidic will help cancel out a base, or alkaline.

Wear rubber gloves - even if you are very very careful and don't get any on you the first time, eventually you will, and it will sting like a ****. Keep your mouth and eyes away from the lye solution as if it were a bomb - fumes from it are very caustic and can burn lungs and other sensitive tissue. Keep your husband away from the lye, because he will not have read any of this, and even though he knows you have lye in the sink and that you need to be careful, he is (likely) taller than you and will inhale more lye fumes than you, and then act like he is dying. 

Lye beads are hydrostatic - this means they can and will sorta floaty-fly thru the air and stick to things that are wet. Make sure your measuring container, hands, and nearby surfaces are dry. I believe the flakes do this less, but I have not used them.

Keep your kids outta the room. Let the lye cool in the sink or out on a safe porch where animals cannot knock it over.

After that, it's fun.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

weendogmom said:


> Vinegar is not a wives tale - It's an acid, acidic will help cancel out a base, or alkaline.


Yes, weendogmom, acid (vinegar) will cancel out a base (lye) but it also creates heat while doing so. It is Soaping 101, saponification ~ the combination of oils (acid) and lye (base) ~ creates an Exothermic reaction ... meaning it creates heat.

As soapers we know that we either try to retard 'gel' or enhance 'gel' during saponification. The 'gel stage' is the exothermic reaction.

I do try to make people aware of this, but I will not get into a heated discussion about it, rather I ask anyone not familiar with the exothermic reaction between acids and base to do this simple test at home.

Put 1 teaspoon of baking soda each in at 3 cups. (baking soda is a very mild base.)

In one cup add 1 tablespoon of water (in addition to the baking soda.)

In a second cup add 1/4 cup of water (in addition to the baking soda.)

In a third cup, add nothing to the baking soda.

Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar (an acid) to each of the cups and observe for yourself the reaction of the baking soda in the 3 cups.

What you will find is the more water present, the lessor the reaction of the base & acid.

Soooo, if you _really _want the most reaction to a harsh base (lye), then feel free to put straight acid (vinegar) on it.

If you rather no reaction or a lessor reaction to the base, then dilute it with copious amounts of water before adding vinegar.

Maura stated that eye glasses should be enough to protect your eyes. Maura, I respect you immensely but I do not think eyeglasses are enough protection. Could be I'm a bit over protective because my younger brother was blinded by a lye solution in a manufacturing facility even while wearing safety glasses. I wear glasses myself and prefer to wear a face shield while soaping. I'm a careful soaper (been soaping over 15 years) but surprise myself how much junk collects on the shield.

Now, I do _not _wear gloves. I am clumsy enough by nature and I'm a very tactile person. I can't 'feel' what I'm doing through gloves and am more accident prone if I can't 'feel' what I'm doing. 

I do remove all jewelry below my elbows and make sure I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt while soaping because I do not want any lye beads getting caught under my rings or watch band or in my sleeves. I know what the lye 'tingle' feels like and am able to rinse under the faucet straight away. It's much harder to try to remove a watch band or ring (then worry about ring going down the drain!!) when you feel the lye tingle.

:buds:


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## Lilith (Dec 29, 2012)

First thing I would recommend after so much good advice is to take a deep breath and not worry so much about everything. As long as you take good safety in mind and lay everything out as suggested - all will go just fine. Yes, soap making can go terribly wrong and make you very sick or even permanently harm you - but so can driving to town or cutting up meat for dinner. Be safe and sane, and remember to have fun! Soaping is extremely rewarding! Good luck on your journey in the fascinating and wonderful world of soap making.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

My concern is that she wear *something* to protect the eyes. I&#8217;ve always used my glasses, but I bow to the shield.

Also, I use a glass vase to make the lye solution. Put the water in the vase, then add the lye. I also use a paper towel over the top of the vase. I poke a hole in the center of the paper towel and put the handle of a plastic spatula/spoon through the hole. This way, I can stir the solution without breathing in the vapor. The paper towel stays on the vase until I&#8217;m ready to use stir it into the oil. The lye solution needs to be in a safe place until you need it. This could be the back of the counter, but I have also used a sink.


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## lathermaker (May 7, 2010)

I've been soapin for over fifteen years now. I wear a full face mask, rubber gloves and a mask when working with lye. Eyeglasses are not enough protection. You should take a look at my full face shield and see exactly where those drops end up. Protect your eyesight...it's the only pair of eyes you have! 

If you get lye on you, flush with tepid water until you get it all off.

I wipe down all my tools that will be in contact with the lye with a fabric softener sheet. That keeps the beads from boinging all over the place with static. 

And, remember....DO NOT use anything ALUMINUM with lye. Stainless steel and heavy grade plastic is the best to use.


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

lathermaker said:


> I wipe down all my tools that will be in contact with the lye with a fabric softener sheet. That keeps the beads from boinging all over the place with static.


I was just going to suggest this. You wouldn't think those little beads could bounce all over the place, but they do. The dryer sheets really stop that.


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