# Another lye question



## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

Brandy, Since no one has replied, I tried to find an answer for you. In the soapmaker's companion there are a couple of sections that mention troubleshooting lye problems. One says that there are sometimes flecks that float on the surface of the lye/water mixture. These are caused by sodium hydroxide reacting with carbon dioxide in the airto form sodium carbonate,occur more readily in cooler conditions, and dont affect the quality of the finished soap. It also mentioned that higher grades of sodium hydroxide help keep this to a minimum.
It sounds like this might be your problem. Are you using all of the following: proven recipes, quality lye, distilled water, and an accurate scale for weighing?

"The Soapmaker's Companion" by Susan Cavitch is almost a necessity to have. It's soft cover, 281 pages, published by Storey Communication and is only $18.95


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## Brandy (Dec 3, 2005)

Thanks for the reply and I think I've solved the problem for now. Don't know if others are interested, but I was using the minimum amount of distilled water with my lye to start out with. But I've upped that by about 1-2 oz. and it seems at this point that with the extra water it's absorbing and dissolving the crystals better. Before I think the water may have reached it's saturation point. Just a thought, but for now it's dissolving better.


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## Ruben (Feb 11, 2006)

I'm not an expert by no means but my wife makes and sells soap and I know she gets the same results as you with a few granulates left. In the cold prcess method it must cook out in the chemical change that takes place and then the 8 week cure time before using the soap. I have never seen a problem in the years I have been using it, and it is all I use.


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