7 Pawz Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Hi guys, hope someone can give me a definitive answer . I was checking a couple of books for instructions on lye safety to be sure that I was on the right track, out of 4 books, 2 of them instructed the soaper to add water to the lye, those 2 being Norma Coney's Complete Soapmaker and Ann Bramson's Soaping and Enjoying it( I think). Of the 2, Ann Bramson's book was one of the first books I purchased when I started making soap a few years back, I don't make a lot of it, so I sometimes have to go back to be sure that I'm adding things correctly and I just happened to notice this about both books. Other books and instructions I've read for a soap recipe say to add the lye to the water in your container. I've always weighed the water and lye in separate containers and I add the lye to the water. I guess my question is, have I been doing this right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 (edited) Add lye to the water. The other way gets you a caustic volcano. I'd question the validity of any book that suggests otherwise. Edited August 1, 2014 by Scented Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 If you add the water to the lye there is a very real potential of the lye/water mixture volcanoing up out of the pot and possibly splashing onto your face, chest, arms, hands, etc. It can be a very dangerous situation. If this is how you have been doing it and this has not happened, you have been lucky. (I see you say you add your lye to your water - whew) Always always add your lye to your water and slowly. (not as slow as you should to your milks, but I wouldn't suggest just dumping it in either) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 Pawz Posted August 1, 2014 Author Share Posted August 1, 2014 Add lye to the water. The other way gets you a caustic volcano. I'd question the validity of any book that suggests otherwise. Thanks Scented, I agree with you. I'm sure that you've probably run across these 2 books, they've been published for years, but I wonder that the error wasn't caught sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 Pawz Posted August 1, 2014 Author Share Posted August 1, 2014 If you add the water to the lye there is a very real potential of the lye/water mixture volcanoing up out of the pot and possibly splashing onto your face, chest, arms, hands, etc. It can be a very dangerous situation. If this is how you have been doing it and this has not happened, you have been lucky. (I see you say you add your lye to your water - whew) Always always add your lye to your water and slowly. (not as slow as you should to your milks, but I wouldn't suggest just dumping it in either) Thank you also, I will continue to add the lye to the water, I hope others that have those books realize their error before something bad happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Thanks Scented, I agree with you. I'm sure that you've probably run across these 2 books, they've been published for years, but I wonder that the error wasn't caught sooner. Well sad thing is I believe I own one of those books, but I never just delved into it. I believe another book caught my attention instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Wow! Those have got to be misprints. Wonder if those books are early editions and if the error was caught. Hopefully the reprints have that corrected. Like the other posters confirmed you definitely want to add your lye to your water and not the other way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 That's too big of a misprint. It's an error on the author and the proofreader if it's there. I cannot tell you as one of those said books has been lost ... perhaps for good reason now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudMarineMom Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Guy I work with gave me a little saying, he always asks if I'm still making soap. It was something he learned in chemistry class years ago. I forgot the first part of the line. It sticks with me though for some reason. <first part of line> or, so to speakadd the strong into the weak 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OldGlory Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 I remember that snow falls on the lake - lye into the water. I have NO idea where that saying came from, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChandlerWicks Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 I remember that snow falls on the lake - lye into the water. I have NO idea where that saying came from, lol.I use that one too. When I can remember it, that is!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 I don't remember where I heard this dramatic saying but it stuck with me and helps me remember it too. (it's VERY dramatic) Put the water in the lye, and you could die! LOL - Maybe a little over the top, but it helps drive home the dangerous nature of doing it this way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudMarineMom Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Guy I work with gave me a little saying, he always asks if I'm still making soap. It was something he learned in chemistry class years ago. I forgot the first part of the line. It sticks with me though for some reason. <first part of line> or, so to speakadd the strong into the weak Finally remembered the rest of the first line... When in doubt, or so to speakAdd the strong into the weak 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Finally remembered the rest of the first line... When in doubt, or so to speakAdd the strong into the weakYou've got me chanting it lol! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 Pawz Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 Well sad thing is I believe I own one of those books, but I never just delved into it. I believe another book caught my attention instead. That was me to, I 've had both of those books for several years and just decided to check that out now; I did run across some old postings on another forum, apparently one of the books caused quite a stir on the internet a few years ago because of the lye info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 Pawz Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 (edited) Wow! Those have got to be misprints. Wonder if those books are early editions and if the error was caught. Hopefully the reprints have that corrected. Like the other posters confirmed you definitely want to add your lye to your water and not the other way around. The odd thing is, it's 2 different books, not sure if the publisher is the same or not. But I will continue to add lye to water Edited August 4, 2014 by 7 Pawz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 Pawz Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 Finally remembered the rest of the first line... When in doubt, or so to speakAdd the strong into the weakworks for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 Pawz Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 That's too big of a misprint. It's an error on the author and the proofreader if it's there. I cannot tell you as one of those said books has been lost ... perhaps for good reason now. I thought about throwing the books out, but instead I corrected the parts that said to add water to the lye in BIG LETTERS. Tho I don't know if I'll use the books anymore, I question the recipes in them now, wonder if they are sound ones to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Don't throw the books out! You never know where you may get your best ideas from! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 Pawz Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 Don't throw the books out! You never know where you may get your best ideas from!your right I'll keep them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 See I'd send it to the author if I found mine and point out the error and ask for my $ back due to the lack of knowledge she has ... but I have no idea where the book is to even start that process. I would be of the untrusting nature and would not trust the recipes in that book to be worth a hoot. Even if they could be, I wouldn't gamble because of the incorrect info with the lye and water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 Pawz Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) See I'd send it to the author if I found mine and point out the error and ask for my $ back due to the lack of knowledge she has ... but I have no idea where the book is to even start that process. I would be of the untrusting nature and would not trust the recipes in that book to be worth a hoot. Even if they could be, I wouldn't gamble because of the incorrect info with the lye and water. I've had the books around 9yrs or so, believe it or not, it didn't occur to me to do that I guess the only reason to use it now,might be for ideas on ingrediants, but that remains to be seen. One book was from the 70's, hope that wasn't the info put out at the time, I couldn't say what made me decide to question the lye methods in both of the books, except I thought something wasn't right, when I checked another book just by chance, it turns out they specified the same thing, so I checked all of my other books again and rechecked instructions on this board (thank goodness for the board), I'll be more choosy about the books or recipes from now own, I ordered one from Amazon, so far its a keeper, even kept the receipt for returns just in case I did however throw out the book on candlemaking by one of the authors of those particular books, the info in it was questionable and at the time, I was looking for info to get started with, but never used it. Edited August 7, 2014 by 7 Pawz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I'm sure that in many ways soaping in the '70s was much different than today. I think we have more access to a variety of soap fats and additives plus social media for learning, research and development we didn't have back then. But I bet many of the very basics are probably the same. How the author got the lye mixed up is a head scratcher. Certainly no seasoned soaper would make that mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 Pawz Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 I'm sure that in many ways soaping in the '70s was much different than today. I think we have more access to a variety of soap fats and additives plus social media for learning, research and development we didn't have back then. But I bet many of the very basics are probably the same. How the author got the lye mixed up is a head scratcher. Certainly no seasoned soaper would make that mistake.you would think so, judging from the oldest book (70's) your right about resources, research, etc. I have some old 70's candlemaking books, but the basic info is the same, some interesting ideas tho 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Your books remind me of a couple of old candlemaking books I have. Some of the candle wax melting and wicking techniques discussed in the book are ancient history. But the sections with candle designs has some beautiful and artistic pictures and technique discussions in it that can be used today. So I still hang on to them hoping one day I will have the time to try some out-- or just to look at the pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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