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Ever wonder what "lye heavy" soap looks like?


TallTayl

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My scale started acting up suddenly. Suddenly meaning I ignored the fact the buttons were not working exactly right for a day or two. My KD7000 Tare button was jacked, as is so typical of this scale, so I used a pencil to activate the internal switch. 

 

My scale rebelled by suddenly mismeasuring by just enough to put me in my place. Eight logs of soap in a big pour ended up lye heavy. My first indication was how fast the soap traced. Normally my soap progresses like clockwork.  this pour was a little bigger-by a log. The temp difference should not have mattered that much.

 

when time to cut I noticed the soap was rock hard. So rock hard it chipped off corners. Sigh. 

IMG_0983.JPG

 

I left the logs stacked on the bench bench to remind myself about humility and wallow in the sunk costs. Over a few days the logs began to efflouresce the excess lye. 

IMG_0984.JPG

 

with soap it only takes a few grams to go from perfectly superfatted to lye heavy. I'll use some of this loss in weed killer. Some, possibly, in laundry powder. But 8logs? Ugh. 

 

 

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Gadz! What a bummer! We really rely on our scales and more often than not a botched batch for me has something to do with my scale... usually with an improper tare. Sigh.. I feel your pain TT. 8 logs is a lot! But eventually you can use them up one way or another. I never waste soap I botched... but it may take me a while to reuse or rebatch it.

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I have a lifetime worth of botched in this batch ?

 

Looking NG at some of the home made weed killer recipes. This could end up a blessing. Most use dawn dish soap to hold the salt solution to the plant. The soap should do the same, with the added benefit of a bit of active lye residue.

 

Super Salted Weed Spray

1) Supersaturate water with salt  (any kind) in a 5 gallon pail. Rock salt and softener salt are pretty chap and economical. You will know it is supersaturated when no more salt will dissolve and crystals fall to the bottom. This may take overnight. This is like how a brine tank on a water softener works.

 

2) add a generous pour of dish soap to the brine. Some sites show a small bottle, 1-2 cups.  The soap sticks the salt to the plant you want to kill. I will drop a soap log into the brine and let it melt overnight.

 

3) stir and pour just the liquids stuff in a sprayer. The extra salt can be used in the next batch.

 

4) spray on the weeds, grass, etc. you want to kill. Best on a dry, sunny morning.

 

5) watch the unwanted plants wither, brown and die.

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OH DEAR SUDSY ANGEL AND BABY UNICORN FARTS! I'm SCARRED!

(whimpers, hold me...) 

Fark'n SCALE!

EIGHT LOGS!? TT that's not being put in your place... that's an unmerciful butt beating!!!  

I am SO sorry you had to go through that TT! :( 

About them weed killer: Just out of curiosity... (and because I DO enjoy a good weed kill'n from time to time) Could you just use a strong solution of that soap with no salt and see how that works for you? I just don't like putting salt on plants... (Well I mean, SOMETIMES I do...) While you're at the concentrated solution of messed up soap you could mebbe drop that uppity scale into the solution, ya'know to add some minerals to your mix... TAKE YOUR POUND O'FLESH BACK! 

I hope you make a full recovery soon.

Warmest wishes,

 

Sponiebr 


 

Edited by Sponiebr
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