How to spot lye heavy soap | + the best way to pH test | Day 130/365
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- čas přidán 10. 08. 2020
- #lyeheavysoap #whatdoeslyeheavysoaplooklike #troubleshootingsoap #soaptricks
Today we are throwing a batch, making some lye heavy soap, and showing you what that looks like. You can't have these bars. Stop acting weird.
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Soap & Clay is a family owned business operating in Washington State, but started out online thanks to Mrs. Soap & Clay's kickass brother and his amazing web design skills. The business was started as a tribute to Mrs. Soap & Clay's grandmother, the OG maker in the family that cultivated everyone's love for the DIY life. The studio/retail shop opened in 2017 on 6th Ave in Tacoma, and immediately began teaching soap, bath bomb, lotion, and scrub classes to the makers and maker enthusiasts of the PNW. In 2019, the pottery studio opened as well, making the soap shop a busy place full of artistic energy every minute of the day.
Mrs. Soap & Clay has been featured on Business Spotlight, New Day Northwest, and was awarded a coveted place on the South Sound's 40 under 40 list in 2019, an award given to the most influential business people under the age of 40 each year. She cried when she walked up to the podium to accept the award. A lot.
Drawing from her chemistry background and her maker spirit, Mrs. Soap & Clay infuses her favorite things into her soapy designs and creates products that are fun to see, use, and learn to make. Stick around for this ride - she'll take you on a great one.
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You can find Soap & Clay on all social media platforms:
/ idontevenusesoap
/ soapandclay
/ soapandclay
For information on products, wholesale orders, or ideas for a soap, contact Mrs. Soap & Clay at
Chantine@soapandclay.com - Jak na to + styl
Thank you so much for sharing your failures as you make your beautiful soap. I’m a relatively new soaper and I keep beating myself up that my soap isn’t pretty enough or smooth enough etc. seeing you today helped me remember that mistakes happen and to just keep pushing through and trying again. I was ready to just give up , but I love making soap! So I’m gonna keep trying !
Same here! I enjoy doing it but sometimes making mistakes makes me not try again. Thank you for the reminder that we (I) have to keep trying 🤩
Thank you for spending your own money and sharing your knowledge. Much appreciated : )
Can we rebatch a lye heavy soap? What do we need to add to fix it? I think a lot of soapmakers will benefit of such video tutorial 😁
Wow! such a blessing for you to share your information so freely! Thank you:)
Congratulate yourself for your growth. Positive reinforcement lets u keep going. You are getting better every day.
That is a awesome way to show ... thank you for showing us! I am still learning and that this was lots of help.
Thank you so much for this valuable information. Your subscribers have grown significantly since I first started watching. Congratulations.
What a fabulous video! Thank you! You were so funny and this was a great example for me to see. Loved it!
Thanks so much for watching!
Thank you I just made my soap for the first time so I can now see this to help me do better.
Thank for the video! Would it looks the same if the issue was miscalculation of lye and there is too much in the recipe rather than under-mixing the batter? Thank you!
Thank you this was very very smart to do for people to learn the science behind soap
Hey there, so I just saw your video and I wanted to say thank you so much for trashing the batch ;o) I'm a soap newbie and have a long way to go and learn. Your help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks for watching! Have fun!
Thank you for the experiment. What I’m takening from this is that the activity of stick blending to emulsification breaks down the lye thus not making the soap lye heavy. Correct?
Thanks for sharing, Mrs Soap & Clay 😊
Wow... this was so interesting!!! This is priceless information!!! THANK YOU so much!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this video. It’s very helpful.
I like the fact that your sharing all you know
One of the reasons I decided to do daily content! Still not sure I can get everything into a year’s worth of videos, though. My brain is nothing but science, soap, and Skyrim, I think. Mixed with Taylor Swift and Hamilton, of course. 😂
@@MrsSoapAndClay all you can do is give it your best
Thanks this is great. Sooo lye heavy = not properly emulsified (unless you just f'd up the recipe). Can you rebatch a batch the did not get emulsified properly? I have watched your channel occasionaly for some time but will be checking in more regularly now
very true ... great idea to show people what it looks like... outside of PH testing it
pH tests are so inaccurate when it comes to lye heavy soap as well! It’s all bananas.
I loved your T shirt and all the explanation! Thanks a lot
This answered so many questions 😊 ty so much!!
I had a batch that I followed recipe exactly the only thing I’m questioning is if it was too hot when I added the lye and oil solution together at 109° but when I started to use my immersion blender it got really goopy really fast before the top oils could even incorporate Then was like pouring a glop into the mold…. Cutting it after 24 hours it’s breaking and shavings falling off.
Was this lye heave of is it salvageable?
I tried making soap yesterday with just coconut oil and lye. It was my first time making soap. Today, some of the bars didn't pop out of the molds. They were oily and soft, and they stuck to the silicon mold a bit. Do you think the problem was that I didn't mix it enough before pouring into the molds? Can it be melted and repoured?
Hi! You said that you checked the ph level with your digital ph meter - which video is that? Thanks!
Very helpful..i subbed also.
Used to make soap year.s ago then just fell out of it.. but back to it now after paying high price.s for store bought junk soap..thank.s...
So I use soap calc and I used to do a 2:1 water lye ratio and a 5percent superfat. that's how I had done 5 different batches of soap. So once the cure time was up for all my soaps, I tested them with a pH strip and they all said the same exact thing. The pH levels were super high. I know high pH means the soap might be lye heavy bit I just use the amount soap calc tells me. The lye I was using was food grade 100percent sodium hydroxide. Do u think it might be the lye im using? I really want a safe bar of soap but I just need to figure out the the pH is so high. If I have any suggestions on what might be causing it I would really appreciate it!❤️
Thank you for this video super informative!
Informative and useful
Thank you for your video. I’m a beginner and my first batch was successful but my second batch is crumbly. I’m assuming it was because I reached a false trace, because I soaped at a colder temp (100f) and I didn’t stick blend for very long. But I’m also wondering if it was my fat, I rendered my own lard and I’m wondering if maybe there was water in the final product. Could this be? In that case should I super fat my future recipe even more?
How does one test kitchen utensils to make sure they are stainless steel?
Definitely worth trashing the batch soap newbie here❤ thank you
Thank you for sharing this video. Why is it my soap making so tender it's look like butter paste. I was using 200grams of avocado butter for the recipe including into my total batch oil of 1000grams. 4days later still not harden. Pls. Help
I want your t shirt 😄 thank you for sharing your knowledge
hi, there are a few little yellow spots with beads of water in my soap. What do you think this could be and is it safe to use?
Hi! So without seeing a picture, it’s a bit difficult to determine. My first thought would be soaping at a lower temperature so some of the hard oils resolidified before the mix (oils high in stearic acid are known for this). The soap is likely fine!
Came for the content, stayed for the gun show. Lil sis is packing heat on those biceps.
Your shirt is hilarious! 😂
Thank you so much!!!!
Thank you for this wonderful video . Very informative .. I am actually facing a similar situation .. mine is more than definitely lye heavy. Now that I have ruined all my Butters and oils what can I do to make it better ? Esp since I made a double batch for. My oatmilk , honey soap ..
Oh no! The easiest way to fix is to rebatch, though there are fascinating conversations around lye heavy soap fixing themselves after a time. Shred it, heat it, add some more oils, and save it!
@@MrsSoapAndClay thank you so much 🙏
I was a reck today because I made my first batch of soap today an was so scared it was lie heavy but it was amazing
It’s SO MUCH FUN! I’ve been making soaps for what feels like my entire life, and each batch is still extremely exciting. Happy soaping!
This explains it.
Can you rebatch lye heavy soap or is it better to just throw it out?
You can rebatch! If you’re sure where the mistake was made, you can add the appropriate amount of oils to consume the excess lye. If you’re unsure, you can do some experimenting with the amount of oils added and test the rebatched soap during the cook until the pH has hit appropriate levels.
This happened to me after accidentally adding too much lye they weren't oily so I took mine broke em up put them in a pot of water on medium heat melted it until it got like syrup and made liquid cleaning soap good for washing floors white laundry etc. At least it didn't go to waste lol
You tossed this soap, can't it be rebatched?
Hi,I use 5liters of water on 1kilogram os costics and I mix together with 5liter of oil but my soap cracks or crumbles while cutting them what could be the problem?
Hey! I would have to see the recipe to really help troubleshoot, but 5L of water to 5L of oils sounds like a lot of water. Then again, I don’t work with liters so maybe that’s fine! 🤪
Thank you
So I have white spots on my soaps.. (Olive oil soaps) what do you think about them? 😩😔
Hi! In my experience, I haven’t seen lye pockets develop in “spot” patterns; usually that’s stearic acid spots from soaping too low, or air bubbles from cutting. If there are bigger blobs of white areas, it could be a lye issue, but I’ve found that to be rather rare as it usually means the lye wasn’t dissolved properly. As you know, dissolving lye is rather straightforward, so I would tend to lean toward the first two possibilities I mentioned. Hope that helps! :)
I have the same issue ☹
How do you safely dispose of soaps like this?
I mean, I don’t really dispose of any soaps like this. Because good oils! I rebatch!
would you consider a charcoal and lemongrass bar?
That’s a delightful bar! I make mine with aloe and babassu to up the awesome. ❤️
@@MrsSoapAndClay oh is it on your site? I missed it
It’s not, actually! I haven’t made it in a while. I’ll add it to the list! :)
You have the best shirts.
I used lye that has potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride to make two different batches...neither became solid. I was told I had used the wrong lye. It is one big gloppy mess. Is there something I can do to save the oils, etc?
Wow! Sounds like it’s time for an experiment! I would take a portion of what you made, throw it in the crock pot and play. I don’t know how much you have made, but I would take 10oz of the liquidy soap you made, add 5oz of coconut oil, and a sodium hydroxide solution to convert those 5oz of coconut oil into soap and do a hot process/rebatch in the crock pot.
Excuse you, but this is a whole lot of no for me, Sgt Duster. You may be the type to correct a misused term, but I’m not and therefore did not correct the original poster. Because I’m not an asshole. Of course the assumption is she meant the hydroxides, which is why I stated a sodium HYDROXIDE rebatch to see if either gets firm. At that point with a batch of soap that could a) get chucked in the bin or 2) be experimented with, I would experiment.
Oh, and let’s say for funsies she actually did use chlorides. Salt or a salt substitute, both of which can be used in soap in rather large amounts. Not to cause saponification, mind you, but to create a salt bar.
You are an absolute jackass, your condescending tone is unwarranted, unnecessary, and not allowed around here. Go make your own videos. You’ve been removed from the community.
pH strips suck on so many levels.
Hi, this vid is 8 months old so I don’t know if you’re going to reply BUT, why not ask my question anyway lol. Ok so I am new to soaping, and... I am experiencing lye heavy on all 4 of my separate soap making attempts. I wasted a ton of oils & like two bottles of lye (expensive). I do not know how to fix this issue. I make my soap with the 26% lye/water method, I’m guessing this isn’t the best method. But I do not know what to do instead? May you PULEASEEEEEE help me, I’m so close to quitting.
Hey! Don’t quit. Start using brambleberry’s lye calculator because it’s more user friendly than soapcalc. Also, year 2 is starting on Sunday, and Day One is all about lye, calculating lye, etc. I will be giving a lovely easy to use recipe on Day 4, and talk more about the lye stuff. So stay tuned for more assistance and KEEP ON SOAPING!
I tried the ph test right after I put the soap in the molds.. is it normal that the ph is very high like 13-14?
Fresh soap batter will be very high, for sure. Test it again in a day or two, after saponification has done its thing!
@@MrsSoapAndClay thank you very much for your fast respons!!😊😊😊
aw no lye heavy soaps? i needed more laundry detergent 😉
Can you save you heavy lye soap? I ruined my goat milk soap. I so excited used them and than my soap was high lye heavy. 😱. I used someones you tube recipe. The video looked legit. Can you make a video on how to save your soaps mistakes.
You can save lye heavy soap, via rebatching. Grate it, stick it in the crock pot, melt it down, add some more oils if that's why it's lye heavy, or just let it cook if it didn't hit an emulsion. I'll add a soapy mishaps vid to the list!
@Acre Homestead hope this helps?
My soap is not even 24 hours old and sweating like crazy, and it burned my tongue. I am a total beginner so I dont really know what is wrong.
While I would like to be the person to tell the world to stop licking their soaps, I must admit that I have done it a time or two. 😂 Soap that is that fresh is likely to not pass a zap test - wait a few days and try again. As you’re a newbie, stick to simple batches with easily saponifiable oils like coconut. A good 1 lb test batch recipe is below, at a 3% superfat and 2.4x water. It will keep your batter fluid long enough to do pretty swirls, and the superfat will give you a lye buffer.
3.5oz olive oil
3.5oz coconut oil
3.5oz palm (or babassu, tallow)
1.56oz lye
3.48oz water
Thank so so much for replying!
@@iwannaapple7190 where can I find your calculator on Etsy, pls?
Can I send you a pic of my soap can you tell me if it’s good I’m getting frustrated and I don’t want to quit making soap
Hey Diane! Just saw this. Feel free to send me pics!
I did a lye heavy soap and l don't know exactly how to rebatch it, hope u can help pls. I used coconut oil, castor oil, olive oil, milk powder and detol, trying something new and it all went wrong and my soap is lye heavy and very soft and melting
Hi! Good for you, experimenting with new things! I support that fully. Rebatching is one of those annoying things for me because there’s no real consistent science behind it, which makes it hard to troubleshoot a batch without seeing it or knowing the recipe. In general, if the soap is still fairly fresh (less than 2 weeks old or so) I would likely shred and melt this down with some stearic acid at around 5% of the total shredded soap weight and no additional liquid. If the soap is a bit older, I would add 2-4% of the total shredded soap weight of a liquid of some sort (probably a milk to stick with the theme) and see what that does to the batch. Hope that helps!
As far as the zap test goes..literally every soap, doesn’t matter if it’s store bought or I make it or wherever. It always zaps me. I have no idea how people do “the zap test”. It all feels the same to me.
Really? So weird question - have you ever done the tongue on the battery thing?
@@MrsSoapAndClay I have and it’s not exactly the same as the soap tongue test but sure enough it gives a sensation. Also my previous question I asked about trace. Well after having success with using fragrance oil to barely traced soap. Well I tried doing $50 worth of olive oil soap but no scent this time and It came out lye heavy. Your tip about emulsion I’m definitely following for now on. I broke apart the bars like in your video and sure enough no cheese, very crumbly interior look. I see why you go to emulsion now!!
I get the other problems ....like soap on a stick or sticky wet soap that is soft after 3 months of curing, and I don't know is happening and it drives me nutsssssssssssssss.
Always an adventure, for sure! So many variables that can lead to those issues. I found once I started just using the fatty acid profiles to design my recipes, the gremlins in the soap shop went to live somewhere else. 😜
Please sister I want it in Telugu please
Thank you