How to Make Soap essays

How to Make Soap essays Add lye to the pitcher. Using the same method that you used to weigh the lye, weigh the required amount of water in the empty pitcher. Carefully lift the pitcher with lye in it, and pour the lye into the pitcher containing the water. After you've added all the lye to the water, stir the solution gently with a wooden spoon until you're sure that all the lye has dissolved. Place one of your thermometers in the pitcher. The lye, which will have heated up considerably, is likely to register from 150* to 200*F (66* to 93*C). As you melt the fats and then cool them to 100*F (see steps 9 through 12), you must bring the temperature of the lye to 100*F (38*C), too. Watch the lye temperature closely so that you don't overheat the solution. As you continue to monitor and adjust the temperature of the lye solution, weigh out the required fats for your selected recipe. Once the fats have been measured and placed in the soap pot, set the pot over low to medium heat and stir the contents gently t o help them melt. Use your mixing spoon to mash any small floating pieces. Heat the mixture just to the point at which the fats have melted, then remove the pot from the stove. To cool off the fats quickly, place the soap pot in a cold-water bath in your sink, but make sure that the water isn't frigid, or the fats may begin to solidify again on the inner surfaces of the pot. Stir continuously to help reduce the temperature, and as it approaches 105*F (41*C), remove the pot from the cold-water bath. Continue to juggle the temperatures of the lye solution and the fats so that they both reach 100*F simultaneously. Continue to use the cold and warm baths.While stirring the fats gently and steadily, pour the lye solution into the soap pot in a thin, steady stream, stirring the mixture continuously as you do so. If you see substantial amounts of lye floating on top of the fats, stop adding more until you've stirred in the float ...