barncat Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 OK....dumb old and now dangerous me!! I bought a whole bunch of new making pots at a sale for soap making. I didnt think twice that they were not stainless.... WEll, I mixed up a lye solution. WOOSH!!! It started bubbling up and got 5X its size, luckily it was in a very large pot. Ran outside with it with a towel over it and we all ran out of the house as it began to fill up with smoke. It smodlered like crazy for a long time, at least it seemed like forever. Glass only for me now!!!!! that scared the SHi++ out of me! Remeber to always test FIRST before using a metal looking pot! DUMB! DUMB! DUMB! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystical_angel1219 Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Wow, that is unbelievable!I'm glad no one was hurt, but I would highly recommend reading until your eyes bleed about soaping and lye safety. This could have been one helluva of a major or even fatal disaster with small children or even pets.I do not recommend glass for lye, it isn't that safe. Even Pyrex. Nope, don't do it. Lye is deadly, dangerous chemical that can kill you. Repeat after me until you understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naninkansas Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 SCARY!! I'm glad no one got hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 I recommend a plastic pitcher for the lye solution. You are one lucky gal!e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barncat Posted December 12, 2007 Author Share Posted December 12, 2007 Thanks for the advice...will looking for a plastic container tomorrow! I just cant believe I didnt test to make sure it was NOT aluminum! WE had everyone get out , fortunatly when we open the door the dogs and cats all come running to go out. It happened so fast! Just did it calmly and slowly (but rather brisk)! And ya know...this was the first time I mixed inside, usually do it out on the porch..but its raining....go figure!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Ann Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 omg!!! i hope you are alright. if you have a sams club card they have a really nice set of ceramic or stone where bowl set for 15 ot 16 bucks that I bought specifically for soaping and its a great set and the biggest bowl could probably safely hold 3-4 pounds of soap. its almost as big as my ancient crock pot that i use for soaping (its 25 years old and big, brown and round)just another hint for some who may not know. never ever mix ammonia and bleach. you will shorten you life drastically probably a good 10 years or more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandmaArial Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 About a year and a half ago, when I first stated thinking about making cp soap I found a site where the owner had a tutorial. The best advice (now that I have about 70 batches under my belt) was on supplies. The lady (I believe she is in Australia) stressed the importance of using only high quality, heavy stainless steel. Not the thin pressed cheap stuff, not carbon steal, and nothing that has and alloys in it. Only high quality stainless. I took it to heart and have spent more on my soaping pots than I have on my kitchen pots.I hope we all take this to heart, newbies please know how risky it is to use anything aluminum. If in doubt, use it to make soup, not soap. Yes, this is an expensive hobby to start, but if you were going to take up parachuting as a hobby you wouldn’t buy a discount parachute, would you? For the old pros, (and I hope I remember this when I’m an old pro) never become complacent. Lye is dangerous! It can react with so many metals… we MUST be safe first! I am so very glad no one was injured. Please stay safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scent Cellar Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 In my experience the absolute best pot to make soap in is a stainless steel stock pot that has handles on it so you can grab the pot by the handles when pouring into the mold. It' too easy for glass or plastic to slip out of your hands as you mold into the mold.Rubbermaid pitchers are the best for mixing the lye & water. Mark the pitcher with a poison sign on it to keep you constantly aware of the dangers of lye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southern.scents Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 I use the Double Boiler HP method and bought a metal bowl just for soap making. It is stainless steel that I got from Walmart for like $5 and it works great. I have had absolutley no problems with it except that it scratches easily as most anything cheap will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandmaArial Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 SS. what are you using the bowl for? Does lye come into contact with it? Be careful. Even if you are using it to measure oils be careful or the quality of your product could be compromised. With a soft metal like that I would only use a soft utensil like a rubber spatula. You do not want to scrape any iron into the soap.One of the things I found out in my research is that DOS (aka: dreaded orange spots, a form of rancidity) needs four things to form. Moisture (as in humidity), heat, oxygen, and something to form a nucleolus, and iron molecules make good nucleolus for DOS. Most bathrooms will have the first three. So, even though your cheap pot fortunately doesn’t seem to contain any of the many metals that lye reacts to, if it is soft enough to scratch then it is getting into your soap and the odds of it developing DOS are high. It can take a few months before you can see it. I would recommend you invest in a good heavy pot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vio Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Scary. Thank God no one was hurt. I've never made soap but just reading it needs lye, scares me a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess05 Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Im glad noone was hurt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOAPFREAK Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 I bought this big huge measuring cup at the Rubbermaid store thinking it would be perfect for mixing my lye in. It's made of that clear acrylic. Well I found out very soon that the lye etches it something terrible. Actually peels off. So much for that. I thought you couldn't do lye in stainless steel so I bought a plastic bucket and did my lye in that. I make masterbatches of oils and lye so I made a 10 lb. batch of lye solution. Boy did that lye get hot. I set it in another pot with cold water and kept adding ice to it so it would cool down.I'm glad you weren't hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brydean Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Your local Goodwill is a great place to get nice pots cheap. I got a huge heavy duty stainless steal stock pot for under $5. Just make sure its stainless, if I can't find a mark on it identifying it as such, I don't buy it!Glad your all OK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Depending on my batch size I use a big, DEEP, stainless bowl or a small bucket from Lowes.I don't like to use the bowl for bigger batches cause it's harder to pick up and manage. Plus it doesn't hold as much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherry Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 For me i use an old 12 cups glass coffee maker pitcher. It works very good for me. I only make 4 pounds at the time for nowsanta cool santa cool HAPPY HOLIDAYS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnitaG Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I'm glad everyone is ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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