# Something funky going on with my gm/ lye- anyone on?



## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

I mixed my lye with slushy frozen gm and stirred (with a spatula and whisk). It has been 15-20 minutes and I still have lye looking things in my mix? It tempted at 90- what's going on and how do I fix it?

Thanks for any replies....


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## carlidoe (Jul 30, 2010)

I always add my lye to slushy gm. I add it slowly while mixing it with a two-beater mixer. I will add maybe a third of the lye at a time and mix it really well. Mine always stays in the 92-95 F range. Not sure how you would fix it. I would try beating the heck out of it with a mixer.


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

I have whisked like a mad woman and still have floaties. I think I am going to pour this down the drain and start over ( my eos and oils are waiting). I will use cold gm (not frozen) and won't put it in an ice bath. So frustrating- this has never happened. I even got lye on my arm.


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## carlidoe (Jul 30, 2010)

Awwh!! lol darn it! I bet it will work out this time around.


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## adillenal (Feb 6, 2009)

Why pour it down the drain? Strain it.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Or you can try stick-blending it. I'm finding that now that it's much cooler in the house, the lye isn't always melting. I will sometimes have a small clump at the bottom. I've been letting my cubes unthaw a little before I add the lye and that seems to help.


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

Thanks for the replies- I did it again without the frozen gm or ice bath and got the same thing, even with stirring almost continuously. I even got the *smell*. Temp was 110. I cannot imagine that it didn't melt. Now I am wondering if it isn't the milk. I have had it in the frig. for 2 weeks (not drinking it but knew I would soap it and just got around to it). I think the little chunks I saw were pieces of cream. What do you think?

Also, good to know that you can take the stick to lye and gm...I didn't think you could do that.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but lye globs/chunks would sink. "Floaties", I think would be fat.


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## adillenal (Feb 6, 2009)

I stick blend my lye and goat milk often due to the fat saponifying while mixing. Does not always happen. Probably when the BF is higher or I got more cream in a batch.


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

Lye that didn't dissolve sinks? That would be a relief- because these *things* were all through the mix.

Can you describe the what saponified fat looks like?


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## tmfinley (Feb 21, 2008)

Yes, undissolved lye sinks. The fat looks like whit floaty globbys. (how's that for descriptive?) Ir you don't stir for awhile a layer of fat will rest on top of the mixture. You can stick blend them in and then strain it if you don't want them to show up in your finished soap. Sometimes I get a whole bunch sometimes I don't get much at all. Like LaNell said I think it has to do with how much butterfat was in that particular batch of soap.


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## Sharpgoat (Feb 7, 2008)

I had the same thing happen it was a mess trying to get soap like chunks to go through the strainer.
I used it and the soap was fine. 
Fran

P.S. I did stick blend mine so still slow go through the strainer like pudding. :lol


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

Thanks for the replies. I am attaching not so good pictures. The first is from the second attempt. The second is the first attempt. Milk fat or lye? On a side note, look at the color difference from using frozen milk and putting in an ice bath vs. cold milk with no ice bath. Not sure it made a difference in the soap though...

[attachment deleted by admin]


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Hard to see, but the first pic looks like it has undisolved lye crystals on the spatula. Same with the whisk in the second pic. What was your lye to milk ratio?


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## tmfinley (Feb 21, 2008)

Absolutely, Totally looks like milk fat to me. Undissolved lye ends up in hard chunks on the bottom of the mixture. And no, the deeper color doesn't seem to effect the final soap much.


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## nappint (Jun 26, 2008)

I had that happen once when I used milk that had sat in the fridge too long. It turned gloppyish like your pictures.


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## adillenal (Feb 6, 2009)

Milk fat for sure. You can mash it through a strainer and/or stick blend it. I have made soap with it just as your first picture shows and it sometimes has specks but the finished soap is fine.


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## nightskyfarm (Sep 7, 2009)

It looks so dark and orange. My mixture is never that color, it's as close to white as can be. If it gets too hot I find hard orange bits at the bottom of the mix. I don't understand that color and the lack of heat. Wouldn't heat have made the color?


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

The second mixture was def. dark and orange- and it was a lot hotter than I usually soap. When I use frozen gm and an ice bath, I get a lighter color. I thought the lye wasn't dissolving though (even after mixing like crazy) and thought maybe it was too cool. I don't think it affects the final product color. I will post a pic. of it tomorrow. I think I used an EO with vanilla, so it will probably be dark brown anyway after it cures.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Yes...how many ounces of milk and lye are you using? Saponification at no time has anything to do with heat...but to get that color your milkfat certainly was above 90 degrees. When I used to melt my lye into milk, milk that went that far was only used in soap like my dragons blood that was nearly black or it would make my soap dark and ugly. Also I have never had mine thick like that. I don't even want to get to lemon yellow, why I always poured my lye onto frozen milk that was sitting in a sink with cold water. And I always strain, even now....it's to late when that last bit of lye/water or lye/milk runs out of your container into your butters and oils and you see something plop into it! You can't fish it out. If you are deeply discounting your liquid amount, I would stop until you get a handle on this. Vicki


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## Huminbird (Jul 22, 2008)

I actually have this happen pretty regularly, not sure why. It seems to happen with the older, frozen for longer goat milk for some reason.

I do believe this is the milk fat. I have gotten lye chunkies in the bottom of my pot before and it is much different than that. 

I still soap with it but usually in the soaps that will turn out to be a darker color anyways, like unscented Oatmeal, Milk and Honey or Dragon's Blood.

The only thing is that it does leave little orange spots in the finished soap. Its just the burnt milk fats. I imagine if I stopped my 25% liquid discount I would no longer get this as often. For me this doesn't seem to effect the finished soap in any way except for cosmetic. 

If I soap with fresh milk I never have this happen.


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## adillenal (Feb 6, 2009)

I had a batch of lye/milk last week get thick like that but the room was below 50 at the time. That was a first for me. Thought maybe I should be soaping in the cold more often since it mixed easily and remained a light color with no effort. Maybe a nice walkin cooler would be a good soaping environment in the summer here.


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

Huminbird said:


> I actually have this happen pretty regularly, not sure why. It seems to happen with the older, frozen for longer goat milk for some reason.
> 
> I do believe this is the milk fat. I have gotten lye chunkies in the bottom of my pot before and it is much different than that.
> 
> ...


Does it look at all this the one I posted on this thread- http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php/topic,17226.0.html 
Still not sure what is going there...


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

Vicki McGaugh Tx Nubians said:


> Yes...how many ounces of milk and lye are you using? Saponification at no time has anything to do with heat...but to get that color your milkfat certainly was above 90 degrees. When I used to melt my lye into milk, milk that went that far was only used in soap like my dragons blood that was nearly black or it would make my soap dark and ugly. Also I have never had mine thick like that. I don't even want to get to lemon yellow, why I always poured my lye onto frozen milk that was sitting in a sink with cold water. And I always strain, even now....it's to late when that last bit of lye/water or lye/milk runs out of your container into your butters and oils and you see something plop into it! You can't fish it out. If you are deeply discounting your liquid amount, I would stop until you get a handle on this. Vicki


It was a small batch (I am playing with all my new scents  )

gm- 226 g
lye 81 g
no discount
The scent has vanilla, so this will be a dark bar

I always use frozen gm and mix with my container in an ice bath. When I saw this- I thought the lye wasn't dissolving because it wasn't hot enough. My second batch, I used cold gm and no ice bath- big difference in the color. First temp was 90, next 110 I if remember correctly.

I bought a strainer tonight- thanks everyone for sharing that piece of info. 

I am going to soap more tomorrow with milk from the same batch. We shall see!

Thanks for the additional replies


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