# Soaping in cold weather



## Greylady (Mar 28, 2012)

Well been reading up on cold weather soaping as I am getting white streaks and spots. I think I am soaping maybe too cool? I heated up the oils and strained the lye, mix, then strain the milk into the bactch along with the fo. Do I need to warm the fo? I am kinda afraid to do that due to flashpoints.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

What temps are you soaping at? I got a cool new point and shoot, thermometer that you don't have to stick it in the batch. Since my lye is premade and it's cold, I am not warming it  I do heat my butters and oils a little warmer so when I add my lye/water it cools it down to right at 93 to 98 degrees. I have to also heat my milk to make sure it isn't cold....but I wouldn't bother with the fragrance it's way to little to worry about and you are adding it at the end when you are almost done anyway. 

Is it a new scent? White streaks and spots can also be riceing, if you are seeing this happen right after you add your fragrance. Vicki


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## Greylady (Mar 28, 2012)

Ricing? I am seeing some at the adding of the fragrance. What is the cause of that and what do you do to stop it? I am soaping Nautica. It also seems to acelerate fast. I got soap on a stick with it and had to glop into mold. A very rustic looking bar.

Oh and I mentioned the thermometer to hubby and guess what he has one! So I will be using that to see. My lye water was cold and my oils were warm. Am I maybe stirring too long?


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

I tried using one of those thermometer for lotion making but found it wasn't very accurate. :/ 

This is our first year soaping in a basement with the house thermostat turned as low as it goes. We flip on a heater as soon as we get there so it does warm up some but when we leave it gets turned off. With single digit temps at night with even lower wind chills it does get cold. The first few soaping days like this produced some splotchy looking soap and soap that was difficult to get cleanly out of the molds. It took me awhile to connect the two. Once I did and made some changes and soap is looking good again and comes out clean. 

Like Vicki we warm our oils up more than before. How warm I couldn't say as we don't temp anything. Just warmer but not quite 'hot'. Our lye water is cold too. Also warm up the milk. We also stick blend more than we would in warmer months (when most batches don't even see the SB). And we cover EVERYTHING once it's in the molds. Even those that we know usually get plenty warm on their own. It just all gets covered with a blanket. Those that tend to get hot get just one cover and the rest get 2. Been working like a charm.


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## 2Sticks (Dec 13, 2007)

Betty, Natutica does accelerate like I warned everybody about when I posted the sell, but I have never had it rice. It does move though and you have to be ready. It sells good. I add chunks of a light teal color soap to mine and it raises the level in the mold. When I unmold it I cut the top off and it doesn't look quite so rustic.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I picked mine up from Harbor Freight for $30 with a coupon. It doesn't work on thick, like lotion, or even gravy, just tells you the surface temperature, it won't penetrate thick. But it was super accurate on boiling beans in a pot, in water being boiled, and pasteurizing milk for lotion. Since I am playing with M&P, with my CP soap it did work for checking my lye and butters and oils in the pot. Now once to trace and in the molds, no.


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## Greylady (Mar 28, 2012)

@ Tamera~ Thanks for the tips. I do have some chunks cut up and will try it that way.
@ Vicki~ I will try to see what my oil and butter temps are when I do this again. Funny you should mention m&p as I bought some moulds to make imbeds for the tops. Just playing with ideas.
@ Kalne~ I have never covered mine. During the summer they are sitting in front of an ac. So I will try covering and see what I get. Does it matter on the flashpoints of your fragrances as to which ones get hot the most?


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

For me, I have to warm my oils to a higher temp than usual. What that temp is, I don't know. Usually, I only melt the solid fats/oils. Now, I'll have to warm the fluid oils a tad. Made a batch yesterday and I though I was going to have to add hot water to the sink to get it to thin out because I knew it wasn't mixed enough, but was very thick. Fortunately, it was a batch with honey so once I added that, it thinned out again.


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