Tried it…didn’t find it saved much time tbh! If I need my lye to cool quickly I stand the dissolved lye solution in the jug in a larger container with cold water 😁. I found the maths and the trying to heat up lye again more of a pain!
I always use the same recipe in the same molds so I think I want to give masterbatching a try. I’m so impatient waiting for the lye to cool down that I started using the heat transfer method. Unfortunately for me, my recipe doesn’t stay fluid long enough to do some of the more complicated pours I want with that method. I don’t sell much yet so I don’t have a schedule for making. It’s more like “hey, I’m in the mood to make soap”. But then I have to wait for temps. Definitely giving this a try.
I do master batch my lye at a 1:1 solution. I use aloe juice to master batch. When I add my goat milk to it I add that as ice cubes to the solution as the extra amount of liquids when I'm not using goat milk powder. The lye solution me er needs heated back up, because it heats itself up when more water of what ever is added to if. I also use aloe of clay so I'm happy to add extra liquid in the soaps to keep things fluid. I only master batch because I had lye that became a large hard mass. And I don't believe in throwing stuff out that's still usable. And 100 pounds of lye is a horrible loss if you throw it out. Anyway thanks for your videos. Love this series
Put it in an air tight container and it will last months. Also, it doesn't need to be reheated. I've soaped below 80 degrees Fahrenheit and had little to no problems. Sometimes it will come to trace fast but this depends on the ingredients you are using. You can add those extra ingredients like milk or aloe vera juice once it comes to emulsion or light trace. The other option you just make up the lye solution you need for that special bar of soap. The benefits outweigh the risks or concerns.
I'm not a fan of master batching, I enjoy the whole process, the lye and water or tea infusions are just as important as the rest. Soaping to me is not only scientific, but extremely satisfying and a little bit magical. Every batch is made with the love of creating. ❤️ ❤️
I love beer soaps, so bubbly…I tried master batching lye once and I got that out of my system. I don’t find it helpful at this point; I hated the storage issues with it. Thank you for sharing all the info. Back to school time is such a hectic time. Try to enjoy the process, they grow up so fast.❤️❤️
I love masterbatching my lye. I do 1:1 ratio. I add an additional 1 part water before I soap and it warms up to almost exactly 120. I hate handling the dry lye. Mine has static cling issues and I’m always concerned tiny granules have gone rogue. I prefer to get it into a weeks worth of solution and have a thorough clean up. I don’t find the math to be a problem. I double the lye amount in the recipe to weight out the solution then add the original lye weight in additional water. I do use grams though so perhaps that makes it easier. For me masterbatching has largely eliminated what was the least fun part of soaping.
That’s interesting about who should masterbatch (not beginners) because in Scientific Soapmaking that’s pretty much what he has you do before you ever make a bar of soap. He’s also dealing in 100g total weight batches so that might be part of it.
I always mix oils water and lye for each batch I make. I'm terrible with numbers. To the point that if you are talking to me, and say more than 4 numbers, my brain shuts off. So I check my numbers a good 50-11 times as I'm measuring. I tried masterbatching oils once... that was a disaster so I don't even want to know how bad I would f up lye....
I find measuring out my lye solution to be a pretty fast process. A cold bowl of water helps a lot. Master batching the oils in a digiboil seems like it’d be more useful imo, if you have similar recipes for your soap
I "master batch" in that I prepare lye water for my regular size flat but I do that when I'm making a specific soap series and don't want to have to prep each flat. I don't have space otherwise but it's fun to have that bit
Have been wondering all of these lye questions so thank you for all of the answers! I use several recipes, and at the moment my soaping is a bit sporadic, so the masterbatch thing would not work for me, and now I know that. Prep batching the day before maybe would though.
I used to master batch my lye, and during holidays it was effective. However I just make all my lye solution ahead of time. I use those Tang/ Country Lemonade containers for each batch.
My regular sized recipe that fits the majority of the molds I use is what I "masterbatch." It's not really masterbatching though. It's a bucket of my oil mix that I can grab and warm, and a bucket of my lye solution that I grab and add sodium lactate to. For anyone wondering, I use a 1.5:1 liquid to lye ratio. My liquid is aloe juice to which I add silk, sugar, and citric acid. Once I'm ready to make the soap, I'll add milk to the oils. I've kept that lye solution for a month or 2 without issue.
I have 15 cats, 7 grandkids and a dog running around. I don't let my lye solution out of my sight once I mix it. So, master batching would not work for me.
Never master batched, I don't think it would be for me. Love the shirt!💜 *I'll also be revisiting your 'beverage' videos. I think I'm finally going to try and make, beer, wine, coffe and tea soaps!😄🤦♀️
Love the top. I'd ask where you bought it but I have a closet full of similar stuff, and I HAVE TO STOP BUYING PURPLE THINGS. (I'm never going to not buy purple things.)
I see how I could make a real mess of that. I often make the lye solution for 5 batches of soap at a time and label them for each batch. Master batching lye solution scares me.
So not a masterbatch Q?, but more of a lye Q? Can one figure all their recipes at 1:1 water:lye solution, then add another 1: or more as optional liquid to oils? Could I do this across the board for all of my recipes? So that on making day I choose how much more liquid I want? Does this Q? even make sense?
Totally makes sense! And yes, you can do that. Realistically you only NEED a 1:1 ratio to dissolve the lye, so you could incorporate the remaining liquid into your oils or traced batter.
