The "Rules" of Lye, and what happens when you break them. | Day 263/365

#lyerules #experiments #donttrythisathome #ordo
Today we are playing with lye, so you don't have to! There are LOADS of "rules" in the soapmaking world, and LOTS of them are absolute garbage. Some of them involve lye. So we are going to test the rules, and what happens when you break them today. Stick around, it's fun!
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Soap & Clay is a family owned business operating in Washington State, but started out online thanks to Mrs. Soap & Clay's kickass brother and his amazing web design skills. The business was started as a tribute to Mrs. Soap & Clay's grandmother, the OG maker in the family that cultivated everyone's love for the DIY life. The studio/retail shop opened in 2017 on 6th Ave in Tacoma, and immediately began teaching soap, bath bomb, lotion, and scrub classes to the makers and maker enthusiasts of the PNW. In 2019, the pottery studio opened as well, making the soap shop a busy place full of artistic energy every minute of the day.
Mrs. Soap & Clay has been featured on Business Spotlight, New Day Northwest, and was awarded a coveted place on the South Sound's 40 under 40 list in 2019, an award given to the most influential business people under the age of 40 each year. She cried when she walked up to the podium to accept the award. A lot.
Drawing from her chemistry background and her maker spirit, Mrs. Soap & Clay infuses her favorite things into her soapy designs and creates products that are fun to see, use, and learn to make. Stick around for this ride - she'll take you on a great one.
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You can find Soap & Clay on all social media platforms:
/ idontevenusesoap
/ soapandclay
/ soapandclay
For information on products, wholesale orders, or ideas for a soap, contact Mrs. Soap & Clay at
[e-mail]

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

Seriously, we don’t like lye volcanoes. But now you’ve seen what happens when you don’t do things “the right way.”

[@soapsoilandsunshine3241]

Sunbird Soaps makes a Rooibos soap on her channel and she had honey in the water. A boo boo happened and she left it in for educational purposes. It was spectacular. Her scales survived which was good.

[@DavidWilliams-wr4wb]

I have been known to heat water to 135 degrees Fahrenheit and dump cold lye in it and wait about 6 seconds to watch it fizz up , but I’m a boy what do you expect 😆

[@SpearsM2]

I am new to soap making! Finding your channel has been so amazing! I have read a few books, watched many videos and still so much to learn! I have made a few batches for family and friends! The 1st batch went to the trash with soap, mixing spoon and stainless steel pot 😂 as it got hard on me after adding the EO’s! The second batch was setting fast on me after adding the clay,but I was able to get it 911 in the mold! I am learning so much from your videos! Im proud of the other batches I have made, and I know there’s always room for learning and improving! I wish you had a FB page, subscription or something! You’re just THE BEST!

[@trevorallen2274]

When I was a new soaper, I tried making an oatmeal milk soap. When I added the lye, it didn't just scorch the milk, it burned it. It smelled spoo bad and cleaning the lye pot was a miserable experience. LOL. I still have my notes on that batch! 😆. BTW your content is very well produced. Kudos 👍

[@agulboydas]

Pewww! Thank you. I'm a new soaper, tried a few successful batches last year and stopped for awhile. So I received a lot of lye today and started again while my friend was looking down my shoulder... I got a bit tense and apparently, now watching this video, I realize that I actually did water over lye and was crazy lucky that nothing happened to me or anyone... I know it is definitely possible and now it is written among my notes, on my wall and in my head! Don't do soap when you have people staring at you like a machine because you might make a very painful mistake...

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

Make sure to go over your steps, center yourself, and focus on the task at hand before soaping - and the most important rule that you can NEVER, EVER forget: have fun!

[@agulboydas]

@@MrsSoapAndClay Definitely! I made two other batches yesterday and all turned out to be beautiful :) Thanks.

[@montyboyb3855]

Finally a normal person! ❤️

[@savonneriedecouverte]

I started learning about soap making last summer and all this time I was thinking "if only anyone had made a video showing what happens when you put water into lye". Well, thank you so much ! (noted that the reacting can be more intense, it depends ;) )

[@kristimpson1995]

Love your channel! For the past few years we decorate an outside tree on Christmas Eve with all the goodies for our wild life friends.. we love doing that... this year Christmas will be a bit more somber, thanks COVID , my sister just passed away... so decorating the outside tree will have more meaning for us. Love your ideas and such. Thanks for keeping me, us entertained during our stay at home time! Merry Christmas

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

I’m so sorry to hear about your sister. I can’t possibly imagine what that feels like. I’m giving you a giant e-hug, though. ❤️

[@moonshadowessentialssoapsn5287]

I’ve been making cold process soap for 5 years now. I used to hate doing lye cause I have a bad heart conditions so I found out that u can freeze ur liquid and it’s 0 fumes and thank goodness that was correct and I e been making it like that with the ice water for 2 years. I absolutely love it. I do a little over 7 pound batches and One Sunday I get all my soap buckets ready. Melt down my oils and butters and mix it with my liquid oils and when I’m ready I grab me ice melt it down then I have ur a lid on it so it doesn’t spill and when it’s cold n clear I grab my bucked I stick blend it then I add my additives like milk or oats n ao one and I dump my lye in and it’s so easy for me n everything is around 60°F so it gives me time to work w it. I don’t use lye beads anymore. They flew out of the container so, now I use the flakes.

[@thesoapymitten]

Binging your videos currently Idk how I never saw this one you rebel you! 🤪 good stuff! Thanks as always for the experiments and how to goodness.

[@discokaren]

My first lye volcano was when I attempted to make a black tea soap. I made the tea and it was still quite warm when I added the lye to it. Didn't even think about the fact that it would heat up even more! 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ It exploded over my counter top and down my kitchen cupboard doors. Ruined the finish on my counter top and bubbled paint off the cupboard doors!!! I took a break from soaping a bit after that. Also learned to be more patient!

[@missmaww.]

Thanks a lot for your tutorial it has help me improve in my soap making

[@katelillo1932]

I can’t be the only one who started singing “put the lye in the coconut and mix em both togeddah”, can I? 😂😂😂

[@UFOCrochet]

Thank you

[@sjwestmo]

Very helpful and timely! Gearing up to make a milk soap this wewkend

[@barbeskilson6132]

Interesting. I want to make a beer soap soon, so I will have to decide if I want to let it go flat first. I think you have a beer soap video. I’ll check it out.

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

I LOVE alcohol soaps. But for the first time, I would recommend doing it the right way, just in case things go awry. I have 4 beer soaps and 4 wine soap vids on the channel to this point. :)

[@pjmarks100]

Awesome! Ty

[@donmor5397]

Can u doa video about how much lye and water to put in recipe

[@Badoura]

I actually looked for a video to show what would happen if the liquid is added to the Lye ... didn't realise you were hiding it in this video ..

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

Here it is! 😂

[@peterm7915]

I can obviously see nothing happened with your water to lye. Believe me When doing a holiday job many years ago, I was asked to mix a bucket full, without training or knowing what Sodium hydroxide was. I can assure you, mixing water to lye caused a shocking volcano!! Thank you for your videos.

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

Yeah they’re CRAZY in large quantities and with the wrong sized container! Not something I would ever recommend,

[@nancyblake7425]

I want to make a wine soap the fluid hp way but add the wine at the end after the cook..... I've never tried this! Any chance you would do a video on this!?! Any pointers!!?! :) Thank you again for another great video!!! I love your personality ☺️

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

Hey! I have done a few wine soaps on the channel, but never a HP. I’ll add it to the list! :)

[@nancyblake7425]

I'm on the list, I'm on the list, I'm on the list...... *Jumps up and down 😃 I hope you're able to do this!!! Love the way you teach!!

[@elainem7722]

Hi, thanks for your informative videos. I notice that when you pour your NaOH into the liquid there are clumps in it. I read or saw somewhere else that that means that the NaOH has absorbed water and it shouldn't be used because it won't be as effective in the soap. Since you're still using it I assume that's not true...right?

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

That is not true, yes. 👍

[@elainem7722]

@@MrsSoapAndClay Thanks for your quick reply.

[@jenniferbarber5815]

Hi Mrs Soap and Clay, Do you wear a mask when mixing sodium hydroxide with water to make lye? The reason I am asking is that I have read that fumes disperse when making lye. 😊💜🧼

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

Hey! So it’s probably a good idea to mask up when you mix your lye solution. You can definitely smell it and it does make me cough from time to time, so masks are always a good idea!

[@jenniferbarber5815]

@@MrsSoapAndClay Is there a type of mask you would recommend? I have an idea of making my own mask from fabric with a sleeve inside that can have paper towel folded inserted and removed and replaced after each use. 😷 Other than that, I have disposable surgical type masks but I don’t think they would be thick enough as I have walked past someone smoking with one on and I could smell the smoke. 😷😬

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

We are just wearing our regular covid masks these days - just the cloth ones!

[@JessicaCEP]

I used my microwave fan as a fume hood last night, which really helped…no mask…

[@myhairypillow5019]

How de we know what lye percentage to use? I've seen 30%, 40%?.

[@Mrs_Canary]

It's up 2 u...as long as the water is equal to or more than the lye....most ppl do a ration of 2x water to lye, 50/50. or 33% lye to 67% water...

[@rebekahclayton3394]

Love your sciency videos! How do you know how much water to use for your lye?

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

Good question! Water is so arbitrary in soapmaking; the only real rule of thumb is you need at least as much water as you have lye in the batch. Aside from that, playing with your water amounts can yield loads of different soap results! From bars hardening faster, to glycerin rivers or longer working time, playing with the water amount is where the cool stuff in soap tends to happen.

[@rebekahclayton3394]

@@MrsSoapAndClay thank youuuu

[@lifewithamberb]

Couldn’t you just cook the wine and let it cool to room temp and then carry on?

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

Sure! The iced method is to ensure that the solution won’t get overly hot, and boiling the wine doesn’t always guarantee that because of a variety of wine production factors.

[@lifewithamberb]

@@MrsSoapAndClay gotcha that makes sense

[@somarose7146]

What the reason of soap sweeting

[@faithevrlasting]

I love your content and the education but I cringe at "all the things" so gotta go. Sorry.

[@MrsSoapAndClay]

...thanks? 😂

[@rebekahclayton3394]

I have to disagree here; Mrs Soap & Clay is funny, real and...all the things 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@Mrs_Canary]

That's my favorite part...her humanity