[MR] Soap Making Help

[rmhowe]

Please Be Aware that ever mixing different drain uncloggers
can get you seriously unhurt. 

When I worked at NCSU as head cabinetmaker we also had plumbers 
in the elite multitrades Departmental Services Shop I worked in. 
Some of the plumbers in the regular plumbing shop had had a serious 
accident when they responded to a clogged drain workorder. 

The people there had already put chemicals in the drain and
did not tell them. When they added theirs it exploded in their
faces spewing caustic lye all over them. This was something
the rest became very afraid of.

Do NOT mix your chemicals. Some of them are not compatible.
I am not a soapmaker, but the many posts I've seen often 
recommend Red Devil Lye. Don't mix different types if you're
not sure of the ingredients. You could blind yourself.
Eye injuries (and permanent deformities) can be very painful.

Personally having used lye as a stripper I highly recommend
keeping a large bucket of water nearby to douse your hands/
self in.

Magnus

Becky McEllistrem wrote:
> 
> Thanks Master Magnus.  It's a very good book and I
> believe it's available at Amazon.com too, if you don't
> mind waiting for them to get it in stock.  (Something
> you wouldn't have at Lindsay.)
> 
> The other book that I forgot to mention if soapmakers
> can afford it is:  Essentially Soap by Bob Knate (I
> think that's how you spell his last name).  His
> history section is again wrong from what I've found so
> far but his how to section and variety of soap recipes
> is incredible.  They'd be both good books.
> 
> His how to make lye section is a modern technique not
> a historical technique.  He teaches you to line
> buckets with sand, not twigs or straw and some
> chemists have told me that this is completely
> incorrect.
> 
> His steps and technique for how to make soap however
> are very good.  The one I like the least is Norma
> Coney's book and it's the one that everyone buys
> unfortunately as their first book about soapmaking.
> Her first edition taught you to pour the water into
> the lye instead of pouring the lye into the water,
> thereby encouraging a very dangerous condition called
> "backflash".  Can you guess from the name what that
> means?
> 
> You NEVER pour the water into the lye, even with tall
> pitchers.  You pour the lye into the water!
> 
> Rebecca
> 
> --- rmhowe <MMagnusM at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> > Assuming I'm not censored again, perhaps this will
> > go through.
> >
> > One of the Newer books in the Lindsay Books Catalog
> > I got
> > yesterday is:
> >
> > The Soapmaker's Companion - a Comprehensive Guide
> > with
> > Recipes, Techniques & Know-how by Susan Cavitch;
> > "Next time you fry up a lard burger and wolf it
> > down, save
> > the quart of grease in the frying pan. Mix it with
> > lye,
> > and you can make soap. It's an ancient art, but a
> > mysterious one.
> >   This is a book about making soap from vegetable
> > oils with
> > fancy perfumes and stuff. That's not exactly for me,
> > but there
> > is more practical chemistry, tips and know-how than
> > I've seen
> > in most soap books. You not only get recipes for
> > off-the-wall
> > varieties of soap, but loads of practical
> > troubleshooting info
> > and ideas. 8 x 8 softcover, 282 pages, no. 6106
> > $18.95."
> > Quoting Lindsay, I suppose. Lindsay is an odd card.
> > I buy a couple hundred dollars worth of books from
> > them each
> > year, usually the really obscure technological
> > stuff.
> > They have stuff for jewelers, radio, computers,
> > tesla fans,
> > brewing and vinting, metalwork and metalworking
> > machines,
> > woodworking (within limits), and a whole lotta
> > really strange
> > stuff - embalming for example.
> >
> > Lindsay Publications Inc.
> > P.O. Box 538,
> > Bradley IL 60915
> > Mornings - they don't pick up in the afternoon -
> > trust me on this,
> > they are small staffed and wrapping book packages
> > later.
> > (815) 935-5353
> > http://www.lindsaybks.com/
> > Service is quite fast.
> >
> > Magnus
> >
> > "Terry L. Neill" wrote:
> > >
> > > Greetings!
> > >
> > > I'm going to try an experiment at soap making this
> > weekend.  If it works,
> > > I'm going to do it again at Camp Fenby in front of
> > people.
> > >
> > > I can't find anyone in the Baltimore phone book
> > that sells tallow.  So I've
> > > ordered some suet and will be trying an experiment
> > in rendering tallow as
> > > well. (Pray for me, my brethren.)
> > >
> > > Here are my questions:
> > >
> > > Is the tallow made from suet softer than the
> > tallow made from regualr beef
> > > fat?  And if it is, will the soap be softer as
> > well?  And if so, what, if
> > > anything, do I do about it to make it harder?
> > >
> > > Thank you!
> > >
> > >   - Anarra the intrepid explorer
> >
> >
> ========================================================================
> >                    The Merry Rose Tavern at
> > Cheapside
> >     List Info: http://merryrose.atlantia.sca.org/
> >   Submissions: Atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
> > Subscriptions:
> http://seahorse.atlantia.sca.org/mailman/listinfo/atlantia
> 
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Spot the hottest trends in music, movies, and more.
> http://buzz.yahoo.com/
> ========================================================================
>                    The Merry Rose Tavern at Cheapside
>     List Info: http://merryrose.atlantia.sca.org/
>   Submissions: Atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
> Subscriptions: http://seahorse.atlantia.sca.org/mailman/listinfo/atlantia