Lye safety

[1sadmomma]

We all know to wear long sleeves and long pants when making soap to protect our skin from the lye, but lately I've been having issues with profuse sweating, even when the ac is on blast. Do any other ladies of a certain age have a way to protect yourself without getting so hot? I'm willing to try anything at this point.

 

[Yooper]

We all know to wear long sleeves and long pants when making soap to protect our skin from the lye, but lately I've been having issues with profuse sweating, even when the ac is on blast. Do any other ladies of a certain age have a way to protect yourself without getting so hot? I'm willing to try anything at this point.

I live in Florida for 6 months each year, and to protect myself from the sun, I wear thin ‘SPF’ shirts and pants. Maybe something like that could work for you?

I just did a soap class for my community and I told everyone to wear shoes (we’re in a flip flop year round location), long pants, long sleeves, but honestly for myself I rarely actually do that. I wear longish shorts, usually short sleeves but long gloves like for dishwashing, and wear something on my foot.

 

[1sadmomma]

I live in the Florida panhandle so we're at the end of winter Temps here. Idk what I'm going to do in August when my ac is struggling to keep up. I'm quite a messy soapmaker so I really do need to make sure I cover all my skin. I've been just wearing one of those medical gowns over my shorts and t-shirts and it does provide adequate coverage but they aren't any cooler than long sleeves and pants. It's so bad that I dripped sweat in my batter the other day. And I had the thermostat on 65. I'm kinda at my wit's end right now.

 

[Yooper]

Yep, it’s hot here. But my A/C keeps it at 75 in the summer. I’m sure you can figure it out, but you don’t need to overdress. Put on an apron if you have to, but if you do it safely (say 2:1 water:lye or 2.5:1 water: lye) it’s not that dangerous. I live far south of you and can manage.

If you get lye water on your skin, which has happened to me once or twice, you can go to the sink and rinse it off. Soap batter is hot, but no hotter than the water in the pot of spaghetti you’re boiling (less, actually).

Common sense and being mindful, just like if you’ve got a bit hot pot of chili, will be fine.