# Over cooked liquid soap



## candicec003 (May 19, 2017)

Hi, just wondering what over cooked liquid soap looks like? I used the lowest setting on my crock pot but its pretty warm even for a low setting. What are the signs of over cooked liquid soap? Thanks


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## IrishLass (May 19, 2017)

Are you making the initial paste or are you making a dilution?


IrishLass


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## candicec003 (May 19, 2017)

Making the initial paste


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## IrishLass (May 19, 2017)

Can you describe to us what it looks like? I ask because I personally never cook my soap to the paste stage. It proceeds to that stage just fine without any help from me in the form of added heat. 

I can describe what normal paste should look like, though. It should be a softish/semi firm solid, much like taffy chews. Is that what your paste looks like?


IrishLass


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## candicec003 (May 19, 2017)

My recipe was 9oz olive oil, 2.5oz castor, 1.5 coconut oil. The lye to water ratio was 1 : 2.4. I used the soap calc.net lye calculator. I cooked this for almost 6 hours which seems excessive to me for such a small batch. It appeared to be translucent but still had some whiteish chunks in it so i just kept cooking. It almost looked like soda ash all over the past. I diluted it after i figured it must be done cooking, and left it over night. The paste has diminished 75% by morning but the chunks of paste that were left had whiteish centers.....


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## IrishLass (May 19, 2017)

I agree- 6 hours of cooking time is quite excessive (for any kind of soap if you ask me). The next time you make it, don't cook it!  Although certain books and videos instruct one to cook the batter to the paste stage, in all actuality it does not need to be cooked at all. Several liquid soap-makers here on the forum besides myself (such as our Susie) never cook our liquid soap batter and our soaps come out perfectly fine.

Also- the 'sweet spot' water to lye ratio to use when it comes to making liquid soap is 3 parts water to 1 part KOH. Using less water than that has tended to cause problems for several liquid soap-makers.

Re: the translucent appearance of your paste with whitish parts: Don't go so much by the looks of the paste as by the consistency/texture and zaplessness of it instead. In my experience, paste can look very different from one formula or batch to another. Sometimes it ends up with a translucent amber color with lots of white cobwebby bubbles on top, and sometimes it's completely opaque like the color of vanilla pudding, etc.. The somewhat firm/taffy-like texture/consistency of it combined with its zaplessness when the tongue test is applied are what determines whether or not it is 'done'. Go by those things instead of going solely by its visual appearance. 

Have you had the chance to read any of our threads here on the forum on liquid soapmaking? If not here are two that will help your future batches go more easily/smoothly: 

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=49852&highlight=cold

and

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=46114 (start reading this one at post #8 )


IrishLass


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## candicec003 (May 19, 2017)

Awesome thank you! Im leaving the glycerin method till last, i feel like its an easy way to make liquid soap and my pride wants me to master the old fashion way first lol


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## Zany_in_CO (May 19, 2017)

candicec003 said:


> My recipe was 9oz olive oil, 2.5oz castor, 1.5 coconut oil. The lye to water ratio was 1 : 2.4.  ... I cooked this for almost 6 hours which seems excessive to me for such a small batch. It appeared to be translucent but still had some whiteish chunks in it so i just kept cooking. It almost looked like soda ash all over the past. I diluted it after i figured it must be done cooking, and left it over night. The paste has diminished 75% by morning but the chunks of paste that were left had whiteish centers.....


Ditto what IL said above. I'd just like to add that a 6-hour cook doesn't seem excessive to me for a high olive oil LS. The first time I made 100% OO it took 10 hours! YIKES! 

On the other hand, a small batch like that in a 6-quart (?) crockpot makes me think the "whiteish chunks" are due to soap that dried along the sides and bottom of the crockpot. Difficult to dilute but a bit of alcohol (Everclear, if you have it, or vodka) might help. Alcohol is know to dissolve soap at a rate of 1 oz. alcohol to 2 oz. soap. You might want to try it with some of the white chunks and let it set over night?


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## candicec003 (May 26, 2017)

Zany_in_CO said:


> Ditto what IL said above. I'd just like to add that a 6-hour cook doesn't seem excessive to me for a high olive oil LS. The first time I made 100% OO it took 10 hours! YIKES!
> 
> On the other hand, a small batch like that in a 6-quart (?) crockpot makes me think the "whiteish chunks" are due to soap that dried along the sides and bottom of the crockpot. Difficult to dilute but a bit of alcohol (Everclear, if you have it, or vodka) might help. Alcohol is know to dissolve soap at a rate of 1 oz. alcohol to 2 oz. soap. You might want to try it with some of the white chunks and let it set over night?



Wow 10 hours?! That's so long. I think maybe it was stuff that had dried on the sides and bottom. It's hard to get every last piece, especially if you use the same spatula throughout the whole process, and it builds up on the spatula maybe? I probably won't try the alcohol, I like to do things as naturally as possible. I'll just try to scrape the sides better next time.

On another note, I'm interested in making a pet shampoo. I know animals have a sensation pH level when it comes to their skin so I'm thinking I'll try more of a olive oil Castille liquid soap, with castor  oil as well. Have you had much experience with high castor oil percentages? I believe castor oil is good for bubbles and lather which is appealing.


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## Susie (May 26, 2017)

My goal in life is to make every thing I do as efficient as possible.  Making glycerin liquid soap is fast, efficient, and makes simply the most awesome soap.

When I make household cleaning soap, I grate up 0.5 oz of handmade bar soap to speed trace.  I don't cook that one, either.


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## Zany_in_CO (May 29, 2017)

candicec003 said:


> On another note, I'm interested in making a pet shampoo.


If it isn't too much trouble, start a new thread please... and thank you.


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## Susie (May 29, 2017)

Zany_in_CO said:


> If it isn't too much trouble, start a new thread please... and thank you.



It is her thread, she can ask what she likes.

candicec003- here is a helpful thread addressing pet soaps in general.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=52020&highlight=animal+shampoo


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## DeeAnna (May 29, 2017)

"...I believe castor oil is good for bubbles and lather which is appealing...."

Castor oil isn't the miracle additive that you might think from the "bubbly" and "creamy" numbers you see at Soapcalc. It enhances the lather created by soap made from other fats, but castor doesn't make a lot of lather on its own. Create a soap recipe for a soap that lathers pretty well on its own, and then add a bit of castor to the recipe and see how it goes.


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## Zany_in_CO (May 29, 2017)

Susie said:


> It is her thread, she can ask what she likes.


Oopsie! Still learning here. My bad. I am SO sorry! My apologies to you, Candice, and to others who I may have offended.
:bath1:​


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