# Recipes for a thicker liquid soap



## Maria Morando (Sep 19, 2018)

I made liquid soap recently and it came out rather thin. The fragrance oil thickened it some but not to my liking. I used 40% coconut oil, 30% Olive oil, 10% Meadowfoam Seed Oil, and 20% castor oil. I hot processed it quite nicely and it produced a nice clear liquid soap that was not lye heavy. But it was way too thin for me. Does anyone think that I can made adjustments to my original recipe to thicken the soap from the start? I don't want to have to go through a thickening process after my soap is made if I can avoid it. Also, could it be possible that I just added too much water to my paste? I did add extra water at the end of the hot process because some of the paste was not melting after a long period of time. Should I be very conservative as to how much water I add to my past when I see it is not all melting after hours of processing?


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## DeeAnna (Sep 19, 2018)

Most beginning liquid soap makers typically add too much water. Since you didn't share any details about your dilution method, I can't say that's true for you, but it's certainly a possibility.

It doesn't matter if you add extra water during the cook, because the dilution method you use should allow for variations in the water content and fatty acid content of the soap. Every batch is a little different, so the amount of water you used last time, even with a tried and true recipe, will not be exactly what you'll need this time.

For a new recipe, add about 1/2 part water by weight to 1 part paste. When mixed and smooth, check the consistency. If more water is needed, add about 1/4 part water to the original 1 part paste. Check. If more water is needed, add 1/8 part. And so on.

Near the end, you may be adding water 1 teaspoon at a time. Or you can skim off any thicker lumps or thick surface layer from the rest of the properly diluted soap and dilute these thicker bits separately. That reduces the chance you'll mess up the whole batch.

With a tried and true recipe, add a large part of the water you used last time -- maybe something like 3/4ths of the total -- check, add a bit more water if needed, check, and so on. Experience will be your guide.

You do not need to cook liquid soap or any other hot process soap for hours 'n hours. Most hot process soap is zap free within an hour and often more like 1/2 hour. Longer cooking is not doing any particular good unless you _know _the soap isn't quite done yet. Don't get stuck on seeing all the visual stages that people say you should see so you keep cooking until you're sick of it.  Sometimes you get lucky and see all the signs, but sometimes you don't.

To get a honey thick soap by dilution only, you need to raise the oleic acid to around 50%. You really can't go wrong with the Irish Lass recipe: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=428988 see posts 8 and 9.

You won't get any liquid soap to be much thicker than honey without using an external additive (salt, HEC, HMPC, etc.) Thickeners aren't all bad. Ones such as HEC and HPMC (but not salt) will let you dilute the soap down to a lower % of pure soap and still have a thick product. Controlling the % soap in the product at, maybe, 20% will reduce waste (people tend to use more liquid soap than they really need), will reduce the tendency for the soap to dry the skin, and will let the soap lather easier and rinse off quicker.


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## Susie (Sep 20, 2018)

^^^What DeeAnna said!!!


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## Maria Morando (Sep 21, 2018)

DeeAnna said:


> Most beginning liquid soap makers typically add too much water. Since you didn't share any details about your dilution method, I can't say that's true for you, but it's certainly a possibility.
> 
> It doesn't matter if you add extra water during the cook, because the dilution method you use should allow for variations in the water content and fatty acid content of the soap. Every batch is a little different, so the amount of water you used last time, even with a tried and true recipe, will not be exactly what you'll need this time.
> 
> ...



Thank you so much for your reply. It was very helpful and I will most definitely be more conservative with the water when making my next recipe. I may have added too much water when I didn't think my paste was going to melt all the way. Also, do you think I could add a little bit of paste from my next liquid soap attempt to some of my previously made liquid soap to thicken it up a bit?


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## DeeAnna (Sep 22, 2018)

Yes, that would be an option to try, but remember this batch of soap is fairly low in oleic acid. Unless you can get the total oleic acid high enough, the soap may never be as thick as you want it to be. So ask yourself whether fixing this soap is worth the time and effort. Sometimes I think people would be far better off making a new batch with better technique and a better recipe than trying to fix a less-than-wonderful batch. It might be best to chalk this batch up to a learning experience, enjoy the soap as-is (try it in a foamer bottle!), and start fresh with a new batch.


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## freesia792 (Sep 22, 2018)

When I've made LS high in CO, I get thinner soap.


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## Maria Morando (Sep 22, 2018)

DeeAnna said:


> Yes, that would be an option to try, but remember this batch of soap is fairly low in oleic acid. Unless you can get the total oleic acid high enough, the soap may never be as thick as you want it to be. So ask yourself whether fixing this soap is worth the time and effort. Sometimes I think people would be far better off making a new batch with better technique and a better recipe than trying to fix a less-than-wonderful batch. It might be best to chalk this batch up to a learning experience, enjoy the soap as-is (try it in a foamer bottle!), and start fresh with a new batch.


Thanks, I have found your info very helpful


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## Maria Morando (Sep 22, 2018)

freesia792 said:


> When I've made LS high in CO, I get thinner soap.


That is good to know, Thank you


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## Maria Morando (Sep 22, 2018)

DeeAnna said:


> Most beginning liquid soap makers typically add too much water. Since you didn't share any details about your dilution method, I can't say that's true for you, but it's certainly a possibility.
> 
> It doesn't matter if you add extra water during the cook, because the dilution method you use should allow for variations in the water content and fatty acid content of the soap. Every batch is a little different, so the amount of water you used last time, even with a tried and true recipe, will not be exactly what you'll need this time.
> 
> ...





DeeAnna said:


> Most beginning liquid soap makers typically add too much water. Since you didn't share any details about your dilution method, I can't say that's true for you, but it's certainly a possibility.
> 
> It doesn't matter if you add extra water during the cook, because the dilution method you use should allow for variations in the water content and fatty acid content of the soap. Every batch is a little different, so the amount of water you used last time, even with a tried and true recipe, will not be exactly what you'll need this time.
> 
> ...





DeeAnna said:


> Yes, that would be an option to try, but remember this batch of soap is fairly low in oleic acid. Unless you can get the total oleic acid high enough, the soap may never be as thick as you want it to be. So ask yourself whether fixing this soap is worth the time and effort. Sometimes I think people would be far better off making a new batch with better technique and a better recipe than trying to fix a less-than-wonderful batch. It might be best to chalk this batch up to a learning experience, enjoy the soap as-is (try it in a foamer bottle!), and start fresh with a new batch.


I do have one more question before I proceed with liquid soap again. I looked at the recipe that you suggested, and I am going to try it. However, I was wondering if it is necessary to use the glycerin to make this soap to the consistency that I want, or is it okay to use water during the initial stages of putting the recipe together. I did not know if the use of glycerin enables the soap to come out thicker as opposed to using water. I don't have much glycerin on hand right now, and would have to order it. Also is using part glycerin and part water an option?


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## Susie (Sep 25, 2018)

Glycerin speeds trace, which is super helpful as liquid soap can take forever to trace without some help.  However, you can also use some hand made bar soap grated up to help kick trace in.  I use 0.5 oz grated bar soap or liquid soap paste per batch, regardless of the size of the batch.

So, yes, you can make liquid soap without glycerin, but it is much faster to use it.  And you can purchase glycerin at Walmart or most major pharmacies.


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## Maria Morando (Sep 26, 2018)

Thank you all so much for your help!


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