# soap recipie using sodium AND potassium hydroxide?



## Mildreds.naturals (Mar 17, 2013)

Someone said you could formulate a recipie using both types of lye, but i'm curious what for? To add thickness to a liquid soap recipie? What uses would it have and has anyone done this in any of their recipes?


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## Pepper (Mar 17, 2013)

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f40/cream-soap-recipe-20529/


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## Pepper (Mar 17, 2013)

I once had a recipe book for cream soaps, but as I never used it, I've given it away.    I have never made cream soaps myself, the recipes looked too complicated for me.  Afraid I'm a bit lazy when it comes to "too hard".  I don't even cook food recipes with too many ingredients in them.


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## Hazel (Mar 17, 2013)

I've made a few batches of cream soap with NaOH and KOH. It's basically the same process as doing CPHP. The hardest part of it is trying to stir in the superfat oil and glycerin near the end. It's really stiff. I have to admit after 3 months of rotting I wasn't impressed with the cream soap. It left a waxy feel on my skin which I assumed was from the stearic acid. I just tested one of the batches recently (6 months). It's much nicer and leaves less of a waxy feeling. I'll just keep testing to see how it improves over time. I was cynical about a comment I saw about how wonderful cream soap is after a year of rotting. I'm starting to believe it and I understand why a preservative is recommended for it. It takes so long to cure. Too long. I don't think I'll be trying it again.


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## Mildreds.naturals (Mar 17, 2013)

Oh I didn't know that was a component of cream soap! I figured cream soap was well, using cream


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## Lindy (Mar 17, 2013)

Cream soap is a hot process soap and it takes at least 3 months to cure / rot.  You can make some pretty amazing products including foaming sugar scrubs with it.


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## Theda (Apr 11, 2013)

I recently ran across a recipe for liquid soap using both NaOH and KOH and tried it. It was 90% Olive oil and 10% Castor. It took about an hour to trace, cooked about 4 hours, and a couple days to dilute, but I do really like it. It turned out quite a bit thicker than regular liquid soap without adding anything else.


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## DeeAnna (Apr 11, 2013)

Rot.... :eh: I have to say the term when applied to soap is a bit of a turn off for me!

Oh, well, getting used to the terminology is all part of the learning process. :smile:


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## Lindy (Apr 11, 2013)

DeeAnna I can't say it with a straight face..... :eh:


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## Smee (Apr 11, 2013)

Theda said:


> I recently ran across a recipe for liquid soap using both NaOH and KOH and tried it. It was 90% Olive oil and 10% Castor. It took about an hour to trace, cooked about 4 hours, and a couple days to dilute, but I do really like it. It turned out quite a bit thicker than regular liquid soap without adding anything else.



Theda, if perchance you remember where you found that recipe,
would you be willing and kind enough to share the link?  I would
love to try it!

TIA!
Smee


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## Lindy (Apr 11, 2013)

Smee said:


> Theda, if perchance you remember where you found that recipe,
> would you be willing and kind enough to share the link?  I would
> love to try it!
> 
> ...



Actually I would love to see that too because I prefer a thicker LS....


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## Theda (Apr 11, 2013)

I found the recipe in the book, 'Soap Naturally' by Garzena and Tadiello. It's out of print, but a very good book. I checked it out via interlibrary loans and have since returned it, so I'll give the recipe according to my notes. It was originally for quite a large batch so I cut it down:

The book recommended a 3.0% superfatting
Olive Oil  14.4 oz (90%)
Castor Oil  1.6 oz (10%)

KOH     2.2 oz (78%)
NaOH   0.6 oz (22%)
H2O     8.5 oz

If you use the Summer Bee advanced soap calculator it lets you insert KOH and NaOH as a percentage of total lye. The Summer Bee site recommends a lower NaOH percentage, but I went with the same ratio I found in the book and it worked fine.

I blended until it began to thicken and the oil stopped separating (about 55 min)
I then cooked and occasionally stirred it for about 4-1/2 hours (it's done when a small glob is clear when cooled or not covered with white opaque film when dropped in hot water)
I then let it set overnight (I can't remember why - maybe it was late)
The next day I turned the heat back on and started adding water until it dissolved - wound up being about 3:1 water to paste. I turned the heat off and on during the dilution process. It took a couple days to dissolve and it is not as clear as a KOH only soap, and not as simple as the glycerine method, but I really like it and will probably make it again.

Theda


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## Smee (Apr 11, 2013)

Awesome!  Thank you, Theda!
3:1 sounds about right since it's predominately olive oil.
And, if it's thicker, I don't care if it's not clear.


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## Hazel (Apr 16, 2013)

Theda - 

Thanks for the info! This sounds really interesting and I want to try it. :grin:


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