# Adding Glycerin to liquid soap



## LIB

I've read that you can add 1% of Glycerin to diluted soap paste to add more moisturizing properties and it won't separate. Has anyone tried this and what was the outcome. Thanks!


----------



## DeeAnna

You can add pretty much as much glycerin as you want to liquid soap. Glycerin is a water-soluble chemical, so it won't separate. 

Liquid soap made with KOH already contains a moderate amount of glycerin just from saponification. If you also make the paste with a KOH-glycerin-water method, that adds even more glycerin to the amount made by saponification. So it's not like there isn't a fair bit of glycerin in the soap already. I added extra glycerin at dilution for an experiment once, but can't say I saw any "moisturizing" going on. There's no harm in trying it to see for yourself-- give it a whirl.


----------



## LIB

DeeAnna said:


> You can add pretty much as much glycerin as you want to liquid soap. Glycerin is a water-soluble chemical, so it won't separate.
> 
> Liquid soap made with KOH already contains a moderate amount of glycerin just from saponification. If you also make the paste with a KOH-glycerin-water method, that adds even more glycerin to the amount made by saponification. So it's not like there isn't a fair bit of glycerin in the soap already. I added extra glycerin at dilution for an experiment once, but can't say I saw any "moisturizing" going on. There's no harm in trying it to see for yourself-- give it a whirl.


Thanks for the info DeeAnna. I think I'll just stick with the recipe I use and not add the extra glycerin.


----------



## Michele M.

DeeAnna said:


> You can add pretty much as much glycerin as you want to liquid soap. Glycerin is a water-soluble chemical, so it won't separate.
> 
> Liquid soap made with KOH already contains a moderate amount of glycerin just from saponification. If you also make the paste with a KOH-glycerin-water method, that adds even more glycerin to the amount made by saponification. So it's not like there isn't a fair bit of glycerin in the soap already. I added extra glycerin at dilution for an experiment once, but can't say I saw any "moisturizing" going on. There's no harm in trying it to see for yourself-- give it a whirl.



Thanks for your tip, DeeAnna -- it's just the information I was looking for! I had a dilution of about 30 oz. of liquid Castille I made last week and was wondering if I could thicken it up a bit. Added about 2 oz. vegetable glycerin (and yes, the recipe already had glycerin in it) and will see how it goes. (Am totally new to soapmaking but love it already, though the lye kind of freaks me out!)


----------



## DeeAnna

Oh, glycerin won't thicken the soap. At least not enough to make any real difference. No harm in trying it to see what happens, but don't expect any miracles. 

You'd be better off to use some table salt instead with a high oleic soap like this. The article in this link applies to liquid soap as well as liquid cleansers made from synthetic detergents -- Why does salt thicken shampoos? - Chemists Corner


----------



## Michele M.

DeeAnna said:


> Oh, glycerin won't thicken the soap. At least not enough to make any real difference. No harm in trying it to see what happens, but don't expect any miracles.
> 
> You'd be better off to use some table salt instead with a high oleic soap like this.



Yes, I have discovered that it does not thicken the soap much -- but after reading your post I thought it would be nice to try for my bathroom liquid soap as it may be more moisturizing. 

That is very interesting about the salt, but I do not believe my soap is very oleic, being 90% coconut oil. Maybe I should not be calling it castille?  

I am VERY happy with the results I have already, but was feeling that making it thicker would help me to "go lightly" when diluting further for the liquid soap dispensers.


----------



## DeeAnna

Oh, okay, I misunderstood. You are right -- salt won't thicken a soap high in coconut oil. And that's why this soap is always going to dry your skin, whether you add extra glycerin or not. Coconut oil soap is a very harsh soap. It's fine for laundry or dishes, but not so good in the bath.

As far as "castile" goes -- Quite a few soap makers mean 100% olive oil soap when they talk about "castile" because the historical Castile soap from Spain was made from 100% olive oil. That's how I interpreted your use of the word. On the other hand, the legally accepted meaning of castile in the general consumer world (and to many other soap makers) is any soap made from any combination of vegetable oils. IMO, the meaning is so generic as to be meaningless. I just say what the soap is made of and try to avoid using "castile".


----------



## Michele M.

Good points. Thanks! Am going to have to make a special soap for the body, I see. Thanks again!


----------

