# Liquid soap from paste - help.



## Saruh (Jul 7, 2015)

Hey everyone,

This is my first post in the forums so you'll have to bare with me. I've been making soap since the start of the year. I make M&P and CP, and have also made liquid soap previously. 

This time I decided to use a store bought liquid soap paste from probably the most reputable soap supplier in Australia, purely because I had quite a few customer orders and really didn't have the time to make it from scratch (also.. laziness).

I ordered this soap, diluted half a KG of it (just over a pound) at just between a 1:4 and 1:5 ratio. I did this because on the page you purchase it it has instructions on how to make it and they said they dilute to 1:4 usually and then thicken.

They said to thicken with a salt solution (20g salt, 80g water), adding 1TBSP at a time. I did this and still maintained water consistency. I ended up adding the entire solution and it still hasn't thickened. I did this 4 days ago, and emailed them 3 days ago.

They replied this afternoon saying not to add any fragrance/essential oils to begin with and to ensure I was using the right salt. Well, I hadn't added anything, nor done anything other than dilute and add the salt solution as they said (and it was the correct salt), yet it still hasn't thickened.

This base is quite expensive so I don't want to just throw it out and waste a heap of money, and I'm quite pressed for my customer orders. Does anyone have any solutions to either thicken the solution, or revive it?


Alternatively, does anyone have any recipes for shower gel that don't take days for it to be usable? I have sodium hydroxide and etc. already.

Thanks for taking the time to read/help with my issue!


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## Dorymae (Jul 7, 2015)

The only thing I can think of, and what I would do, is to put it in a pot and heat it until it became a bit thicker. Essentially boiling off some of the water. Keep in mind when you do this that the soap will be thicker when it cools, but if you evaporate too much water (and make it too thick) it is easy to re dilute. 

It's always easier to add water than to remove it. 

In the future, it you go this route again, I would not add so much water as they say.

Also, try a bit of the soap to make sure the lather hasn't suffered too much from the addition of salt.


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## Saruh (Jul 7, 2015)

Thanks Dorymae, I figured this would be the solution but was hoping to avoid it. Do you know if it would be worth trying borax? I suppose I could separate and do a sample batch.


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## lsg (Jul 7, 2015)

You might try the advice in the following links:

http://summerbeemeadow.com/content/how-do-you-thicken-your-liquid-soap

http://www.naturesgardencandles.com.../xanthum/-xanthum-gum--natural-thickener.html

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2013/08/weekend-wonderings-thickening-liquid.html


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## GidgeeBug (Aug 4, 2015)

How does the thin soap go if you try it in a 'foamy' bottle? I'm also thinking of using the paste. I'm new to LS and haven't found a good receipe yet..


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## Seawolfe (Aug 4, 2015)

Actually that's not a bad idea, putting thin soap in a foamy bottle dispenser.


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## Susie (Aug 4, 2015)

I have to thin mine even further(about 1:1) to go into the foamer bottles.  YMMV.


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