# Wool Soap



## Raevyn (Mar 28, 2018)

Hi Everyone,

I am new to soap making - not really looking to get too into making soap, I am just mainly interested in making my own wool wash. Its not really available in any store in my area, and there is only one knitting shop in the entire city and they dont stock stuff like that. The stuff I get off amazon is ok but I have to wait for it to ship, its kind of expensive and doesn't actually contain any lanolin in it. It's a wool and cashmere shampoo.

So I have been researching about soap making for a while now and I am waiting for the KOH to arrive since you guessed it, those product are not readily available in stores either except industrial warehouses that I have no way of getting to in the first (and even then they tend to be very expensive). I would like to make a liquid soap with lanolin in it. Right now I add some lanolin to hot water and melt it together then add a squirt of the wool shampoo and mix it until it looks like milk and then add that to a basin of luke warm water. I would ideally like to make a liquid soap that will just emulsify like that into the white liquid when added right to the basin of water...might need to try liquid lanolin for that....

any one have any starting points for me? I have looked up many recipes for soap but since this is going to be used for washing knitted items should I add something like borax to the mix to help clean them? or will the soap by itself do that?

thank you in advance


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## BattleGnome (Mar 28, 2018)

I don’t have a recipe for suggestion for you. I’d just like to ask that if you do figure out a recipe please share it. I’d be very interested in making my own wool wash


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## Raevyn (Mar 28, 2018)

Sure I won't mind sharing. Now the hard part is waiting for my supplies to arrive


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## Zany_in_CO (Mar 29, 2018)

I never know what's going to show up when I dig around in my files, but I searched for "wool wash" and lo and behold, here's what showed up from the year 2010:



> SOURCE
> http://blog.thesage.com/2010/08/06/wool-wash-with-polysorbate/
> 
> WOOL WASH
> ...



FYI: Technically speaking, both polysorbate 20 and polysorbate 80 are "solubizers", i.e., they can dissolve oil into water. Some Liquid Soapers use them to make water soluble shea butter for example to add to their liquid soap. I keep a bottle of polysorbate 80 in the laundry room for removing oily spots on tee shirts and other items of clothing. I've used it alone between shampoos or as a "clarifier" to remove product buildup before shampooing. It's unique in it's ability to degrease without stripping the hair and scalp of their natural oils, leaving the hair and scalp clean, shiny and conditioned.  

It's quite possible that poly-20 or poly-80 will liquify lanolin to the point where it would make a nice wool wash. That being said, I'm very interested to hear how your lanolin KOH liquid soap works out.


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## BattleGnome (Mar 29, 2018)

That is deceptively simple. 

I do have some PS80 and socks that need to be washed. I’ll see if I can give it a try this week.


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## Misschief (Mar 29, 2018)

Zany_in_CO said:


> I keep a bottle of polysorbate 80 in the laundry room for removing oily spots on tee shirts and other items of clothing. I've used it alone between shampoos or as a "clarifier" to remove product buildup before shampooing. It's unique in it's ability to degrease without stripping the hair and scalp of their natural oils, leaving the hair and scalp clean, shiny and conditioned.



I have both in my laundry room. I never would have thought to use PS80 as a greasy spot remover. I can't tell you how many tee shirts I've ruined with grease spots. This could be a game changer! Thank you, I learned something today!


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## Raevyn (Mar 29, 2018)

This is interesting  I've never heard of this stuff.... I mean have heard of polysorbate but had no idea what it was. Does it replace the lye in this recipe? Maybe once I figure out what I'm doing I'll mad scientist a recipe together. I found something last night on this site called chickens in the road that might be a good starting point and then use some of that recipe you added above. Hmmm decisions decisions

So I found this lastnight and I was thinking I could maybe tweak it a bit.

couple questions

I have no wheat germ oil and Amazon prime in Canada doesn't either, what can I use instead?
Do I HAVE to use a stick blender? or can I use a hand mixer to blend everything?


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## amd (Mar 29, 2018)

Zany_in_CO said:


> I've used it alone between shampoos or as a "clarifier" to remove product buildup before shampooing. It's unique in it's ability to degrease without stripping the hair and scalp of their natural oils, leaving the hair and scalp clean, shiny and conditioned.



My apologies to @Raevyn for hijacking her thread for a moment...
@Zany_in_CO How do you use ps80 as a "clarifier"? Like... do I just squirt some onto my head, smear it around and shampoo as usual? I am intrigued because my hair dresser complains that my hair has terrible build up every time she sees me (she is also my childhood BFF, so she has privileges I wouldn't give a normal hair dresser). It doesn't seem to matter what I use - cheap stuff or salon stuff... I end up with build up (I don't use other hair products either), and the salon clarifying treatment gets dang expensive. It never occured to me that I could possibly use ps80 (but holy carp it makes sense!)


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## BrewerGeorge (Mar 29, 2018)

I need a bit of clarification.

When you say 'wool wash' do you mean something for wool clothes that are dirty from wearing them, or are you talking about preparing raw wool for carding and spinning?  (Never know on DIY sites like this.)


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## Raevyn (Mar 29, 2018)

amd said:


> My apologies to @Raevyn for hijacking her thread for a moment...
> @Zany_in_CO How do you use ps80 as a "clarifier"? Like... do I just squirt some onto my head, smear it around and shampoo as usual? I am intrigued because my hair dresser complains that my hair has terrible build up every time she sees me (she is also my childhood BFF, so she has privileges I wouldn't give a normal hair dresser). It doesn't seem to matter what I use - cheap stuff or salon stuff... I end up with build up (I don't use other hair products either), and the salon clarifying treatment gets dang expensive. It never occured to me that I could possibly use ps80 (but holy carp it makes sense!)


do you use a clarifying shampoo? if you have alot of buildup you can use one of those once a week to remove the buildup. its the stuff people with dreads use, any oils or conditioners left in the hair will cause the dreads to unravel so they use clarifying shampoo only. thats what my hair dresser told me...you can use it more often too if you want and just use a conditioning shampoo after



BrewerGeorge said:


> I need a bit of clarification.
> 
> When you say 'wool wash' do you mean something for wool clothes that are dirty from wearing them, or are you talking about preparing raw wool for carding and spinning?  (Never know on DIY sites like this.)


for washing wool clothes....I haven't got a clue how to process wool and it would be a messy venture trying to learn


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## amd (Mar 29, 2018)

Raevyn said:


> do you use a clarifying shampoo? if you have alot of buildup you can use one of those once a week to remove the buildup. its the stuff people with dreads use, any oils or conditioners left in the hair will cause the dreads to unravel so they use clarifying shampoo only. thats what my hair dresser told me...you can use it more often too if you want and just use a conditioning shampoo after


Yep, tried those and it doesn't remove the gunk. My current method is shampoo and then using an oil based leave in conditioner. It has almost eliminated the build up, but it's wreaking havoc on my pillow cases (and then onto my face which is causing breakouts). I've tried wearing a silk cap (not sure what it's called - I got it from my dreaded friend who also gave me the shampoo), but they come off during the night. PS80 would be easy for me, I always have it on hand.


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## DeeAnna (Mar 29, 2018)

My understanding is washing wool and lanolinizing wool are two separate things. You wash first ... then lanolize as needed. "Wool wash" doesn't contain lanolin, because it's supposed to clean the wool, not lanolize.

edit: Good point, BG. Washing prepared woolens is different than scouring raw wool. To clean up raw wool fresh from the sheep, you need a detergent strong enough to cut through wool grease (the stuff that lanolin is made from), dirt, sheep sweat, and all the other crud that is in the fiber. Dawn dishwashing detergent works as a wool scour for many hobbyists, but others get better results using products intentionally formulated for scouring wool.


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## Raevyn (Mar 29, 2018)

I realize that but I prefer having the lanolin in it anyways. It doesn't hurt


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## BattleGnome (Mar 29, 2018)

BrewerGeorge said:


> I need a bit of clarification.



For me, I’m looking for something to use on handknits. Which should essentially be the same stuff OP is looking for. Raw wool prep should be able to use the same product but it depends on what exactly you’re looking  to do. 



Raevyn said:


> So I found this lastnight and I was thinking I could maybe tweak it a bit.



I probably wouldn’t use that recipe. The first reason is that she doesn’t list all the ingredients in the ingredients list. The second reason is the slap dash dilution instructions. The third reason(s) are experience based.

The ingredients thing strikes me just as a professionalism thing. If she’s forgetting two major ingredients then what else did she forget to add.

The dilution instructions: just poorly explained. There generally is a range of water to add to get the desired consistency, it would help new soapers such as yourself figure out what to look for. The “couple of ounces” of castor is also way too open ended for a new soaper.

Experience based stuff:
Coconut oil is great for adding bubbles but strips oils like no other. This is the last thing you want for wool. I didn’t run the recipe through a lye calculator but my math puts that at roughly 30% coconut, the general suggestion is to start your coconut at 20% or less until you know how your react to that amount of oil stripping - that’s for hand soap, hair is more sensitive to that kind of thing. 

I mentioned issues with her method, after another look, she’s writing for an experienced soaper who just wants a new recipe. Take a step back and find some tutorials. IrishLass has a great walk through: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/my-creamy-cocoa-shea-gls-tutorial.57974/. I wouldn’t use the pharmacist method but she links to a simpler method later in the thread. I use IL’s method and am not familiar with a hot process method. There are better hot process tutorials, SoapQueen may have one, but I’m not sure. 

Your specific questions:
1. Check soapee.com and check fatty acid profiles to compare what you have available to what wheat germ looks like. If you match the fatty acid profiles you should be able to substitute that oil.
2. You don’t need a stick blender, IL uses a whisk in her tutorial. Whatever you choose make sure you are willing to sacrifice it to the soap gods. It’s just a good practice to have separate stuff.

I mentioned Soapee, but there are other soap calculators out there (soapcalc is another highly recommended one). Whatever recipe you find or if you chose to make up your own, run it through a calculator. Even the most accurate typist makes the occasional mistake. In soap that could be the difference between safe soap and less than safe soap. Also helps to be familiar just in case you mismeasure or get distracted and need to save your batch.


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## Zany_in_CO (Mar 29, 2018)

Misschief said:


> Thank you, I learned something today!


You're welcome. That was one of many great tips & tricks we learned from Kelly Bloom of Southern Soapers Yahoo Group, now the owner of Soapalooza, many moons ago. We were all excited to be cleaning up our oily soaping tees!


Raevyn said:


> I mean have heard of polysorbate but had no idea what it was. Does it replace the lye in this recipe?


Sorry, no.


amd said:


> How do you use ps80 as a "clarifier"?


Check out this new thread I posted just for you! 
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/fun-with-polysorbate-80.69670/



Raevyn said:


> So I found this lastnight and I was thinking I could maybe tweak it a bit.


Suzanne McMinn's Chickens in the Road Liquid Soap Tutorial used to be the best I've ever seen online. It was very detailed, with pics at every step -- great for Newbies wanting to learn not only the method but the lingo used in LS making. Unfortunately, she replaced it with an edited version. BG is correct. It's now geared more to experienced soapers.

Personally, I think Potassium Cocoate (100% coconut oil LS) or a Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild Castile dupe would be ideal for your purposes.  I use coconut oil for laundry soap and it cleans well in cold water. Dr. B's is good for general cleaning, including hair, hands, and body. 

IMO and IME, you NEED a stick blender cuz you can literally wear your arm out bringing the batch to trace. They're inexpensive ($10?) and even cheaper if you find one at a Thrift store. You'll also want to make a very small batch -- 12-16 oz oils results in almost a half-gallon of soap, depending on amount of dilution water.


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## BattleGnome (Mar 30, 2018)

https://www.eucalan.com/products-1/ingredients

The link is the ingredient list for the wool wash I use. The main ingredient seems to be ammonium laurel sulfate - which they refer to as a plant based soap. The rest of the ingredients are water, thickeners, scent, a lanolin derivative, and preservative. 

Based on this, the recipe Zany posted would work perfectly - or close enough. 

Raevyn, Is there a specific brand you’re hoping to replicate? (which we should have asked sooner)


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## Raevyn (Mar 31, 2018)

Hi

Thanks for all the advice and tips, I'm going to go through all of this when I have a chance to sit down and read it all. I currently use the laundress wool and cashmere shampoo. 

That's funny about the chickens in the road thing because she says on her blog that she changed the recipe to make it simpler but her old one is still posted aswell for reference. 

I should have ordered both kinds of lye so I  could test out a hard bar first I suppose. I  potash for liquid soap making but maybe I should have went with the sodium lye for now?


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## Zany_in_CO (Mar 31, 2018)

With 60% of Millennials thinking "bar soap is yucky", I think you're just fine starting out with KOH (liquid soap) vs. NaOH (hard bars). I seldom make bar soap anymore; we use liquid soap for everything. 

The advantage to having made NaOH soap first is that you would have all the equipment you need to make KOH soap; safety precautions would be well known and understood; and you'd be familiar with the various stages of saponification.


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## Raevyn (Mar 31, 2018)

BattleGnome said:


> https://www.eucalan.com/products-1/ingredients
> 
> The link is the ingredient list for the wool wash I use. The main ingredient seems to be ammonium laurel sulfate - which they refer to as a plant based soap. The rest of the ingredients are water, thickeners, scent, a lanolin derivative, and preservative.
> 
> ...


Euclan isn't available on Amazon Canada I don't think. And no where on stores around me carries it


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## BattleGnome (Mar 31, 2018)

Raevyn said:


> Hi
> I currently use the laundress wool and cashmere shampoo.



From the Laundress website - 
Ingredients: Concentrated blend of plant-derived anionic and nonionic surfactants, essential oils, and fragrance.

Polysorbate is a surfactant, which leads back to Zany's recipe.

Let us know when you’ve had a moment to read everything and time to sort your thoughts out. We can help formulate a recipe from easy to find ingredients


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## Raevyn (Mar 31, 2018)

Great thanks


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## earlene (Mar 31, 2018)

*Raevyn*,  I think you are better off using liquid soap for wool anyway, so IMO you ordered the right lye. To use bar soap on wool, you wouldn't want to add friction unless you plan to felt your wool.  Garments that are felted in the wash no longer fit properly.


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## Nao (Mar 31, 2018)

In my country olive oil soap is THE thing for everything you don't want to stripp everything off of. So with that in mind I'm thinking 90% olive oil and 10% castor as you probably want some bubbles even if it isn't the bubbles who cleans. And since olive oil soap doesn't strip the lanolin from your wool, no need to add extra lanolin to the mix.


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## BrewerGeorge (Apr 2, 2018)

Nao said:


> In my country olive oil soap is THE thing for everything you don't want to stripp everything off of. So with that in mind I'm thinking 90% olive oil and 10% castor as you probably want some bubbles even if it isn't the bubbles who cleans. And since olive oil soap doesn't strip the lanolin from your wool, no need to add extra lanolin to the mix.


You might want to hold off on the castor.  It doesn't really bubble much on its own.  It's reputation for bubbles is because it stabilizes bubbles created by other soaps.


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## DeeAnna (Apr 2, 2018)

Nao said:


> ...And since olive oil soap doesn't strip the lanolin from your wool, no need to add extra lanolin to the mix.



Soap, whether made from coconut oil or olive, emulsifies fats so they can mix with water and be washed away. While olive oil soap may be less strongly cleansing than coconut oil soap, it is still soap and it will remove at least some of the lanolin in the fiber. I'm sure a person would need to lanolize a wool item after several washes to maintain the lanolin content in the fiber.

The reason why I know this -- I use olive oil soap when I wet-felt items, such as purses and slippers. Any fats in the wool fiber at the start of felting are pretty much gone by the time I'm done with a piece.


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## Nao (Apr 2, 2018)

BrewerGeorge said:


> You might want to hold off on the castor.  It doesn't really bubble much on its own.  It's reputation for bubbles is because it stabilizes bubbles created by other soaps.



Oh. Why is that? I mean, I wrote that with the 95% olive/NaOH and 5% KoH/castor soaps  that workers so well in mind and can't see any reason it wouldn't work in this case.


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## BrewerGeorge (Apr 2, 2018)

Nao said:


> Oh. Why is that? I mean, I wrote that with the 95% olive/NaOH and 5% KoH/castor soaps  that workers so well in mind and can't see any reason it wouldn't work in this case.


Firstly, all bets are off when you do the dual-lye soaps - at least when comparing them to single-lye soaps.  That is, I don't think you can reliably compare how an oil behaves with the 95/5% mix to how it behaves with a 100% mix.  

Second, 5% castor is great, I think, but more is usually not better.  Not necessary at best to perhaps worse.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Apr 2, 2018)

Late to the party here.  I stick with detergents for washing my wools ... whether it is raw wool for prepping for spinning or washing finished garments (fiber artist for 16 years).  The pH of bar soaps is too alkaline and can damage the wool.  Borax is another additive that can damage wool.

A little detergent goes a long way for finished garments.  A long soak is much kinder to the garment and unless it is really, really soiled, the garmet will give up the dirt very easily with a soak.


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## Raevyn (Apr 7, 2018)

So my potassium hydroxide finally showed up.... Only took forever and now my vacation is over but owell. 

Can I make liquid body soap with coconut milk? Instead of water? I have some sitting around and I'd like to use it if I can.


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## BattleGnome (Apr 7, 2018)

You can use whatever liquid you want when making your pastebut I’d stick to plain water for dilution (in case of spoilage). If you want to start a new thread for body wash we can help point you in the right direction. This thread has gone on long enough that people who aren’t interested in wool washes probably aren’t following but they may have something to say about body wash that would help you


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## Zany_in_CO (Apr 8, 2018)

BattleGnome said:


> You can use whatever liquid you want when making your pastebut I’d stick to plain water for dilution (in case of spoilage). If you want to start a new thread for body wash we can help point you in the right direction. This thread has gone on long enough that people who aren’t interested in wool washes probably aren’t following but they may have something to say about body wash that would help you


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