# On liquid soap and skin



## Rusti (Jul 24, 2016)

So I've been toying with the idea of making some liquid soap since Susie was so kind as to offer a cold process method (I'm lazy, ok? I can't be bothered to drag out, or rather, go and purchase, a crockpot) but I've also been reading that it's more drying than hand made bar soap.

Is that always the case? It's never as kind to skin as bar soap is?


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## lenarenee (Jul 24, 2016)

NO! I delayed trying liquid soap for the same reason!  I've made 2 batches of Irish Lass's gls, one with 20%CO, and one with 15%. The 20% is on the edge of being drying for me (keep in mind I wash my hands 20+ times a day during the week). The 15% is simply....luscious liquid gold!  I love and keep it at every sink in the house now.

It's also worth it to make liquid soap just to scent it with the citrus essential oils that get beaten up so much by cp soap!


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## Arimara (Jul 24, 2016)

I totally changed Irish's recipe but it still made a nice soap in the end.


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## IrishLass (Jul 24, 2016)

Rusti- I used to have the same apprehensions as you about the possibility of homemade liquid soap being drying (we must have been reading the same threads that had much to do with Failor's excess lye/neutralization with borax method, lol), but then I actually made some using the glycerin method with a 3% superfat/lye discount instead, and all my apprehensions fell by the wayside never to be seen again because of how wonderful it felt to my skin. 

When I make the same recipe that Lenarenee mentioned above, I use 25% CO, and it doesn't feel drying at all to me..... although I suppose it might if I had to wash my hands upwards of 20 times a day.  Everybody's skin is different of course, but for what its worth, with my more conservative usage of it, I don't even need to put lotion on after washing my hands with it.


IrishLass


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## DeeAnna (Jul 25, 2016)

I think another issue with liquid soap is that it is easy to use a fair bit more LS to wash with than with a bar soap. This is especially true if a person uses a plain lotion pump or squeeze bottle for LS as opposed to a foamer bottle. More soap can be somewhat more drying just because there's more soap. 

But honestly, I think the recipe itself is the key to whether any soap, liquid or bar, is drying. I use the same olive-coconut-castor recipe IL and Lenarenee are talking about. I use it for general handwashing and also for wet felting. When wet felting, my hands are in soapy water for HOURS and when I use this soap, it does not dry my skin out.


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## Susie (Jul 26, 2016)

Same here.  IrishLass' LGS does not dry my hands.  I wash my hands a LOT.


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## Rusti (Jul 26, 2016)

Thanks so much guys! Maybe I'll order some KOH and have a go.


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## hlecter (Jul 28, 2016)

Susie said:


> Same here.  IrishLass' LGS does not dry my hands.  I wash my hands a LOT.



Same here too. 
I also tried 20% CO and it works great too and i wash my hands many times during the day.


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## Spice (Aug 8, 2016)

I have been putting off LS for months, since it is my first time, I felt awkward. But I finally did it and couldnt be happier. I didnt used the Failor method and I didnt use ILass GLS eifher. I coked just like HP soap. I noticed that it took longer to turn into soap. Once I got to the soap paste (took bout 2 hrs), i poured 3 lbs of water, cook for another 2 hrs to melt paste and let it rest till the next day. Here is my recipe:
24 oz oils
Oo 60%
Coconut 30%
Castor 10%
EO Blend
Indigo blue for color

I used Indigo blue because I thought it would give me color. It did not. But it,s pretty though.
So I am wondering now, this took me one day. GLS from what I have read is faster, but to me it seems like its the same, it all still has to turn to soap, and that takes time. 
My macbook is messed up and the pictures i have are on my computer, but i did take a video with my phone, which is how I am doing this post.  I own Susie pictures.


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## Spice (Aug 8, 2016)

Spice said:


> I have been putting off LS for months, since it is my first time, I felt awkward. But I finally did it and couldnt be happier. I didnt used the Failor method and I didnt use ILass GLS eifher. I coked just like HP soap. I noticed that it took longer to turn into soap. Once I got to the soap paste (took bout 2 hrs), i poured 3 lbs of water, cook for another 2 hrs to melt paste and let it rest till the next day. Here is my recipe:
> 24 oz oils
> Oo 60%
> Coconut 30%
> ...


Tried to upload a video of my foam cant do it


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## fuzz-juzz (Aug 8, 2016)

I make GLS by IrishLass and it's lovely.

Even with 20-25% of CO oil (tried both versions) is not drying at all. My hands can't tolerate SLS and literally fall apart from it. They've been looking great since I started using homemade LS.

It's very easy to make. In my opinion, LS is easier and less messy than CP.
I dilute mine quite a bit for use in foaming bottles. First dilution is when I get 2l from 500gr (oils) batch. It's then poured into foamers, half soap half water and bit of FO and PS80. Even with 2 foamers, 5 people, 500gr batch lasts forever in our house.


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## Arimara (Aug 8, 2016)

Spice said:


> I have been putting off LS for months, since it is my first time, I felt awkward. But I finally did it and couldnt be happier. I didnt used the Failor method and I didnt use ILass GLS eifher. I coked just like HP soap. I noticed that it took longer to turn into soap. Once I got to the soap paste (took bout 2 hrs), i poured 3 lbs of water, cook for another 2 hrs to melt paste and let it rest till the next day. Here is my recipe:
> 24 oz oils
> Oo 60%
> Coconut 30%
> ...



I tend to make LS at night and I mix until it is visibly thick. Then, I cut off the crockpot, put a towel and the lid over it and I put it up for the night. After morning activities, I get the ball rolling for dilution and storing. I'm only saying this because you didn't really need to cook the stuff to paste unless you just wanted to get a feel for it. Heck, you could have let the soap alone at emulsion or thin trace.


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## Susie (Aug 8, 2016)

Yep, I have gotten it to emulsion and put a lid on it, then walked away more than once.  I tend to stickblend to paste just to save time before dilution, but that is completely unnecessary.  And why anyone would want to cook soap is beyond me.  Unnecessary steps annoy me.


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## fuzz-juzz (Aug 8, 2016)

The 





Susie said:


> Yep, I have gotten it to emulsion and put a lid on it, then walked away more than once.  I tend to stickblend to paste just to save time before dilution, but that is completely unnecessary.  And why anyone would want to cook soap is beyond me.  Unnecessary steps annoy me.




I put the high heat on for literally 20mins or so. Mix it few times and it goes translucent in no time. It's purely for convenience and time saving. I can then dilute faster when paste and crockpot are warm.
Plus, I have two very nosy cats and a child... I can't watch over paste for hours until it's safe. 
Also, cats go into this fighting rampage for 10-15 minutes at the time, nothing is safe in the house. It's like a little cat tornado. They don't choose where they fight. It's on when it's on.


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## dingi (Aug 9, 2016)

All posts are nice giving practical insights into LS about CO% etc


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## Susie (Aug 9, 2016)

Spice said:


> I have been putting off LS for months, since it is my first time, I felt awkward. But I finally did it and couldnt be happier. I didnt used the Failor method and I didnt use ILass GLS eifher. I coked just like HP soap. I noticed that it took longer to turn into soap. Once I got to the soap paste (took bout 2 hrs), i poured 3 lbs of water, cook for another 2 hrs to melt paste and let it rest till the next day. Here is my recipe:
> 24 oz oils
> Oo 60%
> Coconut 30%
> ...



GLS is MUCH faster!  The glycerin reduces your time to paste to about 5-10 minutes MAX.  No cooking required.  Mix the KOH with an equal amount of water, then mix the remainder of the water amount (twice the KOH amount) as glycerin into the oils.  And, as stated above, you can simply get this to emulsion and put a lid on it and walk away.  I typically clean my kitchen up from soaping (20-30 min), and I have gelled paste.  Then I zap test and start dilution.  

You really are cheating yourself of a marvelous soap if you fail to make IL's GLS.


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## IrishLass (Aug 9, 2016)

Yep- GLS can reach the paste stage _much faster_ than 2 hours without any cooking whatsoever. It all depends on how you mix it. In the past, I would normally dissolve my KOH by boiling it together with the glycerin, add it to my warmed oils and whisk (off-heat) for about 5-10 minutes until it reached the flying bubble stage, and then I'd cover it and walk away (still off-heat). About 4 hours or so later, I would have zap-less paste.

But since doing it the way Susie described above, my soupy GLS batter reaches the paste stage (off-heat) sometime within the 20-or so minutes that I'm cleaning up. And it is also zap-less.


IrishLass


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## Rusti (Aug 9, 2016)

So, what does emulsion look like in liquid soap? I ordered some glycerin and some KOH in WSP's sitewide sale a couple of weeks ago and I have everything now. Does it look similar to CP bar soap or does it look different?


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## Susie (Aug 9, 2016)

It looks really similar.  When the liquids reach the point that they stop separating, you have emulsion.  

This is, to me, the ultimate benefit to making liquid soap.  I can get that to emulsion (easily under an hour including getting the supplies out, weighed, mixed, and cleaned up), lid it and walk away for a month (or more) if I need to, or just half an hour (with GLS).  Either way, it fits into my schedule.  Not the other way around.


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## Spice (Aug 10, 2016)

Susie said:


> GLS is MUCH faster!  The glycerin reduces your time to paste to about 5-10 minutes MAX.  No cooking required.  Mix the KOH with an equal amount of water, then mix the remainder of the water amount (twice the KOH amount) as glycerin into the oils.  And, as stated above, you can simply get this to emulsion and put a lid on it and walk away.  I typically clean my kitchen up from soaping (20-30 min), and I have gelled paste.  Then I zap test and start dilution.
> 
> You really are cheating yourself of a marvelous soap if you fail to make IL's GLS.





IrishLass said:


> Yep- GLS can reach the paste stage _much faster_ than 2 hours without any cooking whatsoever. It all depends on how you mix it. In the past, I would normally dissolve my KOH by boiling it together with the glycerin, add it to my warmed oils and whisk (off-heat) for about 5-10 minutes until it reached the flying bubble stage, and then I'd cover it and walk away (still off-heat). About 4 hours or so later, I would have zap-less paste.
> 
> But since doing it the way Susie described above, my soupy GLS batter reaches the paste stage (off-heat) sometime within the 20-or so minutes that I'm cleaning up. And it is also zap-less.
> 
> ...


Susie, I will be trying IL GLS batter too. I just wanted to be able to compare two different methods. My computer is not working right so I have not been able to get back to the forum and right now I pushing it. I will try to upload a video or at least some of my pictures of the LS. 
This is the best soap that I have made. It is wonderful. I mean the suds, the softens and the scent, I just cant believe I havent tried this before. My next stop will be GLS and I will be able to see which I prefer to make.


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