# My liquid soap finally grew yuckies.



## Susie (Aug 29, 2016)

I have been monitoring this one bottle of diluted liquid soap in my pantry for over 3 years now, and it now has yuckies I can see with the microscope.  Just thought y'all might want to know.  

I would never, ever sell liquid soap that did not contain a preservative.  This little experiment was only run because I knew that bottle of soap was never going outside of my house to be used by anyone else.  DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT try this with any soap you intend to sell.  Use a preservative.


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## IrishLass (Aug 29, 2016)

Ewww. Are you able to tell what kind of yuckies they are? How does it look and smell otherwise? 


IrishLass


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## doriettefarm (Aug 29, 2016)

Susie - I'm so jealous that you have a microscope to inspect these kinda things!  Also wondering the same thing as IL . . . can you see enough with the scope to tell if it's a bacteria, yeast or mold contaminate?  

I always use a preservative (germall plus) in my liquid soaps especially when I dilute for use in a foamer bottle.  Same deal for lotions but I'm still paranoid about gifting/selling them.  Wish I could afford some lab testing but it's cost prohibitive at the moment.  I'm considering this test kit from Lotioncrafter which looks like it would work for any liquid-y substance . . . has anyone tried it? 

http://www.lotioncrafter.com/microbial-test-kit-lotioncrafter.html


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## Arimara (Aug 29, 2016)

I'm glad you did that. I was wondering about that recently do far, Glad to know there's an estimated shelf life for unpreserved liquid soap and a more definate answer to the "should I use a preservative with my LS" question. I just gave myself a nasty thought of the grated bar "liquid soap" just now.


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## DeeAnna (Aug 29, 2016)

Thanks for sharing, Susie. This is a good lesson about not trusting the naked eye to tell us if our products are sanitary or not.


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## penelopejane (Aug 29, 2016)

Susie said:


> I have been monitoring this one bottle of diluted liquid soap in my pantry for over 3 years now, and it now has yuckies I can see with the microscope.  Just thought y'all might want to know.
> 
> I would never, ever sell liquid soap that did not contain a preservative.  This little experiment was only run because I knew that bottle of soap was never going outside of my house to be used by anyone else.  DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT try this with any soap you intend to sell.  Use a preservative.



Thanks for the feedback Susie.  I am interested in making LS without preservatives just for my family.  Was your LS starting to get cloudy?  Was that why you checked it?


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## Susie (Aug 29, 2016)

I don't know what kind of bacteria, I was only using gentian violet to stain them, and they were the typical bar shape.  

I was using a microscope that was probably purchased for one of my "sciencey" things with my kids.  Hence only having gentian violet to stain with.  It was probably less than $20 when first purchased.  

I have been checking it semi-regularly just to know when it started growing stuff, but I actually checked it today when I noticed cloudiness in one of my foamer bottles.  I was wondering what was growing in there, and checked the tester as long as I had everything out.  The foamer bottle happened to be the one that went to New Orleans and back with us, and was the last of a batch made back in January of 2016, so no telling what was going on.  I just know that I did not mind sacrificing half an inch of diluted liquid soap. 

I am probably not going to sell, and probably never going to use preservatives.  I have recently given liquid soap away to "non-immediate" family and friends for the first time.  I only did the first dilution, gave them directions to dilute for the foamer bottles, and made them sign a paper that said that they knew that there were no preservatives in there, and that it needed to be stored in the refrigerator to prevent spoiling.  And that was before I found cloudiness and spoilage.  I tend to store my paste in 1 lb packages, which gives me about a 4-6 month supply of liquid soap for my foamer bottles.  That paste gets set into the bottom drawer of the fridge because I got tired of shuffling it around my pantry shelves.  The diluted soap just gets stored under the kitchen sink.


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## Sapo (Aug 30, 2016)

I'm assuming the SF was 3%? What was the overall recipe?


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## Susie (Aug 30, 2016)

It was the original Soaping 101 LGS from the video.  All extra steps included.  There is a reason I did not use it, IL's LGS is so very much better.  

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VUGV_H7bZU[/ame]


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## Spice (Sep 1, 2016)

Susie said:


> I don't know what kind of bacteria, I was only using gentian violet to stain them, and they were the typical bar shape.
> 
> I was using a microscope that was probably purchased for one of my "sciencey" things with my kids.  Hence only having gentian violet to stain with.  It was probably less than $20 when first purchased.
> 
> ...



I was wondering if alcohol could be a natural preservative? I haven't made wine soap in some time, but I had noticed that the wine soap I had made nearly 3 years ago look as if I made them 6 weeks ago (and have have been wrapped in an airtight wrap, no discoloration). Would add a bit of wine ( more natural) help in preservation, I wonder?


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## Susie (Sep 1, 2016)

I would think not.  Wine can spoil given time (and become vinegar), and you would also be altering the pH.  Use a commercial preservative intended for the pH of soap.  No need risking someone's health.


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## Spice (Sep 1, 2016)

Susie said:


> I would think not.  Wine can spoil given time (and become vinegar), and you would also be altering the pH.  Use a commercial preservative intended for the pH of soap.  No need risking someone's health.



just was wondering since my wine soaps are doing good.


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## fuzz-juzz (Sep 1, 2016)

Thanks for sharing!

It's good to know... even though I probably also won't sell ever and my LS is used within months.


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## CTAnton (Sep 1, 2016)

I'm with Spice...a non soaping friend asked me the same question about alcohol being used as a preservative....I'm curious about the possibility...I've got bottles of rye in the attic from the 80's...don't ask...<G>


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## hlecter (Sep 1, 2016)

Good to know that Susie... Thanks for sharing!


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## DeeAnna (Sep 1, 2016)

To use alcohol as a preservative, you'd need around 20% by volume in the finished product. I'm speaking from memory here, but that's in the ball park. Wine turns to vinegar because most wine is under that limit. Remember that 20% is based on the basis of pure alcohol. 

Honestly, I don't think this is a realistic way to preserve LS.

"...the wine soap I had made nearly 3 years ago look as if I made them 6 weeks ago (and have have been wrapped in an airtight wrap, no discoloration)...."

If you're talking about bar soap, this is an apples and oranges comparison to liquid soap. One doesn't really apply to the other. If you're talking about a liquid soap, are you looking at the soap with a microscope? If not, remember the naked eye isn't good enough to detect bacterial growth.


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## CaraBou (Sep 1, 2016)

Three years is pretty impressive without a preservative. Were you checking at regular intervals or do you think it just showed up?

Also wondering, what is a good preservative for LS, and what is the maximum recommended shelf life for when a preservative is advisable?


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## Susie (Sep 2, 2016)

I checked it back in mid July (I think).  So it did not have long between checks this time.  

I don't use preservatives, but several here do.  Someone is bound to chime in any time now.


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## lsg (Sep 2, 2016)

IMO, diluted liquid soap should contain a preservative.


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## CaraBou (Sep 10, 2016)

lsg said:


> IMO, diluted liquid soap should contain a preservative.



What works best?  The little research I've done suggests that you'd need to use a preservative that works with high pH, but the common ones I've heard of apparently aren't meant for that.


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## cmzaha (Sep 10, 2016)

I use Germall Plus in my LS and Cream Soap, but going to try Suttocide A


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