# Hand soap



## Bigmoose (Jul 22, 2009)

I was thinking of making some hand soap bars, for people with greasy hands.  Something like the Lava bars if you have ever seen those.  My question is just how much coconut oil should I put in it?  Since it will be for hands only I don't mind going past what soapcalc recommends for cleaning.  Any thoughts on this?

Bruce


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## LJA (Jul 22, 2009)

Maybe some fine pumace in there?


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## carebear (Jul 22, 2009)

Bruce, anywhere up to 100%!  Seriously1

It depends on your whole mix - I cannot just answer a question like that.

Depending on the type of dirt you are going after you may want to drop your superfat pretty low.

Pumice is great - it's what is in Lava.


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## Deda (Jul 22, 2009)

When you mix pumice or ground luffa in CP don't do it at thin trace.  It will all sink (pumice) or float (luffa).  - Mistake #453.


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2009)

Grease dissolves grease....so 100% coconut super-fatted galore would work well. I know of a commercial mechanic's hand soap that contains cornmeal instead of pumice. It works well.


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## carebear (Jul 22, 2009)

Deda said:
			
		

> When you mix pumice or ground luffa in CP don't do it at thin trace.  It will all sink (pumice) or float (luffa).  - Mistake #453.



see, we DO admit our errors! 
(Mistake #11, 79, 418, 647 for me - I'm a slow learner)


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## MikeInPdx (Jul 22, 2009)

I agree with the pumice as the best option.

Another option for really greasy hands is to add about 1.6 oz kerosene (YES kerosene) ppo. Mix it in with your melted oils and then work up as usual.

It really boosts cleaning on oily stuff. Sandy Maine uses it in her Mechanics Special soap, and I use it in stain sticks to get soaping oils out.....works like a sonofagun!


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## MikeInPdx (Jul 22, 2009)

carebear said:
			
		

> Deda said:
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Join the club.....I think I make a new mistake about every batch. However, recovering from them makes me a better soaper.


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2009)

carebear said:
			
		

> Deda said:
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Does this have anything to do with the thread ?


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## carebear (Jul 22, 2009)

indeed it does!

did your post?


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## Deda (Jul 22, 2009)

Kitn said:
			
		

> carebear said:
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Kitn, mistakes are how we learn.  It's not just reading, but actually doing.  
The #'s, well that's because most of us really do want to learn, we keep track of the mistakes, along with the errors.  I have volumes of comp books and spirals with notes about failed batches. Numbered.

I'm hoping your comment was tongue in cheek and not truly snarky.


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2009)

_Nasty, inflammatory comments divulging personal information will not be tolerated._


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## Bigmoose (Jul 22, 2009)

I keep a log on every batch of soap I make and put it into the computer.  I put a code on the label so that if anything goes wrong I can always go back and see just what I did.  As for the hand soap I did order some pumice and from what all of you very helpful soapers have said I think I will go 100% coconut oil.  Now I just need to decide on the level of superfat!

Bruce


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## honor435 (Jul 22, 2009)

i made some "hand" soap, use lots of pk, it will be very cleansing and hard as rock!


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## kittywings (Jul 22, 2009)

:shock:


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## carebear (Jul 22, 2009)

allow me to clarify for anyone who was wondering about the relevance of my post:

indeed I do keep a log of "lessons learned".  and beyond that, I was pointing out that 
1 - even experiences soapers make mistakes
2 - sometimes we have to re-learn things, thus the repeat mistakes
3 - it's important to pay attention to what you are doing even when experienced
4 - it doesn't hurt to remind soapers, new and old (tho I'm not that old), numbers 1-3 above.  at times I could have benefited from a reminder ")


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## LJA (Jul 22, 2009)

:shock:


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## ChrissyB (Jul 22, 2009)

Carebear, I agree.
Sometimes, I get it in my head that I have to try something, even though I've done it before and it didn't work, I might think "well if I do this differently the outcome will be different".
And then it doesn't work anyway!!


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## topcat (Jul 22, 2009)

Thank you all for the relevant information on this thread...I am in the process of developing a mechanic's hand soap and need to 'up' the ground dirt cleansing effect....I have already added pumice (thanks for the past help on that one Carebear!) and need to tweak the cleansing factor, so your input here Mike is awesome.  I never would have come up with kerosene on my own that's for sure :shock: 

Thanks again (and to you too Bruce for starting this one :wink: )

Tanya


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## ChrissyB (Jul 23, 2009)

I imagine you have to soap cool with the kerosene?
I am interested in trying this out for some stain sticks.
DH rides motorbikes and comes home with all manner of grease on him.


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## dagmar88 (Jul 23, 2009)

:roll: Even DH's without motorbikes come home greasy   
The kerosine idea is wonderful, but I'd be a bit scared to use in and to have it laying around. Very curious how your soaps will turn out.


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## vivcarm (Jul 23, 2009)

Is there much of a smell left with Kerosene? How do you make your stain sticks - if you don't mind giving me a clue!


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## carebear (Jul 23, 2009)

I've been thinking of using the kerosine thing.  Or maybe just PineSol - what do you think?


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## ChrissyB (Jul 23, 2009)

I don't know if I'm weird, but I quite like the smell of kerosene. 
And no I don't sniff it or anything.
Does anyone know how the kerosene would work to remove stains?


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## gekko62 (Jul 23, 2009)

ChrissyB said:
			
		

> I don't know if I'm weird, but I quite like the smell of kerosene.
> And no I don't sniff it or anything.
> Does anyone know how the kerosene would work to remove stains?



It dissolves grease/oil....greasemonkeys use it to clean engine parts (and hands!) so it's gotta work!  

But I've not had any luck getting rid of the kero smell


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## MikeInPdx (Jul 23, 2009)

The kerosene smell dissipates quickly once you rinse your hands or the article of clothing in the case of the stain stick.

No additional fuss is needed with the kerosene. Just pour it in to your melted oils. It's flammable, but not explosive like gasoline or turpentine, which I heartily do NOT recommend using. Just keep it out of the reach of children like you would with other chemicals. It's the same stuff they used to fill lamps with. 

For stain sticks, just make up a 100% lard or palm batch. Use soapcalc/soapmaker etc.... to determine lye for 0% superfat. Add 1.6 oz kerosene for each pound of melted oil, add your lye, and stick blend to a thick trace.....you want a heavy trace to minimize the chance of curdling.

Then I pour it into a mold, I don't bother insulating. When it's set up, I cut the soap into butter sized sticks. These will remove soaping oils, and they're dirt cheap to make.


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## Deda (Jul 23, 2009)

Mike, those sound great.  I'm going to give them a try.  
DH is an HVAC/MacGyver guy, he always come home smelling of grease/dirt in the warmer months, and fuel oil in the winter.  Ugh.


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## MikeInPdx (Jul 23, 2009)

Deda said:
			
		

> Mike, those sound great.  I'm going to give them a try.
> DH is an HVAC/MacGyver guy, he always come home smelling of grease/dirt in the warmer months, and fuel oil in the winter.  Ugh.



They work very well....another happy byproduct of the kerosene....it's a GREAT deodorizer.


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## LJA (Jul 23, 2009)

Hmm...what do you think of putting them in twist up tubes? Would that even work?  Probably not.  Do people freak out when they read kerosene is in them?  I can see my smell/germ freak mother slipping immediately into a cardiac arrest...lol


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## MikeInPdx (Jul 23, 2009)

LJA said:
			
		

> Hmm...what do you think of putting them in twist up tubes? Would that even work?  Probably not.  Do people freak out when they read kerosene is in them?  I can see my smell/germ freak mother slipping immediately into a cardiac arrest...lol



You can always label them with "petroleum distillates" and be perfectly correct.

If you want something odor free that will sub for the kerosene.....go over to the art supply section and look for odorless turpentine substitue....."petroleum distillates" is still the correct label. Turpenoid is what I buy, and it doesn't compete with fragrance oils. 

Basically, these stain sticks are nothing more than a homemade version of Fels Naptha.....it uses the same products to cut oils.


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## LJA (Jul 23, 2009)

Awesome. Mike!!  Thanks for that info and idea!


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2009)

Well, you've inspired me. I've been buying hand soap for some mechanics and now I'll try to make some and see what they think. Fun never ends, huh?
I'll use the odorless turpentine, but now I'm wondering how much? I'll use cornmeal instead of pumice (already know they prefer the commercial cornmeal hand cleaner to Lava). This commercial stuff is a paste, so I guess it doesn't matter how much turpentine. It goes into a tub and they just scoop a bit out each time. I'll let you know what they think of it.


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## MikeInPdx (Jul 23, 2009)

10%-20% of the total weights of your oils. I like 10%.....so, for 16 oz (1 lb) oils, you would use 1.6 oz.


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2009)

MikeInPdx said:
			
		

> 10%-20% of the total weights of your oils. I like 10%.....so, for 16 oz (1 lb) oils, you would use 1.6 oz.



THANKS! I'll make a test batch as soon as I can find the odorless turpentine.


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## ChrissyB (Jul 24, 2009)

Okay Mike you've got 50% of smf members making kero soap this weekend!
I actually can't wait to give it a try, I'm just going to make a plain old 100% palm batch and add it to that. It sounds great!
Thanks Mike!


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## Guest (Jul 24, 2009)

ChrissyB said:
			
		

> I'm just going to make a plain old 100% palm batch and add it to that. It sounds great!
> Thanks Mike!



I made a test batch of 100% palm once.
The soap had a coarse-feel to it, doesn't lather worth toot and yeah, it's hard alright...not good soap.
Have you made 100% palm oil soap before and experienced something different?


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## MikeInPdx (Jul 24, 2009)

ChrissyB said:
			
		

> Okay Mike you've got 50% of smf members making kero soap this weekend!
> I actually can't wait to give it a try, I'm just going to make a plain old 100% palm batch and add it to that. It sounds great!
> Thanks Mike!



You might be happier if you add about 20% coconut oil.....especially if you're put off by the texture that Castor Fan descried.....otherwise, it works well.

I think my favorite batch of stain sticks to date, now that I spent an evening with my notebook and soaping books are 70% lard or palm and 30% coconut.


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## Bigmoose (Jul 24, 2009)

I think my favorite batch of stain sticks to date, now that I spent an evening with my notebook and soaping books are 70% lard or palm and 30% coconut.


Mike you are sooooo close to what I do with that recipe.  Yes I do like them as well!

Bruce


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## mtbowhunter (Mar 10, 2010)

Hi all - 
I'm curious how long the kerosene smell remains in your laundry.  I'm interested in making a good batch of laundry soap and utilizing it's oil removing qualities.  

Does anyone know what the effect of kerosene is on the durability of clothing?  How often can you use this type of soap on laundry?

What percentage super fatting is recommended when working with kerosene soap? (For laundry use and hand cleaning)  

Will safflower oil work in laundry soap?

Thanks!!

Cheers,

Joe Gill
Missoula, MT


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## ChrissyB (Mar 10, 2010)

Hi Joe,  Welcome to SMF.
I made this soap way back when this thread was started.
As I stated before, my DH rides motorbikes, and he works in a bicycle shop, so he always has grease marks on his jeans. 
In the end I used 70% palm and 30% Coconut oil with a zero superfat, this soap wasn't being made to wash any person, just clothes.
To use it, I wet the soap, wet the stain and rub. Rub rub rub. It lathers up some. I leave it for a few minutes while I sort other clothes. Then throw the jeans/whatever in the wash. I wash with cold water. I have never ever ever noticed the smell of kerosene on the clothes. Next time I am going to make these in tubes, so they can be taken out in my handbag. I have small children who always get grubby. Actually I have nearly grown children and they always get grubby too. I just don't follow them around. 
As far as the safflower oil, how much in % would you use for this soap? My experience with this soap is that the harder it is, the better. Safflower used in a high amount will make for a soft soap, and most definitely DOS (dreaded orange spots, or rancidity/oxidisation of the oils). Not entirely bad for just a laundry soap but not really good either.

Did anyone else make this soap? Deda? Carebear? Dag?


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## dagmar88 (Mar 11, 2010)

No, I really want to though. We have a mechanic friend and neighbour and I'd really like to make him some... No kerosene for sale in smaller amounts around here. I don't want to buy and store a drum  :?


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## RockinRodeoChick (Mar 11, 2010)

Man, I wish I was going to be home this weekend. I really want to try this now. Maybe I can talk my mother in law into letting me lug all my soap stuff with me the 4 hours to her house and then making soap with me. XD


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## shadowdancer (Jun 20, 2011)

Hi everyone, so glad to have found this site   Loving it so far!!!   

I have a question, I've been soaping for around 10 years, but was wondering if I was to do a 100% Coconut Oil soap, would it be socially acceptable to my customers instead of using the Palm oil, and would the soap be hard enough for the stain sticks ?  

I've not made a 100% hard CO bar before, but have made it for laundry soap or gloop as we call it.  It cleans well, but sometimes leaves the clothes a little "grey" even when I add Borax.  

ETA:  Instead of the Kerosene would Eucalyptus Oil be a viable substitute? I have plenty of that hanging around but no Kerosene. 

TIA! 
Cheers, 
Shadowdancer


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## Bubbles Galore (Jun 20, 2011)

shadowdancer said:
			
		

> Hi everyone, so glad to have found this site   Loving it so far!!!
> 
> I have a question, I've been soaping for around 10 years, but was wondering if I was to do a 100% Coconut Oil soap, would it be socially acceptable to my customers instead of using the Palm oil, and would the soap be hard enough for the stain sticks ?
> 
> ...



Hiya Shadowdancer, I only just saw you here. Do you want me to send you a 100% coconut oil soap to try, so you can see how hard it is? I made the last batch on the 10th April. I'm still loving the Body Masque that you sent me.


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## shadowdancer (Jun 20, 2011)

hiya right on back Bubbles Galore... 

Oh yes please, that would be awesome!!!    I just want to see just how hard it is, and if it's what I want for a stain stick... something Im finding I am needing now that hubby is back doing his usual polishing etc in the Stainless Steel industry. :S  Hate doing that washing!!!  

Cheers and thanks soooo much. 
xo


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