hmm....seems like no one likes the cleaning ability of 100% CO for dishes and hates it on the hands.
so maybe i will try 50% CO and the rest in OO and sunflower or something like that
and if i dont like its cleaning ability, i will try adding a little washing soda and/or borax to see if that improves its cleaning ability.
Good morning jnl
Be watchful on what you add to your liquid soap, certain items have duel purposes. For an example, adding Borax to your liquid soap is more of a ph adjuster, and if you use to much Borax, all that hard work to create your liquid soap will go to waste as you may end up bringing the ph way to low and "breaking" your soap. Meaning, your soap can get down to a point, someplace around a ph of 7% or lower, and turn your soap into an unusable solution, and not soap any longer. Plus, you didn’t want to use castor oil to make your LS, but instead are willing to put an ingredient in your LS that would be worse than castor oil. Not saying that Borax is bad, but it isn’t the trade of you are looking for. There is Lots of controversy going around Borax. Reasons for it, reasons against it. Just do a bit more research before using it, and if you do use Borax, use it the RIGHT way, mixing it first with water to make a solution, then adding it about 1 teaspoon at a time to your LS. but usually this is for bringing the PH down, not for adding cleansing ability to your LS. if you use coconut oil, you should already have a great LS. I don’t have all the answers for you, but it seems like you may want to do a bit more overall research before doing a batch of LS in the first place. Maybe I miss understood how you worded things, but it seemed as if you want to add the KOH Right into your pot of oils WITH The water and or Glycerin. If I mis read, my apologies. You need to make sure your Koh is clear as a bell mixed with the water OR the Glycerin, before adding to the pot of oils.
You will not get electrocuted, as there is no electricity in the soap, but it is akin to touching your tongue to a 9 volt battery as in the feeling of a very quick uncomfortable tingle/zap that is unmistakable. LS That has no zap, will feel pleasant on the tongue, a touch of sweetness, and no uncomfortable tingly zap when applied to the tongue. For me, I use the Glycerin Method to make my LS, and I also do my dishes with it. If you want to fill a sink up with soapy water, and then place your dishes into this water and proceed to do dishes, this is not really that kind of LS. This soap works better if placed directly on a sponge, and you squeeze it a few times to get up some bubbles, then scrub the dishes with the sponge, you will get beautiful nice clean dishes. Yes, the higher the superfat you do, the higher the chance of having certain feel to your dishes, not greasy, but a small film. Lower or zero superfat helps with that. Saying this, I prefer STILL a 3% superfat cause I don’t want my hands stripped. I DO use castor oil, olive oil, and coconut and for me, I am OK with the feel of my dishes. but if I were to fill a sink full of water and suds, this would NOT work for a 3% superfat, the bubbles would all pop soon enough and yes, you do get a film on top of the water and the dishes. That’s why I add it directly to a sponge. For the most part I end up with clean beautiful dishes.
Try making it both ways to SEE for yourself the difference, the soap will not be wasted as you can use it for so many applications. It would be educational for you to do zero percent superfat coconut soap, and do a 3% superfat for you to see the difference. In any case, research and extra time given to understand what you are doing will only be helpful in the long run. You don’t need many frustrating soaping days of "jumping into the deep end" times and having failures, this will only frustrate you. Taking a bit of extra time is GOOD so that you have a better understanding of what you are doing and the WHY behind adding new ingredients or exchanging out certain ones and replacing with other ones. Being informed before you start will only help you in the long run. Please ask ALL or any questions so that we can full help you before you begin. We WANT you to have a success here for sure! I am glad that you have the bug and are so eager to start Liquid Soap Making. Just take a step back to really understand why you are replacing or adding ingredients before you do it. IT WOULD be super frustrating to you to make a LS Only to have it fail from adding to much Borax or other items. Have a GREAT DAY!!!
