Liquid soap help

SimpleSoaper · Feb 24, 2016

EVOO 16.0 oz
Water 6.08 oz
KOH 3.04 oz

It's been cooking an hour or so. It looks to me like it has gelled, but it doesn't pass the water dilution test. Should be clear, right?. Do I just keep cooking?

Susie · Feb 24, 2016

Best as I can figure, you have a 10% superfat there. If you want clear soap, you need to reduce the superfat to 3% or less.

To fix this batch, I would add .24 oz (6.8 g) KOH to 1.6 g of water and add to the crock pot. I would probably cook and stir until it is completely incorporated, then turn the crock pot off and let it sit for a few hours before zap testing it.

Please note that I said zap test rather than clarity test. Clarity does not determine if you soap is "done" or "safe". Zap testing does.

SimpleSoaper · Feb 24, 2016

Thanks for the reply. I got my recipe from soapcalc, and specified 0% superfat. Does this look right?

traderbren · Feb 24, 2016

Most KOH is 90% pure. You need to tick the little box that says 90% under the KOH on Soapcalc. With a 2:1 ratio, I get 3.38 oz KOH for this batch.

SimpleSoaper · Feb 24, 2016

OK, thanks a lot. I didn't catch that on soapcalc. My KOH says >=85% pure. I'll try adding the extra KOH and see what happens...

KristaY · Feb 24, 2016

You may have already added your lye mixture so this is probably not helpful right now, lol. When I'm making LS I like to use 3:1 water/lye ratio which makes the soap paste a bit easier to work with. 2:1 ratio certainly isn't wrong or going to make bad soap but 3:1 just makes it a bit easier to work with.

SimpleSoaper · Feb 24, 2016

Thanks again to all who replied. I added the extra KOH and it now passes the clear water test. I'll let it sit until tomorrow, do a zap test, and then dilute it.