Acidid Soap

[Maaki]

So, I have been been thinking of some ideas; especially that since the human skin has a ph of around 5.5 then in theory an acidic soap would be better for the skin? I know that some citric acid is usually added to liquid soap to balance the ph, but I have been thinking of making an HP batch and adding citric acid after the cure to try to achieve this ph level. Anyone has any experience with this or know if I'll just end up with a greasy mess as some posts suggest? I havent been able to read anything about it being applied to HP soap.

 

[Kari Howie]

I’m not sure that’s a good idea without due diligence. Do some research of the effects of various pHs on skin.

 

[user 29721]

Great idea but difficult to achieve. There were posts in here on the same just recently. Soap is a buffer - meaning when you add acid it balances it out. While you can create something with acidic PH it probably won't be called soap anymore.

 

[BattleGnome]

By definition soap has a certain pH. That’s just what soap is. If you want to play with pH you’d probably have to add some syndets to play with the pH.

 

[KiwiMoose]

If you lower the pH then it won't actually stay solid as soap, it will be a gooey mess. Check this out (you must watch to the end):

 

[IrishLass]

By definition, true soap (i.e., the kind that we make with lye, water and fats) is an alkaline salt of fatty acid, which means its pH will always be on the alkaline side of the pH scale. If you add enough acid to it so that it's no longer alkaline, it's will no longer be true soap and it will no longer get you clean.

If you want a cleanser that is closer to the pH of skin, you'll have to look into using detergents.


IrishLass

 

[lenarenee]

The skin care industry makes a big deal out of restoring your skin's pH - and sells a lot of expensive products for that purpose. Truth is, the body is always working to maintain balance (homeostasis), so even if you wash with a soap with a pH of 11 - in just a couple of hours the skin will naturally return to it's own pH.

 

[MickeyRat]

Here's a video where Kevin Dunn, chemist and author of Scinetific Soap Making, demonstrates that if you add enough acid to soap to make it acidic, it quits being soap.

 

[Maaki]

Thanks everyone for your enlightening words. It does seem like one should follow the voice of experience in these matters. This could be a great idea for a science fair experiment though.