Always excess oil no matter what i do

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

zeth4500

New Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2025
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Location
Europe
hi so ive for about half a year been making liquid soap on/off, and theres ALWAYS excess oil in it.
currently i have made one batch with 100g sunflower oil and 35 grammes of potassium hydroxide flakes (90%)
which, is more than twice whats normally used
my procedure is basically, pour oil into tall stainless steel pot
measure out potassium hydroxide
add hot water to dissolve it (about 100mL or more)
add it to the oil, turn on the heatsetting to 1
stickblend it for a while and leave it on stove overnight adding in a bit more water.
its usually clear when i check up on it in the morning but when it cools down, after adding in some water it turns turbid, or adding a small amount of it to excess cold water
it doesnt even smell like base. ive used various soap making calculators. are they all just completely wrong and you have to add a gigantic excess of the base?? probably 10th time im trying this now and ive used a lot of the KOH that i bought expensively. i tried sodium hydroxide too but same problem
 
"... are they all just completely wrong and you have to add a gigantic excess of the base??..."

No, they are not wrong. It's something you're doing; it's not the fault of the calculator.

You say the soap is clear when it is warm but cloudy when it's at room temperature. What temperature is "room temperature" where you live?

Is the soap just cloudy or does it also separate into two layers over time? A photo would be helpful to give more detail.

Are you repeatedly using the same type of sunflower oil?

Is the sunflower oil a high oleic type or a conventional (high linoleic) type?

If you have used fats other than the sunflower oil, please explain.

Are you using distilled or demineralized water for making the paste and for dilution? If not, what type of water are you using?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top