Anyone make soap from Biodiesel Glycerin

[lolaroxyb]

I was wondering if anyone here has made soap from glycerin from Biodiesel?
Looking to exchange ideas etc.
Jason

 

[Deda]

Please tell me more about this.

My first reaction was to google! There are a slew of articles on glycerin and biodiesel, including several on cattle feed. Then the eww yuck factor came in. Glycerin as a byproduct of biodiesel?

I want to keep an open mind, but after all, for me soap making was a natural progression - reduce, reuse, recycle. Green Green Green, raised by hippies, organic foods, Mother Gaia, plant my veggies by the moon...

I'm anxious to learn, I don't use glycerin soap, but after all the pretties I've seen here with M&P I may someday want to play.

Does this fit into my pseudo-philosophy? Can I take a potentially harmful waste product and turn it into something beautiful?

 

[Tabitha]

Biodiesel is made from natural crops such as soybean, flax, sunflower and palm oil.

The soap you would be making w/ biodiesel glycerin would not be M&P. Here is a link: http://www.permaculture.com/node/535

 

[lolaroxyb]

sorry hit new rather than reply

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We make biodiesel and the by product is natural vegetable glycerin. After we react the oil, it allows the glycerin to fall to the bottom of the tank. We drain the glycerin off. We use it to make liquid soap and bar soap. We also use the glycerin to run in a boiler that burns glycerin. This boiler heats our hot water and our oil to process into biodiesel. There is no yuck factor,it is natural vegetable glycerin. It is how soap was made by your grandmother with pig fat and lye and water. It is the most amazing de greaser I have ever used! We use the liquid 50% soap and 50% water in a spray bottle to clean the bathroom and kitchen. We wash the dogs,dishes,clothes with it. The bars are great to use at the shop; it removes all the grease without drying my hands. We use the glycerin for a natural weed killer and poison ivy killer around the house and shop. It will not hurt the dogs, kids or other plants.
The hardest thing to get over was the color: it is brown, light brown if we add shea butter. But that is the color of natural sugar, flour and glycerin. I just started to shave with the soap and a natural boar's hair brush. It did not give me razor burn like I get with other shaving creams. I know I sound like a salesman, but I was very skeptical at first. But I must admit I'm a believer now! The first batch my wife made I washed the pot and it took all the grease out of my finger prints. I had used a scrub brush and gojo prior to leaving the shop. It did not take the grease out of my finger prints. The glycerin soap did.

There are a few things I learned the hard way.
1) NaOH reacted glycerin does not make good liquid soap. It makes great bar soap
2)KoH reacted glycerin does not make good bar soap.
It make great liquid soap.
3) glycerin soap does not trace like other soap processes.
Other than these few things it has been great.
I make one batch of 64 bars per night. This week I'm going to 128 bars per batch. We cut it 24 hours after pouring into the mold. It then goes into trays and onto a drying rack for 30 days. We then rap it and label it.
We make the liquid soap in 5 gallon buckets and then into bottles and label it.
Take a look at the web site and you can see some pictures of what we have made.
www.thebrownsoapcompany.com
I would love to hear any suggestions.
Jason
_________________
Melissa B

 

[Deda]

Thank you both so much for the articles. Fascinating. I knew how glycerin was extracted from soap, but had no idea there was another type of glycerin. Now, where can I buy this glycerin. I want to try making a small batch? Where can I find the SAP value?

BTW, your soaps on your website are lovely.

 

[IanT]

Re: sorry hit new rather than reply

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We make biodiesel and the by product is natural vegetable glycerin. After we react the oil, it allows the glycerin to fall to the bottom of the tank. We drain the glycerin off. We use it to make liquid soap and bar soap. We also use the glycerin to run in a boiler that burns glycerin. This boiler heats our hot water and our oil to process into biodiesel. There is no yuck factor,it is natural vegetable glycerin. It is how soap was made by your grandmother with pig fat and lye and water. It is the most amazing de greaser I have ever used! We use the liquid 50% soap and 50% water in a spray bottle to clean the bathroom and kitchen. We wash the dogs,dishes,clothes with it. The bars are great to use at the shop; it removes all the grease without drying my hands. We use the glycerin for a natural weed killer and poison ivy killer around the house and shop. It will not hurt the dogs, kids or other plants.
The hardest thing to get over was the color: it is brown, light brown if we add shea butter. But that is the color of natural sugar, flour and glycerin. I just started to shave with the soap and a natural boar's hair brush. It did not give me razor burn like I get with other shaving creams. I know I sound like a salesman, but I was very skeptical at first. But I must admit I'm a believer now! The first batch my wife made I washed the pot and it took all the grease out of my finger prints. I had used a scrub brush and gojo prior to leaving the shop. It did not take the grease out of my finger prints. The glycerin soap did.

There are a few things I learned the hard way.
1) NaOH reacted glycerin does not make good liquid soap. It makes great bar soap
2)KoH reacted glycerin does not make good bar soap.
It make great liquid soap.
3) glycerin soap does not trace like other soap processes.
Other than these few things it has been great.
I make one batch of 64 bars per night. This week I'm going to 128 bars per batch. We cut it 24 hours after pouring into the mold. It then goes into trays and onto a drying rack for 30 days. We then rap it and label it.
We make the liquid soap in 5 gallon buckets and then into bottles and label it.
Take a look at the web site and you can see some pictures of what we have made.
www.thebrownsoapcompany.com
I would love to hear any suggestions.
Jason
_________________
Melissa B

[quasi hijack sorry!]

is there anyway to make glycerine for the home-DIY type person on the cheap??

maybe small batches for us apartment dwellers?

I know a little about the reaction..

 

[mcleodnaturals]

Re: sorry hit new rather than reply

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We make biodiesel and the by product is natural vegetable glycerin. After we react the oil, it allows the glycerin to fall to the bottom of the tank. We drain the glycerin off. We use it to make liquid soap and bar soap. We also use the glycerin to run in a boiler that burns glycerin. This boiler heats our hot water and our oil to process into biodiesel. There is no yuck factor,it is natural vegetable glycerin. It is how soap was made by your grandmother with pig fat and lye and water. It is the most amazing de greaser I have ever used! We use the liquid 50% soap and 50% water in a spray bottle to clean the bathroom and kitchen. We wash the dogs,dishes,clothes with it. The bars are great to use at the shop; it removes all the grease without drying my hands. We use the glycerin for a natural weed killer and poison ivy killer around the house and shop. It will not hurt the dogs, kids or other plants.
The hardest thing to get over was the color: it is brown, light brown if we add shea butter. But that is the color of natural sugar, flour and glycerin. I just started to shave with the soap and a natural boar's hair brush. It did not give me razor burn like I get with other shaving creams. I know I sound like a salesman, but I was very skeptical at first. But I must admit I'm a believer now! The first batch my wife made I washed the pot and it took all the grease out of my finger prints. I had used a scrub brush and gojo prior to leaving the shop. It did not take the grease out of my finger prints. The glycerin soap did.

There are a few things I learned the hard way.
1) NaOH reacted glycerin does not make good liquid soap. It makes great bar soap
2)KoH reacted glycerin does not make good bar soap.
It make great liquid soap.
3) glycerin soap does not trace like other soap processes.
Other than these few things it has been great.
I make one batch of 64 bars per night. This week I'm going to 128 bars per batch. We cut it 24 hours after pouring into the mold. It then goes into trays and onto a drying rack for 30 days. We then rap it and label it.
We make the liquid soap in 5 gallon buckets and then into bottles and label it.
Take a look at the web site and you can see some pictures of what we have made.
www.thebrownsoapcompany.com
I would love to hear any suggestions.
Jason
_________________
Melissa B

I know this is a soap making forum...BUT... I'd love to pick your brain about your biodiesel-making process. We farm in Alberta and have been kicking around the idea of biodiesel as well, but just haven't gotten around to it. My hubby has been searching online for info and methods, but perhaps getting it right from the 'horse's mouth' might make it easier to understand!

Thanks for any info you might be able to share!!

Kelly

 

[lolaroxyb]

Kelly I sent you a PM.
As far a an apartment dweller goes, I would not recommend making bio in an apartment. You could find a local biodiesel person and they would part with some glycerin. Tell me what area you are from and I can get you to a board in that area.
Jason

 

[IanT]

Im in FL

 

[Tabitha]

Check out this related thread: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4570

 

[Laurie]

Check out this related thread: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4570

I only live 61/2 hrs from this source of glycerin. But actually I have a friend here who makes bio-diesel. He says his glycerin isn't fit for making soap. Is there a certain process you have to put it thru to clean it up?

Laurie

 

[mcleodnaturals]

Check out this related thread: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4570

I only live 61/2 hrs from this source of glycerin. But actually I have a friend here who makes bio-diesel. He says his glycerin isn't fit for making soap. Is there a certain process you have to put it thru to clean it up?

Laurie

Laurie...where are you? I'm only 1 1/2 hrs south of Calgary...I think I might give that a try and see how it is to make soap before my hubby and I go all gung-ho into the biodiesel. Not that we would only make biodiesel for the glycerin! :roll: Always neat to try something new!!

 

[Laurie]

McLeod...I am in Saskatoon. I do have 2 gallons of vegetable glycerin in my storage room that I have had for awhile. I bought it for other purposes, but I wouldn't mind trying a batch with it. Does anyone have a recipe they would share. Would be much appreciated.

Laurie

 

[Deda]

I am so excited!

I found a local co-op in NoVa that is making biodiesel. I just heard back from the guy that started it. They are making their first batches in 2 weeks! I cannot wait to try this out.

I have read nearly every single word of all the links you all have posted and I am fascinated! I feel like such an idiot. I had no idea that fuel was being made like this, and frankly when I heard the term "biodiesel" I thought, icky stuff, big belching factories, higher feed prices.... All the media pablum I was fed. Until now my only interest in fuel was to use less. Not where it came from.

Thank you again for all the info. I look forward to learning more.

 

[lolaroxyb]

Why would his glycerin not be fit for soap making? Is it because it still has methanol in it? You can get that out no problem! Or does he just think that it can not be made into soap like the rest of the bio community?
That is what I was told, but we are proof that is wrong!

As far as recipes you can look at www.blackcrownsoap.com
Tell Luc, I told you to contact him. His guide to making biodiesel soap is great! The price is cheap and the e-mail support is worth a thousand times more that the price of the guide. As far as a recipe goes each type of oil requires a different approach. It is never betty crocker cooking, but if I can do it so can anyone.

 

[Laurie]

Why would his glycerin not be fit for soap making? Is it because it still has methanol in it? You can get that out no problem! Or does he just think that it can not be made into soap like the rest of the bio community?
That is what I was told, but we are proof that is wrong!

He gets his oil from the restaurants, dirty oil. Is that how you do it. This guy just got married and hasn't been making it for awhile. Not sure if he is going to continue.

As far as recipes you can look at www.blackcrownsoap.com
Tell Luc, I told you to contact him. His guide to making biodiesel soap is great! The price is cheap and the e-mail support is worth a thousand times more that the price of the guide. As far as a recipe goes each type of oil requires a different approach. It is never betty crocker cooking, but if I can do it so can anyone.

He gets his oil from the restaurants, dirty oil. Is that how you do it. This guy just got married and hasn't been making it for awhile. Not sure if he is going to continue.


Thank you so much for this link. Will look into it when I get a chance.

Laurie

 

[lolaroxyb]

Yes, it all starts with used oil or WVO from pizza shops and bars. It is then cleaned filtered and reacted into biodiesel. The glycerin is drained and any trace methanol is removed and it is turned into soap. A lot of the bio brewers still say it can not be done. Don't tell my glycerin that cause I don't want to stop!
Jason

 

[Birdie]

...I don't use glycerin soap, but after all the pretties I've seen here with M&P I may someday want to play...

Just a side note - All homemade HP & CP soaps are 'glycerin' soaps. It is a by-product of the SAP process and is in the resulting bar soap. MPs, not necessarily so.

I don't make bio-fuels but would like to own a convert car one day and make my own. In regards to the "dirty" oil, it is filtered through layers to remove the solid impurities so don't think that you would get french fry bits for exfoliation.

My questions to you, Jason, is - How long have you made soaps? and Do you use a lye calculator at all for this process? What discount? Do you have to scent your soaps to cover a 'smell'?

 

[Soapmaker Man]

I just wonder what SAP value you figure? Since you don't know what oils the restaurants used, how do you figure it? What lye discount do you take? I think some of the fatty acids are used up, I mean absorbed by the fried foods, so the "normal" fat for XXX oil would not be present as it would OOB.

Paul

 

[mandolyn]

If this is the best lather you get:
http://www.permaculture.com/node/535
I'm not impressed. Maybe that's why commercial soap uses SLS?

How is this that different from commercial glycerin soaps other than where the glycerin comes from?

I'm ignorant.