Biodiesel Glycerin Soap (BDG) Examples

[knicelyr]

I thought I would start a thread showing what can be done with the Biodiesel Glycerin.

Our biodiesel glycerin is already "soap" it's about 40% soap and 60% glycerin. And has what I like to call "saponifiable elements". You can think of it as a "bad" batch of soap. One that is under saponified, unbalanced and maybe too rich in glycerin.

By fully saponifying the biodiesel glycerin and the addition of a few ingredients we can have bars that are hard as any store bought or traditional bars and lather just as well as non-biodiesel soaps.

We can also combat the tendency bars have to sweat by using a technique I call "glycerin negation". This allows us to keep the soap glycerin rich but just under the sweating threshold.

We can also make liquids that are just as thick and lathering as any store bought liquid soap or shampoo.

Right now I am working on a laundry soap that dissolves as quickly as you would expect for a laundry soap.

All of these examples are at least 80% biodiesel glycerin.

Think about how much you spend on raw materials. Using the biodiesel glycerin can really cut down on material costs. Heck... It's almost free. There are so many biodieselers out there wanting to have it taken off their hands.

One clarification about the biodiesel glycerin - Many assume we are using biodiesel fuel itself in making soap. We are not. The process of making biodiesel leaves a soapy glycerin mix. We decant the biodiesel and use only the glycerin layer in making our soap. This layer can loosely be compared to melt and pour glycerin. Except it is, in most cases, brown in color. It will be golden in color if the oil has never been used for cooking.

Actually... One method of making soap commercially involves esterification. Basically a soap company will esterify (make biodiesel) from the oil to separate the glycerin. Their glycerin is then refined with distillation and sold as another product. The esters (Biodiesel) are then converted into soaps. These soaps being void of glycerin.

 

[knicelyr]

Here are a few photos;

 

[knicelyr]

Here are a few lathering pictures of my latest lavender.

 

[knicelyr]

I invite others making soap from Biodiesel Glycerin to follow suit and post some pictures on this thread.

Great stuff!

Happy Soaping!

 

[Guest]

Im sorry, it sounds so complicated. Where do you find the bio stuff to make soap with?

 

[knicelyr]

Im sorry, it sounds so complicated. Where do you find the bio stuff to make soap with?

William, actually it's as easy or even easier to make soap from biodiesel glycerin. Think of it as just another whole oil that has a SAP number. When you mix the ingredients together you mix your lye and water and make soap just like you are used to. CP, HP, GM.

The biodiesel glycerin can be used as the bulk of the recipe or as a small portion of the oils. It can even be used for the normal glycerin that is added to soaps in some soap making recipes. It really is sooo easy to add to your arsenal of soap making ingredients.

It should be fairly easy to obtain, Biodiesel is everywhere... I mean absolutely everywhere. You should be able to easily find someone in your area. You could check the biodiesel forum for people in your area http://www.biodieseldiscussion.com/. And I would be happy to ship you some depending on where you are located.

 

[knicelyr]

This weekends batch with added transparency.

 

[Guest]

Teach us how to do it, Rick and sell us bio-stuff.

 

[knicelyr]

That's the beauty -- you can get as much of the biodiesel glycerin as you want for free. The rest of the ingredients you probably already have in your soap making materials.

It can be up to 80% of the final bar soap and up to almost 100% of the liquid soap.

 

[dagmar88]

Hey Knicelyr,
I learned using a high % of glycerine pulls moist out of the skin, instead of moisturizing :? How come you don't have any drying effects from this soap?

 

[knicelyr]

That can be true of glycerin.

But the amount of glycerin in our biodiesel glycerin is more on the order of melt and pour soap. Or similar to the glycerin content in transparent soap like is described in Catharine Failor's book "Making Transparent Soap".

We also perform "glycerin negation" when needed. Basically adding ingredients that reduce the effect of glycerin on the bars. By doing this we can stop the sweating that can be an issue with glycerin rich soaps. Biodiesel or "Melt and Pour" soap can have sweating issues.

Calling it "biodiesel glycerin" is really sort of a misnomer... In reality it is really already a soap. It just needs some work... Sort of like a bad batch of soap.

I have had only positive comments from anyone who has used the soap, their first comment usually relates to how nice their skin feels. Many rave of how well it does to clean their face, blackheads and such.

I would be happy to send you some if you would like to try it out for yourself.

 

[dagmar88]

That's so sweet of you; but shipping costs to the Netherlands would be a little bit too outragious
Thanks for the answer, now I understand. Very interesting!

 

[oldragbagger]

It's really very attractive soap. If it's nice on the skin and the materials are free or cheap, I can't see the downside. Have you considered doing a tutorial?

 

[knicelyr]

Yes,
I am in the process of getting a video together.

The soap is so great. I really hope that some non-biodiesel people start getting interested. There is so much biodiesel glycerin out there. And it's free for the taking. The biodiesel people will be happy to give it to you.

I use 80% - 85% for bars and almost 100% for liquid.

Imagine... 80% of your product obtained for free!

 

[LizRNBSN]

Is this stuff even safe to make soap out of, when I hear diesel, its not something I would ever think I would make soap out of? Where do you get this stuff?

 

[knicelyr]

Re: Biodiesel Glycerin Soap Examples

Yes Biodiesel Glycerin is safe -- I referenced this issue on the very first post of this thread.

Our biodiesel glycerin is already "soap" it's about 40% soap and 60% glycerin. And has what I like to call "saponifiable elements". You can think of it as a "bad" batch of soap. One that is under saponified, unbalanced and maybe too rich in glycerin.
...
One clarification about the biodiesel glycerin - Many assume we are using biodiesel fuel itself in making soap. We are not. The process of making biodiesel leaves a soapy glycerin mix. We decant the biodiesel and use only the glycerin layer in making our soap. This layer can loosely be compared to melt and pour glycerin. Except it is, in most cases, brown in color. It will be golden in color if the oil has never been used for cooking.

The only similarity petrol diesel and biodiesel have are that they both burn in a diesel engine. The biodiesel fuel is non toxic and biodegradable -- if you wanted to do so you could drink it. I wouldn't recommend it only because of its flavor - Ask me how I know...

However many commercial soaps have petrol products in them one of which is propylene glycol -- glycerin's cheaper cousin.

The process to make biodiesel is very similar to making soap. Soap and glycerin are produced in the process. This soap and glycerin is separated from the biodiesel and this is what we use to make soap.

The soaps and glycerin are identical to those made when using oils and lye to make soap.

There is nothing toxic contained in the biodiesel glycerin provided that the methanol has been removed. This is properly done by heating the glycerin up to 275*F - 350*F. The methanol is captured for use in the biodiesel process.

Lye is used to process any oil or glycerides that happen to be there.

In the end it is Soap, Glycerin and Water. Same ingredients that are contained in the soap you are used to making.

Biodiesel glycerin contains no petrol fuel, is non-toxic (when the methanol is properly eliminated), is biodegradable, and contains only soap and glycerin once fully saponified.
Biodiesel itself is NOT used to make soap, however if it were it would also be non-toxic and biodegradable.

 

[tincanac]

Thanks for posting all that info - it was very interesting to read. Your soap pics are cool as well, I like the colour and the look!

 

[oldragbagger]

I think what some of the readers here are missing is that BIOdiesel, if I am understanding it correctly, is not a petroleum product at all. It is diesel made from vegetable oils (which is what we use in soap already) so it's not really so different. Am I correct?

 

[knicelyr]

bagger,
You are exactly correct. Totally made from vegetable oils.

In fact you could make a small batch in your kitchen in about 10 minutes with the ingredients you use to make soap. You will need some alcohol.

I think that the word diesel is scaring people off. I wish we could call it something else. It's not even the biodiesel itself. Biodiesel is just an adjective describing where the glycerin/soap came from.

Maybe call it "Extracted Glycerin"? LOL

 

[Qetesh]

i am interested

iam a newbie to soap making but this sounds very interesting. and environmentally friendly as well. it makes a very nice looking bar of soap as well