Borax Hand Soap for Blacksmith or other dirty work

[KiwiMoose]

Dissolve Borax in boiling water. Use some of the water used to make the Lye Solution. Once dissolved add it to the warmed oils before adding the lye solution.

ETA: Borax is SO finicky! Once dissolved, it particulates out and settles to the bottom, hard as a rock and next to impossible to break up and re-use. (Don't ask how I know that... )

But I did, I did, I did! It was boiling water 120g with Borax 62g. I stirred and stirred and it would dissolve so i added 30g more boiling water.
I read somewhere later that you should add a little borax at a time to the boiling water, so next time I might try that. Add two teaspoons, stir until dissolved, then add two more.. etc.

 

[Servant4Christ]

Good idea! Try a tablespoon of Borax in 2-3 ounces of boiling water. Let it set. Don't stir. Then time it to see how long it takes to cool to a hard solid mass at the bottom of the Pyrex cup. Curious minds want to know... that includes me.

I figured I'd try the same amount of Borax as the recipe and stir into boiling hot water to dissolve and then see how long it stays dissolved to give me an idea of how much time I've got to get it into the soap batter, but mostly just to see if I can get the Borax to dissolve as that seems to truly be an issue.

 

[AliOop]

Maybe there are different particulate sizes of Borax, with the finer particles dissolving more easily? Mine has always dissolved with no issue, but I'm about to use a new batch of borax from a different supplier, and now I'm .

 

[Servant4Christ]

Maybe there are different particulate sizes of Borax, with the finer particles dissolving more easily? Mine has always dissolved with no issue, but I'm about to use a new batch of borax from a different supplier, and now I'm .

I have the mule team borax that my local grocery store carries, but I might not bother experimenting because guess what just showed up a day early?! My d-Limonene! It smells exactly like Fast Orange degreaser that dh uses in the garage! Now I'm kicking myself for not having orange peel powder on hand.

 

[AliOop]

I have the mule team borax that my local grocery store carries, but I might not bother experimenting because guess what just showed up a day early?! My d-Limonene! It smells exactly like Fast Orange degreaser that dh uses in the garage! Now I'm kicking myself for not having orange peel powder on hand.

That's great! I'd still use the borax with it tho. The combination is a winner.

EDIT: re-reading that, I realized that you probably meant that you won't experiment with dissolving, that you will just make the soap? If so, YES go for it!

 

[Servant4Christ]

That's great! I'd still use the borax with it tho. The combination is a winner.

EDIT: re-reading that, I'm realized that you probably meant that you won't experiment with dissolving, that you will just make the soap? If so, YES go for it!

Yep, I'm not bothering to experiment with dissolving the borax. I was just looking for a way to bide my time while waiting for the D-limonene! Now that it's here, I'm just gonna jump right in with both feet!

 

[AliOop]

Funny coincidence, my husband took both our vehicles in for oil changes (mine yesterday, his today). Our mechanic asked him to ask me for more mechanic's soap. I bagged up my last four bars for delivery today when my DH picked up his truck, so guess who else will be making mechanic's soap very soon?

 

[KiwiMoose]

Yep, I'm not bothering to experiment with dissolving the borax. I was just looking for a way to bide my time while waiting for the D-limonene! Now that it's here, I'm just gonna jump right in with both feet!

You go girlfriend!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Any updates @Servant4Christ ? How did it go?

 

[Servant4Christ]

No, I haven't made it yet. Family stuff took precedence, but I'm hoping to tonight.

 

[KiwiMoose]

No, I haven't made it yet. Family stuff took precedence, but I'm hoping to tonight.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Like every other soap, it should smell good! Guys as well as gals are drawn to fragrance... and fragrance sells!

Hang on a minute - fragrance sells, shea sells....
Shea sells fragrant sea shells on the fragrant shea soap stall.
Some of you may wonder what I'm going on about - but that's OK, humour me.

 

[Servant4Christ]

My mold and oils are ready! Took me what felt like forever to line my mold. I've thrown away a half dozen botched attempts since yesterday.

 

[Servant4Christ]

Nothing fancy. I used the trinity recipe (40 palm, 35 olive, 20 coconut, 5 castor) from @Zany_in_CO at 40% lye concentration (not dual lye). 2% SF per @earlene 's recipe. I added 2% d-limonene that @AliOop uses and I seriously wonder if I should've used more because it's not very strong smelling in the batter at all so I hope the scent actually sticks. I did end up using the honey and also threw in some lime zest for added citrus and scrubbiness. No colorants because I want to see how it looks au naturel, first.
I haven't decided whether I'll use my wavy cutter or my modified wire cheese cutter. I can cut at 24hrs, same as usual, right?

 

[Zing]

Hey, @Servant4Christ , go ahead and just ignore her. The soaper who kept us waiting since June 2022 is all of a sudden impatient.

 

[KiwiMoose]

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Nothing fancy. I used the trinity recipe (40 palm, 35 olive, 20 coconut, 5 castor) from @Zany_in_CO at 40% lye concentration (not dual lye). 2% SF per @earlene 's recipe. I added 2% d-limonene that @AliOop uses and I seriously wonder if I should've used more because it's not very strong smelling in the batter at all so I hope the scent actually sticks. I did end up using the honey and also threw in some lime zest for added citrus and scrubbiness. No colorants because I want to see how it looks au naturel, first.
I haven't decided whether I'll use my wavy cutter or my modified wire cheese cutter. I can cut at 24hrs, same as usual, right?

Did yours go to thick trace once you added the borax solution too?

 

[Servant4Christ]

Did yours go to thick trace once you added the borax solution too?

No. I added the hot borax solution, which included the honey, to my oils per the instructions then gave it a good stick blend along with my fragrance and lime zest before adding in my lye water. I stick blended to emulsion, added the pumice and stick blended to medium trace and poured into my mold immediately. It turned to pudding very quick as I was pouring it and scraping out the last bits from my bowl. I think the pumice was the biggest accelerator for me.

 

[Servant4Christ]

Looks like I've experienced my first heat crack. Thankfully, there's only 1, it's small, and it doesn't extend below the top surface. I went ahead and cut the loaf (at 12ish hours). Next time, I think I'll skip the lime zest as that was done on a whim and I really think the simplicity of just the pumice and borax are enough.

 

[Servant4Christ]

Honey + CPOP = heat cracks. I think.

 

[AliOop]

Looks like I've experienced my first heat crack. Thankfully, there's only 1, it's small, and it doesn't extend below the top surface. I went ahead and cut the loaf (at 12ish hours). Next time, I think I'll skip the lime zest as that was done on a whim and I really think the simplicity of just the pumice and borax are enough.

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Those look wonderful!