Cold Process Liquid Soap

[coffeetime]

So the initial water for mixing KOH should be three times the KOH?

 

[DeeAnna]

"... Can the SBM calc be changed to 90?...

Nope.

Yep, you're correct -- water = 3 X KOH.

A way to get Soapcalc to calculate this number is to set the lye concentration to 25% OR set the water:lye ratio to 3. Either way means the same thing, just 2 ways to think of it.

 

[coffeetime]

Got it, thank you. I'll try it this afternoon and report back.

I have alkanet infused olive oil that I use for CP, so I'm going to use a little of it to tint the LS (not this first batch). Has anyone used infusion to colour LS? Does it work?

 

[Susie]

Yes, I have, and yes, it works! Gives lovely color to the liquid soap!

 

[coffeetime]

Awesome, thanks Susie! I also have annatto infused oil so I can try that another time. I have to research how to get essential oils to stay in suspension with liquid soap next.

 

[Susie]

You don't have to research that, LOL. As long as you use 3% or less superfat, and avoid citrus(esp. grapefruit) EOs that are not labelled as X or "fold", there is usually no problem.

 

[coffeetime]

Really? That's great. I had visions of a slick of EO on the top of the soap.

 

[Susie]

Nope, EOs need to be added when the diluted soap is just cool enough that a bare finger can tolerate going in the soap. Stir just enough to distribute it, and continue cooling before bottling. I would let that soap sit a week or two(sequester) to be sure any solids have time to fall out of suspension(or do something else weird), before putting into bottles for giving away, but I know you are going to want to use it just for your use before then. I always do, anyway.

 

[coffeetime]

Yes, I'm excited to try it. I've been meaning to try making liquid soap for ages and just haven't gotten to it. I've been saving dispenser bottles to reuse even.

 

[Saponista]

I was having huge problems with that as I was adding my FO and EO when the soap was cold. Every time it went so cloudy it was white. I will give adding the oil to warm soap a go and see if it solves my problem. Thank you so much Susie, you are a real fountain of useful information!

I used mine fairly early and it didn't lather very well and felt a bit drying, but now it's a couple of months old it lathers beautifully and isn't drying at all. Exactly the same as with a solid bar.

 

[Susie]

Good point, Saponista. Liquid soap made at home is THIN. It is the nature of the beast, I'm afraid. You can choose to thicken, or just go with foamer bottles. I still dilute my soap further with the foamer bottles.

 

[herackonchiasa]

Its really fun using a spoon to mix the lye and the oils

 

[Melodyuk]

update

I zap test it after it cooled down, it passed the zap test :grin:. Dilution went well, as I already knew it will be cloudy it is cloudy but not milky ...so that passed as well. liquid was thin though which i knew it would be so i added some guar gum about half a tea spoon. now it has the consistency that i want. adding guar gum gave LS silky feel to it. love it. thanks Susie.

Just two question though...1. my paste is not as thick as i saw some images. it is kind of soft i had to spoon it out. Is it normal or something went wrong? ( I didnt have enough CO so i used more of olive pomace.....could it be that?)

2. After making the soap I ran same recipe through soapcalc just to see the difference between both calculator. soapcalc suggested less water(for making lye solution) than the cal we used. Does it affect the end result of soap if water is more or less?

 

[Susie]

Yay!

You did re-run the recipe through the calculator when you changed the oil amounts, right?

Not every soap goes through every stage. Sometimes the same recipe goes through different stages(don't ask me why).

I much prefer the SBM amount of water to mix with the KOH. Makes the paste easier to work with. Has no effect on end result other than it takes me longer to dilute if I start with less water.

 

[DeeAnna]

The defaults for Soapcalc are best for bar soap. For liquid soap, change the lye concentration to 25% and that will work better. This change will make Soapcalc calculate about the same amount of water as the SummerBeeMeadow calc does.

 

[Melodyuk]

Yay!

You did re-run the recipe through the calculator when you changed the oil amounts, right?

Not every soap goes through every stage. Sometimes the same recipe goes through different stages(don't ask me why).

I much prefer the SBM amount of water to mix with the KOH. Makes the paste easier to work with. Has no effect on end result other than it takes me longer to dilute if I start with less water.

Yes I did re-run the recipe. I used SBM and followed that. I will stick to SBM for liquid soap. Thanks so much Susie. You gave me the confidence to make LS. I am so eager to make more batches even though i dont need it. lol

The defaults for Soapcalc are best for bar soap. For liquid soap, change the lye concentration to 25% and that will work better. This change will make Soapcalc calculate about the same amount of water as the SummerBeeMeadow calc does.

Thanks DeeAnna. I Will keep that in mind.

 

[Dahila]

I have at least 1.5 l of dilluted but not scented soap, so according what Susie said I should warm it up and then add FO? I added it to cold dilluted and is cool with small addition of PS

 

[Susie]

Is the FO floating on the top? If not, you are OK. I don't use FOs, so I have no idea how they behave with soap of any sort. I am not "anti-FO", so please don't think that.

 

[Dahila]

I love the cool citrus and basil. Somehow I can not do this scent with my EO so I stick with it) Nothing is floating on the top. ) Susie you and Irishlass are the best teachers)

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Okay, I have questions -

If I use some grated soap instead of the glycerin to aid trace, does it matter what soap it is?

What are the differences between using glycerin and grated soap?

I might actually be making LS soon.....................