Do I need to add a preservative to Chamomile Castile face cleanser?

[Kosmerta]

I saw a recipe for a chamomile castile facewash on pinterest and it gave me an idea. I made a batch of castile bars 2 months ago and my idea is to dissolve some shredded soap into chamomile tea since I've never made liquid soap. This would only be for personal use, not for selling or giving away.

The recipe I saw contained EOs and E-oil, however I will only be using shredded Castile bar soap at 0% superfat, chamomile tea, and a few drops of honey. Would I need to add a preservative to this? There will not be any unsaponified oils, but there will be water. Will the dissolved soap be enough to prevent bacteria or mold from growing?

 

[Obsidian]

Yes it will need a preservative but you should know that bar soap won't dissolve and make a liquid, after a day or two it will turn into a snotty mess.

If you want a true liquid soap, you need to make it proper with potassium hydroxide.

 

[Kosmerta]

Yes it will need a preservative but you should know that bar soap won't dissolve and make a liquid, after a day or two it will turn into a snotty mess.

If you want a true liquid soap, you need to make it proper with potassium hydroxide.

I was worried about that. Thanks

 

[DeeAnna]

I caution against adding sugar, honey, aloe, milk, etc. to diluted soap, whether you use NaOH soap to make "pretend" liquid soap or make a proper liquid soap using KOH. Use these food ingredients to make the soap, but don't add them to the soap after its made.

You cannot lay out a feast for microbial growth and still expect a preservative (or the preservative effect of the alkaline pH of soap) to work properly.

Here's a thread where we experimented with making "liquid soap" using NaOH. The conclusion nearly all of us came to is "it doesn't work" whether you try to make the soap by starting from scratch or by grating bar soap and diluting it. https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/liquid-soap-with-naoh.52597/

 

[cmzaha]

I saw a recipe for a chamomile castile facewash on pinterest and it gave me an idea. I made a batch of castile bars 2 months ago and my idea is to dissolve some shredded soap into chamomile tea since I've never made liquid soap. This would only be for personal use, not for selling or giving away.

The recipe I saw contained EOs and E-oil, however I will only be using shredded Castile bar soap at 0% superfat, chamomile tea, and a few drops of honey. Would I need to add a preservative to this? There will not be any unsaponified oils, but there will be water. Will the dissolved soap be enough to prevent bacteria or mold from growing?

Try it then you will know