Dog Shampoo with Lemon Juice

[artisianswindow]

I have done some research on making dog shampoo using CP method, it indicates to add lemon juice, I have read that the Lemon Juice can neutralize the Lye. The first batch I did I added the LJ at the end of saponification, but it appears to have come out of the soap box very wet, can I reduce the water to Lye ratio by the amount of Lemon Juice I am adding, to help it to be a more dry bar of soap after 24 hours?

 

[DeeAnna]

I take it you're adding lemon juice in addition to the normal amount of water you normally use?

If so, yes, you need to reduce the water based liquid so the TOTAL amount of water-based liquid is the correct amount. This is the way to handle adding any water-based liquid, not just lemon juice.

For example, if I use beer to make soap, the total amount of plain water + beer should equal the total amount of water called for by the recipe.​

The citric acid in the lemon juice will react with NaOH, so you need to also add extra NaOH to compensate for this neutralization reaction. If you don't, you will be increasing the superfat of the soap. More: Citric acid, Citrus juice | Soapy Stuff

There is no benefit to adding lemon juice or other acid at trace or at the end of the hot process cook versus at the beginning of soap making. The citric acid in the juice will consume some of the NaOH regardless of when the acid is added to the soap. Adding it sooner or adding it later -- it makes no difference. More: Acids in soap | Soapy Stuff

The usual reasoning behind adding acid to soap that's intended to wash hair is supposedly adding acid up front will eliminate the need to do an acid rinse after washing the hair. It doesn't work that way. The acid is neutralized in the soap, so it doesn't function as an acid anymore.

 

[artisianswindow]

thank you Very Much for your reply, I am making soap for dog shampoo and was researching that lemon juice will reduce PH, I did a test batch but it was wet, I felt I definitely needed to reduce water, but interesting I was not aware that I needed to increase NaOH to compensate for the Lemon Juice. I will read your links to figure out my requirements Thank You again

 

[clpsoaps]

I have done some research on making dog shampoo using CP method, it indicates to add lemon juice, I have read that the Lemon Juice can neutralize the Lye. The first batch I did I added the LJ at the end of saponification, but it appears to have come out of the soap box very wet, can I reduce the water to Lye ratio by the amount of Lemon Juice I am adding, to help it to be a more dry bar of soap after 24 hours?

I add a small amount of lemon juice with my EO's , to a batch where I have slightly reduced the amount of liquid in my lye water. Never have any problems with wet soap

 

[KiwiMoose]

FYI for any lemon juice users - lemon will not reduced the pH of solid soap. And if you are using it as full water replacement you will need to add extra lye to compensate, otherwise you will have a higher superfat ( and potentially softer soap). See @DeeAnna 's post above to links with more info.

 

[Obsidian]

KiwiMoose is spot on, nothing is going to reduce the PH of lye soap. If you do, it won't be soap anymore, just a goopy mess. The high PH of soap is why many people don't recommend soap for dogs. I've used soap on my dogs with no issues and it really helps with my one dogs skin issues, I just make sure the soap isn't too cleansing.

 

[AliOop]

I add a small amount of lemon juice with my EO's , to a batch where I have slightly reduced the amount of liquid in my lye water. Never have any problems with wet soap

Because you only used a “small amount.” The citric acid in the lemon juice would have been converted to sodium citrate in your soap, when it interacted with your NaOH solution. That would have increased your superfat by reducing the amount of NaOH that interacted with the oils to make soap. The sodium citrate also acts as a chelator, which is a good thing.

However, adding lemon juice did not lower the pH of your soap, and if you had added enough of it (instead of a “small amount”) then your soap would have been soft and/or wet.

 

[Obsidian]

This is a good video that explains what happens when too much acid is added to soap

 

[KiwiMoose]

Thank you @Obsidian - I always think of this video when someone mentions lemon juice - but I couldn't remember who made the video to link it in.