First Liquid Soap - All the disparity has me confused!

[Meena]

Hi DeeAnna! ~ I just had a funny thought about how to describe not getting all the ins-and-outs of LS worked out in my brain: the LS instructions didn't gel. Talk about not getting gel, lol!
Ok, I'm not so funny after a day at work.

I had been stymied over the making of this, and was frustrated with myself because I didn't know why. (Maybe it was subconscious recognition that I hadn't achieved the 'gel' I spoke of above.)

Someone said stearic acid would make the LS 'pearly' and, honestly, I forget if there was something else it was supposed to bring to the party. Instructions I was following said to soap hot to keep the stearic acid dissolved (ETA: er, melted) - not less than 160F. Now that the foamy head has absorbed back into the soap (which I believe you're supposed to do BEFORE bottling ), I think it came out fine. (pic attached) You can see the remnants of the foam still clinging to the bottle in the upper fourth.

I probably just got a little ahead of myself because it was late and I needed to finish up and clean up. Plus some excitement.

My SF was 1%. When I saw the crock full of creamy white that's in one of the pics posted a couple days ago, I simply didn't realize that I was looking at soap foam; but once it started settling, I remembered reading about that stage.

I purchased the SA and liquid glycerin because initially I WAS going to make Irish's recipe. Don't ask me what happened at the last minute!! I just grabbed my rear end and jumped. (I don't think young ones know this expression anymore. The original version has the expletive instead of rear end. ) [Edited to replace fanny, which is apparently More naughty in the southern hemisphere!]

Thanks so much for your input. It's always very desired and welcomed!

 

[Susie]

Try spraying some rubbing alcohol down in that bottle. If it is foam, you will know rapidly. I fear you may have over neutralized your soap, though. But, no matter what it is, don't throw it away, we can fix it.

 

[Meena]

Hi @Susie -- How will I know if I over-neutralized it?

Fortunately, I still have a 32 oz jar of unadulterated soap paste in the refrigerator, and what I diluted was just 6.9 ounces -- but I still would like to know the signs of over-neutralization, if it's not too much trouble.

The stuff on the bathroom counter still looks just like the picture except the clingy foam bits are gone now.

I appreciate you all! <3

 

[Susie]

If your soap separates, you over neutralized. Your recipe, having a positive superfat, does not require Borax to neutralize.

 

[Meena]

If your soap separates, you over neutralized. Your recipe, having a positive superfat, does not require Borax to neutralize.

Got it, thanks a lot Susie!

 

[Meena]

I suspect the stearic acid in your recipe is causing the white look and the separation, assuming the superfat isn't overly high. -- fats high in stearic and palmitic acids, such as lard or the butters, will also create a white soap that is likely to separate without the use of additional emulsifier (polysorbate).

Just to be clear -- because you and Susie both mentioned separation -- my LS didn't separate in the sense of oil separating from water. After 4 days in the bottle, it's fine -- a nice, translucent, light tan color and fully-homogenized. The separation I meant was into the two layers that are normal and expected near the end stage of dilution, the foam head on the soap body. Then, the 'head' absorbs back into the soap after two or three days of sitting. You get that in your LS too, right?

I probably had all that creamy whiteness from stirring to incorporate the Borax and salt.
I'll dilute the next amount of paste with just boiled distilled water.

 

[Chris_S]

I have wanted to make LS for about 3 weeks now, and would like to get this done today. I have a VERY small window of time left (about 4 hours) to do it today, though, and realized that I am "hopelessly mired" in all the conflicting information I've read.

Here's a small sample, in the interests of time:

~ Cooking takes 1/2 hour to Lawrence Welk stage vs. cooking takes 3 - 4 hours.
~ Add glycerin to lye water vs. use glycerin in dilution phase
~ Cook on high heat the whole time vs. instructions which say "temp will drop, then a bit later, start to rise" which sounds like the crock pot has been turned off.

I also don't have anything in my notes about whether to use 'lye concentration' (and which %?) or "full water" like other HP, and not seeing it in the recipes/instructions I've looked at today. However, I cranked the numbers on one recipe and it came to 33.3333% lye concentration. Not sure if that was a fluke or if I can use 33% because another, may have been @IrishLass 's recipe, cranked to 25.018%.

I really want to do this today, but I'm starting to lose hope.

ETA: OK, thanks, ladies and gents, but I guess I'm gonna have to handle this myself.
On my way! Will let you know how it turns out.

I will read the rest in a minute but i read the first paragragh and just wanted to say sqqqqquueeeeeeeeze!

 

[Susie]

I spray my liquid soap down with rubbing alcohol to kill the foam, as I stick blend towards the end of dilution. I am not a patient person.