I make a liquid soap that I like a lot. It is fairly watery, but that's OK because I put it in a foamer bottle. Does anyone know how to thicken it to nearly a gel consistency? I don't want to leave it in a paste, but want to dilute it with water. It doesn't matter if the thickener leaves it cloudy.
Gel Consistency?
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soapbuddy
Well-Known Member
Try salt or liquid Crothix. Be aware that the more the thick soap is, the less it will come out of the foamer bottle. Normally, people dilute their liquid soap more so then normal, so it comes out of the nozzle.
Thanks. I don't want to put this new product through a foamer, I want a gel to put in a squeeze bottle. I didn't know what Crothix was, but I looked it up and it seems to be a chemical, and I try to make my products all natural, so I don't think that would work for me. As for salt--wouldn't that be drying to skin?
It's not that much salt. I tasted mine and I know people who put that much salt while cooking (not me, I am on a low sodium diet).
And if you think about it: A little salt in a lot of soup - I mean soap
... If anything would cause dryness, it would be the soap, not the salt.
I also read somewhere about xanthan gum. Didn't try it though, don't know how it works. What I did experiment once is psyllium, but it's tricky.
You may find this silly, but I never heard of foamer bottles before.
In the meantime, I googled it, and have a question, if you can help: is there a way to tell the difference between a normal soap bottle and a foamer bottle just by looking at it ? The pictures I seen on google are not that different from my soap bottle at home.
And if you think about it: A little salt in a lot of soup - I mean soap
... If anything would cause dryness, it would be the soap, not the salt.I also read somewhere about xanthan gum. Didn't try it though, don't know how it works. What I did experiment once is psyllium, but it's tricky.
You may find this silly, but I never heard of foamer bottles before.
In the meantime, I googled it, and have a question, if you can help: is there a way to tell the difference between a normal soap bottle and a foamer bottle just by looking at it ? The pictures I seen on google are not that different from my soap bottle at home.
mikebikes said:
Lye isn't all natural, and most oils are extracted with solvents which - in my considered opinion means they aren't "natural". Some oils are squeezed, but not most.
And no - we're talking an itsy bitsy amount of salt. it won't make soap more drying than the soap is.
Hi Carebear,
I know that lye isn't natural, but there really shouldn't be any free lye remaining in the soap after saponification. As for the oils and other ingredients that are used, I just try to keep it as natural as I can. Some oils are "more natural" than others and there are stricter and looser (is that a word?) definitions of natural, and I think it's probably nearly impossible to be actually all natural. But I do try, and so I don't knowingly add a chemical if I can find a more natural way to achieve the same end.
I'll try some salt. Thanks for the tip--I wouldn't have thought of that.
Fragola--
I'm not sure if you can tell if a bottle is a foamer or not by looking at it. The nozzle would be thicker on a foamer. I really like the foamers, they turn a watery liquid soap into a thick rich foam. A little bit goes a long way. And I have some xanthan gum. I will give that a try too. Thanks!
I know that lye isn't natural, but there really shouldn't be any free lye remaining in the soap after saponification. As for the oils and other ingredients that are used, I just try to keep it as natural as I can. Some oils are "more natural" than others and there are stricter and looser (is that a word?) definitions of natural, and I think it's probably nearly impossible to be actually all natural. But I do try, and so I don't knowingly add a chemical if I can find a more natural way to achieve the same end.
I'll try some salt. Thanks for the tip--I wouldn't have thought of that.
Fragola--
I'm not sure if you can tell if a bottle is a foamer or not by looking at it. The nozzle would be thicker on a foamer. I really like the foamers, they turn a watery liquid soap into a thick rich foam. A little bit goes a long way. And I have some xanthan gum. I will give that a try too. Thanks!
BakingNana
Well-Known Member
Let us know how the xanthan gum works. How much would you use? I have a bag of the stuff sitting here. Might as well find a use for it.
mikebikes said:
Granted, but if something "unnatural" is an important component - is the resulting material "natural"? Soap is comprised of the sodium salts of the fatty acids in the oils. So if the sodium, being hugely important, comes from man made lye how then is the resulting material natural? Then again, since the soap is man made, how is it natural anyway?
Araseth
Well-Known Member
I spend ages diluting my liquid soap a little at a time (when it's almost dissolved adding about 1/2 cup at a time), until the paste is *just* dissolved and that produced a soap that's too thick for my foamer bottles, I had to use lotion bottles. If it's too thin by mistake though, you can add 2% gum arabic. I read a plush folly post where they tested lots of thickeners and posted pics of the results, the best being gum arabic. I haven't tried the gum myself but I plan to in the future. Link to the article/post: http://www.plushfolly.com/page.php?id=135 Hope that helps some, goodluck
walkinwounded
Well-Known Member
I have tried, Xanthan Gum, and Salt.
Xanthan Gum will seperate and it only absorbs what (straight water) is available in the solution, and the rest will settle on the bottom of the solution as a layer of sediment. So you need a lot of water in your solution for it to actually gel, if you make a gel first with water and add it to the soap solution, then it will seperate. But a pro is that if clarity or transparency is a goal, then Xanthan Gum is a hard but good choice. I have been very disappointed in Xanthan Gum after all the good things I read.
Salt works good if your soap solution is the proper dilution, over or under a certain point will cause it to seperateas well.
Recently I have just been adding as little water as possible to the paste and even using a hand-mixer/blender to finish the dissolving of the paste in the warm water, I then add Goats milk powder to further thicken it with honey powder sometimes. It stays emulsified and is really thick like body wash.
I have heard good things about Guar Gum if you don't mind clowding which if yout adding milk powder or want a body wash, then it does no matter. I am going to try it next time.
The above thread about Gum Arabic is interesting and I will give it ago as well as cause it seems to leave the soap a bit moe clearer then the Guar Gum.
This has been just my experiences and others may have had completely different ones, experiment to find your favourite way. I personally don't see what all the hype is about having clear soap.
I forgot to mention that I do not like to use Borax, it makes gel real nice and easy with soft oils, not so good with hard oils like CO. But I find it dries the hell out of my skin, I also read some studies and research that indicate it can contribute to male infertility and such, I mean there is all kinds of debate around Borax, but the way I look at things, "where there is smoke, there is fire". I have used it though and probably will find a use for it again in the future.
Xanthan Gum will seperate and it only absorbs what (straight water) is available in the solution, and the rest will settle on the bottom of the solution as a layer of sediment. So you need a lot of water in your solution for it to actually gel, if you make a gel first with water and add it to the soap solution, then it will seperate. But a pro is that if clarity or transparency is a goal, then Xanthan Gum is a hard but good choice. I have been very disappointed in Xanthan Gum after all the good things I read.
Salt works good if your soap solution is the proper dilution, over or under a certain point will cause it to seperateas well.
Recently I have just been adding as little water as possible to the paste and even using a hand-mixer/blender to finish the dissolving of the paste in the warm water, I then add Goats milk powder to further thicken it with honey powder sometimes. It stays emulsified and is really thick like body wash.
I have heard good things about Guar Gum if you don't mind clowding which if yout adding milk powder or want a body wash, then it does no matter. I am going to try it next time.
The above thread about Gum Arabic is interesting and I will give it ago as well as cause it seems to leave the soap a bit moe clearer then the Guar Gum.
This has been just my experiences and others may have had completely different ones, experiment to find your favourite way. I personally don't see what all the hype is about having clear soap.
I forgot to mention that I do not like to use Borax, it makes gel real nice and easy with soft oils, not so good with hard oils like CO. But I find it dries the hell out of my skin, I also read some studies and research that indicate it can contribute to male infertility and such, I mean there is all kinds of debate around Borax, but the way I look at things, "where there is smoke, there is fire". I have used it though and probably will find a use for it again in the future.
foresthome
Well-Known Member
Made my first liquid soap 2 weeks ago. I used a recipe that said the soap had to be neutralized with borax and then sequestered for 2 weeks. The soap has a froth on top, and looks pretty clear. Do I not need the borax, and is the froth normal?
Araseth
Well-Known Member
Hey foresthome, I'm not sure about the froth I've never had it happen. But no you don't need to use borax (I never do), you can use citric acid instead. If you're wanting to not neutralize at all then I'm not sure, if the recipe says it does need it and you followed it exactly then it probably does need neutralizing. It's possible to test the pH and decide though, I know of some soap recipes that don't need neutralizing at the end but I think that might be a rarity. Also better to play on the safe side as always when dealing with lye
