Giving it a shot

[tryanything]

For my second attempt at making liquid soap I'm attempting the glycerin method. Woohoo! Got it the pot now. I'm still going to cook it for longer then the 1.5 hours that is in the soapmaking 101 video but I'm looking forward to this new method. Last time I made liquid soap I used a recipe from Catherin Failors book and honestly, wasn't happy with the process or results. We'll see how this batch turns out!

 

[Chookie2]

Good luck, do let us know how it goes.

 

[savonierre]

Have fun, I hope it works out perfectly for you..

 

[tryanything]

Well, so far so good. I did the lazy man's method of diluting by just adding the boiling water to the crock pot and letting it sit overnight. This morning I had a lovely, clear soap. I reheated the soap, added the FO and then cooled again before bottling. Looks like the FO caused some slight cloudiness but I'll let them sit a week or so and see if it clears up. So far feels pretty good and my crockpot was bubbling like crazy when I was washing it so I think it was a success. Going to wait the full week or so to try it out again.

 

[MKRainville]

what FO did you use? Looks like a nice amber color

 

[kazmi]

How long did it take you? It seems like a lot of work but I've been thinking about trying it since my DH prefers liquid to bar soap.

 

[heartsong]

they look wonderful! hope they turn out nicely for you! are they kinda thick or thin in viscosity?

 

[tryanything]

MKRanville - I used Green Clove & Aloe from Peak.

Kazmi - since I did the glycerin method it actually went pretty quickly. I heated the glycerin up to about 215 (that didn't take very long), slowly added the KOH until it dissolved. Then added the lye/glycerin to the oils that had been heating in the crockpot. Since I didn't use any hard oils nothing had to be melted, just warmed a bit. Once I added the lye it was only maybe 15 minutes before it traced and reached the vasoline stage. I let it cook for three hours, stirring occasionally just to be sure it was well cooked, then tested. It tested clear so I added the dilute water to the warm crockpot and let it sit overnight. Next morning - nice pretty amber soap! It clouded a bit the second I added the FO. I'm hoping it clears up but even if it doesn't it doesn't look too bad. It is a bit time consuming in that I was checking on it as it cooked in the evening and the next morning when I re-heated it to get the last little bits of paste to dissolve and add the FO, but this method went a lot faster then the first time I tried to make liquid soap!

 

[tryanything]

Heartsong - Not really thin and not really thick. Nice soap consistency if that makes sense. It runs but not like water. Next time I might add some salt to thicken it up a bit but since half of these are going to end up in pump bottles for hand soap I don't think it's a problem. Would have been nice to have a bit thicker for body wash but it'll still work. It bubbles okay (it is high OO so not crazy) and smells good. Feels great even after 1 day! I plan on letting them sit a week or two to sequester then putting the pumps in.