Hard Bits

[sydmurph]

So just trying to get a handle on this whole liquid soap bit after years of successful CP/CPOP soaping. I am only on my second batch...first one turned out well. Recipe (not exact) was roughly 75 olive:20 coconut:5 castor with a 90% KOH adjustment and 3% sf. The crockpot paste cook went off without a hitch. Clear, no zap, two ounces of EO added to base oils prior to cook, textbook! But I had WAY too much paste to dilute in the crock so I did it in a stockpot over low low heat (yes, I'm impatient). Soap was clear and gorgeous. The last bit of distilled water I added suddenly changed everything. I have rafts of ?? and hard white precipitate in the soap. Almost like calcified bits. Is this the impurity in the KOH rearing its ugly head? The soap is still perfectly homogenous (albeit a touch cloudy now) and is fully dissolved with no skin. What is that crap floating on the surface? Looks like little icebergs but they are not solid, and these little white hard bits float. Anyone see this before? The batch in the crockpot is less so like this, but still has the hard white bits and is clearer than the fully dissolved batch. Super confused....

 

[DeeAnna]

I can't say for sure what the bits in your liquid soap are. I doubt it is the impurities in the KOH, but that's just a guess on my part based on how seldom we see complains of this particular nature from all the folks who share experiences with their liquid soap. If people have floating impurities on their diluted soap, it's more likely fatty acids from too much superfat. Fatty acids are soft, however.

So I'm thinking it's more likely that your fragrance (EO or FO, doesn't matter) is the culprit that's causing the hard bits. Fragrances often cause cloudiness and/or changes in viscosity in diluted liquid soap. I doubt you'd see the full effect of a naughty fragrance until the soap is fully diluted.

That's one reason why I never add fragrance to the paste -- I test the fragrance in a sample of diluted soap. If it behaves, then I add the fragrance to a larger quantity of diluted soap. The other reason is I like to have the option to vary the scent in my liquid soap. And a third reason is I can use less fragrance if I add it to the diluted soap, because the scent isn't present during the soap making process to evaporate away.

My solution to your problem would be to let the diluted soap sit quietly for a sufficient time to let the bits either settle or float. Then skim off and discard the floating bits and pour the liquid soap off any solid sediment.

 

[Susie]

^^^What DeeAnna said!