Hello Soap Making Forum

[EricE]

I make liquid soaps and love to design custom formulations for specific cleaning needs.

I got into soap making for pragmatic reasons but grew to really enjoy the hobby. I started with canola and coconut oils using potassium hydroxide to make a relatively low suds paste. I say paste, because it was way overcooked It still works after i dilute it!

Here are the castile inspired creations I’ve made so far:

• Laundry detergent
• Dish soap
• Body Wash
• Hand soap
• Dishwasher Soap
• Washing machine cleaner
• Stain remover

I’ve learned lot’s of lessons and am happy to share my recipes. I’m still in my first year, so not all of them are as successful as I would like. I’m buying new ingredients and am improving all the time. I consider this a journey.

Currently I am preparing to clean my driveway. For a concrete cleanser, I’m considering using citrus terpenes (D-Limonene), OxyClean (Sodium Percarbonate and sodium carbonate), along with a surfactant (SLS) and a dose of castile soap.

I know this is outside most of the audience’s experience, but does anyone have advice on using the above ingredients? In particular, do the citrus terpenes mix with the OXY and SLS?

I am probably going to try at least a few batches to see if I can get something that works well. I’ll share the results if anyone is interested.

 

[AliOop]

Welcome! Your planned experiment in LS for washing concrete sounds fascinating. Let us know how it turns out, please.

 

[EricE]

I got some answers to my question: Hydro Power is a cleaner that mixes four out of the five chemicals I plan on using (except washing soda), so I am going ahead with the experiment.

Based on another source, the mixture is likely to cause epoxidation resulting in potential allergens, and I also suspect product degredation. In other words; limited shelf life, so i will only make what I need.

Here are the active ingredients:

• D-Limonene (Citrus Terpenes)
• ARM & HAMMER Super Washing Soda
• Sodium Percarbonate (Hydrogen Peroxide)
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
• Castille Soap

I believe all of these ingredients should bidegrade with little environmental impact.

Sodium Hydroxide was an ingredient common to a lot of the commercial cleaners that I researched. If a stonger cleaning solution is needed, I may add some Potassium Hydroxide instead, since it breaks down into fertilizer.

I've just ordered everything I don't already have and should be cleaning within a couple of weeks!

 

[artemis]

Try searching the forum for D-Limonene.

 

[AliOop]

Sodium Hydroxide was an ingredient common to a lot of the commercial cleaners that I researched. If a stonger cleaning solution is needed, I may add some Potassium Hydroxide instead, since it breaks down into fertilizer.

Sodium hydroxide breaks down into sodium carbonate (soda ash). It's still basic (and still corrosive to aluminum) but it does occur naturally.

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum.