I Swear, Liquid Soap is Frustrating

[BrewerGeorge]

Diluting liquid soap is SO frustrating!

I've been leisurely trying to dilute my next batch of soap in a Mason jar for the last couple of weeks, and it simply will NOT do it. This is from the same batch of paste that worked for me before, but it simply won't come together this time. It's been so recalcitrant that I purchased some PS80 (which I didn't even need last time) but even that has not made a dent.

The only difference has been that I used some real lemon EO along with the Litsea I used last time, but the total proportion of fragrance was kept the same. Is there something different about lemon EO?

 

[IrishLass]

Just to make sure I'm understanding things correctly, you diluted the paste, added the lemon EO and litsea, and now after 2 weeks the scents still won't incorporate into the diluted soap? Or you added the EOs to the jar along with the paste and the paste just isn't diluting?


IrishLass

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Just to make sure I'm understanding things correctly, you diluted the paste, added the lemon EO and litsea, and now after 2 weeks the scents still won't incorporate into the diluted soap? Or you added the EOs to the jar along with the paste and the paste just isn't diluting?


IrishLass

I diluted the paste (without PS80) and it was clear and correct. Then I added the EOs and they won't incorporate. There is 30g (combined) of EOs in over 600g of diluted soap. PS80 arrived Wednesday and I added about 30g of that without seeing any improvement.

 

[DeeAnna]

IL has more experience with this issue, because I have not (yet) had a problem with scent not wanting to incorporate in my diluted LS.

I can share that when I've added a carrier oil (meadowfoam to be exact) to diluted LS as a superfat as an experiment, I had to add PS80 at a rate of 4-5 times the weight of the added fat to get the fat to solubilize. In other words, 3 g meadowfoam + 12-15 g PS80. When I've made an air/linen spray, I have also had to go to a 3:1 to 4:1 ratio of PS80 to EOs to solubilize the EOs in a water-alcohol mixture.

So my thought would be you may need to add more PS80 in proportion to your EOs to get the results you want. But give it time to solubilize -- in both situations, it's been my experience that it can take a few days to see results.

 

[Susie]

Lemon EO from, if I recall correctly, BB (I could be wrong, it was before I started recording sources of EOs and FOs on each recipe sheet) will float if I have a 2% or higher superfat. It worked fine in my 0% superfat soap at that time. The lemon EO from WSP does not float in anything with 3% or less superfat. I can't help you on the PS80, sorry.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

This EO is the NOW brand typically used for aromatherapy. (It was given to me, so I'm not as crazy as it sounds.)

 

[Arimara]

Now's pretty solid and is usually the best value when you get it from the store. Don't get me wrong, you can still get a better quality EO but for what they are, if it doesn't smell off or anything and if it's behaving well, you might as well use it.

 

[Susie]

Now is the first brand I used of many EOs. But I would also suspect that that is why it is floating. It may have been what I used for lemon back then. My WSP does not float, though, for what it is worth. So don't judge all EOs by the behavior of one.