Lard, Goat Milk, Sorbitol, Sodium Gluconate and Sodium Lactate

[Kari Howie]

As part of my continuing education, could y'all please review and comment on the attached formula? As you can see, I am using lots of lard and am hoping to increase the lather by adding sorbitol along with castor oil, but didn't know if the sorbitol would be overdoing it since I'm already using a sugar-containing liquid in the form of goat milk. I am working my way toward making a super mild soap using breast milk for a friend of mine. Thank you everyone!

I just noticed I wrote to add sorbitol to GM before lye, but obviously that's not going to work. So I guess Sorbitol, Gluconate, and Sodium Lactate will all have to come after the lye/GM solution.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Hi! I’m certainly no expert here, but I also make GMS and have been asking and using lots of advice from our friends here about boosting lather and bubbles. I always do 5% castor oil and now I’ve also been adding Sorbitol and Aloe Vera Juice as 100% of my liquid. One other note, I do add my SL to my liquid.
I’m sure others will chime in about your recipe and add some good advice.

 

[Kari Howie]

Hi! I’m certainly no expert here, but I also make GMS and have been asking and using lots of advice from our friends here about boosting lather and bubbles. I always do 5% castor oil and now I’ve also been adding Sorbitol and Aloe Vera Juice as 100% of my liquid. One other note, I do add my SL to my liquid.
I’m sure others will chime in about your recipe and add some good advice.

Thank you for sharing your experience dmcgee5034! What is your usage rate for Sorbitol?

 

[cmzaha]

I add Sorbitol to all my soaps regardless if using GM or not. I would dissolve all the additives other than the SL in the Liquid GM if that is what you are using. I use powdered GM since I soap with vinegar and 50/50 master batch and mix my additives in my vinegar.

 

[Kari Howie]

Thank you, cmzaha! I’m using frozen GM. So I figured I’d have to add the lye to create a solution then add the sorbitol and sodium Gluconate to that mixture. Then after that concoction cools down, add the sodium lactate. Does that sound right? Also how much Sorbitol do you use with GM?

 

[dmcgee5034]

Thank you for sharing your experience dmcgee5034! What is your usage rate for Sorbitol?

My GM starts as powder, I reconstitute it in the AVJ or other liquid, and then I freeze it in cubes to use.
I am using Sorbitol at 1% of oils, and I dissolve it in distilled water that counts as part of my liquid weight

 

[AliOop]

Thank you, cmzaha! I’m using frozen GM. So I figured I’d have to add the lye to create a solution then add the sorbitol and sodium Gluconate to that mixture. Then after that concoction cools down, add the sodium lactate. Does that sound right? Also how much Sorbitol do you use with GM?

Not Carolyn but I'm going to suggest that you don't try to dissolve the sorbitol or SG in your lye solution. Once you add the NaOH to liquid, it becomes selfish and doesn't like sharing any of that liquid with other additives. Your sorbitol and SG will dissolve much more easily if you reserve some of the liquid for dissolving just those two things. You can then combine the two solutions if you'd like, or add just the sorbitol-SG solution (that you pre-dissolved in the reserved water) to the oils and blend well, before adding the NaOH solution.

 

[Kari Howie]

My GM starts as powder, I reconstitute it in the AVJ or other liquid, and then I freeze it in cubes to use.
I am using Sorbitol at 1% of oils, and I dissolve it in distilled water that counts as part of my liquid weight

Thank you so much!

Not Carolyn but I'm going to suggest that you don't try to dissolve the sorbitol or SG in your lye solution. Once you add the NaOH to liquid, it becomes selfish and doesn't like sharing any of that liquid with other additives. Your sorbitol and SG will dissolve much more easily if you reserve some of the liquid for dissolving just those two things. You can then mix the NaOH solution with the sorbitol-SG solution if you'd like, or just the sorbitol-SG solution to the oils and blend well before adding the NaOH solution.

Thank you! I think I will mix the SG and Sorbitol with my oils.

 

[Kari Howie]

I’m in the middle of making the recipe I posted above. I added the Na Gluconate and Sorbitol to my warm (133F) oils and one or both of these additives are not dissolving. I’ve stick blended forever and even heated the oils up to 150 and SB’d again and there are still particulates settling to the bottom. Any suggestions?

 

[dmcgee5034]

Hi @Kari Howie
Not sure what to suggest for your current batch, but for future, I would suggest to fully dissolve in some distilled water (I believe that’s what @AliOop and I were trying to convey ) separately so you are confident your additional items are fully dissolved. I don’t think you’ll have luck dissolving in oils…..
For 1000g of oils, I use 10g of sorbitol and dissolve in 20g distilled water, and then minus that 20g from my GM weight. Works like a charm. Hoping for the best for your batch.

 

[AliOop]

Hi @Kari Howie
Not sure what to suggest for your current batch, but for future, I would suggest to fully dissolve in some distilled water (I believe that’s what @AliOop and I were trying to convey ) separately so you are confident your additional items are fully dissolved. I don’t think you’ll have luck dissolving in oils…..
For 1000g of oils, I use 10g of sorbitol and dissolve in 20g distilled water, and then minus that 20g from my GM weight. Works like a charm. Hoping for the best for your batch.

@Kari Howie I agree with what @dmcgee5034 said above. In my previous post, I was trying to convey that you could mix the additives into your oils after you first dissolved them in some of your reserved liquid (liquid without any NaOH in it). I'm so sorry if I confused you about that! I revised that post to be a little clearer now, I hope.

Fortunately, the sodium gluconate is usually in liquid form already. Unfortunately, the sorbitol is usually in powder form, and it won't dissolve in your oils. If you had a liquid sorbitol solution, you wouldn't need to pre-dissolve it. But I'm pretty sure you have powder.

However, all is not lost. Your soap will still be usable, but the sorbitol will make it a little scrubby.

 

[Kari Howie]

Gosh, I sure appreciate all your advice, @dcmcgee! I went ahead and mixed the oils with undissolved additives with my GM and lye solution and SB’d to medium trace then poured into individual cavity molds. I’ll see how it turns out tomorrow. I sure am glad I’m making all my mistakes now before I finally get to the point of making breast milk soap for my daughter’s friend. Thanks again!

 

[Kari Howie]

Thank you AliOop! It has definitely been a learning experience. I’m especially happy with the fact that I’ve mastered the goat milk/lye process. Unfortunately the sodium Gluconate I’m using is a powder as is the sorbitol. I’ll report back once I unmold.

 

[AliOop]

Rats, I'm so sorry for confusing you @Kari Howie.

Almost anything that is a powder is typically pre-dissolved or at least prehydrated in some liquid, whether it is reserved water, or your FO/EO. The only exceptions for me are micas and goat milk powder, which I blend directly into the oils.

 

[Kari Howie]

Rats, I'm so sorry for confusing you @Kari Howie.

Almost anything that is a powder is typically pre-dissolved or at least prehydrated in some liquid, whether it is reserved water, or your FO/EO. The only exceptions for me are micas and goat milk powder, which I blend directly into the oils.

Rats! You’re so funny! Please don’t feel bad. I’m really learning a lot and for that I am grateful and happy.

 

[dmcgee5034]

This is what I heard… LOL

 

[Kari Howie]

I unmolded the soaps today and they seem OK. They look and feel nice and smooth and didn’t feel gritty or scrubby when I washed my hands with a small piece. Maybe when I added the lye solution to the oils with the undissolved particles the lye dissolved them. Or maybe the thickened batter just held them in suspension so they couldn’t settle to the bottom and hence weren’t noticeable. At any rate, they’re good for now and I am hoping that they will remain so during the cure. Thanks again for everyone’s help.

 

[AliOop]

Yay! I'm so glad they turned out well.

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

I unmolded the soaps today and they seem OK. They look and feel nice and smooth and didn’t feel gritty or scrubby when I washed my hands with a small piece.

What?! No pictures?!?!?!

 

[Kari Howie]

Tomorrow.