Laundry soap comes to the rescue!

[toxikon]

The more I get into soapmaking, the more I realize how many of my cleaning products I can simply replace with stuff I make myself. I haven't ventured far into it, but I did make a batch of laundry soap a month ago and put aside a bar of it to use as a stain stick.

Well last night I had a pile of dishes to wash and just a drop of Dawn left. Shoot! Instead of making a trip to the store, I decided to try that bar of laundry soap instead.

Well... it worked perfectly. It's a -1 SF so it didn't leave any oily residue on my dishes. Everything was squeaky clean and the lather and bubbles were great.

I guess next on my recipe list is a liquid dish soap!

 

[Susie]

Liquid soap is great to use, and with only KOH, water, and coconut oil, it could not be easier to make. I keep the paste around for many cleaning tasks. Just smear a bit on a cloth or scrub brush, and off I go.

 

[mommycarlson]

Liquid soap is great to use, and with only KOH, water, and coconut oil, it could not be easier to make. I keep the paste around for many cleaning tasks. Just smear a bit on a cloth or scrub brush, and off I go.

Susie, do you have a recipe for your paste? or is it posted somewhere?
Thanks!

 

[Susie]

I use soapee.com.

100% coconut oil

3:1 water/KOH ratio.

90% purity KOH

0% superfat. You can use -1% SF, but I just never found it necessary. The 0% works just fine.

Melt coconut oil. Mix KOH/water. Add HOT KOH/water to CO. Stick blend to emulsion. Put the lid on and walk away for a while. Anywhere from 20 min to 24 hours later (whenever is convenient for you), check to see if it is gelled. If it is, zap test. If it is zapless, dilute whatever part of it that you want liquid. I actually use more of the paste than the liquid, because even for dishes, it is easier to wipe a bit of paste on the cloth when you need more. I keep a small (1.5 oz container from the Dollar Tree as part of a 10 pack) plastic container next to the sink with the paste in it, so it does not get yucky before you get a new one.

I dilute thusly: add half of the paste weight in water. Stir (with a spoon), break up paste, and heat in crockpot on high, or SS pot on stove on medium, or in oven on 200. When all water is absorbed, add half that amount again in water. Keep repeating with half the previous amount in water until you get down to a couple of small lumps, then stick blend those in. Done.

Irishlass dilutes in a jar with boiling water. I don't know her exact method, but it sounds easy enough.

 

[toxikon]

I use soapee.com.

100% coconut oil

3:1 water/KOH ratio.

90% purity KOH

0% superfat. You can use -1% SF, but I just never found it necessary. The 0% works just fine.

Melt coconut oil. Mix KOH/water. Add HOT KOH/water to CO. Stick blend to emulsion. Put the lid on and walk away for a while. Anywhere from 20 min to 24 hours later (whenever is convenient for you), check to see if it is gelled. If it is, zap test. If it is zapless, dilute whatever part of it that you want liquid. I actually use more of the paste than the liquid, because even for dishes, it is easier to wipe a bit of paste on the cloth when you need more. I keep a small (1.5 oz container from the Dollar Tree as part of a 10 pack) plastic container next to the sink with the paste in it, so it does not get yucky before you get a new one.

I dilute thusly: add half paste weight in water. Stir (with a spoon), break up paste, and heat in crockpot on high, or SS pot on stove on medium, or in oven on 200. When all water is absorbed, add half that amount again in water. Keep repeating with half the previous amount in water until you get down to a couple of small lumps, then stick blend those in. Done.

Irishlass dilutes in a jar with boiling water. I don't know her exact method, but it sounds easy enough.

Wow, that sounds really easy! I will definitely give it a try.

Just wanted to clarify with the dilution part.

So for example... if I was diluting 200g of paste, I'd use 400g of water to start? Then add 200g of water, then 100g if needed, etc. Is that correct?

 

[Susie]

Wow, that sounds really easy! I will definitely give it a try.

Just wanted to clarify with the dilution part.

So for example... if I was diluting 200g of paste, I'd use 400g of water to start? Then add 200g of water, then 100g if needed, etc. Is that correct?

Nope, if you start with 200 g of paste, you add 100 g water, then 50, then 25, etc.

I edited the post to add a couple of clarifying words (I hope). Thanks for pointing out that it was not clear. If it is still not clear, please help me word it correctly. I have the crud again, and I am not at my best.

 

[toxikon]

Nope, if you start with 200 g of paste, you add 100 g water, then 50, then 25, etc.

I edited the post to add a couple of clarifying words (I hope). Thanks for pointing out that it was not clear. If it is still not clear, please help me word it correctly. I have the crud again, and I am not at my best.

Gotcha! Makes sense. I think my brain just works better with actual gram/ounce examples.

 

[Susie]

Gotcha! Makes sense. I think my brain just works better with actual gram/ounce examples.

I totally understand. Mine does also. But with unknown quantities, I hate to plant the idea that you MUST use this much. By the way, once you make one batch, write down the amount of dilution water, so you can just add that amount next time.

 

[toxikon]

I totally understand. Mine does also. But with unknown quantities, I hate to plant the idea that you MUST use this much. By the way, once you make one batch, write down the amount of dilution water, so you can just add that amount next time.

Maybe explaining in ratios/percentages would help?

 

[cmzaha]

Liquid soap is great to use, and with only KOH, water, and coconut oil, it could not be easier to make. I keep the paste around for many cleaning tasks. Just smear a bit on a cloth or scrub brush, and off I go.

I do the same. I always have a bucket of CO paste

 

[mommycarlson]

I use soapee.com.

100% coconut oil

3:1 water/KOH ratio.

90% purity KOH

0% superfat. You can use -1% SF, but I just never found it necessary. The 0% works just fine.

Melt coconut oil. Mix KOH/water. Add HOT KOH/water to CO. Stick blend to emulsion. Put the lid on and walk away for a while. Anywhere from 20 min to 24 hours later (whenever is convenient for you), check to see if it is gelled. If it is, zap test. If it is zapless, dilute whatever part of it that you want liquid. I actually use more of the paste than the liquid, because even for dishes, it is easier to wipe a bit of paste on the cloth when you need more. I keep a small (1.5 oz container from the Dollar Tree as part of a 10 pack) plastic container next to the sink with the paste in it, so it does not get yucky before you get a new one.

I dilute thusly: add half of the paste weight in water. Stir (with a spoon), break up paste, and heat in crockpot on high, or SS pot on stove on medium, or in oven on 200. When all water is absorbed, add half that amount again in water. Keep repeating with half the previous amount in water until you get down to a couple of small lumps, then stick blend those in. Done.

Irishlass dilutes in a jar with boiling water. I don't know her exact method, but it sounds easy enough.

Thank you Susie! I am not clear on the 3:1 water ratio, what would I put into soapcalc for the lye concentration to get that ratio?

 

[kchaystack]

3:1 water is 25% lye conc.

You can put water ratio into soap calc in section 3, it is the 3rd option.

 

[Susie]

Or go use soapee.com. I promise it is easy.

 

[mommycarlson]

KC and Susie, thank you so much!

 

[Soapprentice]

Doesn't -1% SF mean unreacted lye?

 

[Susie]

Doesn't -1% SF mean unreacted lye?

IF your KOH was EXACTLY the purity the manufacturer claimed, and you put that number into the lye calculator for purity, then yes, it means unreacted lye. However, the chances of that are low.

Again, I have just never found it necessary to use -1% superfat.

But, I will say that I could always smell oils on my clothes when they came out of the dryer. So, they may have a point in using a negative superfat.

 

[kchaystack]

Doesn't -1% SF mean unreacted lye?

Technically yes. If your NaOH is 100% pure (it won't be, there will be traces of impurities from the manufacture process), and has not come into contact with air (which has CO2 and water vapor - but we don't work in a vacuum) then there will be a slight excess of lye. SO actually - not really, because it's impossible to meet those requirements for the home soap maker.

 

[Soapprentice]

So we can safely use -1 SF for a laundry soap bar? To wash clothes with hand?

 

[toxikon]

I've used my -1% SF stain stick many times on my hands now and it doesn't bother my hands at all. Perhaps a bit more drying than my usual bars but it really gets the grime off.

If I was using it to wash clothes by hand I would probably wear gloves though.

 

[kchaystack]

Even a true - 1 SF bar won't stay lye heavy for long. The alkali will react with the air with time.