Liquid Castille

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Hi Carla.

I gave in to pressure from my sisters and started colouring my hair. It is going to take a while to grow it back out, but I have given it a lot of thought.

I used some well cured bits for my experiments. I think it might be dodgy to use anything less well cured unless it does not zap in the slightest. Grate some up and zap test the slivers. You can always let them sit a bit longer in their grated state if they zap.

 

[HomekeepingGran]

(((((((Magia))))))))

I know, Magia. Practically everybody colors their hair because the societal pressure to do so seems to be intense. And once you start, it is really hard to quit, apparently. Somehow, hair coloring has never interested me but I was fortunate enough to not show too much grey (ahem, silver) until in my mid 40s. Then I got a cool streak down the bangs section so it has been good. I have a tad more than a streak now. LOL.

OK... back to soap. Most likely the Palmolive will hold up until the Piggy Bars are fully cured so I'll simply wait that one out. Thank you for the help.

 

[Vintageliving]

HG, I made liquid soap using olive/castor bars that were only a few days old. The mixture separated. I have to shake it before using it. I put a bit of it in a shampoo bottle, add more water, some glycerin and jojoba oil. It's a great shampoo for me. I'm wondering if it separated because the olive/castor bar hadn't properly cured.

I made a batch using no-superfat, lard soap, which was but a few days old, for dishwashing liquid. It probably would have turned out fine, but I put in some baking soda, thinking that would give it more cleaning ooomph. Ha, it made a mess, turned the liquid into an almost solid. I re-batched it and now have a slithery, very thick gel. I've been using it for dishes, but it's not easy to use.

I will make another batch of liquid soap with pectin, using the no-superfat, lard bars, after I've used up the glop I made.

MDL, do you think this method would work for pine tar shampoo?

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

MDL, do you think this method would work for pine tar shampoo?

Hiya, Vintageliving

I have absolutely no experience with pine tar soap. I haunted every hardware, equestrian and feed supply store to get hold of some, but no luck finding usable pine tar in South Africa.

I am guessing that any soap can be "liquidized" with water and pectin, but am not sure whether the pine tar would seperate out like the milk powder seemed to do in my one batch, but then again that may just have been because I overcooked it.

 

[Vintageliving]

MDL, thanks. I may just have to try a daring experiment.

 

[pink-north]

You kbow this thread is so interesting I think I'll print it out. One day I will try to make liquid soap. I need to find a close supplier of KOH. That's why I love this forum, one can learn sooooo much. Thanks guys

 

[Vintageliving]

I'm wondering if my shampoo batch separated because I cooked at too high a heat, or too long. I've been thinking about MDL's post about the milk separating.

I've just made a batch of pine tar soap. I plan to turn some of that into pine tar shampoo using the pectin method. Will report as soon as I dare melt a bar....

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Well, I finally got around to making the "gel". I have bottled it and will post results after a few days so I can monitor what happens to it over the next few days. So far, so good. It has a nice slip to it, not as clear as I would have liked but it lathers well and rinses off very easily. Depending on how well it holds up I think this will be my preferred method for shampoo as it is easier to handle than the mousse.

 

[Vintageliving]

MDL, what did you differently with the "gel" than with previous batches?

I'm getting ready to make another batch.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Hiya VL.
I used
170 g of soap shreds
1000 g of spring water (non sparkling mineralwater will do) I had run out of distilled water
2 ml pectin.

My settings go upto 6, I set the heat on level 4 so it would heat up faster. Stirred slowly with a wire whisk. All the soap had melted after 20 minutes (starting from a cold start on the cooker/stove) but it did not come to the boil.
Reduced heat to level 3 for another 5 minutes (just for luck)

Turned heat off but left the pot on the cooker.

Sprinkled 3 ml Xanthan gum into the pot and stirred a little faster till it was all incorporated, then left it to cool. It looked like cloudy Jello when it was cold and I had to loosen it up by using the wire whisk, but it just slid through the funnel into the bottles.

It forms a creamy lather when rubbed between dry hands and then more bubbly when a little water is added. Might feel a tad slimy to some, but not so much that it is unpleasant. Rinses out very easily.

I am also going to try another batch (if I can find any more bottles ) with only Xanthan gum, no pectin. Same quantity of soap and water but with 4 - 5 ml Xanthan gum.

Will post results, good or bad.

 

[Vintageliving]

MDL, thanks for posting your gel experiment.

What do you like about the consistency, or any other aspect of the gel, with the xanthum gum? How is the result different than not using it?



If I get around to it, I think Irish Moss would be worth a try as a thickener. I bought some, but haven't used it yet. I wanted to use it to try blancmange.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

MDL, thanks for posting your gel experiment.

What do you like about the consistency, or any other aspect of the gel, with the xanthum gum? How is the result different than not using it?



If I get around to it, I think Irish Moss would be worth a try as a thickener. I bought some, but haven't used it yet. I wanted to use it to try blancmange.

It seems more fluid, had better slip to it.

 

[HomekeepingGran]

I tried this technique today, hoping for dishwashing liquid. Well, it looks pretty and smells good with the lime EO but it makes no suds. Period.

I started by grating 5 oz. of a lard/coconut/olive and castor bar. Melted it in 30 oz. of water with ½ tsp. of pectin. It didn't take too long to melt and once it was all liquid, I added 1 tsp. of lime EO. It set up to a soft gel like everyone else talked about. I'm kind of wondering what to do with it. I'm sure it will clean hands or maybe (gulp) my hair. My question is, what have the rest of you done with your projects spawned by this thread?

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Hi Carla
I am away from home on a work assignment, so I have not seen the "experiments" for just over a week now.

I use the more liquid of the results as a hand wash, both in the kitchen and the bathroom. The first batch which turned out like a mousse has kept it's texture and I am using that to wash my hair. I found that I need to wet my hands, apply some of the soap then work up a lather before adding too much more water.

The batch which I made before leaving home was made without pectin, but with Xanthan Gum. I have not posted the results as yet because I wanted to see how it turns out once I get back home. I think I used too much of the Xanthan though. It was interesting to say the least, like a cohesive gel but still very slippery and fluid. It did not budge when the bottle was inverted, but given a good shake once or twice it would ooze en masse to the opposite side of the bottle. Lathered and rinsed out nicely. I will give an update in about 2 weeks when I am back home.

 

[Vintageliving]

HG, the shampoo doesn't lather much, but works very well. Having lots of bubbles isn't important to me.

I have yet to make a new batch of dishwashing soap. I'm still using the re-batched glop I made, to which I had originally added baking soda. It has no bubbles, and is an odd mixture. I'll make another batch of dishwashing soap sometime.

I'll make another shampoo batch next month and will report.

 

[HomekeepingGran]

I just didn't think it cleaned my dishes particularly well, suds or no suds. I couldn't tell at first since I was doing my less greasy things to begin with (my usual habit) but once there was a bit of grease, it didn't cut it. Then I tried it as a shampoo but quickly washed it out with my husband's Head & Shoulders sitting there. It instantly coated my babyfine hair with... stuff... I don't know what to call it but I could feel it on my hair. I didn't rinse with vinegar before the H & S so maybe it would have been OK, but I guess I panicked a little there. (My hair is long, long and really fragile. I had horrible visions of horribleness, LOL.)

It did set up more like jello overnight.

 

[Vintageliving]

HG, what was your soap bar?

My shampoo is olive and castor at 5% Superfat. The vinegar rinse is crucial. MDL tried citric acid as a rinse and liked it, if I remember correctly.

My dishwashing soap is lard with no SF. I plan to try one with vegetable shortening on the next round.

Some like coconut bars for household cleaning/dishes, etc.

 

[HomekeepingGran]

The lard bar was... I am remembering rather than having the records in front of me, you understand...

75% lard
10 % olive
10 % coconut
5% castor

This may not be exactly it but it's close and yes, there was a 5% superfat. (I am a new soaper and don't have all the various specialty bars so many of you do.) The dishes I let go since they mainly looked clean although I felt it was more the hot water and scrub with a washcloth than anything which cleaned them. My hair on the other hand... :shock:

 

[Vintageliving]

HG, could it be the superfat at 5% that makes it not so ideal for dishes?

I have yet to find coconut in soaps to be kind to my skin or hair.

I can't speak to lard in the bars for shampoo, as I haven't tried them.

We might have to wait for MDL, or for someone who has tried this pectin method with various bars.

The bars I use for shampoo are light olive oil 89% and castor 11% at 5% SF. I added glycerin and jojoba oil, when the pectin mixture cooled, and added more water, for the shampoo. I use 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar for rinse. I rinse out the vinegar, too. I tried once not rinsing out the vinegar. My hair smelled of vinegar for days!

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

I can't speak to lard in the bars for shampoo, as I haven't tried them.

We might have to wait for MDL, or for someone who has tried this pectin method with various bars.

The bars I use for shampoo are light olive oil 89% and castor 11% at 5% SF. I added glycerin and jojoba oil, when the pectin mixture cooled, and added more water, for the shampoo. I use 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar for rinse. I rinse out the vinegar, too. I tried once not rinsing out the vinegar. My hair smelled of vinegar for days!

All the results are in the thread (which is becoming rather long )
The vinegar rinse removed the residue, but the smell of it made my stomach heave. Even after rinsing it out I smelt like a brewery.

I am still using the Citric acid rinse which I described in one of the posts and it is very effective in removing the ickeyness.

I cannot wait to get back home to check on the state of my last experiment.