Liquid Castille

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Test batch using 100% lard soap, no SF, is thickening nicely.

Will add baking soda, and a couple of drops of tea tree oil.

This will be dishwashing soap.

Edited to add: the baking soda added the to freshly made liquid soap starts turning it back into solid soap. I had quite a chuckle. That got me squished the "coagulating" soap through a sieve and adding great quantities of water. It washed dishes just fine, but wasn't the soap I intended to make.

Looks like the best method it to use the liquid soap and add the baking soda, as needed, during each round of dish washing.

The tea tree oil is nice and takes the edge off the smell of lard.

ROFL. Sounds like the baking soda took it full circle, but at least you were able to salvage it. Brings back fond memories of the first batch I tried, the 3 hour batch. I also tried squishing that through a sieve. What a mess !! I gave up, salvaged what I could and then beat the living daylights out of it. The creamy mousse that it ended up as has kept it's texture ever since, but I do not know whether I can get the same result again. My brother tried some of this batch for shaving and loves it.
I have so much liquid soap now of different thicknesses that I will have to wait a while before I make any more.

@ ctmax and andreja
Welcome aboard. This can become very addictive. Get plenty of bottles ready, you will need them
I have made about 5 batches and am planning another one with my few remaining scraps.

 

[Vintageliving]

MDL, yes the sludge can be used, but it wasn't at all what I intended. I did have to chuckle.

My first batch with the olive/castor separated a bit. I shook the bottle and it has stayed mixed for a day since then.

Will try some of the re-amended shampoo later today. It has glycerin, water, and jojoba oil added.

Planning to make more shampoo with this, albeit sans sodium bicarbonate. :wink:

I apologize for the lack of editing in my earlier post. Goodness, I must have been tired.

Ctmax and Andreja, will you post how your batches come out?

 

[andreja]

Ctmax and Andreja, will you post how your batches come out?

Of course! I just have to do it first. :wink: I am not at home yet, but will be in few days. I don't have any bar of pure castille, so I will try with other soap I have.

 

[tracy]

Well now I'm all excited to melt down some soap and try this for myself!

I have a question about colorings though. I have a batch of soap that I colored with turmeric and paprika (which worked pretty well), which I'm thinking of using for this experiment . As a shampoo, would that be something that would turn my hair funky colors or is it pretty much all absorbed in the soap? I know that's a dumb question, but when it comes to my hair I'd rather ask than find out the hard way!

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Well now I'm all excited to melt down some soap and try this for myself!

I have a question about colorings though. I have a batch of soap that I colored with turmeric and paprika (which worked pretty well), which I'm thinking of using for this experiment . As a shampoo, would that be something that would turn my hair funky colors or is it pretty much all absorbed in the soap? I know that's a dumb question, but when it comes to my hair I'd rather ask than find out the hard way!

You could still try this out and use as a liquid handwash. Perhaps the spices will not be great for your hair. Best to use an uncoloured soap for shampoo.

 

[tracy]

Yeah, you're probably right - I think I'll use another unscented uncolored batch for that. Glad I found you guys - it helps take the mystery out of this whole soapmaking thing!

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Yeah, you're probably right - I think I'll use another unscented uncolored batch for that. Glad I found you guys - it helps take the mystery out of this whole soapmaking thing!

You can add EO's which are correct for your hair type to the finished liquid, or use soap with those EO's already in it. If you are not sure which, tell me the type i.e. Dry, Oily etc. and I will look it up for you in "The Fragrant Pharmacy".

 

[Vintageliving]

MDL, that sounds useful.

Would you mind looking up a couple for...dry, um, er, grey hair? :wink:

(It's still hard to admit the grey hair.)

Thanks!

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

MDL, that sounds useful.

Would you mind looking up a couple for...dry, um, er, grey hair? :wink:

(It's still hard to admit the grey hair.)

Thanks!

Lavender, Geranium, Carrot, Yarrow, Sandalwood.

then for moisture use Jojoba or Avocado, but Jojoba would be my first choice.

Not much we can do about the grey

 

[Vintageliving]

MDL, thank you very much! I'm trying to adjust to the grey.

Can/could you say why you'd choose jojoba over avocado?

Reports on the liquid soap experiments:

Batch No. One, the olive oil/castor now stays separated. That'll have to be shaken before every use. Still useable, but not as nice as I'd like.

Batch No. Two, the no-SF, lard round into which I put the baking soda, has solidified, not bar hard, but not goopy. There also seems to now be unsaponified lard, as if the baking soda separated things! I'm thinking of melting it and turning it into bars again. Baking soda is definitely not a good addition the pectin method. Oh, well.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Can/could you say why you'd choose jojoba over avocado?

Reports on the liquid soap experiments:

Batch No. One, the olive oil/castor now stays separated. That'll have to be shaken before every use. Still useable, but not as nice as I'd like.

Batch No. Two, the no-SF, lard round into which I put the baking soda, has solidified, not bar hard, but not goopy. There also seems to now be unsaponified lard, as if the baking soda separated things! I'm thinking of melting it and turning it into bars again. Baking soda is definitely not a good addition the pectin method. Oh, well.

Thanks for the feedback on the experiments.

Jojoba most closely resembles the sebum which we would naturally produce and dry hair indicates a lack of natural sebum. Jojoba is actually a wax and seems to coat the hair without making it greasy. I suspect Avocado might feel a bit greasy. You don't need much Jojoba, only about 10 - 20 drops in a 200 ml bottle of shampoo.

My experiments have all stayed as they were at last report. Mousse is still holding up, thick paste is impossible to squeeze out of the bottle and the more liquid (1 hour) soap is holding up nicely.

I need to restock on Xanthan Gum, then I will try a half hour batch and hopefully it will be thin enough so that I can try to tranform it into shower gel.

 

[Vintageliving]

MDL, I'm glad your batches have stayed consistent.

Thank you for the information on the oils. I use jojoba directly on my hair, and sometimes on my skin. I quite like it. I alternate with castor, lanolin, and coconut, using one each evening. Though, I find I use less of the coconut. The lanolin is very nice on chapped hands after gardening or serious chores.

 

[Bajramovic]

Could somebody tell me what's the purity of KOH you use?
I could only find 85% pure(i think the rest is H2O) and i buy that stuff from a pharmaceutical supplier,so I guess that's the purest KOH I can find.

Do i put like 14% more or what?

Thanks

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Could somebody tell me what's the purity of KOH you use?
I could only find 85% pure(i think the rest is H2O) and i buy that stuff from a pharmaceutical supplier,so I guess that's the purest KOH I can find.

Do i put like 14% more or what?

Thanks

Not quite sure. I have given up on the conventional liquid soap process as it just takes too long.

 

[ctmax]

I did this using some of my ugly soaps and I have to say this is what I will be doing with all of my soap that I don't like. It worked perfect. I did get a little impatient though, it didn't seem like it was thickening so I added another 1/2 t of pectin and when it cooled down I had some really thick soap. I added more water to thin it out and so far it hasn't seperated. Thank you for this wonderful idea.

I was just going to update everyone. In my last post I mentioned I got impatient and added another 1/2t of pectin. Well I poured everything into a sealer and put it under the sink. A few days later I came back and it looked like everything seperated, so I just gave it a good shake and put it back. Then a couple days after that I went to pour it into a soap container and it was like grape jelly pretty solid. I started shaking it really hard and it liquified and has stayed together ever since. When I do this again I will stick to the 1/2 t of pectin and see how that goes.

 

[Vintageliving]

Ctmax, thanks for your reports. It's useful to how adding this or that, or doing this or that effects the batch.

 

[HomekeepingGran]

As I am understanding this thread, you are all getting creamy-looking soaps, not clear, right? (or wrong?) Also, if you make dishwashing liquid how are the suds? I have some lard, coconut, olive and castor bars curing but they have no added sugar. Dishwashing liquid wouldn't feel right without lots of bubbles! :wink:

 

[ctmax]

I made a liquid hand soap. I actually used some whipped soap that was scented with vanilla. So my hand soap is actually a brown color. I have not tried dish soap yet.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

As I am understanding this thread, you are all getting creamy-looking soaps, not clear, right? (or wrong?) Also, if you make dishwashing liquid how are the suds? I have some lard, coconut, olive and castor bars curing but they have no added sugar. Dishwashing liquid wouldn't feel right without lots of bubbles! :wink:

Correct, the soap is creamy not clear. I have only used this as shampoo and for washing my hands, never tested it as a dishwash.

I think that you will not get the same quality of suds with handmade soap that you will get from a detergent based dishwash as the lather from handmade soap does not have the same staying power anyway IMO, but I believe it will still do a good job of cleaning the dishes. My only concern would be about using it in a dishwasher as there would be residual soap scum depending on the level of superfatting of the base soap.

With that being said, why not try a batch ? It does not take much base soap and at worst if you find that it is not suitable as a dishwash you will have some creamy hand soap (or shampoo) to use.

 

[HomekeepingGran]

Very true, Magia! Oh, I'm sure dishes can be clean without bubbles. It's just one of those things where I'm conditioned for the bubbles, plus, I strongly suspect my husband will be all weird about non-traditional dishwashing liquid, especially if it doesn't bubble. I have no intention of using it for either the automatic dishwasher or probably not my bum-length hair either, since the base bar is lard based.

Totally Off Topic: By the way, Magia, VintageLiving, I am very proud of my grey but I prefer to call it silver because Silver Rocks! I never got hair color compliments until I silvered up some. Either or both of you might enjoy Going Gray Looking Great. Magia, if you love your long hair, you might also like The Long Hair Community Forum.

Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Topic: Do I need to let my Piggy Batch totally cure before turning some of it into pectin dishwashing soap? I still have enough Palmolive dishwashing liquid left to let it cure longer if need but I'm just antsy to make it. :wink: And as you said, if I don't like it for dishes it can always be handsoap.