Liquid soap dilution

[Ely]

Hello everyone,
I faced a big problem while diluting my soap paste. I have read the thread for liquid soap making and used the formula and instructions that Irish Lass provided followed every steps but I failed when it comes to dilute the paste. According the formula the dilution rate is 1 part paste to 0.75 part water for that formula, but I wasn’t able to dissolve the paste so I had to add more water to disolove the paste. I also considered 3% Sodium Lactate which helps the paste to disolve easier and did everything Irish Lass mentioned but it didn’t disolve so I added more water. The ratio for dissolving was 1 part paste to 1.15 part water. I have no idea why it happened to me. I have repeated the test 2 times with same result. Would someone help me out and tell me where did I go wrong? Thanks alot

 

[DeeAnna]

People ask this same question fairly often, so you're not alone. We tend to think a recipe should invariably work exactly as written, and that's not always true in soaping as well as in cooking.

The dilution rate given in many liquid soap recipes is a prime example. It's important to view this dilution rate as a guideline, not a hard and fast rule. Whatever dilution you need to use to get the result you want for your batch of soap is the correct dilution. Your soap paste might have a little less water than IL's paste, so it needs more water to dilute to the desired consistency. Or the fatty acid profile of your liquid soap might be slightly different than IL's due to natural variations in the fats. Or your ambient temperature is cooler than IL's -- soap tends to get thicker when it's cooler. It's hard to say.

I usually start diluting at 1 part paste to 0.5 part water when I am working with a new batch and gradually add water as needed. Even if I've made the same recipe many times, every batch has been at least a little bit different. For that reason, I never assume the dilution rate that worked for an older batch will work for an entirely new batch.

That said, I don't always dilute all of a batch of paste right away -- I usually dilute about half and save the rest to dilute later. When I do this, I'll make a note of the dilution rate needed for the first portion of the paste and use that as a guide when diluting the rest of that particular batch of paste. That works well -- the dilution rate stays consistent within a batch. Just not from batch to batch.

 

[Carl]

I have a recipe that I've been making. I start with dilution H2O = paste weight.

Last time I had to add 5 oz of water.

This time I had to add 10.

So it varies even for the same recipe.