Liquid Soap Happiness

[Servant4Christ]

The lather is white.

I use liquid soap colorants that I ordered from Voyageur. They're the liquid jewel tones and they work great in the LS but you do need to work with the natural colour of the soap. It's generally on the yellow side and that will affect the coloring.

Aw, I just knew it! I always end up spending more money after conversations with you and @AliOop

 

[Misschief]

Aw, I just knew it! I always end up spending more money after conversations with you and @AliOop

LOL.... I really don't think you'll be disappointed. There's a ton of great information in the book and I'm loving her recipes.

 

[AliOop]

that Failor book was also just what i was seeking. I learned way more in 75 pages of easy reading than I expected; one idea in particular i just can't stop thinking about...

My biggest problem with the Failor book is not just her obsession with obtaining clear soaps. It is her failure to explain WHY she obsesses about that. It took me lots of reading from other sources to figure out that there is no real reason other than her preference for soap to be clear.

Also, her method of making a negative super-fat LS, and then adding an acid to neutralize it, requires a lot of extra steps. It put me off of making liquid soap for a long time because back then, I didn't have a pH meter, and we all know that strips are unreliable. Turns out it is completely unnecessary to make LS this way.

Together, these two issues, which are major points that she emphasizes throughout her book, do a huge disservice to beginners by overcomplicating the process. However, I do agree that for those with some experience, some of the methods she explains can be helpful for trouble-shooting.

Forgive my ignorance, but I thought citric acid and sodium citrate we're the same thing. Or is it that CA turns to sodium citrate during saponification?

Your second statement is correct. CA is not actually a chelator, but when it reacts with NaOH to become sodium citrate, that is your chelator. Sodium citrate doesn't react with NaOH, so you don't have to adjust the lye when you use it. Oops, did I just make you spend more money again??

 

[Misschief]

Together, these two issues, which are major points that she emphasizes throughout her book, do a huge disservice to beginners by overcomplicating the process. However, I do agree that for those with some experience, some of the methods she explains can be helpful for trouble-shooting.

I've had both the Failor and the Jackie Thompson books for years and the Failor book especially, really turned me off to liquid soapmaking. As you say, overcomplicating the process is a disservice. I use both books now as more of a reference than anything else.

 

[Servant4Christ]

My biggest problem with the Failor book is not just her obsession with obtaining clear soaps. It is her failure to explain WHY she obsesses about that. It took me lots of reading from other sources to figure out that there is no real reason other than her preference for soap to be clear.

Also, her method of making a negative super-fat LS, and then adding an acid to neutralize it, requires a lot of extra steps. It put me off of making liquid soap for a long time because back then, I didn't have a pH meter, and we all know that strips are unreliable. Turns out it is completely unnecessary to make LS this way.

Together, these two issues, which are major points that she emphasizes throughout her book, do a huge disservice to beginners by overcomplicating the process.


Oops, did I just make you spend more money again??

THANK YOU! I feel the same but just couldn't put it into words. The book itself was great, but I'm the type who needs the "why".
As for citric acid, I just happened to finish mine off last week and hadn't had a chance to place an order for more yet so the timing is perfect.

 

[AliOop]

THANK YOU! I feel the same but just couldn't put it into words. The book itself was great, but I'm the type who needs the "why".
As for citric acid, I just happened to finish mine off last week and hadn't had a chance to place an order for more yet so the timing is perfect.

Oh good! I actually still purchase citric acid for bath bombs, so it would be really nice if it worked for me in soap, as well. But I really prefer using the sodium citrate for now. When I get close to using up the last of it, I may order sodium gluconate instead. You may check into that before ordering sodium citrate; a lot of other soapers here seem to like it as a chelator.

 

[johnnyusa]

I haven't read the ebook only because I prefer physical books.

I also have huge preference for paper, prefer candlelight after sunset, & hate fluorescent lights like the devil.
@AliOop I'm concerned about the CA bc I'm not so sure I want heavy metals in my soap molecule.
If heavy metals get into the chelated soap molecule then wouldn't the soap be acting as a carrier agent for heavy metals to enter the body via the skin thru osmosis, during a bath for example?
I already have a heavy metal problem my doctor gave me edta to remove, and then I read in this book edta is commonly used in cosmetics as a chelator or an emulsifier or smthng.
My friend showed me his $450 1 oz jar of La Prairie moisturizing creame in shiny metal bottle w 'natural caviar extract', so I googled the ingredients to see if I could make some n u know what it had, in addition to edta? PLASTIC!!! That's what gave the stuff it's creamy texture.
Friggin' plastic, & prob 2 cents worth of caviar extract just for label appeal.

 

[Megan]

I also have huge preference for paper, prefer candlelight after sunset, & hate fluorescent lights like the devil.
@AliOop I'm concerned about the CA bc I'm not so sure I want heavy metals in my soap molecule.
If heavy metals get into the chelated soap molecule then wouldn't the soap be acting as a carrier agent for heavy metals to enter the body via the skin thru osmosis, during a bath for example?
I already have a heavy metal problem my doctor gave me edta to remove, and then I read in this book edta is commonly used in cosmetics as a chelator or an emulsifier or smthng.
My friend showed me his $450 1 oz jar of La Prairie moisturizing creame in shiny metal bottle w 'natural caviar extract', so I googled the ingredients to see if I could make some n u know what it had, in addition to edta? PLASTIC!!! That's what gave the stuff it's creamy texture.
Friggin' plastic, & prob 2 cents worth of caviar extract just for label appeal.

The polyacrylate is a rheology modifier...it helps to keep the formulation stable.

 

[AliOop]

$450 1 oz jar of La Prairie moisturizing creame

That's awful! I bet you can make a better cream for him for far less money.

Regarding the CA, my understanding is that it will "grab" the metals that are present in your water, based on physical contact with those metals that occurs when you are washing with the soap using tap water. I don't have any information to indicate that CA within the soap will draw metals to itself from the air, or other surfaces. But even if it did, the CA would presumably still cause those metals to go down the drain with the rinse water.

 

[Servant4Christ]

Sorry, but I just about fell over laughing at plastic. It's awful, but sadly, not overly surprising.