Liquid soap second try - recipe help

[lady-of-4]

Lady-of-4 you can fly in the face of generally accepted practices as much as you like but I promise you that if you truly had "zap tested" a truly lye heavy soap you would know unless you tongue was devoid of all feeling. There is absolutely no mistaking a lye heavy soap and zap. Please do not start recommending unsafe practices on this board.

I'm not recommending anything. I'm simply trying to get people to think logically. Might I recommend the book, Scientific Soapmaking, by Kevin Dunn, so that you may better understand where the idea comes from? He is a fellow soap maker with a PHD in chemistry and actually took the time to break down soap making, on a scientific level. It's great for those who care to think outside the box, or quite simply who want to understand the process, rather than just do what is a generally accepted practice.

 

[lady-of-4]

You are absolutely allowed to differ in opinion! Forums work best when not everyone agrees. Sometimes we can all learn a bit from one another, or at least that is the intention! I choose to zap test for the same reason that you choose to pH test, my children. I found that I could get 3-4 different pH results from a single batch of soap. I needed one absolutely unmistakable safe-or-not-safe determination for the soap.

I use all of my soaps before anyone else is even allowed to sniff one. Period. I would no more endanger my family than you would. My heart breaks for you, and your family. Autism is such a challenge for everyone. It takes a special mother to be able to cope with an autistic child. My hat's off to you.

Thank you Susie. I don't mean to insult. Simply educate. I understand we all do things differently. But I also like to push limits and question what folks deem acceptable and not. So when I find something new, to me at least, I want to share it. Not be talked down to by my peers. Not implying that you do, but, it seems to be the norm in our craft. Even when sufficient evidence is produced to affirm my claims.

 

[Susie]

I have read his book. While it was a very interesting book, and it made a great deal of sense to this nurse, I do not feel it meets the needs of most average soapmakers. I could be wrong.

I spent most of my career as a home health and hospice nurse. My job was breaking down medicalese for patients and their families, helping them learn to cope with disease processes, and helping them learn their new diets and lifestyles by helping them go through their cabinets and refrigerators:

"This is ok to eat, that is not. This label tells you that."
"This cup holds a perfect amount of rice or potatoes for a serving."
"This glass is the correct serving size of milk."
"You need no more liquid than this in a whole 24 hour day."
"This is how you give yourself insulin."
"This is how you clean and dress that wound."

So, I tend to think about everything like that. How can I break down this for the average person to first ensure their safety, and second to help them understand what to do in the easiest method possible. When I find that, and test it myself, I share it.

 

[lady-of-4]

I have read his book. While it was a very interesting book, and it made a great deal of sense to this nurse, I do not feel it meets the needs of most average soapmakers. I could be wrong.

I spent most of my career as a home health and hospice nurse. My job was breaking down medicalese for patients and their families, helping them learn to cope with disease processes, and helping them learn their new diets and lifestyles by helping them go through their cabinets and refrigerators:

"This is ok to eat, that is not. This label tells you that."
"This cup holds a perfect amount of rice or potatoes for a serving."
"This glass is the correct serving size of milk."
"You need no more liquid than this in a whole 24 hour day."
"This is how you give yourself insulin."
"This is how you clean and dress that wound."

So, I tend to think about everything like that. How can I break down this for the average person to first ensure their safety, and second to help them understand what to do in the easiest method possible. When I find that, and test it myself, I share it.

His book was hard to digest in many aspects. It was a lot of chemical math, and not a whole lot of explaining why soap is this way of that. But in the end, chemistry is like that. Chemistry at work is in the form of its own special language. It's definitely not for a beginning soap maker unless they already have a complex mindset to break it down and understand it all. I did come away from the book with more than I started with.

But, it seems I digress. And we should get back to the topic at hand.

 

[cmzaha]

I pretty much make mine like Susie and do not in the least worry about clarity. I absolutely love 100% coconut oil soap paste for cleaning. I dilute a jar of liquid 100% coconut soap but keep the rest in paste form. The paste works great for cleaning my glass stove top, which by the way, I would never buy again. I even use it to squeegee my huge amount of glass in my house. I have a floor to ceiling wall of glass and it works wonderful with a squeegee
Another great way to go is make single oil ls then you can blend them until you are happy with the feel

 

[CanaDawn]

I choose to zap test for the same reason that you choose to pH test, my children. I found that I could get 3-4 different pH results from a single batch of soap. I needed one absolutely unmistakable safe-or-not-safe determination for the soap.
.

And this is exactly why zap testing is more often advocated by those experienced soapers who want safe soap. pH testing on soap is just unreliable, and/or difficult to ensure is done consistently and accurately. The pH isn't the issue anyhow - the reactivity of free lye is.

It's false logic (and insulting) to assume or imply that others use the zap test because they don't understand the chemistry or the arithmetic involved in other safety assurance methods. It's quick and reliable for the majority of users, making it a good safety check. Obviously, if your tongue is different to the majority, you'll need a different method, but that isn't because the zap test is not useful.

 

[CanaDawn]

I pretty much make mine like Susie and do not in the least worry about clarity. I absolutely love 100% coconut oil soap paste for cleaning. I dilute a jar of liquid 100% coconut soap but keep the rest in paste form. The paste works great for cleaning my glass stove top, which by the way, I would never buy again. I even use it to squeegee my huge amount of glass in my house. I have a floor to ceiling wall of glass and it works wonderful with a squeegee
Another great way to go is make single oil ls then you can blend them until you are happy with the feel

I use 100% coconut oil soap for pretty much everything. I don't use gloves, and rarely find it causes a problem with dry hands (not more than just using hot water for an extended period of time does, frankly). I agree on the use of it for glass stoves - any glass. I find it needs to be rinsed and dried for best effect - but it's worth it for the level of clean that results!

I hadn't tried it on windows - but on looking out of my big windows this morning, I think today's the day.....thanks for the inadvertent shove into this chore!