Liquid soap should i try it?

[candicec003]

Hello. I've been making cold process soap for almost 2 years now and have done pretty well for myself and am happy with the bar soap. I currently have a client that i supply pet shampoo bars too, but they have expressed interest in liquid soap. I personally want to master the cold process soap making before i try the liquid soap. But from what ive read, liquid soap making takes forever to do and is quite the process. I would like some input from soap makers that have done the cold process soap making and have also done the liquid soap making. Is it worth it to do liquid soap making? seems like a long drawn out process. What are the pros and cons of liquid soap making and your over all opinion. Thanks

 

[IrishLass]

Believe it or not- contrary to what you may have heard, liquid soap-making is soooooo easy. I'm pretty sure you got the impression of it being quite the arduous, long drawn-out process from an older method known as the Failor method, but advances have been made since Catherine Failor came out with her method several years ago. Not to disparage Ms. Failor, because she was the brave pioneer that ventured out/went before us and got the ball running so-to-speak, but much has been learned since her books first came out- things which have made the process so much quicker and easier.

We have a few different tutorials on the forum that show a few different ways to get it done in a quick and easy manner:

Susie's method: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=49852

and the one I use (starting at post # 8: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=428988

Edited to answer you other questions: Yes- it's most definitely worth it to me, and I really can't think of any cons with the method I use. It's so easy and the soap comes out great.


IrishLass

 

[Susie]

^^^What IrishLass said!

It takes no more time to make liquid soap than CP bar soap. Matter of fact, you can use it immediately, so it is faster.

I use IrishLass' recipe and method with one small change (and I think she added it to the thread), I mix my KOH with an equal amount of water, then add the other portion of batch water as glycerin to the oils. Works a charm. Do read the whole thread, loads of info in there!

 

[Arimara]

^^ What these two said. Since you've been making CP soap for 2 years, I'd say you deserve to make a soap where you can almost immediately scratch that "I wanna try my soap" itch. Susie and Irish both have recipe and tutorials for LS making and TOMH has a recipe as well. You might want to save his method for a later date though. It's a little more intermediate though it is a great soap..

 

[DeeAnna]

Hear, hear for Susie and Irish Lass! They are my go-to girls for no-stress liquid soap making!

 

[candicec003]

So do you have to add glycerin in the liquid soap making process? I know glycerin is naturally occurring in the cold process soap making, but do you have to add it manually to the liquid process?

 

[KristaY]

So do you have to add glycerin in the liquid soap making process? I know glycerin is naturally occurring in the cold process soap making, but do you have to add it manually to the liquid process?

No, you don't have to add it manually but it helps get to trace with the cold process method. Susie, IrishLass, anyone else, please correct me if I'm wrong, but you need the glycerin if you aren't using heat while mixing the oils and lye to emulsion. If you decide not to use glycerin then you just need to heat the solution to get to trace. A crock pot works perfectly for it.

The way IrishLass and Susie spell it out in their tutorials makes the process so much simpler than all tutorials I'd read before theirs. It really isn't complicated or time consuming. The annoying & time consuming part for me is the dilution! It's never the same batch to batch using the exact same recipe so this step usually takes me an entire day. But once I'm done I've got a couple of gallons of LS ready to be scented and put into the showers or pump bottles by the sinks so it's worth it!

 

[DeeAnna]

If you want the soap to saponify easily with an absolute minimum of fuss, then yes I'd use part glycerin and part water. The added glycerin jump starts the saponification process. I've used 2:1 glycerin:water, 1:1 glycerin:water, and 1:2 glycerin:water. They all work. My only observation is that the version with 2:1 glycerin:water lathered a bit less than the versions with less glycerin, all other things being equal. A ~bit~ less.

If you want to use just water, Susie's and IL's no-cook method still works -- I've done it -- but the soap batter likes to be warmer (around 180 F) while you are whisking/stick blending the batter to trace. When the batter gets to the "flying bubbles" or that thick pasty stage, however, you can still cover it and walk away just like you'd do for the glycerin-water version.

Glad to see I'm on the same track as Krista!

Oh, just remembered -- here's a test I did http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=51237

 

[Susie]

The beautiful part of making liquid soap is that I can store the paste almost indefinitely in the fridge. That means that when my co-worker said her child is getting eczema from using the antibacterial hand soap, I can dilute out a batch for them in a couple of hours, and hand it over the next day.