Liquid soap without crockpot/heating?

[Anstarx]

I've made a post about my first adventure with LS long time ago and that batch didn't run out until today, meaning I need to make a second batch.

Last time I used the common crockpot method but my SB end up scratching the coating in my crockpot so badly that I don't want to do that any more. Also as I observed, I actually didn't need to have the crockpot on the whole time (It only has medium and high heat setting) and had to turn it off from time to time to avoid overheating.

Which is why I wonder if I can make LS without any heating?
I usually soap with NaOH in pp plastic buckets so I plan to melt CO beforehand, dump it into the bucket, and just add dissolved KOH and SB until trace. All the tutorials I read on LS says you need "cook" the traced paste for 2-3 hours. I wonder if I can just kinda leave it in room temp (about 20C nowadays)and maybe come back to stir it every 20 min or so?

Also, if it absolutely need heating, I have another option. I have a fancy oven that can have its temperature as low as 30C so I could SB to trace, put the batter into a stainless steel mixing bowl, and put it in the oven to keep warm.

Any thought and suggestion? I just really don't want scratch my crockpot again lol.

 

[BattleGnome]

Try this thread

you can CP liquid soap, most of us have switched to this method. The only thing I would recommend changing from the first few guidelines mentioned in the thread is to dissolve you KOH in an equal amount of water, don’t use glycerin at this step. You can add extra glycerin in place of water later on. It’s very difficult and dangerous to mix any sort of lye directly with glycerin. One mistake and you’ve got a gross mess (no one can control a car backfiring, phone ringing, child/pet needing attention at a curtail moment). The safety concerns come up at post 4 million 67 of that thread but otherwise it’s probably exactly what you’re looking for

 

[Anstarx]

Try this thread

you can CP liquid soap, most of us have switched to this method. The only thing I would recommend changing from the first few guidelines mentioned in the thread is to dissolve you KOH in an equal amount of water, don’t use glycerin at this step. You can add extra glycerin in place of water later on. It’s very difficult and dangerous to mix any sort of lye directly with glycerin. One mistake and you’ve got a gross mess (no one can control a car backfiring, phone ringing, child/pet needing attention at a curtail moment). The safety concerns come up at post 4 million 67 of that thread but otherwise it’s probably exactly what you’re looking for

Oh thanks! I used 100% water for my first batch and not planning to use glycerin this time anyway so it should be fine. Will try a small batch this week.

 

[DeeAnna]

I've never made LS in a crock pot, but I've also never cooked LS paste for hours. It's been my experience that liquid soap made only with water can be a little slower to trace than LS made with at least some glycerin, so a little extra heat can be helpful at the beginning, but several hours of cooking aren't really necessary.

I heat no-glycerin LS batter to 160-180 F / 70-80 C and I want to get the batter to a stable trace while it's being heated. Because I'm standing right there and don't walk away, I will heat the batter using medium-low to low heat directly on the stove top.

After the paste reaches trace, I turn off the heat, cover the soap pot, and set it aside in a safe place so the soap batter can finish saponifying with no additional heating.

When the paste is zap free, it's done. That's often an hour or two later, tops, if I'm wanting to move directly on to diluting. But if I don't get back to it for a day or so, that's fine too.

 

[Susie]

I get my CO melted (I don't care how hot as long as it feels warm to my hand and is completely melted. Add other oils. Add KOH/H2O. SB a tiny bit to mix. Add glycerin. SB until emulsion. Put a lid on it and walk away. This is the only soap I make in my SS pot on top of a trivet because it gets HOT. By the time I get the kitchen cleaned up, I usually have gel. I let it cool a little to be able to handle it and divvy it out into Ziploc bags. Then I dilute (usually in the crockpot so I don't have to stand over it) what I need right then, add colorant and EO/FO. Done. Typically under 2 hours from first ingredient hitting the counter to all done except for bottling the diluted soap as it needs to cool. I usually bottle the following morning.

If I am really in a hurry, I mix the KOH/H2O right before dumping that extremely hot mixture over my unmelted oils, then SB, add glycerin, SB to emulsion and walk away. I go back to it later that day or the next depending on my schedule that day.

 

[DeeAnna]

My experience with LS that has added glycerin has been pretty much like Susie's. I start with fully melted fats and freshly made, piping hot KOH solution. In that case, the soap batter doesn't require any extra heating.