Looking for a simple liquid soap recipe

[Queen Mum]

I've googled and searched. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I can't find a simple recipe for liquid soap that doesn't take three days of boiling. Anyone?

 

[green soap]

Here is one (I used it but changed the oils and proportions, same method though)

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/liqui ... soap_2.htm

This takes the best part of a day, but you can do other things during the 5-6 hours the paste is in the oven.

 

[Queen Mum]

Awesome, thanks so much! That is the perfect recipe for me, being all new and shiny at this whole thing. But being a chemist by training and having not done any chemistry for about 35 years except for cooking and cleaning and working on a farm and working in medicine, I need to know when to add preservative to the whole batch. Do you know when to add the germall to the process?

 

[green soap]

I did not use any preservatives and the soap is just as it was 3 months ago. I made it just for our use, for dishes and laundry so it lasts a while.

This is real soap, not a detergent, and bacteria cannot live in pH above 9 or so. Soap is its own antibacterial.

I don't think you need to add the germall, but maybe more experienced soapers will chime in.

 

[Queen Mum]

Thanks. I never thought about the PH thing. But it based on the size of the batch, I was hoping to make it last and give it away as gifts and such.

 

[carolyntn]

Liquid soap can sometimes be a bit tricky. I suggest you make small batches for personal use before gifting anything. After all, you want to give the best!

I use the David Fisher recipe for liquid soap as well and let the paste cook in the crockpot for several hours. Another great resource is Catherine Failors book Making Natural Liquid Soaps http://www.amazon.com/Making-Natural-Liquid-Soaps Conditioning/dp/1580172431

I don't use a preservative because I only make about 2.75 quarts of liquid soap at a time - and we use that up within three weeks. I would add a preservative if I thinned the liquid soap to be used in a foamer dispenser. With such a highly diluted soap, I would definitely add an appropriate preservative.

Also, I suggest NEVER topping off your liquid soap container. Instead, completely empty your soap pump, wash with hot water, disinfect and let dry thoroughly before refilling.
Carolyn

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[lsg]

I just made liquid soap using the coconut, castor and palm oil recipe from this thread. It made great soap.

http://forums.debbiemay.com/index.php?/ ... body-wash/

 

[suzannaski]

I'm going to try the David Fisher recipe today. Wish me luck- I'll need it! I could only get liquid KOH drain cleaner, so I had to do math to recalculate the concentration.
If anyone is interested, Pequa KOH is 45% KOH and 55% water and can be bought at the hardware store or Lowe's.

I've only tried LS once before, and it was opaque and runny, but it was a nice shower soap.

 

[carolyntn]

Good Luck!!! Tell us how it goes!

 

[suzannaski]

I started at lunchtime, I'm still waiting for the vaseline-like stage. I'm thinking I was supposed to cook it on high in the crock pot?

 

[suzannaski]

Preservative in LS

Yes, liquid soap does need a preservative if you want to sell it. I know of someone that sent her LS and another's sample out to a lab for testing, and each had a different strain of bacteria.

She suggested that you should take the same precautions with liquid soap as you would for lotion making.

I don't know what the pH was of her LS.

 

[kellistarr]

Awesome, thanks so much! That is the perfect recipe for me, being all new and shiny at this whole thing. But being a chemist by training and having not done any chemistry for about 35 years except for cooking and cleaning and working on a farm and working in medicine, I need to know when to add preservative to the whole batch. Do you know when to add the germall to the process?

Hi,

Catherine Failor's book states that "Thoroughly neutralized soaps, with fresh, clean-smelling oils should need no preservatives." She states that if you feel more comfortable adding preservatives, use a scant teaspoon of rosemary extract or mixed-tocopherol vitamin E per pund of soap paste. Stir into hot, diluted soap stock for optimal dispersal. I'm not sure about germall, but if this is your preservative of choice, you'd add during the dilution of your soap paste.

I made the recipe from about.com and my soap turned out really well. I didn't add any preservative.

 

[carolyntn]

Suannaski - how is the liquid soap coming? I see that after six hours you still hadn't reached vaseline stage. I start my liquid soap on high in the crockpot, but turn it down to low after about an hour.

 

[Fragola]

6 hours is a lot. I gave up the boiling a couple of batches ago, and switched over to CP.

 

[suzannaski]

Hi
After 10 hours, it still hadn't reached vaseline stage, so I added the boiling distilled water anyway. The pH was around 9. It's pretty milky.
Now I'm breaking up chunks about twice a day. I haven't added the borax solution yet, I want to wait until the chunks are gone.
Our newest barn cat got sick after I started the process, so by friday I wasn't really caring about how the soap turned out. Sadly, he died today. Vet couldn't save him.

 

[MeadowHillFarmCT]

awe - so sorry about your kitty...

 

[Mellifera]

Hi,

Catherine Failor's book states that "Thoroughly neutralized soaps, with fresh, clean-smelling oils should need no preservatives." She states that if you feel more comfortable adding preservatives, use a scant teaspoon of rosemary extract or mixed-tocopherol vitamin E per pund of soap paste. ...

ROE and Vit E will keep the oils from going rancid, but they won't kill bacterial contamination, which is the main worry (for me, anyway). I don't make lotions for that reason: I'm hoping to stay in the "all natural" category.

 

[Queen Mum]

We tried it today and it got really hot all of a sudden and went through a bunch of stages in about 3 seconds. WOW! Then we went to the cooking stage and it just sat there ... doing nothing so we let it sit for a while cooking and cooking and cooking. We took it off the heat and all of a sudden it was in the vaseline stage.

 

[suzannaski]

Thank you Meadowhill for the condolences.
He was so active and then, boom, lethargic.

Glad you had success Queen Mum!
I think I have a handicap in that I am using Pequa liquid KOH, 45%. I couldn't get it in dry form. So there's no heat from the chemical reaction to add to the oils, only the heat from adding boiling water to the liquid KOH. I had to recalculate all the water amounts to account for the water already in the KOH.
I added the borax last night, and today I have no lumps. That was a nice surprise.
It is too runny for what I'd like, anyone know how to make it thicker? Do I add salt?
I want this to be dish soap.