Making foaming hand soap question.

[greasyspoon42]

My wife likes the foaming hand soaps from Bath and Body Works, but they are quite expensive, even the refills. She asked if I could make some cheaper. I did some Googling and saw several videos that showed refilling the dispensers with about 15-20% Dr Bronner castile soap then filling up with water and adding your fragrance with about 15-20 drops.

This worked very well we were happy to have a cheaper and just as good solution. But after 3-4 days I noticed that I think the Fragrance oil may be separating and floating to the top. Then it dawned on the “yeah oil and water do not mix”. It almost looks like a wispy smoke layer. I used the fragrance oil in my Cold Process soap, so it was what I had on hand.

Do I need to buy a different fragrance for liquid hand soap? I can shake it every so often so it is not a big deal and it takes a while to separate out. Just wondering if need to get something different for fragrance and if so how is water soluble denoted for fragrance as they all seem to be called fragrance oil?

If it matters here are the products I used + tap water
https://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/products/blackberry-magnolia-fragrance-oil.aspx
https://www.drbronner.com/products/baby-unscented-pure-castile-liquid-soap

Thanks,

 

[AliOop]

Try mixing the FO with a bit of polysorbate 80 so it remains dispersed in the diluted soap. You can start with a one-to-one ratio, for instance, 10 grams of FO mixed with 10 grams of PS80, which is then mixed into your diluted soap. Some FOs will require more PS80; it's a bit of trial and error till you find the ratio that works in your soap.

Also, how about making your own liquid soap, instead of paying $$ for the Dr. Bronner's stuff?

 

[DeeAnna]

Remember too that BBW cleansers are synthetic detergent blends, not actual lye-based soap. That may explain some of the differences in how the BBW cleanser performs compared with true KOH liquid soap, which would include Dr Bronners.

We often call syndet cleansers by the name "soap" in casual conversation, but they're really not. Even BBW is guilty of this error, which isn't good form for a big company that should know better. If you look at the ingredients list for this foaming hand "soap", you'll see it doesn't have a drop of real soap in it: https://www.bathandbodyworks.com/p/vanilla-coconut-gentle-and-clean-foaming-hand-soap-028011028.html

If you're tempted to add more "stuff" to the diluted Dr Bronner mixture other than fragrance, be wary of that idea. You're diluting already-diluted soap to work in a foaming dispenser. That dilution means you're also reducing the alkalinity of the soap and thus increasing the risk of microbial growth in the diluted soap.

The alkalinity of soap functions as a preservative in liquid soap, but there are limits. I trust a concentrated KOH soap paste to be self-preserving, but I'm wary about the self-preserving ability of diluted liquid soap, especially soap that's been diluted enough to work in a foaming dispenser.