mass production

[Ali said]

Hello, I have been making liquid soap with the glycerin method for a while. Now I need to make it in large quantities, 200 liters. The soap hardens in about 20 minutes. And it clogs every part of the boiler I use. The tap and valve inlets and outlets are closed. And when I add water, it does not open. How can I mass produce this soap? Which type of boiler should I use?

 

[DeeAnna]

You need to be using a method that uses more water up front so the soap remains fluid, rather than make a firm paste and then dilute.

This will be a semi-industrial process that is far beyond the pay grade of the small-scale liquid soap makers here, including me.

 

[AliOop]

I was just typing something very similar to what DeeAnna wrote above.

The only other thing that comes to mind is that perhaps the boiler manufacturer can provide pointers or referrals regarding recipes, processes, and appropriate equipment.

 

[Ali said]

You need to be using a method that uses more water up front so the soap remains fluid, rather than make a firm paste and then dilute.

This will be a semi-industrial process that is far beyond the pay grade of the small-scale liquid soap makers here, including me.

It seems very logical. So how should I do it? After making the soap paste, I mix it with 1.65 times its weight in water. Should I add this water to the oils first? How do you do it?

So do you know how full industrial systems do it? For example, Dr. Bronners

I was just typing something very similar to what DeeAnna wrote above.

The only other thing that comes to mind is that perhaps the boiler manufacturer can provide pointers or referrals regarding recipes, processes, and appropriate equipment.

Boiler manufacturers do not have much idea about this issue. Because maybe one in a thousand soap manufacturers produce castile soap. The castile soap production process is very different from soap production with surfactants

 

[DeeAnna]

> "...So how should I do it? ..."

I already said I have no idea how you should scale up your process to make large quantities of liquid soap. I gave you the general idea of what you need to do, but that's the extent of my knowledge.

> "...The castile soap production process is very different from soap production with surfactants..."

Some definitions --

Soap is a surfactant (surface active agent). Any surfactant that is able to clean is called a detergent. Soap is a surfactant that cleans, so it iis also a detergent.

There are also non-soap surfactants. Non-soap surfactants that are able to clean are detergents, just like soap. Non-soap detergents are typically called synthetic detergents (syndet), however, to distinguish them from soap.

You don't want to use the word "soap" when you're really talking about a syndet cleanser.

All detergents are surfactants. Not all surfactants are detergents. These words apply to soap and to non-soap cleansers.