It turned out awesome.
My Creamy Cocoa/Shea GLS Tutorial
- Thread starter IrishLass
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I add the stearic acid and PS80 to my canning jar along with the paste and set aside momentarily. Then I combine the water, sodium lactate, and EDTA to a small pot and heat to boiling, then I pour it immediately into my jar of paste/stearic/PS80 before covering and setting the jar in my boiling water bath.
IrishLass
IrishLass please how do I add honey to my LS? I want a honey LS. Thanks
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That should have been added when making the actual paste itself. You have a lovely, chic soap by the way.
Ditto what Arimara said. Add the honey up front, i.e., when you are mixing your paste ingredients together.
IrishLass
IrishLass
NsMar42111
Well-Known Member
Reviving this to say THANK YOU again to IrishLass-this worked wonderfully! I actually got the whole process except superfatting/fragrance done in one day on this try, my paste was zapless in less than 3 hours so I diluted. Smells wayyyyyyyy better than the previous versions I did . Thank you for sharing!
lolaM
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made an arse of it! anyway to save my paste?
so i have clearly buggered up my soap paste. followed irishlass' recipe- however using half distilled water and half glycerin (because its expensive where i live)
anyway.... it pretty much just turned to custard/pudding colour and consistancy after 10minutes of hand whisking. continued for another 10 and no change.
reviewed the recipe i had written down and i believe i have misread the amounts.i think i put the lye amount the same as the water.
so 147grams KOH instead of 98g mixed with 147.5 water and equal parts glycerin with the rest of the ingredients/volumes the same in this original thread.
Can i save this paste somehow?
would hate to waste all that lovely coco butter....
so i have clearly buggered up my soap paste. followed irishlass' recipe- however using half distilled water and half glycerin (because its expensive where i live)
anyway.... it pretty much just turned to custard/pudding colour and consistancy after 10minutes of hand whisking. continued for another 10 and no change.
reviewed the recipe i had written down and i believe i have misread the amounts.i think i put the lye amount the same as the water.
so 147grams KOH instead of 98g mixed with 147.5 water and equal parts glycerin with the rest of the ingredients/volumes the same in this original thread.
Can i save this paste somehow?
would hate to waste all that lovely coco butter....
I think you can save this, since you know the amount of your error, but it will be a bit of an experiment.
The extra KOH you added = 147 - 98 = 49 grams
Calculate the fat blend needed to react with this extra 49 grams of KOH. Hint -- it's going to be half the fat blend that you used originally.
Add the extra fat and maybe some extra water to get the paste softened enough to mix easily with the fat. Be careful while mixing -- at the very least wear eye protection because mixing liquids into lye heavy soap paste may cause spatters, and you don't want that stuff in your eyes. Keep track of any extra water added so you can take that into account later when you dilute the paste.
At this point, I personally would probably gently warm this mixture to 160-180 F (70-75 C) or thereabouts, cover it tightly, and let it sit undisturbed for a day or three in a safe place. It should saponify fine. Remember if you do a zap test to check if the paste is fully saponified, be sure to do so very carefully. (See the zap test tutorial http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=63199) The point here is to give it enough time to saponify and become zap free. Then dilute per IL's instructions.
The extra KOH you added = 147 - 98 = 49 grams
Calculate the fat blend needed to react with this extra 49 grams of KOH. Hint -- it's going to be half the fat blend that you used originally.
Add the extra fat and maybe some extra water to get the paste softened enough to mix easily with the fat. Be careful while mixing -- at the very least wear eye protection because mixing liquids into lye heavy soap paste may cause spatters, and you don't want that stuff in your eyes. Keep track of any extra water added so you can take that into account later when you dilute the paste.
At this point, I personally would probably gently warm this mixture to 160-180 F (70-75 C) or thereabouts, cover it tightly, and let it sit undisturbed for a day or three in a safe place. It should saponify fine. Remember if you do a zap test to check if the paste is fully saponified, be sure to do so very carefully. (See the zap test tutorial http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=63199) The point here is to give it enough time to saponify and become zap free. Then dilute per IL's instructions.
lolaM
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thank you soooo much for your advise DeeAnna, and your super fast response! ive been cold processing for a few years but im brand new in liquid soaping and only just stumbled upon this forum and it will now be my first go-to for any info and help. Amazing support for newbies trying to get advice and info from the experts who handcraft natural products at home!
You're welcome! I hope Irish Lass or Susie or some of the other liquid soapers chime in with their thoughts, because they may have ideas and suggestions that may be even more useful.
Kate
New Member
IL, can I use potassium carbonate to chelate instead of EDTA?
Potassium carbonate is not a chelant, so, no, it won't work as an alternative to EDTA.
Sodium or potassium citrate is the other common chelator used in handcrafted soap.
Sodium or potassium citrate is the other common chelator used in handcrafted soap.
MullersLaneFarm
Well-Known Member
Wonderful tutorial, IrishLass. Since I'm venturing into LS this month, I'll be able to use quite a bit of the information in this thread!
Thank you IL and all the contributors who asked questions!!
Thank you IL and all the contributors who asked questions!!
I've searched through this thread but couldn't find an answer to the following:
Regarding the easy water/glycerin method for dissolving KOH, the instructions are to dissolve KOH in an equal amount of water and then add the full recipe amount of glycerin. However, doesn't this now change the 25% lye concentration of the original recipe?
Couldn't you dissolve the KOH in an equal amount of water and then add 2/3 glycerin so that you maintain a true 25% lye solution (aka 3:1 ratio)? The only disadvantage is your final soap paste will have less glycerin as compared to the original recipe. To account for this, can we add additional glycerin during the paste dilution stage?
Regarding the easy water/glycerin method for dissolving KOH, the instructions are to dissolve KOH in an equal amount of water and then add the full recipe amount of glycerin. However, doesn't this now change the 25% lye concentration of the original recipe?
Couldn't you dissolve the KOH in an equal amount of water and then add 2/3 glycerin so that you maintain a true 25% lye solution (aka 3:1 ratio)? The only disadvantage is your final soap paste will have less glycerin as compared to the original recipe. To account for this, can we add additional glycerin during the paste dilution stage?
Welcome Robzanc. :wave: Yes- it does change the 25% lye concentration, but I adjust for that by adding less water during dilution time.
If you look at my note that I add in the beginning of this tutorial where I write the instruction for diluting the paste, you'll see that I specify using 31% water as per paste instead of 41.3% water as per paste if using the easier method of dissolving the lye:
IrishLass said:
In the end, the soap comes out the same consistency whether you keep to a 25% concentration up front, or use a lesser concentration up front, just as long as you make sure to add less dilution water if you used a lesser lye concentration up front.
For what its worth, I actually like using the lesser lye concentration up front because my batter turns into paste much quicker for me.
IrishLass
Thanks IrishLass. I understand that is why you add less water when you dilute your paste (because you already added more to begin with).
I guess my question was more about the chemistry of the saponification process and whether having a true 25% lye solution vs something less concentrated changes anything other than time taken to trace?
I guess my question was more about the chemistry of the saponification process and whether having a true 25% lye solution vs something less concentrated changes anything other than time taken to trace?
The paste is easier to work with and dilute when you use the 25% lye solution. Just that. Glycerin is the magic ingredient that speeds trace.
I wanted to share my experience of making IrishLass' most wonderful recipe.
I didn't deviate much from the original other than dissolving the KOH in an equal amount of water, and then adding the full glycerin amount to my liquefied oils (instead of the lye solution) before stick blending. I made a 500g batch with an initial superfat of 3%, and then added apricot kernel oil as my superfat post soap dilution. No EDTA. Pics below.
Melting the hard oils:
I thought my stick blender was of a strong enough plastic to withstand heat - it wasn't and ended up deforming slightly (not shown). Next purchase is a blender with a stainless steel stem!
I didn't experience the flying bubbles stage and stopped once the mixture became difficult to mix even with a spoon.
Here is the mixture wrapped in cling wrap and about to be left overnight. The cling wrap decreases the 'real' temperature by about 15 degrees F.
I didn't deviate much from the original other than dissolving the KOH in an equal amount of water, and then adding the full glycerin amount to my liquefied oils (instead of the lye solution) before stick blending. I made a 500g batch with an initial superfat of 3%, and then added apricot kernel oil as my superfat post soap dilution. No EDTA. Pics below.
Melting the hard oils:
I thought my stick blender was of a strong enough plastic to withstand heat - it wasn't and ended up deforming slightly (not shown). Next purchase is a blender with a stainless steel stem!
I didn't experience the flying bubbles stage and stopped once the mixture became difficult to mix even with a spoon.
Here is the mixture wrapped in cling wrap and about to be left overnight. The cling wrap decreases the 'real' temperature by about 15 degrees F.
FWIW I zap tested after about 3hrs and there was no zap, but I left it undisturbed overnight until the following morning when it was time to aliquot the paste.
Here is my scientifically patented design for diluting/heating the paste after addition of water, sodium lactate, stearic acid, and PS80. I used 31% of water (not 41.3% because I initially dissolved my KOH in water) and did not add EDTA so compensated by adding extra water.
I initially heated the paste for 1hr and then left it with the heat off for 0.5hr, but found it needed another 0.5 hr of heating followed by 0.5hr with the heat off. I then stick blended and left it overnight. It took about 12-16 hrs at room temp. until it turned white from the stearic acid.
Here is my scientifically patented design for diluting/heating the paste after addition of water, sodium lactate, stearic acid, and PS80. I used 31% of water (not 41.3% because I initially dissolved my KOH in water) and did not add EDTA so compensated by adding extra water.
I initially heated the paste for 1hr and then left it with the heat off for 0.5hr, but found it needed another 0.5 hr of heating followed by 0.5hr with the heat off. I then stick blended and left it overnight. It took about 12-16 hrs at room temp. until it turned white from the stearic acid.
