My Creamy Cocoa/Shea GLS Tutorial

[Saponificarian]

I don’t think so. I just put enough water for my paste and leave it to do it’s thing and occasionally shake or stir. Mine takes a few days. 2-3 days at room temperature.

 

[bathgeek]

Same. I usually leave it a week because I’m busy doing other stuff and I forget... ^_^

 

[DeeAnna]

It takes a day or three to dilute at room temperature. To start, I mash the paste into smaller chunks with a potato masher, add most (but not all) of the dilution water I think it will need, then let the mixture sit. Every so often when I think about it, I stir or mash the mixture some more.

Once most of the paste becomes liquid, I decide if it needs more water, add water as needed, and let it sit for a bit longer. As the soap gets closer to the right thickness, I add less and less water at each addition.

I don't usually stick blend it, but you can. Stick blending will work best when the soap is close to being diluted, so there aren't a lot of big lumps that a SB'er can't deal with. Stick blending might create heavy foam, but that will eventually dissipate.

 

[IrishLass]

If you are making this particular formula- creamy cocoa shea- I don't know if it's possible to dilute it without applied heat because of the addition of the stearic acid that is added once the paste is finished/tongue-neutral. Stearic acid requires heat to melt, and the paste/dilution water also need to be at the same temp as the melted stearic in order for them to properly combine together and not end up with solid stearic bits in the finished soap (which I remember happening to a another soaper who tried adding melted stearic to the soap after it had already been diluted).

Re: stickblending. I've not ever tried forgoing the stickblender with this particular formula because of the added stearic (I consider a nice bit of high-shear blending at the end of dilution while things are still hot to be good insurance against stearic bits), but one can always try and report back how it worked out. I'd try it myself if I had a mind to, but I'm too hesitant to do so with this particular formula.

Re: canning jars. Although I personally love using canning jars when diluting (they work out perfectly for me), you can certainly use other means. I've actually been meaning to experiment with either roasting bags or sous vide bags, which are boilable, but I just haven't done so yet.


IrishLass

 

[Soapprentice]

I used a stainless steel 'lota', as we call it in our language, and it worked well... Here it is.. thank you guys for helping and thank you irishlass for teaching.

 

[sephera]

Hi All,

I might have got some fumes on a bare chest, doing the heat/Glycerine/KOH method.

I don't recommend that fumes are very hot.

I didn't see the water KOH/Glycerine method.

 

[girlfromoz]

Wow thank-you for sharing, very generous of you to provide such information and help . I make Liquid Soap and so far am happy with it generally but hardly an expert, fabulous stuff, cheers

 

[Anita32]

Superfat Time!

Once the soap looks like the soap in the last picture in the above post, it's good and ready to be stirred and super-fatted with Meadowfoam Seed Oil/PS80.

To super-fat, I must first figure out the weight of the soap in my jar since I will be super-fatting it as per my finished soap’s weight (which is a 2.052% S/F, btw). Technically, although I could just super-fat it as per the paste's weight of my dilution (which as was stated in post #1 turns out to be 3% of the paste's weight), I rather like to figure it as per the finished soap's weight at the end, because I never know how much of the soap may have been left behind when I opened the jar to stir or stick-blend during dilution.

To figure out how much soap is in my jar without having to pour it out, I first weigh the covered jar of soap on my scale, and then I subtract from it the weight of the empty jar w/cover that I had jotted down earlier at the very beginning.

Once I have figured out how much soap I have, I multiply it by 2.053% to come up with the weight of Meadowfoam super-fat to add. Then I multiply the Meadowfoam's weight by 3% to calculate how much PS80 to mix with it in order to solubize it into my soap. You can go higher on the PS80 if you need to, but I've found 3% of the Meadowfoam Seed Oil is all that I need. For what it's worth, I weigh these 2 things out on my small Jenning's scale, which can weigh things accurately in very small increments.

You can use a different super-fatting oil of your choice other than Meadowfoam if you want, but as I stated earlier, I like to use Meadowfoam because it's very high in anti-oxidants and is one of the most (if not the most) shelf-stable of all vegetable oils on the planet, which comes in especially handy for the super-fatting task at hand, since it has not had the benefit of reacting head-on with the full brunt of the lye. If your extra superfatting oil happens to be very fragile, your finished soap might not have as long of a shelf-life as mine seems to have with the Meadowfoam. For what it's worth, my finished, superfatted liquid soap stays lovely for at least over a year. And I don't use preservatives.

Once the oil and PS80 have been calculated, weighed out and mixed together, I then open my jar and stir the mixture into the soap. No heat and no stick-blending is needed for this step. Just stir it right in.

This is what it should look like in the end:

View attachment 28472

View attachment 28473

At this point you can either decant some (or all) into a beaker to scent and then package into pump-bottles or squeeze-bottles, or else cover the jar and store at room temp indefinitely until needed.

To scent, I like to add anywhere from .3% to 1% scent as per the weight of my decanted soap. The question of how much fragrance to add depends on the following two factors: 1) the maximum usage rate of the chosen scent as per the manufacturer’s recommendation, and 2) its particular strength (i.e., how strong it smells).

Once the amount of scent has been calculated and weighed out, I then mix it with an equal amount of PS80 before stirring it into the decanted soap (to emulsify). Again- no heat is needed for this part. Just stir in right in, pour the soap into your chosen bottle, and enjoy!

For what it's worth, this is my absolute favorite liquid soap to use...... and my family's, too.

Can I use aloe juice and hydrosols for dilution or is it strictly distilled water?

 

[DeeAnna]

I do not recommend anything but water for dilution. If you use aloe or hydrosols to dilute, you are adding carbohydrates to the soap and that increases the chances of microbial growth.

 

[Soapprentice]

So guys, it's summer here and there is an interesting experience... The liquid soap did not turn pearly opaque... It is cloudy clear.. and when we move the bottle to an air conditioned room, the opaque action takes place and once it is moved back into the room temp, it goes back to the cloudy clear.. the temp here is 35-40 degrees C..

 

[IrishLass]

That is interesting! We are experiencing the same kinds of high temps here where I live, so I'm going to put a small amount of my soap outside and see what happens.


IrishLass

 

[redhead1226]

Irishlass - Thank you so much for this! Even though I think my brain just exploded. Lovely recipe . I'll have to go back and read it again and make my notes. But I'm going to attempt it. Just made a LS that I like but I want to love it!. HAHAHA on the " If you are unsure whether you felt a zap or not, then you can be sure that you did not. ...... lol -

 

[zolveria]

Can we heat this in a crock pot ? to help it along. after the welk stage ? @IrishLass

 

[IrishLass]

Can we heat this in a crock pot ? to help it along. after the welk stage ? @IrishLass

You most certainly can if you are in a hurry.


IrishLass

@IrishLass Thank you .. funny i have a lot of froth in mine. ( Is This Normal ) i mixed it in.. Its really not that different from making MP soap.. Needed to make this for some Beard Shampoo.... Thanks a billion..

You most certainly can if you are in a hurry.


IrishLass

okay dont know why this soap is taking so long? it frothing. and thickening slowly this happen before with my MP soap? but it should take this long? ... I measured everything to the T wired i even go the bubbles ..

 

[zolveria]

@IrishLass something wierd happen yesterday.. the paste never formed. I did double the recipe ?
this morning i redid it only using 1 pound and it all work itself out paste formed now waiting for it do its little change.

IM perplexed.. as to what could have gone wrong. the only factor was the heat.. ARRGG

 

[penelopejane]

Irish lass has generously detailed the exact procedure to make liquid soap using a stress free method.

You changed the process and now wonder why it didn’t work.
Start again and follow Irish lass’s procedure to the letter.

 

[zolveria]

she said i can heat it.. I think the problem was i doubled everything .

I did it again this morning. 1lb only and all worked well.

The doubling probably made it lye heavy which is weird. but all is well now thanks guys

Irish lass has generously detailed the exact procedure to make liquid soap using a stress free method.

You changed the process and now wonder why it didn’t work.
Start again and follow Irish lass’s procedure to the letter.

 

[jax1962]

Wow!! Thank you so much from one Irish lass to another for this amazing tutorial. Can't wait to give it a go.

 

[jax1962]

OK, paste made and zapless..... I don't have any canning jars and wonder if I can heat the whole batch and dilute in a crockpot - has anyone tried this method?

 

[DeeAnna]

Yes, many people use a crock pot. You can also dilute using no heat if you don't mind the process taking longer.