My First Liquid Soap Success

[alkelle]

First I would like to thank all of the wonderful posts on the forum. Even before I became a member google searches would often lead me here and I made the plunge to join yesterday. This might get long winded but I'm a talkative person. Sorry...

First, yesterday I had a problem regarding Almond Oil and was on the verge of tears and scrapped a whole 3lbs of soap paste (I got over ambitious) That post said...
"
Thank you. I ended up just picking one and hoping for the best. I'm actually making liquid soap now and apparently I had bigger problems than the Almond oil. I used a lye calculator, plugged in my recipe, went and weighed my Olive Oil because I knew I might not have 11 oz which I only had 7.5 so I went back to the soap calc, chose a new soft oil plugged it in and went to work. It took forever for it to come together and I was happy when it did, I put down my stick blender, scraped the sides of the crock pot and gave it a final stir and it like magic it was instant gel. I thought I was cooking a little hot and used my infrared thermometer and the temp was fine so I let it cook. An hour later nothing changed, another hour still a Vaseline look but greasy/watery look so I let it cook with the lid half off thinking maybe I need to let some water evaporate out. Nothing changed. I went back to my computer replugged in my numbers and got a completely different lye amount. The soap calc I used was defaulted to solid soap and I didn't click liquid when I changed the oils so I was using the NAOH amount for the KOH

. Ugh, feeling defeated I weighed out the lye difference, threw it in the crock pot and it's cooking now. Hopefully it comes out okay because that's 2lbs of oil and hours of work. I learned an important lesson though, ALWAYS RECHECK YOUR RECIPE. So, I'll write it down next time, go back to the calculator and check again just to make sure nothing got unclicked, checked, misentered. Has anyone else done that? Will the soap paste turn out okay?"

Well, I never got it to be okay, but before I scrapped it I was curious as to what was going on. Was it oily? Was it lye heavy? So I got some on a spoon and touched it to the tip of my tongue. I have always heard that when doing a "zap test" you couldn't miss the zap and I definitely did not miss that. I've "zap tested" some of my CP soaps and they never zapped (yay?) so that was a wake up call. I actually felt joy and excitement as I'm rinsing off my tongue because I finally experienced something that so many people talk about and experience (I know, I'm sick).

So after scrapping the paste this morning I wasn't discouraged. I bought some more olive oil and used some castor oil and went to work. I began the whole process at 3, it is now 11:30 and my liquid soap has actually turned out good. I did a clarity test and I was so excited to see it come out so clear (the paste didn't look like other pastes I've seen but I think it's because a lot of water didn't evaporate). Not only that, I wanted to "zap test" again (have no idea why). No zap! Being the curious person I am I decided to see if regular table salt would thicken up the liquid soap tester liquid. I didn't even bother to dissolve the salt in water I just shook some in. It sunk I stirred and then something possessed me to give it a few mor shakes, I stirred some more and poof, gloppy thick soap. Good to know it does work lol. I'll pH test it in the morning, for now I want to wrap some of this stuff up and head to bed. I also made some loofah soaps but that's another story (a good one though). If you read to the end, thank you so much. This whole soap making experience is so much fun. I would like to ask a few questions though...

1. How did you feel when you got zapped for the first time?
2. How did your first liquid soap making experience go?

 

[Hazel]

Congratulations on making liquid soap! It sounds like you had an exciting time but I don't know if your soap paste will turn out. I'm not knowledgeable about LS making because I only make one or two batches a year.

I don't think it's sick to want to experience zap. I'd just call it curiosity to experience something new.

The first time I experienced a zap, I thought "Hmm, so this is what they mean." I was surprised but it's not like it hurt or burned me. As for making my first liquid soap, I used the glycerin method and was really pleased with the results. I think the glycerin method is easy. I have a harder time with using water and did have some botched batches (separation). Plus I get really impatient with diluting the paste. I actually have some paste in the frig from the last time I made a batch. I should do something with it but I've just been lazy. I'm sure my experiences aren't normal with LS since I don't make it very often. I prefer making bar soap.

 

[Susie]

I have not yet had a zap. I did get some lye water splashed on my hand once. But I had a brother, so I know what the battery zap feels like.

I hate that you threw out those batches. In the future, please save the botched batches and come here. If your batch is not salvageable, then we will all learn something. But, I have not thrown out many batches due to coming here with
a recipe and the results. You will get all kinds of help. And much can be salvaged with the proper advice. And again, we will all learn a ton when you do.

 

[DeeAnna]

1. How did you feel when you got zapped for the first time?

Pretty much like Hazel. While I was rinsing my mouth with fresh water, I was thinking, "hmmm, so that's what a zap is like!"

I've been making Anna Marie's lye-heavy Andalusian castile (see http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=42922 ) and getting zapped from that soap is getting to be more routine than not as I test my batches. Maybe it's the masochist in me, but I think I'm getting "used to it". Kind of. Just a little. ;-)

2. How did your first liquid soap making experience go?

I just did my first batch this past week. It went pretty well. I used 1/2 water and 1/2 glycerin for the water phase. For the fats, I adapted a mild bar soap recipe that I like. A fellow SMF-er recommended the water-glycerin method and it makes some sense. The whole process went well, although I am still figuring out what I think about the soap itself. I think I'm like Hazel in that too -- I'd say I want to know how to make good LS but I think I like making bar soap better.

 

[Susie]

I use liquid soap for routine handwashing as well as laundry, dishes, etc. I use bar soap for bathing and washing my hair. I do much prefer shampoo bars to liquid soap for shampooing.

But in terms of quantity, I use probably 3 times as much liquid soap than bar soap. Therefore, it makes much more sense to concentrate my efforts there.

Not to mention that while I very much dislike HP soap, I adore making liquid soap. It just hits that "mad scientist" button in my head.