Need some help identifying a soap issue

[PatrickH]

I'll look into that one also, thank you.

 

[BattleGnome]

Is the Citric Acid the same for candy making?

Same stuff should be fine. I used to use citric acid for canning in bath bombs and haven't noticed a difference since switching.

i use this sheet as my guide for use. I don't remember who posted it but it was buried in one of the citric acid threads. Basic useage is to mix your water and citric acid before adding your NaOH, it will get super hot.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

You can also just buy sodium citrate from Amazon. It's used for cooking and isn't expensive - about $10 a pound, which is enough for around 25 of my 700g batches of soap.

EDTA is better, but harder to find.

 

[PatrickH]

Same stuff should be fine. I used to use citric acid for canning in bath bombs and haven't noticed a difference since switching.

i use this sheet as my guide for use. I don't remember who posted it but it was buried in one of the citric acid threads. Basic useage is to mix your water and citric acid before adding your NaOH, it will get super hot.

Awesome. Thank you for finding that for me.
My max lye temps seem to only going up to about 160f. Will it get hotter then that with Citric Acid?

 

[PatrickH]

You can also just buy sodium citrate from Amazon. It's used for cooking and isn't expensive - about $10 a pound, which is enough for around 25 of my 700g batches of soap.

EDTA is better, but harder to find.

I always forget to buy Citric acid on Amazon when I place a order on Amazon. I'm always trying to think of what I need to add to my other orders, can never think of anything until days after I place my order.. Been trying to make candy for about 6 months now, but I need Citric Acid.. strange how its not available anywhere locally..

 

[Kittish]

I always forget to buy Citric acid on Amazon when I place a order on Amazon. I'm always trying to think of what I need to add to my other orders, can never think of anything until days after I place my order.. Been trying to make candy for about 6 months now, but I need Citric Acid.. strange how its not available anywhere locally..

Have you looked with the canning supplies at stores that carry them? That's where I finally found it at WalMart.

 

[PatrickH]

Have you looked with the canning supplies at stores that carry them? That's where I finally found it at WalMart.

I haven't looked in that section of Wal-Mart, but I will next time I'm there.
It's also called Sour Salt. I think Whole Foods use to sell it, but they don't anymore.. Not a big enough seller for them to keep it stocked I guess.
I have asked in every other store and called around and no one has it or even knows where to get it.
The local pharmacy can get it for me, but they want like $40+ for 1lb lol.. or somewhere in that ridiculous price range.

 

[PatrickH]

Made a complety different recipe last night. Should be much better then the previous batch. Fewer ingrediants. No scent, a bit of Colloidal Oatmeal and Walnut Shells. Very hard to resist adding clay for color, but I held back.. Wanted to see how the soap feels without adding anything that could be a little drying.

https://youtu.be/kDd7x-268MQ

 

[Kittish]

Made a complety different recipe last night. Should be much better then the previous batch. Fewer ingrediants. No scent, a bit of Colloidal Oatmeal and Walnut Shells. Very hard to resist adding clay for color, but I held back.. Wanted to see how the soap feels without adding anything that could be a little drying.

https://youtu.be/kDd7x-268MQ

Is that a little oil warmer crock? It looks even smaller than my small crock pot.

 

[BattleGnome]

My max lye temps seem to only going up to about 160f. Will it get hotter then that with Citric Acid?

I've never measured initial temp, I tend to soap around 116F and wait a few minutes before I start checking. The cup I use for lye feels much warmer when I use citric acid than when I don't. It almost gets too hot for my to hold the cup when I mix.

 

[penelopejane]

Do you have a restaurant supply/wholesale food store near you?
That's where I buy citric acid in bulk.

 

[PatrickH]

Is that a little oil warmer crock? It looks even smaller than my small crock pot.

$7.00 2 quart slow cooker from Wal-Mart
Perfect size for 1lb of oils.

 

[PatrickH]

Do you have a restaurant supply/wholesale food store near you?
That's where I buy citric acid in bulk.

Cash and Carry is the only one I know of in my area and they don't have it. The lady says they get asked about it often.
Not sure if there is any others around. I may have to look for a more less common place.

 

[Obsidian]

Try to find a store that sells canning supplies, you should be able to find citric acid there since its commonly used in food canning. What part of washington are you in? I'm in the idaho panhandle and most smaller grocery stores and hardware stores have canning supplies.

 

[PatrickH]

Try to find a store that sells canning supplies, you should be able to find citric acid there since its commonly used in food canning. What part of washington are you in? I'm in the idaho panhandle and most smaller grocery stores and hardware stores have canning supplies.

I will call around and see what I can find out.
Never thought to check out hardware stores for canning supplies. My local CO-OP might have some.
I live in Snohomish County, near Everett. 45 minutes north of Seattle.

 

[PatrickH]

Here's my latest recipe. I added 1/2 Tbls of Colloidal Oatmeal and 1 tsp of Walnut Shells. Ignore the notes on the image.
Does this recipe seem ok?

 

[Kittish]

Here's my latest recipe. I added 1/2 Tbls of Colloidal Oatmeal and 1 tsp of Walnut Shells. Ignore the notes on the image.
Does this recipe seem ok?

Of course, everyone who answers is going to give you the tweaks they'd apply to suit their own preferences in soap (mine would be to cut the coconut down by 5% and boost the shea by 5%). The best way to find out is to make a small batch and see. I'm making mostly 1 pound batches these days, working my way through different recipes to figure out what I like. Bit of a time investment to go along with the monetary one, but the trip is pretty fun on its own. I've currently got half a dozen tester size bars lined up along the back of my kitchen sink, trying to get my own base recipe just right.

 

[PatrickH]

That is a good suggestion.
This bar so far is feeling a bit drying and tight on my hands about 45 minutes after washing, but feels good right and the lather is freakishly nice.
Just made it the day before, so I will still give it a couple weeks before fully judging it. But I'm starting to think the problems I'm having are the Coconut % or the Castor..
Or ignore those issues and wait 2 weeks and wash again.
I'm impatient

 

[Kittish]

That is a good suggestion.
This bar so far is feeling a bit drying and tight on my hands about 45 minutes after washing, but feels good right and the lather is freakishly nice.
Just made it the day before, so I will still give it a couple weeks before fully judging it. But I'm starting to think the problems I'm having are the Coconut % or the Castor..

Almost guarantee you it's the coconut. Quite a few people have problems with soaps high in coconut oil, find them very drying.

A proper cure will ease some of the drying feeling, it really does make a huge difference in how the soap performs and feels. So, even if you decide sooner that you really don't like the batch, set one bar aside and come back to it after two months and give it another go.

 

[PatrickH]

I thought the Coconut was already close to too low. I'm worried about it being too low to where is doesn't clean well or gives me poor quality bubbles.
I have a Olive oil, coconut Shea soap now and it feels good on my skin, but I have no idea how long it was cured for or how much coconut is in it. It doesn't have castor oil in it either.