Oily Soap - hotprocess, liquid soap

[soapmeup]

Hi, I've been lingering for some time, but just signed up for an account to get some wisdom from the community.

I've attempted to make liquid soap using the hot process (in a slow cooker)

recipe was:

156 g potassium hydroxide
470 g olive oil
200 g coconut oil

I added about a litre of boiling water to dissolve the soap
1ltr water

And then i added borax to lower the ph
25 g borax

And about 2 tsp of essential oils to bring out a scent.

I've found that the soap has turned out a little oily. I was wondering

1. Is there a way to fix the oily liquid soap? Maybe another cook, or an additive?
2. What do we all think went wrong with the above?

 

[Arimara]

I'm going to wait for a better math soaper to chime in. I do think you can save it. As it stands, your recipe was fine until you added the borax, which increased your superfat to some level.

 

[soapmeup]

I'm going to wait for a better math soaper to chime in. I do think you can save it. As it stands, your recipe was fine until you added the borax, which increased your superfat to some level.

Thanks Arimara any thoughts on how to fix the current batch?

 

[atiz]

I don't make liquid soap so not that familiar with the process, but why did you add the borax? As far as I know you cannot lower the pH of soap without it ceasing to be soap; it will just separate if you add too much.
If borax reacts with the lye, then as Arimara said, your superfat increases. You will have to add some extra lye, but I don't know how to calculate the exact amount and am too sleepy to look it up .

 

[DeeAnna]

Your recipe is fine without any borax. I agree with Atiz and Arimara -- why did you add the borax and why do you think that addition would lower the pH?

The way you describe what you did makes me wonder -- did you get the original ingredients fully saponified before you added the extra water and the borax? Were you following a particular tutorial? If you have a link, please provide it so we can troubleshoot better.

 

[soapmeup]

I was following this tutorial on youtube (as it's my first attempt at soap)


Any thoughts on how i can determine how much Lye I'd need? I'm not sure where to start to calculate the amount.. Or should I tip this out, and start again?

 

[Arimara]

I was following this tutorial on youtube (as it's my first attempt at soap)


Any thoughts on how i can determine how much Lye I'd need? I'm not sure where to start to calculate the amount.. Or should I tip this out, and start again?

This video is exactly why we encourage new soap makers to do the necessary research and to USE A SOAP CALCULATOR. I really don't like that guy. He's not a soap maker and he only knows enough to make a batch of soap. In truth, he's a fine example of who NOT to learn how to make soap from. If you want more science information on soapmaking, get Scientific Soapmaking by Kevin Dunn as he at least is more knowledgeable than the aforementioned joker in that video. Other than that, Soaping 101 has a much better video concerning liquid soap making. Please check her channel out to help you learn LS making. Also, you need to provide the purity of your KOH. You more than likely do not have 100% pure KOH and that seemingly little bit of info makes a world of difference.

Forgot to mention- the video I posted is not from Soaping 101. Sorry. Here ya go

 

[soapmeup]

This is really helpful, thanks.
I'll do a bit more research. truth be told I was a little overwhelmed and seemed to find his video's fairly straight forward. I guess mistakes set me on the right path of success, so I'll drop this batch and give it another try.

 

[Arimara]

Please also refer to these threads as well:

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/soaping-101-liquid-soapmaking-video.46114/
My Creamy Cocoa/Shea GLS Tutorial

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/cpls-seeking-advise-on-formulating-the-recipe.71406/
There's lots of good advice to be had on those threads.

 

[DeeAnna]

He says in the introduction that you don't always need the borax. I didn't watch the whole video to see how he addresses that issue later in the tutorial, so I don't know how that was handled. Many "neutralization method" tutorials seem to gloss over why you might want to neutralize (or when to not neutralize). That gets a lot of beginners in trouble.

Far better to start with a no-neutralization method (see Arimara's posts). Try a neutralization method only AFTER you get the no-neutralization method figured out.

 

[Arimara]

I can't recall where Susie's thread is here. I really wanted to recommend that one.

 

[DeeAnna]

Here tis --

Susie's tutorial on the superfatted CP method for making liquid soap -- Cold Process Liquid Soap

Another good resource -- Liquid Soapmaking – Where To Start