Ph madness, help please!

[Bebehaha]

Hello!


I am new to liquid soap making. I have just created my second batch of liquid soap with olive oil, jojoba oil, castor oil, coconut and shea. I am nervous about the ph.
Clarity test was good, some slight fogginess due to the jojoba oil but I could see clear to the bottom of the container.
Phenol test, was pink on paste and in diluted soap paste. ugh!
Zap test negative... I made my sister in law and my daughter try after I did it and no zapping. A slight tingly feeling on my tongue and thats it.
I have no idea to know if this paste is safe to use now...I am nervous about the phenol test being bright pink/red.
I am thinking of getting a ph meter but would like to proceed with this paste if other opinions feel it is safe to do so.

Thanks so much!!!

How can I be certain if I should proceed or not?

How many batches does it take to feel confident in soap making?!

 

[Dorymae]

Hello!


I am new to liquid soap making. I have just created my second batch of liquid soap with olive oil, jojoba oil, castor oil, coconut and shea. I am nervous about the ph.
Clarity test was good, some slight fogginess due to the jojoba oil but I could see clear to the bottom of the container.
Phenol test, was pink on paste and in diluted soap paste. ugh!
Zap test negative... I made my sister in law and my daughter try after I did it and no zapping. A slight tingly feeling on my tongue and thats it.
I have no idea to know if this paste is safe to use now...I am nervous about the phenol test being bright pink/red.
I am thinking of getting a ph meter but would like to proceed with this paste if other opinions feel it is safe to do so.

Thanks so much!!!

How can I be certain if I should proceed or not?

How many batches does it take to feel confident in soap making?!

First don't worry too much. If there was no zap then the soap is not lye heavy - no matter what color your drops are. Soap, even liquid soap is going to have a higher PH. It is normal, and nothing to worry about. Remember soap is a wash off product. Having an excess of lye could be damaging, but that is because it is caustic - able to burn organic tissue. Having a high PH, even as high as 11 is not going to burn you, and even if it can change the PH of your skin, your skin will readjust its PH back to normal within 15 mins, so no damage is done.

As for how long it takes to get comfortable- it depends. The more you read, the more reasearch you do, the more you understand the process the more confident you will become.

Good luck and enjoy your soap.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

There are times when it still makes me feel like a simpleton! Especially when I do liquid soap

As for the safety, if it doesn't zap, it's safe from a lye point of view. pH testing as done by most people is just too inaccurate to have any meaning whatsoever, as you have found with the pheno contradicting the zap test. I have never tested the pH of my soaps, nor do I need to as the pH itself doesn't actually tell you anything important.

Even if you used a pH meter, properly calibrated and with the right dilution of soap in water to get a valid pH reading - it doesn't actually tell you if your soap is safe, unless you have benchmarked another batch of the same soap. Is pH 10 always safe? 11? Is 12 always unsafe? That is why I only zap test - that way I know it is safe.

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome Bebehaha!

Please don't rely on phenol to test your liquid soap paste. I know of many soaping videos on Ytube that show this being done, but it's not very reliable with lye-based soap. That's because phenol turns various shades of pink from 8.2 pH to 12 pH, and is clear from 0 - 8.2 pH, and also clear again over 12 pH. Since safe-to-use lye-based soap is naturally alkaline with a pH of ranging between 8 to 11, the phenol drops are guaranteed to be some various shade of pink when tested on lye-based soap no matter what.

A much better way to test for the safety of your soap is to use the zap-test as the good Gent pointed out.


IrishLass