Please help me recreate this commercial soap.

[SunRiseArts]

I want to make an specific type of soap to sell it as part of my line. I can pretty much tell most of the ingredients, but I am unsure as to how to add some others. Like, I know what glycerin is, so I guess I just avoid that, because is the product of the saponification process, so why is it listed?

Any help would be greatly appreciated:

sodium tallowate = tallow + sodium hydroxide
sodium cocoate = coconut oil + sodium hydroxide
glycerin = ?
sodium carbonate = ? (baking soda? do I add this?)
sodium chloride = ?
pentasodium pentetate = ???????
tetrasodium etidronate = ?????????
iron oxide = ?? ( is this just color)


Did I ever mention that chemistry was one of the worst grades I had in high school? I should have paid more attention! :headbanging:

 

[Saponificarian]

glycerin = If it is a commercial soap, they most likely added this while mixing the soap prills or it’s a by product of saponification

sodium carbonate = No. This is washing soda. Mostly added to commercial soaps for bulk I think.

sodium chloride = Most likely used to salt out the soap after cooking it to make the prills or added at the beginning for hardness

pentasodium pentetate = This is a cheating agent much like EDTA I think. To help with scum and such if you have hard water.

tetrasodium etidronate = EDTA. Also a cheating agent.

iron oxide = Yep. Color

 

[MorpheusPA]

Washing soda (sodium carbonate) is also good at softening water and reducing soap scum, and making the soap work a bit better. It's certainly not necessary and the only place I use it is in laundry soap.

You'll make your own glycerin during the saponification process, so you're covered there, and everything below that is an additive you don't require or a colorant (the rust/iron oxide).

 

[Dahila]

Edta is chelating agent, works against the soap scum, at the same time I feel it add to the lather

 

[lenarenee]

I'm dying to know what soap this is and why you want to recreate it?

 

[SunRiseArts]

Thank you all. Where may I find the washing soda?

Is the ingredients listed on a soap artist buy to wash the oil paints from the hands. Because I paint, I would like to make it, and think it would be a good seller among my artist friends, provided it works.

So it would not be a soap for your whole body.

 

[Rusti]

Thank you all. Where may I find the washing soda?

Is the ingredients listed on a soap artist buy to wash the oil paints from the hands. Because I paint, I would like to make it, and think it would be a good seller among my artist friends, provided it works.

So it would not be a soap for your whole body.

I dunno, I mean, just looking at the ingredients and the other info the rest of the folks have already given you it seems like it's really...nothing special? It's just soap as far as I can tell.

 

[Kittish]

Washing soda should be in the laundry aisle at the grocery store. If not, then you can look for it also where baking soda/baking powder and such is usually kept. You can make it yourself, too. Just bake baking soda in a 1/2" thick layer in a baking dish at 400*F for an hour, stirring once or twice.

 

[SaltedFig]

It looks like you have one of the older commercial soap recipes. You can still buy soap noodles for making triple-milled soaps using this base recipe.

Salt (and sometimes a mild acid) is used in the manufacturing process. There is always a residual amount of salt left in the soap, even after “washing, so that goes in the ingredient list (for the noodles), along with the sodium tallowate and sodium cocoate.

The soda ash is used to keep the pH in the 9-9.5 range (and it also acts as a chelator).

A small amount of glycerine is put back, as the glycerine is removed during the original soap making process (it is more valuable than the soap itself).

Pentasodium pentetate and Tetrasodium etidronate are both used as dispersing agents (they stop clumps forming during manufacturing and forming of the soaps), as well as being chelating and emulsifying agents.

The data sheet below might be helpful to you. I have randomly selected it for you to look at the ingredient percentages for this tallow base: http://s7d9.scene7.com/is/content/GenuinePartsCompany/3221276pdf?$PDF$

 

[SunRiseArts]

Thank you all! And specially for tat tip Kittish!

I have used baking soda with oil to remove labels from jars, so I think the washing soda would be good to incorporate on the soap to remove paint? I wonder how much or ratio to use ....

 

[earlene]

SunRiseArts, I think it's a great idea to try to re-create the paintbrush cleaning soap.

The commercial product I use for cleaning my paintbrushes is not colored so it may not be the same as the one you use. I seem to recall using a softer soap as well at one time in the past, more like a soap paste with perhaps some KOH rather than an all NaOH bar soap.

Anyway, regarding the washing soda, it looks like this in the box in the store:

How much to use, it's hard to say, as I've only added it to my powdered or whipped laundry soap and in that case it's for washing clothing and linens, not delicate paint brushes. For laundry, I use it as about 1/4 of the powdered laundry ingredients. That's far too much for delicate paint brushes, especially the non-synthetic ones! So perhaps you could start out with small amounts and experiment a bit. Again, it may be a bit aggressive for non-synthetic brushes, so I'd really keep that in mind when choosing how much to add.

BTW, here is another thread about making paint brush soap: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=47989
Not much information there, so I hope you keep us updated with your progress here in this thread.

 

[SunRiseArts]

Thank you Earlene! You are most kind

The soap is to clean paint from the hands, not the brushes. And I did find the washing soda at Walmart while Christmas shopping.

The best way to clean any painting brush, including delicate ones, is to dip them in Murphy wood oil soap, and then gently rub them against the palm of your hand. I have brushes nearly 10 years old, that still work great!

 

[earlene]

I have read about the Murphy's Oil soap for cleaning paint brushes, but haven't tried it. It is my favorite soap for cleaning painted woodwork (doors, etc.), so I do keep it on hand most of the time.

 

[SunRiseArts]

Try it Earlene! You will not be disappointed!