Shampoo Bar - Thanks Lindy!!

[kmarvel]

Good to know, Obsidian. Thank you!!!

 

[Obsidian]

Of course and yes, the numbers for a shampoo bar are unusual. I like to add a little sugar to mine for extra bubbles and either salt or sodium lactate for hardness.

 

[Dahila]

the bar is kind of soft but I love it. I often wash my face with it and the body
Obsidian is right the dry , very dry herbs are the best to infuse, I used highly oleic sunflower plus calendula and I absolutely love the body butter I made with it. I use oo to infuse because it has a long shelf life.
Next time I make it I will add the sugar too

 

[kmarvel]

Obsidian, how much sugar do you use??

 

[Obsidian]

2 tsp PPO.

 

[Dahila]

Obsidian would you mind telling me how much sodium lactate to add, and when. I would appreciate the answer

 

[Obsidian]

For the shampoo bar, I use 2 tsp PPO and I add it to my cooled lye water.

 

[Bubli]

I see people here talk about adding citric acid to lye water. I just saw a tutorial on bramble berry for shampoo bar where they added it to trace. Is the outcome different if you do it different? As someone else already explained to me that adding in lye creates sodium citrate, which apparently is not the same thing this would be to increase bubbles, right? I'm confused because I see others talk about lowering ph, and smoothing hair shaft and not need ac vinegar rinse ( which is why I am interested in it). Does it make a difference how you add it? Why do some add it to lye water and others at trace. Like I said my interest would be helping to prevent that build up I get with hard water without the use of rinse.

 

[Bubli]

If you do a vinegar rinse it does not leave any smell in your hair but that being said, if you want to lower the PH of the bar you can add 1T ppo of citric acid, it will keep the cuticle of the hair smoothed.


clay is good for curly hair. I wouldn't put a lot at first.

Is this added at trace, mixed with a little water? I have also seem people mix in lye water. Is there a reason for the different method? And this WILL leave your hair with the effect of using a vinegar rinse, right?

 

[Obsidian]

Citric acid in soap does not smooth your hair, there really is no replacement for a acid rinse when using a shampoo bar. Do you not like using vinegar? You can mix up citric acid with water and use it instead, no smell but still smooths the hair.

Not sure what clay does for hair. I think its terrible in soap, I'd never put it in my hair willing. Maybe it helps remove excess oil. You can add it anytime in any way you want really. When I add in dry ingredients, I always mix with water then blend into the oils. I like to have time to get it blended in really well before the lye is added.

 

[Bubli]

Oh, no Im fine using vinegar rinse, the smell doesn't bother me, it actually works better than store bought conditioner. I have just seen some people say that that's what citric acid does in the soap, Is to keep nappy build up from happening, then others say it builds bubbles. CONFUSED! and I'm just trying to figure it out. I just thought that if it did do that, then why not just add citric acid to the soap instead of using the rinse. So what does it do them, lower the ph? Which in reality does what? Make it more mild? Is there a good site you can recommend that teaches about additives? Thanks for your help.

 

[Obsidian]

I don't know of any sites that explain additives, sorry.

I found this in another post, maybe it will help some.
Citric acid is used to create sodium citrate for a chelating agent/hard water softener/lather booster. For every 1000 grams of oils, you would add 10 g of citric acid and 6 g of extra lye to your water solution to create sodium citrate without extra superfat.

What you don't use citric acid for is lowering the PH. If you lower the PH too much, you won't have soap anymore, just a globby mess. Many people mistakenly think you can make soap with a lower PH so they add some kind of acid to their soap and all the really do is neutralize some of the lye, effectively increasing the SF.

 

[Bubli]

AWSOME. Thanks so much! Huge help

 

[soapylondon]

Hi, i have started using my shampoo bar. I have used it about 7 times in 2 weeks with odd results. First I went through the adapting period, that took 4 washes and after that my hair was starting to feel shiny and looked clean, but after that I have had different results.
Yesterday I washed it as usual and decided to do a citric acid rinse. 1 teaspoon in 3 litres of water, rinsed it and when I dried it it was oily! More oily than it was before washing it. This shampoo has 15% coconut oil.
I jumped in the shower again and washed it but I didn't do the citric acid rinse and it felt more squeaky clean, when dry it was still not perfect. This morning I thought I would rinse it in the shower with water just in case it was un proper rinsing. It's ok but still feels weird. Do you think that after 7 washes my hair is still adapting? Is the acidic rinse causing oiliness? Please help, I am very confused. Thanks

 

[Bubli]

Took me about a month, and I wash every day. I use apple cider vinegar though, about 1 tablespoon to a 16 oz. bottle of water every time I shampoo and my hair is smooth and soft like silk. Yes I have very hard water. If i don't use the rinse, then I get that tacky heavy feel. Good luck.

 

[soapylondon]

Thanks bubli, do you rinse with water after the acv rinse or just leave the rinse in the hair? Do you rub the bar from roots to ends or just roots. Thanks again.

 

[Bubli]

I have really long fine hair. I swirl the bar round top of my head then all the way to tips till I feel if covered it good enough and I swipe underneath also then lather, rinse with water REALLY well then rinse with the vinegar sollution, and then rinse with plain water. Thats it. Vinegar Smell goes away as soon as its rinsed off. It works so well, that with my long hair I can brush it immediately while its wet with no problem. Better than store bought crap... I mean conditioner . give it a try!

 

[Dahila]

Thank you Obsidian)

 

[Genny]

Soapylondon ~ If the soap or the citric acid rinse is drying out your scalp, your scalp will produce extra oils. So that could be what's happening. That's why I wanted a 0 cleansing number for the shampoo bar because it wouldn't strip extra oils.

 

[DeeAnna]

"... Is the outcome different if you do it different? As someone else already explained to me that adding in lye creates sodium citrate, which apparently is not the same thing this would be to increase bubbles, right?..."

The outcome is not any different whether you add the citric acid to the lye water or if you add it at trace. There is still plenty of free lye available at trace. The lye converts the citric acid to sodium citrate. That reduces the lye available for actual saponification, if you haven't compensated by adding the appropriate amount of extra lye.

Sodium citrate doesn't add bubbles/lather. What it does is react with hard water ions to keep those ions from reacting with your soap and turning it into sticky soap scum. More soap = More bubbles. Less soap scum = Less grey buildup on fabric, tub, and skin.

"...What you don't use citric acid for is lowering the PH. If you lower the PH too much, you won't have soap anymore, just a globby mess. Many people mistakenly think you can make soap with a lower PH so they add some kind of acid to their soap and all the really do is neutralize some of the lye, effectively increasing the SF. ..."

What Obsidian said ^^^. I couldn't say it any more clearly than this. If a cleanser with a low pH is a big deal, then lye soap is not the answer -- synthetic detergents are the direction to go. Also, people seem to want soap to do many things well -- be a conditioner, cleanser, whatever -- all in one go. It doesn't work that way.