Soap Ingredients

[KiwiMoose]

 

[ravenscents]

Newbie here. What is the meaning of triple milled?

 

[atiz]

Newbie here. What is the meaning of triple milled?

I don't know exactly how industrial milling works, but the soap is basically grated into tiny bits and then pressed together again (3x). It creates a very hard and long-lasting bar. Unfortunately I don't think it can be done at home...

 

[KiwiMoose]

https://oureverydaylife.com/175581-what-is-triple-milled-soap.html

 

[ShirleyHailstock]

I found this website that sort of explains it. It also has photos and says "dont' try this at home." http://baudelairesoaps.com/baudelai...e-milled-soap-anyway-and-why-should-you-care/

 

[paragon]

Those sites offer some explanation of the milling process, but not much. There's more in this patent, if you feel like some academic reading:

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2133666.html

My current understanding of what happens during the milling, plodding, and stamping steps is the following. Some parts are no doubt wrong, since my understanding of crystallization in solids is informed by amateur metallurgy rather than cosmetic chemistry!

• The soap is mixed thoroughly.
• It's dried. This will form crystals, which unmixes it again, just as a brine with crystals becomes salt water and pure salt, since crystals selectively purify the chemicals they contain. Too much water means the crystals are formed too slowly with too much opportunity for the soap molecules to sort themselves into crystals of different composition.
• Large crystals are broken up. This mixes it again. Crystals will reform very small and homogeneous.
• The soap is pressed and cut into bars.
• There is no stage where glycerin is removed. If needed, that would be done in a separate process.

To summarize, the goal is to get a 15% moisture crystalline product where the composition is homogeneous at a microscopic level, so the first hand washing yields the same composition soap as the second. This is unlike the crystals DeeAnna writes about, since in that soap the first hand washing will yield more soap from the liquid phase and the second hand washing will yield more soap from crystals.

Idea for DIY engineering geeks:
Could we approximate this soap at home? I think so. Grind it to powder. Not flakes but powder, since we can mix powder but we don't have equipment to mix flakes. (Flakes can be mixed with serious aggression, like heating them and forcing them through a 0.5 mm nozzle.) Dry the powder to 15% moisture. If it sticks together, grind it again. Mix thoroughly. Pour the powder into a pipe mold made of thick stainless steel or some kind of reinforced plastic. Cap one end of the pipe and put a steel disc into the other end. Put the pipe in warm water for an hour without melting the soap or getting it wet. Press down on the steel disc until the soap is pressurized into one solid mass. How to press? Put a solid spacer into the pipe--for example a thick wooden dowel that mostly fills the pipe--and use any type of clamp to press on this dowel. The dowel will press into the steel disc and compress the soap. When it's done, remove the end cap but continue pressing to force out the soap as a thick noodle. Cut the noodle into pucks.

 

[ShirleyHailstock]

Those sites offer some explanation of the milling process, but not much. There's more in this patent, if you feel like some academic reading:

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2133666.html

My current understanding of what happens during the milling, plodding, and stamping steps is the following. Some parts are no doubt wrong, since my understanding of crystallization in solids is informed by amateur metallurgy rather than cosmetic chemistry!

• The soap is mixed thoroughly.
• It's dried. This will form crystals, which unmixes it again, just as a brine with crystals becomes salt water and pure salt, since crystals selectively purify the chemicals they contain. Too much water means the crystals are formed too slowly with too much opportunity for the soap molecules to sort themselves into crystals of different composition.
• Large crystals are broken up. This mixes it again. Crystals will reform very small and homogeneous.
• The soap is pressed and cut into bars.
• There is no stage where glycerin is removed. If needed, that would be done in a separate process.

To summarize, the goal is to get a 15% moisture crystalline product where the composition is homogeneous at a microscopic level, so the first hand washing yields the same composition soap as the second. This is unlike the crystals DeeAnna writes about, since in that soap the first hand washing will yield more soap from the liquid phase and the second hand washing will yield more soap from crystals.

Idea for DIY engineering geeks:
Could we approximate this soap at home? I think so. Grind it to powder. Not flakes but powder, since we can mix powder but we don't have equipment to mix flakes. (Flakes can be mixed with serious aggression, like heating them and forcing them through a 0.5 mm nozzle.) Dry the powder to 15% moisture. If it sticks together, grind it again. Mix thoroughly. Pour the powder into a pipe mold made of thick stainless steel or some kind of reinforced plastic. Cap one end of the pipe and put a steel disc into the other end. Put the pipe in warm water for an hour without melting the soap or getting it wet. Press down on the steel disc until the soap is pressurized into one solid mass. How to press? Put a solid spacer into the pipe--for example a thick wooden dowel that mostly fills the pipe--and use any type of clamp to press on this dowel. The dowel will press into the steel disc and compress the soap. When it's done, remove the end cap but continue pressing to force out the soap as a thick noodle. Cut the noodle into pucks.

Very comprehensive. I read some of the link you listed. The process is very complex.