Soaping 101 liquid soapmaking video?

[Ellacho]

Will do! IrishLass, you are such a kind soul . Thank you so much!

 

[IrishLass]

I'm just glad to be of help.

IrishLass

 

[deg195]

thanks IrishLass

I have been doing research in order to make my first liquid soap. I came across this thread and it is soooo wonderful. Thanks you everyone and esp IrishLass as I am going to try your way (as soon as I get KOH)... I do have one question...
for the dilution phase... I do not have a crock pot so I was thinking about trying the mason jar method you described. Does a stick blender really fit in the mouth of the mason jar? May I ask what size jars you use? Thanks in advance, Barb

 

[IrishLass]

Hi Barb!

Yes- the Mason jars work great, but make sure to use the wide-mouth kind. I use the wide-mouth quart-size. I can dilute 16 oz. of paste in them comfortably, and my stickblender fits just fine in them. Although I haven't put the regular mouth size jars to the test, they look like they would be too small or awkward for a stickblender.


IrishLass

 

[Susie]

Just did the first part of making IrishLass' GLS, and used a stick blender. Just going to warn anyone else that you may get a false paste(heh) before flying bubbles. Just stir down with a silicone spatula, or stainless steel spoon. It will go back liquid, then flying bubbles will appear shortly thereafter.

*Update* Took two hours from lid on to no zap paste. This process is FAST!

Dilution took under an hour, and precisely 75% of paste weight.

This is definitely the fastest liquid soap I have ever made. Total time from weighing first oil to putting lid on to sit: 25 minutes. Total elapsed time from weighing first oil to completed dilution: 3 hours, 55 minutes. I probably could have shaved 30 minutes off of that if I had gone back to check the paste sooner.

IrishLass- my hat is definitely off to you for this one! I don't know what the finished soap will be like(no sodium lactate yet), but this is now officially titled "IrishLass' Super Speedy Liquid Soap".

 

[Ellacho]

Hi IrishLass & Susie,

Here is my update: On Tuesday night, I went over my recipe, this thread(read 3x) and Soap101 video just to have a better understanding the whole glycerin liquid soap making process. To my surprise, I found out that I used 1:2 ratio, lye:water! I probably used that ratio because soap101 recipe had the same ratio.

So on the same late night, I put the missing difference in glycerin back into the pot and heated it, and by next morning, the paste has softened and turned translucent! Wow! It just needed more glycerin! See the Pictures below. I am going to dilute the paste today.

I am planning to use 3% of sodium lactate(per weight of my paste) in powder form using 1 part paste to .75 water. Unfortunately, I don't have the SL in liquid form. Hope my powder SL works as good as liquid LS.

I will upload my final liquid soap tomorrow! Yay!!

One question, can you please share your thoughts about lye water ratio? Last month I took a liquid soap making class, the instructor also used about the same lye:water ratio, 1:3. It's pretty much a standard ratio for most liquid soap making. But Catherine(soap101) used the 1:2 ratio in GLS (3KOH:6Glycerin) and it still came out great. Nothing like my paste....
I am still wondering why...Can you please shed some light on this?

Thank you so much ladies!

 

[Ellacho]

Also, Catherine used 3:1(3water:1paste) dilution ratio....I know it's something to do with the recipe, more olive oil requires the high amount of water...But then, our recipe also has 65% of olive oil... I am bit confused...:?

 

[Susie]

I use the 3:1 ratio of liquid to KOH. It just works better for me. And I have had trouble with using the reduced amount.

 

[IrishLass]

I am so glad to hear of all the good results! Yay! :clap: That makes my day!

Yes- this is by far such a simple liquid soap process to do. And so forgiving, too, as you have now found out! I've never tried the Failor method or used the Soaping 101 recipe to compare, but this particular method (and recipe) is so easy and quick that I can't see myself doing it any other way. I can't take any credit for it, though. My hat goes off to Carrie Peterson (3bees~1flower over at the Dish forum) who I consider to be my glycerin liquid soap making guru. If it weren't for her, I never would have had the courage to try liquid soap making at all.

Ellacho- as far as the water (or glycerin):lye ratio for the liquid soap goes, I'm like Susie- I really like the 3:1 ratio. Not that I've ever tried it with a different ratio, mind you, but the 3:1 ratio has never given me a single problem or complaint, which makes it rate #1 in my book.

The folks over at SummerbeeMeadow recommend a 3:1 ratio for liquid soap-making, and they use to have a posted statement explaining why (and also why their calculator takes into consideration lye purity as a default). It's probably on their site somewhere (maybe buried in their forum) but I don't have the time to search for it right now so that I can give you a link to it, but Carrie Peterson posted a snapshot of it over at the Dish forum a few years back, which I copied/pasted into my notes. Let me go look.....

The Summerbee folks say that they set the water:KOH ratios that they do for liquid soap on their liquid soap calculator based on researching old soaping manuals from the late 1800's/early 1900's. After testing the ratio out, they found it to work so well that they built it into their calculator in 2002 and have been using it ever since. They also make a mention that Catherine Failor uses the same ratio as well. Although I don't have a link to the actual article on the Summerbee site, I saved the link to Carrie's (3bees~1flower's) post of it on the Dish: http://www.thedishforum.com/forum/i...uid-soap-calc-who-seems-to-be-best/?p=2720427


HTH!
IrishLass

 

[DeeAnna]

"...I am still wondering why...Can you please shed some light on this? ..."

I honestly think it depends a great deal on the preferences of the soap maker -- how one was taught, what habit one is most familiar with. There is no chemistry issue to worry about that I am aware of, except perhaps for the differences in viscosity between an all or mostly coconut oil liquid soap vs. LS made with other oils.

I am definitely a beginner LS maker, but I used a 2:1 water/glycerine to KOH ratio with tolerably good results (edit: I made this LS before this thread got started, or I'd have followed Susie and Irish Lass' instructions instead!) That said, I want to try the 3:1 ratio. It sounds like it will be easier to stir during saponification and easier to dilute.

 

[Susie]

"...I am still wondering why...Can you please shed some light on this? ..."

I honestly think it depends a great deal on the preferences of the soap maker -- how one was taught, what habit one is most familiar with. There is no chemistry issue to worry about that I am aware of, except perhaps for the differences in viscosity between an all or mostly coconut oil liquid soap vs. LS made with other oils.

I am definitely a beginner LS maker, but I used a 2:1 water/glycerine to KOH ratio with tolerably good results (edit: I made this LS before this thread got started, or I'd have followed Susie and Irish Lass' instructions instead!) That said, I want to try the 3:1 ratio. It sounds like it will be easier to stir during saponification and easier to dilute.

It is, I had much the same problem as Ellacho. Adding water fixed it.

 

[Ellacho]

Hi IrishLass,

A big heartfelt thanks to you - from your GSL tutorial to taking time out to answer all my questions! I could not have done it without your help ! I am indebted to your kindness.

 

[Ellacho]

"...I am still wondering why...Can you please shed some light on this? ..."

I honestly think it depends a great deal on the preferences of the soap maker -- how one was taught, what habit one is most familiar with. There is no chemistry issue to worry about that I am aware of, except perhaps for the differences in viscosity between an all or mostly coconut oil liquid soap vs. LS made with other oils.

I am definitely a beginner LS maker, but I used a 2:1 water/glycerine to KOH ratio with tolerably good results (edit: I made this LS before this thread got started, or I'd have followed Susie and Irish Lass' instructions instead!) That said, I want to try the 3:1 ratio. It sounds like it will be easier to stir during saponification and easier to dilute.

Hi DeeAnna,
I see!!! A 2:1 water/KOH ratio in GLS does work on other people. Whew~~that's good to know. I was so confused because it should have been translucent right away as soon as I poured lye/glycerin mixture into heated oils but mine never happened - until I added more glycerine.

Well...I am going to stick with 3:1 ratio for my LS!

Thank you for your input as always. I am indebted to your kindness and generosity, especially all those chemistry tutorials !

 

[DeeAnna]

Thanks, Ellacho. Yep, a 2:1 ratio does work, but a 3:1 might well work better. I'll know more after tonight.

I'm kind of feeling amused at myself right now -- maybe I should stress out more when I do stuff like LS or HP??? If I don't see a certain stage of texture or appearance, I just think, "Huh, how interesting!" and just motor on. It's things like fragrance, coloring, swirls, and other fancy stuff that give me the heebie jeebies (anxiety) instead.

I'm off to try Irish Lass' LS tonight ... yep, right after I send this post. It's the first time in months that I've had the time, enthusiasm, and energy to soap, so I suppose the soap gremlins will inflict their worst on me and my soap. Wish me luck!

 

[IrishLass]

I'm sure it's going to come out great, DeeAnna! Let us know how it goes!

IrishLass

 

[DeeAnna]

Okay, I'm starting to write this at 9:20 p.m. My soap is put to bed to finish saponifying. All my dishes are washed. Everything else is put away. It took under 1 1/2 hours to get my LS batch done from typing in the recipe to end of clean up (with a few bobbles fixed in the middle).

Wowser -- that was fast ... and FUN!

I could tell I was rusty and the soap gremlins were waiting for a chance to trip me up, but all went pretty well, considering how long it had been since I last soaped. I followed 3bees and Irish Lass' recipe to the letter -- 10% castor, 25% coconut, 65% olive, 3% superfat, 100% KOH, 3:1 ratio of "water" to KOH.

I did tweak the method in one particular -- I didn't use all glycerin as the "water". Instead I split the "water" up into 1 part water and 2 parts glycerin. To state it another way:

Water weight = KOH weight
Glycerin weight = 2 x KOH weight

I first dissolved the KOH in the room temperature water -- KOH dissolves quickly and easily in an equal weight of water. I then mixed the 2 parts of room temperature glycerin into the KOH/water. (Yes, the glycerin can be added to the oils instead. Mixing the glycerin with the lye water just makes more sense to me.) I did not heat or cool this mixture -- I just worked with whatever temp the KOH-water mixture heated up to on its own.

This hot KOH-glycerin-water mixture went into my bowl of warmed oils. The temperature of the oils was maybe 100 deg F -- just pleasantly warmish to my hands. Initial soap batter temperature right after everything was mixed together was 158 F (70 C).

I stirred and stick blended off and on for just under 10 minutes. It took 2-3 minutes to see any temperature rise that is the sign that saponification is seriously starting. The batter went into a grainy applesauce stage about 168 F, morphed into a smooth syrup about 172 F, darkened slightly about 178 F, and turned near-instantly into a sticky, translucent taffy about 185 F (85 C). No extra heat, no double boiler, no crock pot -- the soap batter just did all this on its own with a little stirring to encourage things along.

I stopped mixing at that point after I made myself close my mouth and stop gawking at the transformations. I covered the bowl with plastic food wrap, and put the soap in a warm cat-proof place to finish up. Tomorrow I'll test for zap and dilute some of it.

There were no flying bubbles, but I broke the all-glycerin rule, so I suspected they might not appear. (I'd like to see 'em, though!)

Yay!!!!! Did I say this was seriously fun????

 

[DeeAnna]

10:30 p.m. update: Soap is about 166 F. That's about a 20 deg F drop from the high of 185 F, so the soap is pretty much saponified. When I saw the temp drop, I got brave and tested for zap -- the soap has utterly no zap at this point.

 

[IrishLass]

Sweet! That's awesome, DeeAnnna! Thank you for sharing the blow by blow run-down. It sounds like I will have to try out your method!

Will you be diluting with all water, or part water/part glycerin? I wonder how much the dilution rate will change doing it this way. It's always a bugger for me to figure out a dilution rate that I'm happy with and doesn't give me hassles.

I'm excited to hear how the rest of the story come out!

IrishLass

 

[deg195]

Thanks IrishLass. Once essential depot is back open (Tuesday) I will order KOH.

 

[DeeAnna]

I was planning to dilute per your method -- water and sodium lactate (SL), no glycerin -- but you raise a good point. I can see it working fine both ways -- (a) dilute with water (w or w/o SL) or (b) dilute with water plus the "missing" glycerin. Method (a) would certainly be simpler, but method (b) might have merit. I'll have to experiment, I suppose.