Soaping 101 liquid soapmaking video?

[Susie]

I just made a batch with lard 15 oz, CO 1 oz, and castor oil 1 oz using the half amount of water + full amount of glycerin process. So, I stick blended/rested 10 minutes, got creamy liquid, then soap on a stick. Zap tested immediately and no zap. Amazing.

Then I diluted. Took LOTS more water than the other recipe(150% paste weight). Was hoping for creamy/pearlescent, but it looks perfectly clear right now.

 

[Dahila]

Irishlass I have no access to Polysorbate 80 but have to Polysorbate 20, do you think it could do it?

 

[bodhi]

Are you all using vegetable glycerine or petroleum glycerine for this method?

 

[Susie]

All vegetable. Did you come up with recipe for the low pH batches? Or at least some sort of hints I can try to reproduce your results with? I do not sell my soaps, so I would not be using it for profit. If you want to PM it to me, that would be fine.

 

[bodhi]

Still looking. I have notes all over the place.

 

[IrishLass]

Irishlass I have no access to Polysorbate 80 but have to Polysorbate 20, do you think it could do it?

Dahila, I've never tried it and I could be wrong, but I don't think the polysorbate 20 will be strong enough. PS20 is mainly used for solubizing light things such as FO's into body washes and sprays, while PS 80 is used for solubizing more heavier things such as carrier oils into the same products.


IrishLass

 

[DeeAnna]

Dahlia -- you could try the PS20, but I agree w Irish Lass that it may not work. It doesn't seem to be nearly as effective as PS80 in the products I've tried it in -- from dispersing essential oils in a blend of water and alcohol to mixing EOs into syrupy liquid soap.

 

[Dahila]

Thank you ladies , then I need to look somewhere else, anyone knows who carry it in Canada?

 

[deg195]

YAHOO! Thanks again IrishLass- here's a pic of my first liquid soap venture...

 

[IrishLass]

Sweet! :clap:


IrishLass

 

[Susie]

Update on lard liquid soap: my perfectly clear liquid soap is now opaque and gorgeous.

 

[Susie]

Another update on the lard soap: I diluted some of it for use in a foamer bottle. All of the opacity settled to the bottom ONLY in the diluted soap. However, the soap that remains in the foamer bottle, while not the greatest on lather, is really, really conditioning. It is absolutely amazing. I will definitely be repeating this recipe with some modifications(a bit more CO, and possibly some sugar) for lather and testing to see if the glycerin step is truly necessary. I will add a bit of laundry soap paste to help speed trace.

 

[DeeAnna]

BUMMER, Susie! I was hoping you'd get a lovely opaque soap when you diluted. It's good to hear the soap is mild on the skin -- I get the feeling that many LS recipes have problems with being too drying/stripping. Very curious to hear about your next results.....

 

[Susie]

The soap that is not diluted for the foamer is still opaque. And I put some in a pump bottle to use. It, too, is wonderful on the conditioning. Thanks Carolyn!

 

[FGOriold]

Trying to find a way to make an opaque liquid soap that is stable has been one of my greatest challenges. I find that adjusting my base oils sometimes works, sometimes not depending on the overall cook time and dilution rate. I just finished trying the glycol distearate (EZ Pearl) on two different soaps. At 3% of the diluted soap weight, it created a really nice opaque soap - however, it does not increase viscosity. So, I will be watching them (one was on the thin side to start and the other had already been thickened, scented, etc.) to see how stable the final product is over time.

 

[shaan]

Hey all! My first batch failed! Now i think second one has also failed.. haha.. here is the recipe i used-
Castor oil-30g , coconut oil-75g , olive oil-189g, stearic acid-6g, glycerin-114g, potassium hydroxide-65g.

I slightly warmed the oils,added stearic acid to it..i mixed glycerin and lye and when it was mixed,boiled,transparent, i poured it into oils and mixed it as fast as i can with a whisk. Without any external heat..it was thin,opaque for about 4 minutes,then turned honey like color,then suddenly got thick,shiny..and after about 10 minutes it was too thick and white as in the pic and here i stopped..no flying bubbles..i was dying to see flying tiny bubbles which i saw in my first failed batch.. last time i mixed it in slow cooker,with the cooker on slow setting.. and it passed through all the stages including flying bubbles..but it did not turn into liquid soap.. it was a separate amber color water and white thick part on top which was sticky,produced lather,but skin felt very dry after washing.. this time again i think i did something wrong.. but what? And now what should i do?

 

[shunt2011]

Only a novice LS maker. My batches go through a thick white stage kind of like yours and I just kept cooking it in my slow cooker on low until it went through the other stages about 40 minutes to 1 hour then just turne it off, cover and let it sit overnight.. I've only made 3-4 batches so far. I'm sure someone with more experience than I will pop in.

 

[DeeAnna]

I'd suggest you try Irish Lass' most excellent recipe given earlier in this thread. Get some experience with a recipe that is known to work. When you enjoy more success, then branch out to using other recipes!

Not seeing all the stages that people describe is NOT a failure. You just didn't see all those stages, that's all. Your soap is most likely fine. It sounds like it went through a definite trace and saponified nicely to a firm paste. The fact that you didn't see flying bubbles and all that is honestly no big deal. Zap test it. If there's no zap, try diluting a small amount to see how it turns out.

 

[Susie]

^What DeeAnna said.

Not all soaps go through each stage visibly. Some stages are so fast that if you blink, you miss it. Just zap test, and if no zap, dilute. The 100% glycerin method goes though what I call false paste before turning to gravy and then to paste. But I would bet that you have zapless paste already, despite the lack of flying bubbles.

 

[shaan]

I cooked it for an hour in crock pot on low yesterday.. today i added warm water to it with sodium lactate and when it softened after 3-4 hours,i mixed it up with a whisk..this time i added less water..about 65% so it is thick like commercial bady wash. And here it is..its froth is very thick with a few undiluted lumps..it is foaming very well and is not too dry.but when will this foam settle down?its been eight hours. And why my liquid soap turns honey color?last time too,it was the same color.