It sounds like something I would try! 
IrishLass
IrishLass
Soaping 101 liquid soapmaking video?
- Thread starter jenfrat
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Hello!
Ive made dozens of batches of liquid soap. I recently followed IL's recipe perfectly. However, my soap NEVER comes out thick as described. Not even close. I would love to know what Im doing wrong.
I usually use Pomace but only had Pure Olive Oil on hand. Also used a combo of Distilled water and Filtered as I ran out. Regardless I never get thick soap, always very watery
This was my recent recipe
Olive Oil 12oz
Coconut Oil 31.20oz
Castor 4.80oz
Lye 10.2oz
H20 10.2oz
Glycerin 30.6oz
Lye Concentration 20%
Superfat 3%
This is how I dilute...
PASTE divided by 38 equales____ x 62 = H20
Feed back would be great!
Ive made dozens of batches of liquid soap. I recently followed IL's recipe perfectly. However, my soap NEVER comes out thick as described. Not even close. I would love to know what Im doing wrong.
I usually use Pomace but only had Pure Olive Oil on hand. Also used a combo of Distilled water and Filtered as I ran out. Regardless I never get thick soap, always very watery
This was my recent recipe
Olive Oil 12oz
Coconut Oil 31.20oz
Castor 4.80oz
Lye 10.2oz
H20 10.2oz
Glycerin 30.6oz
Lye Concentration 20%
Superfat 3%
This is how I dilute...
PASTE divided by 38 equales____ x 62 = H20
Feed back would be great!
The bottom line is your recipe needs a lot more oleic acid. To make a decent soap that's reasonably thick only by dilution, the oleic acid content has to be around 50%. Your recipe has about 23% oleic acid. Irish Lass's recipe (see Post 8) has about 47% oleic acid. See the difference?
So this formula tells me you're using 1.6 parts water to 1 part paste. You say your soap too watery. So why aren't you changing what you do and using less water?
When I use Irish Lass's recipe in Post 8 of this thread, I always use more paste than water. Even IL herself uses more paste than water with her recipe -- per Post 9, "...1 part paste to .75 parts water..."
The other aspect of diluting liquid soap is that the dilution that works for one person's soap may not work for your soap. One batch of my paste may need less water than IL uses. And the next batch of my soap made with the same recipe may need more water. So you can't just dump the whole amount of water in and expect success. Add less than you think is needed and adjust from there.
Even with less water, the recipe makes a big difference. If you want use recipes that have a low % of oleic acid like the one above, you will never get thick soap by dilution alone. You will have to thicken low-oleic soap using a separate thickener such as HEC or HPMC. These thickeners do not depend on the oleic acid content and careful dilution to work properly.
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Sorry, I had my coconut oil and olive oil mixed up . I was using IL's recipe.
I think I have it figured out. Can you tell me if this is correct?
Olive oil 31.20oz
Coconut Oil 12oz
Castor 4.8oz
Lye 10.2oz
H20 10.2oz
Glycerin 30.6 oz
Diluation @ 62%
Paste weight 77.21oz multiply by .62 = 47.87oz H20
Cheers!
I think I have it figured out. Can you tell me if this is correct?
Olive oil 31.20oz
Coconut Oil 12oz
Castor 4.8oz
Lye 10.2oz
H20 10.2oz
Glycerin 30.6 oz
Diluation @ 62%
Paste weight 77.21oz multiply by .62 = 47.87oz H20
Cheers!
Okay, now that you've got the story straight, my only advice is that you need to begin diluting with less water and work up from there. You need to figure out what dilution works for YOUR soap, not mine and not IL's. Other than that, just ignore the rest of my blather.
Carl
Well-Known Member
Your "blather" was actually very helpful for me.
Thanks!
The topic of this post is "Soapmaking 101 video"
If you watch the video, she puts a lot more water in than paste (I think it's 3:1 water to paste). When I initially read Irish Lasses post #8 and #9, I assumed a typo on the .75 and didn't realize she was actually using less water than paste.
I think you cleared this up for me!
If I dont want to use glycerin and H20 only @ a 20% lye concentration, but still use the 65%-25%-10% as per IL's recipe. How would this change my dilution rate?
I say this because water is cheaper than glycerin. And extra time to trace doesn't bother me.
I say this because water is cheaper than glycerin. And extra time to trace doesn't bother me.
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
TIP: You know you have used the correct amount of dilution water when the batch forms a skin on the top. Stir in just enough more water to incorporate the "skin" and you're there. Of course, this tip only works if you take good notes.
Be sure to weigh your container as well as the paste and water amount.
You will have to try it and see. I have made IL's recipe with all sorts of combinations of water and glycerin, including all water. I don't recall huge differences in the dilution rate, but I expect some variation from batch to batch. I don't pay a lot of attention to the numbers anymore, to be honest, so I can't give you hard info. I start diluting with 1 part water to 2 parts paste and add water from there until I don't have chunks or a skin anymore.
I do see how the confusion came about. Although the thread did start out with Soapmaking101's video, it evolved from there into a thread revolving around 3bees~1flowers's formula (the formula that all my posts are based upon).
Yep- I use much less water vs paste. I've never used all water for the entire recipe, but if you do, it's like DeeAnna said, start with a dilution rate of 2 parts paste to 1 part water (or 1 part paste to .5 parts water, whichever way you look at it) and slowly work your way up from there until there's no more of a skin forming on top.
And as Zany said- remember to take good notes! Jot down how much water you add each time until the skin disappears so you have a baseline from which to work for next time. Some dilutions might turn out a little thicker or thinner depending on whatever minor variable, but the difference is so small that its negligible, at least for me.
IrishLass
Hey All ,
I made IL's recipe and it turned out perfectly, the method was so much easier than anything I had done in the past! Zap test and all!
The only thing that's different is that my soap is not amber in color, but rather a light yellow. Also not quite clear as a bell either. Im curious as to why?! Thank you in advance!
I made IL's recipe and it turned out perfectly, the method was so much easier than anything I had done in the past! Zap test and all!
The only thing that's different is that my soap is not amber in color, but rather a light yellow. Also not quite clear as a bell either. Im curious as to why?! Thank you in advance!
Kathy Heiner
Member
Hey, nice to see that you made this! I just watched that video a couple of days ago. Glad to hear how easy it is. I have not made it yet, but based on what I remember from the vid, didn't she say that if it's not cloudy when you do the water test, then it's done? Wondering if it cooked a little bit longer if it would be more amber? So while yours is a pale yellow in color, it does look to be clear in your pic. So it should be good. It is a beautiful color!
Sounds quite familiar! Good to know I'm not the only one.
As long as the color isn't dark brown/black (meaning you burned something), whatever color you get is fine. Your color will depend on your oils.
Clarity does not indicate doneness. Zapless paste does. Always, always, always test your paste. Clarity also depends on oils used.
Clarity does not indicate doneness. Zapless paste does. Always, always, always test your paste. Clarity also depends on oils used.
IngridK
Active Member
I keep on gently cooking until I get a clear test. I usually dilute about a teaspoon to a third cup of distilled water. As far as thinning goes; I just keep on, keeping on adding water in small quantities until I get no lumps and no skin... I am sure that environment, humidity, ingredients all play a part in how much water you need for each batch. Making good soap is as much art as it is chemistry.
Ann-juma
New Member
Hi everyone would like to share what I’ve done IrishLass recipe
1 Castor Oil 200 grams
2 Coconut Oil, 76 deg 500 grams
3 Olive Oil 1300 grams
KOH 443.50 gram in 445 ml Distilled Water
glycerin 888 grams added to the oils in crockpot 80Celsius
Zap test OK
added stearic Acid while diluting (stove top dilution @85C)
Stearic Acid 60 grams
Amazing group of people, wish if you had a facebook group
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Dahila
Well-Known Member
the soap is beautiful. Just in case you add the fragrance and it gets cloudy, wait few days, My soap cleared up beautiful . It took a week or so
I add fragrance while the soap is still warm, not hot, to a bare finger. Never had a cloud up last over 4 hours yet.
Dahila
Well-Known Member
Susie is so good you are back <3
