Transparent Soap Adventures

[Miki]

Miki,

Great first test! Not entirely clear (no pun intended), did they finish transparent or translucent?

Thank you, no, not entirely clear ( ) ! They are translucent and now spreading out on the plate... thinking of rebatching and adding some sugar to harden them up a little. Its fun!

 

[Richard Perrine]

More sugar or salt? It may be that there is too much glycerin? Sugar solution? In my experience and understanding, adding sugar adds to the transparency and lather, but hadn't heard that it affects hardness. Good luck! It's good to hear that you're having fun! That alone will take you further as it did me. I was enjoying the process!

 

[Miki]

That should have been salt! After a stressful weekend at work my aim on Monday was to melt down the soaps, dissolve some salt in it then back in the mold. Its turned out much better, still translucent but thats from the soap I rebatched for this experiment.
That was yesterday and this morning I was able to take them out of the mold and put them on a rach to dry out a bit more.
I will definitely be making more soon

 

[cmzaha]

Using high glycerin as the solvent will result in a soap that will melt into a puddle in a fairly short time span. Been there tried it, after reading experiments from Kevin Dunn.

 

[Richard Perrine]

Using high glycerin as the solvent will result in a soap that will melt into a puddle in a fairly short time span. Been there tried it, after reading experiments from Kevin Dunn.

I agree. When I give my soaps away or at home, I encourage the use of an effective soap dish to guide excess water from the bars. It makes a huge difference. I also make varying degrees of transparent/translucent soaps using less glycerin and more soy wax (or other oils). They last longer, of course. My final formulation was based on my interest in transparency alone and not necessarily thinking about whether they will melt w/o draining. Again, a soap dish does wonders.

 

[KimT2au]

Transparent Soap Recipe

Castor Oil – 250 grams (50%)
Coconut Oil – 250 grams (50%)

Lye – 78 grams (0% superfat to reduce cloudiness)
Distilled Water – 156 grams (double lye amount)

Solvents (equal to 100% of oils)

Glycerin – 250 grams (50% of oils)
Sugar – 250 grams (50%)
Water – 160 grams (to create sugar solution)

Hi @Richard Perrine , I got a bit confused following this conversation (that's not hard I am sorry to say). Are you saying that the above recipe now gives you a transparent bar or are you still refining? When you make the sugar syrup, do you heat the distilled water to help the sugar dissolve or do you use it cold?

I am very excited by your experiments. I can see you are going to become a huge credit and contributor to this forum.

Thank you so much for all your work.

Kim

 

[Richard Perrine]

Hi @Richard Perrine , I got a bit confused following this conversation (that's not hard I am sorry to say). Are you saying that the above recipe now gives you a transparent bar or are you still refining? When you make the sugar syrup, do you heat the distilled water to help the sugar dissolve or do you use it cold?

I am very excited by your experiments. I can see you are going to become a huge credit and contributor to this forum.

Thank you so much for all your work.

Kim

Kim,

There's still room to modify the recipe and I probably will while I'm still in this adventurous state. One poster reminded me of how fragile soaps with such high glycerine content can be, but my bars have held together pretty well as long as you place them on a soap dish. I will reformulate to so that less glycerine and/or sugar is used. Weekend tests! I'll continue posting the results here, of course. That being said, that recipe is where I stopped and was convinced that transparent soap can be made w/o the stringent alcohols, stearic acid, etc. and I I use it often. I heat up the water to help dissolve the sugar. It's all going to be poured in and heated further anyway, so no need to monitor temp. Hope that helps. I will be making a new batch of the transparent soap later this week.

 

[KimT2au]

Oh, @Richard Perrine , I am sooooo going to make your soap. Thank you.

 

[Richard Perrine]

Oh, @Richard Perrine , I am sooooo going to make your soap. Thank you.

Yay! Let me know if you need help. It really is a low maintenance recipe. Some advice that I have discovered over a few takes:

1. Try to dissolve as much of the hardened soap film into your mixture before pouring. It helps.
2. I use a sieve or strainer when pouring so the no hardened debris makes it through.
3. Pour quickly as the soap sets quickly and could block-up your sieve

 

[Richard Perrine]

Most recent modifications/tests with my transparent soap as inspired by cmzaha...

The following soap is a result of reducing the glycerine by 25% and increasing sugar/water solution by 25%.

Observations:
1. Less residual glycerine slime on top of my bars. In fact, none as I experienced before. The latter only occurred immediately after pouring into the mold.
2. Solidification of the soap was similar to the original recipe.
3. Transparency is similar to original. The bar you see is w/o fragrances or dyes.

Just wanted to add that those small bubbles are on the top of the bar. I didn't spray with alcohol to remove.

 

[Richard Perrine]

I cut 5mm slices of my transparent soap(s).

 

[KimT2au]

Most recent modifications/tests with my transparent soap as inspired by cmzaha...

The following soap is a result of reducing the glycerine by 25% and increasing sugar/water solution by 25%.

Observations:
1. Less residual glycerine slime on top of my bars. In fact, none as I experienced before. The latter only occurred immediately after pouring into the mold.
2. Solidification of the soap was similar to the original recipe.
3. Transparency is similar to original. The bar you see is w/o fragrances or dyes.
View attachment 32420

Did the glycerin not absorb back into the soap over a day or so? When I have had glycerin on the top of soap, I just left it and it was gradually reabsorbed.

 

[Richard Perrine]

Did the glycerin not absorb back into the soap over a day or so? When I have had glycerin on the top of soap, I just left it and it was gradually reabsorbed.

Kim,

I never gave it a chance. I simply wiped it off. No harm done except now I know I've wasted some glycerine.

 

[Richard Perrine]

After a few days of curing, the newly modified transparent soap recipe is a rockin'! With the decrease in glycerine, the soap certainly seems to hold up firmer overall, but especially in the shower when often exposed to water.

 

[Richard Perrine]

Sorry. Not sure how this duplicated.

 

[clownking99]

Very impressive ! Sounds difficult to make ><

 

[Elibedrod]

M&P without propylene glycol!

Just an update regarding M&P. I took one of my translucent bars which contained some soy wax and melted it down and remolded it. Success! I feel that the transparent bars would probably melt smoother, better as they do not contain as much soywax or none at all. Regardless, the melting of this bar was nearly effortless. I have never worked with commercial M&P, but you have to work a little quicker with this soap. The soy wax content helps it harden quicker. Also, I imagine that the propylene glycol in commercial soap bases help it to remain smooth and viscous longer. I'll do some tests later.

I made the mistake of keeping it in the microwave a little too long and it boiled up a little and added air. I should have melted with 10-15 sec bursts in the microwave. Melted quickly. I also added about a tablespoon of distilled water to the cut-up pieces. I saw no evidence of air within the bar, but the poured surface had plenty.

View attachment 31846

I took some of the 'foam' that is created during the making of the transparent soap and formed it into an oval mold. I recently melted that bar down to create a rectangle form. Again, showing that the transparent recipe is also 'melt & pourable!' The remolded soap looks better, added apple fragrance and smells great! The soap created by the foam is softer, so not anticipating that the bar will harden much more, if at all over time. The glycerine will likely keep it malleable, but workable. This 'foam' is from my earlier transparent soap tests, so contains a good deal of soy wax.
View attachment 31848

 

[Elibedrod]

M&P without propylene glycol!

Just an update regarding M&P. I took one of my translucent bars which contained some soy wax and melted it down and remolded it. Success! I feel that the transparent bars would probably melt smoother, better as they do not contain as much soywax or none at all. Regardless, the melting of this bar was nearly effortless. I have never worked with commercial M&P, but you have to work a little quicker with this soap. The soy wax content helps it harden quicker. Also, I imagine that the propylene glycol in commercial soap bases help it to remain smooth and viscous longer. I'll do some tests later.

I made the mistake of keeping it in the microwave a little too long and it boiled up a little and added air. I should have melted with 10-15 sec bursts in the microwave. Melted quickly. I also added about a tablespoon of distilled water to the cut-up pieces. I saw no evidence of air within the bar, but the poured surface had plenty.

View attachment 31846

I took some of the 'foam' that is created during the making of the transparent soap and formed it into an oval mold. I recently melted that bar down to create a rectangle form. Again, showing that the transparent recipe is also 'melt & pourable!' The remolded soap looks better, added apple fragrance and smells great! The soap created by the foam is softer, so not anticipating that the bar will harden much more, if at all over time. The glycerine will likely keep it malleable, but workable. This 'foam' is from my earlier transparent soap tests, so contains a good deal of soy wax.
View attachment 31848

Richard thanks for all of these updates. Your details rock!

 

[Richard Perrine]

Very impressive ! Sounds difficult to make ><

Hi. It's been fun experimenting and I have a few more twists coming. I don't feel it's difficult, but it really boils down to taking that first step and finding out that making transparent soap really isn't that complicated.

 

[Richard Perrine]

Richard thanks for all of these updates. Your details rock!

Thank you. More to come. I just hope more people join in and that my instructions are clear enough.