Transparent Soap Adventures

[Richard Perrine]

Update.

I have made some significant changes to my formulation and the initial results have been better than I would have thought.

Clearer soap. The thickness is a little more than those of post #31 (7-8mm). I have a full bar that I poured and will wait tomorrow to see if the clarity is, in fact, as observed from the small bar above. I will then share the change in formulation.

 

[Dawni]

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

I've been enjoying reading so far but haven't had anything to add (lack of experience) but I will say this:

That last soap pic looks awesome! Transparent soap used to wow me before and after reading about your experiments I will definitely be trying it. Very inspiring.. Good job!

Edited to say yes, your instructions are very clear hehehe

 

[KimT2au]

Oh, WOW, @Richard Perrine , that is an amazingly clear bar. I can't wait to see how the other bar came out.

 

[Richard Perrine]

Top Left: Original pour into mould. Very transparent. You can see the squares from the rack through the soap and silicon mold.
Top Right: 7-8mm (thick) bar of the soap poured separately and cooled very fast. (I wonder if rapid cooling has anything to do with clarity?)
Middle Left: Whole bar and end cut off. Whole bar is not transparent due to thickness as is cut end.
Middle Right: Showing more transparency tests by using a magazine.
Bottom: Again showing how thinner (13mm thick) end piece is clearer.

Observations:
1. I did cloud up and I am pointing at the glycerine(?).
2. I allowed the larger bar to cool off in room temperature overnight. I typically do not do this. I normally put my glycerine bars in the freezer to solidify and then unmold. I wonder if rapid cooling has an effect on clarity. Will remake and put in freezer to cool faster.

 

[Richard Perrine]

It's been some time...busy time of the year! Here is my latest transparent soap I made for a friend. Sandalwood scented and the colour from the oil and castor oil(?). There were tiny air bubbles, but nothing unattractive. I believe this occurred b/c I poured too high causing the tiny bubbles(?).


I will repeat later with only coconut oil to see if I can get a CLEAR and transparent bar.

 

[clownking99]

Very impressive!

 

[Richard Perrine]

Recent transparent soap. Grapefruit-bergamot menthol soap. 5% menthol crystals put in 20-minutes before pour. Love the sinus clearing and tingling!

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

wow--nice job!!!

 

[Richard Perrine]

Latest transparent recipe. Completely different from what I have posted, but results are pretty decent. Here is my Orange-Citronella Menthol soap for my son. I need to redo w/o adding any essential oils to see what its true colour is. No alcohol was used as part of the solvent(s).

 

[Zany_in_CO]

 

[Dawni]

Nice! One of these days I'm gonna sit and read this thread and try my hand at transparent soap. You inspire me

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

Nice! One of these days I'm gonna sit and read this thread and try my hand at transparent soap. You inspire me

I was thinking the same thing--that soap is pretty cool

 

[earlene]

Richard, that looks really nice! I am super impressed with your results.

 

[Anush Bruno]

Hi Richard. I have been wondering if it is possible to make a transparent M&P without alcohol. Seems like there is always someone that comes up with the same question and goes even further to experiment it.

Thanks so much for your contribution to find the answers. I read as much as I could through these long thread. I found your original recipe with 50x50 castor/coconut. But it seems you have made further adjustments to this recipe. Do you have it somewhere in this thread that I missed? Could you please, direct me to your final recipe. Thank you so much.​

 

[Richard Perrine]

Hi Richard. I have been wondering if it is possible to make a transparent M&P without alcohol. Seems like there is always someone that comes up with the same question and goes even further to experiment it.

Thanks so much for your contribution to find the answers. I read as much as I could through these long thread. I found your original recipe with 50x50 castor/coconut. But it seems you have made further adjustments to this recipe. Do you have it somewhere in this thread that I missed? Could you please, direct me to your final recipe. Thank you so much.​

Hi Anush. I use the original recipe most of the time. On the second page of the thread, I do reduce the glycerin by 25% and increase sugar solution by 25% to reduce sweating. I would try both in smaller amounts and test to see which works better for you. My 'new' recipe is under testing. I made the last two bars using this new, modified recipe. I will post the results soon.

 

[Richard Perrine]

I have been playing around with a coconut oil only transparent soap. I tried a couple tests sometime back and failed to get what I wanted as I was seeking more colorless soap. Coconut only transparent soap is a bit trickier and the smallest variable seems to take it towards opaqueness. I tweaked my original recipe (two on the right) and replaced 20% of the glycerine with sugar solution (two at the left). Almost no sweating occurred with the bars with replacement.

I poured the transparent soap in a slab mold and cooled. The base soap was white and translucent, not transparent. I cut and melted the base soap and added eo to get the results below. Remelting and pouring the base with no eo did not change the state of translucence. The bars seem to become more transparent with the addition of eo and with varying degree depending on the eo.

Observations from right to left:

Bar one has peppermint eo and the bar turned cloudy. You can see areas of colorless, but mostly cloudy. It seemed like the eo curdled somewhat. Is that a thing?

Bar two is the orange citronella menthol soap made earlier. Orange, but transparent.

Bar three only has fennel eo. Cloudy again, but not like first bar.

Last bar at far left has lemon and tea tree eo. Amber colour, but very transparent.

Is it coincidence or do the colorless and clear eos cause cloudy effect?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Is it coincidence or do the colorless and clear eos cause cloudy effect?

All lovely soaps, Richard! Impressivie.
I'm wondering if adding the EO to Polysorbate 20 or 80 would help it disperse throughout the bar better?

 

[Richard Perrine]

All lovely soaps, Richard! Impressivie.
I'm wondering if adding the EO to Polysorbate 20 or 80 would help it disperse throughout the bar better?

I don't want to add anything artificial and from what I've read, these emulsifiers are yellow in colour, which hinders my efforts to create clear and more colorless bars. Am I wrong in either?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Although commonly referred to as "emulsifiers", Polysorbate 20 and 80 are technically "solubizers", meaning, they dissolve oil in water. The way I work with them, Richard, depending on the product, I first add the Poly to water and mix well, then add the EO and mix until fully incorporated. Use rate: Varies. Typically 1 tablespoon poly to 1 teaspoon EO. Add more poly if necessary.

So what you end up with is a water-based essential oil -- which would easily disperse throughout the bar I would expect, rather than clouding up here and there. But that's just me and I don't know enough about your process to really be all that helpful. Just my 2¢ worth.

 

[Richard Perrine]

Interesting. Does the colour affect your soap at all?