using apple cider vinegar for lye water

[dovesong]

I am comparatively new to soap making and I want to eventually sell my creations. Obviously, I want to make the best soap I can make. I have come across recipes that have used ACV in place of the lye water. Some remarks have been, "I use ACV in all of my soap recipes." I couldn't find a way to contact the soaper, so my question to her would be "Why do you only use ACV for your lye water? Are the benefits of doing so that much greater? Does the recipe need to be adjusted for using ACV over filtered water or can you do an even swap?

 

[DeeAnna]

This comes up a lot. Here's an article I wrote to summarize my advice: https://classicbells.com/soap/aceticAcid.html

 

[cmzaha]

You need to take time to test recipes with and without ACV and decide if you like soaps made with it, how it lasts compared to the same recipe without ACV. For my recipes I do not find much difference using ACV because my recipes are already produce hard soaps, which is the reason for using acv not to bring down PH

Since you mentioned selling...Before trying to sell it takes time and lots of testing. You should not just use someone's posted recipe and start selling, since not all soap is created equal. I mention "trying" to sell because it is quite a challenge to sell soap and actually make money.

 

[penelopejane]

There are couple of threads where people have tried vinegar in soap. The difference in harness from 25% vinegar to full vinegar replacement isn't that great but the feel of the soap is huge. See if you like it in your soap recipe. At higher rates you can smell the vinegar in the soap.

 

[Melysg25]

This comes up a lot. Here's an article I wrote to summarize my advice: Acetic acid (Vinegar) | Soapy Stuff

This article explains it all! Very helpful. Thank you for explaining the science behind it.
I do have a question though: do you know how I can calculate how much superfat will increase when using vinegar in my soap?
I read in the article, you mention:
1oz vinegar (5%vinegar) neutralizes 1g NaOH.
I was going to subtract the amount of NaOH in grams according to how many oz of vinegar I use.
Then take that gram number and subtract it from my intended recipe to see the actual amount of lye I would have left, without changing anything.
But I was curious how would I determine the increase in superfat ? Help. Lol.

 

[mjaxon75]

I'm about to make my first ever batch of lye shampoo bars. I have found SO MUCH contradictory information regarding acv. My goal is this: reduce oily scalp, moisturize dry ends, minimize the "film" left on my hair. So far, of the shampoo bars I've tried, my hair has responded best to the ones made with SCI and not lye. BUT...I have already purchased everything I need to make soap so I want to give it a go. Also, it may be the conditioner bars that I need to focus on more than the shampoo bars when it comes to the "final result" of how my hair feels so I'm still not sure if I should even worry so much about making that perfect first batch of shampoo bars. After reading all of your comments, I've decided acv probably won't have the effect I was hoping for so I've decided to go with rice water. But I also saw something about adding citric acid to shampoo bars. In conclusion, my main question is, is there ANYTHING I can add to help fight the hard water residue? If it matters, I'm doing a hot process for the first batch so I can use them sooner and will switch to cold process for later batches.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I'm about to make my first ever batch of lye shampoo bars.

There are very few SMF members that make lye-based shampoo bars so it would be better if you start a new thread with that as the subject title so you get more responses.

Don't bother with ACV to make the bar. An ACV rinse is great for cutting soap scum and restoring the acid balance of the scalp after using a lye-based shampoo bar. I use about an ounce in 15 ounces of cool water after shampooing. YMMV