white layer on top

jnl · Sep 4, 2015

yo!

so i made a liquid soap last week. with CO, OO, sunflower, ricebran, cocoa butter and unrefined shea superfatted at 3%, and I set the lye concentration to 91.1% (what my supplier says it is).

and there is still some creamy stuff floating on top (the soap below is totally clear).

i made it CP with glycerin.

so is this extra fat from the butters sitting on top? 3% SF is not high. or is it because i used unrefined shea?

should i just skim it off and use the clear stuff underneath?
or do i need to keep adding a little more KOH until there is no more creamy stuff on top?

it has a strong smell of cocoa butter
its the first time i have used cocoa butter or shea in LS.

normally the pot looks like an even layer of the creamy stuff on top. i swished it around so you could see its just a bit on the surface.

Susie · Sep 4, 2015

It's the unsaponifiables from the butters, I am fairly sure. That is why I never use them for liquid soap. I would just skim it off and use the rest.

jnl · Sep 4, 2015

is cocoa butter as bad as shea? i know shea has high unsaps. this recipe had 10% cocoa butter and 5% shea.

Susie · Sep 5, 2015

I think all butters are pretty bad. Either way, saves me money when making soap to leave them out, and the liquid soap is fine without the butters.

IrishLass · Sep 5, 2015

Are you aiming to have a clear soap or an opaque soap? I ask because my favorite glycerin liquid soap recipe has 20% cocoa butter and 5% shea (as well as 3% stearic tossed in at dilution time). It makes a lovely, opaque, pearly, creamy liquid soap. I use a little PS80 to keep everything emulsified.

IrishLass

jnl · Sep 7, 2015

i dont care if its clear or opaque, but i do want it to be even. i do not use any PS80 tho because i only do all natural. and i do not use stearic acid because i dont use palm (and i cant find a non-palm vegetarian stearic acid).

The Efficacious Gentleman · Sep 8, 2015

As all natural is such an intangible term to the point of nonsense, could explain what you mean by that? If people are being asked for help, knowing before hand what not to suggest saves time all round.