For several years I've thought about making liquid soap. It was just a thought because I had no KOH to play with. Last month I finally bought some KOH, now the possibility of actually making it might happen.
For me after researching the internet for recipes, reading tutorials and reading "Making Natural Liquid Soaps" by Catherine Failor, I felt more intimidated than ever! I watched "Soaping 101" on YouTube and it was actually the first glimmer of reassurance I found!
Why making liquid soap bothered me is all the things that can go wrong. Sure they post all the fixes and lots of recipes but I was still not sure. One of the people in a google group posted about liquid soaps enough times to get me curious.
I finally decided to attempt making some!
The recipe I went with uses 20% coconut oil and the rest equal amounts of olive, safflower, and castor, I also had 2 oz sol butter on standby in case I needed to superfat.
Things seemed to start ok. I made it to trace with no issues. I cooked and cooked and cooked (9 hours) but never could get the lye to go neutral. This was using the soap calc at Summerbee Meadow. I decided to add the sol butter and it disappeared but didn't help-still purple when I tested it. The clarity test was beautifully clear so I decided to go ahead and dilute. I added borax to neutralize, but it didn't seem like it did anything. I added glycerin too. I turned off the crockpot and took a shower and went to bed!
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| 1 % Phenolphthalein Solution |
The next day I checked again-still purple when I tested. So I got 2 oz citric acid and added it to 8 oz of boiling distilled water. I slowly added that to the diluted soap. It turned it cloudy white but the lye was finally neutralized. Guess I should have tried it first?!!! I also added the T-50 E to help keep the oils from going rancid.
Now for the new problem: how to get rid of the clouds. (sigh)
I remembered reading about some ways to "decloud" on Chickens in the Road, I decided to try the alcohol-it cleared it right up! (I keep alcohol on hand to make extracts with).
The soap is a very nice amber color. They say to let it sit (sequester) for 2 weeks, so I jarred and bottled it and will wait to see what happens next. If the glycerin doesn't make it thicker as it sits I may have to warm it back up and try some salt to thicken it up. (That's why I kept the coconut oil at 20%)
It is a lighter color than Dr. Bonner's and Dr. Wood's Castile soaps.
Here is a picture of the soap:
When I did a clarity test the first time while cooking it, it was completely clear. Why it went amber I'm not sure. If all goes as planned it will be scented and put into pumps and foamers. Uncolored clear is not meant to be this first time!
If I add scents it means using Polysorbate 20 as scents (even essential oils) tend to cloud soap. Again, lots of testing ahead to see how things work. I read that different essential oils affect the soap in different ways too-lavender makes it thick while citrus thins it for example. I will update or add to this post as this all progresses.
Can you see why I wasn't sure about trying liquid soap? I used a recipe that doesn't require adding any extra things. It should have been just lye, water and oils. Instead it now has added borax, glycerin, citric acid and alcohol! The good news is: I'm learning.
I joined the liquid soap group on Yahoo Groups and will do some reading. So I'll see you in 2 weeks! :)
Happy soaping!
Marla Riedling
MJR Soaps