Teach Soap

Hi Everyone!
High off my olive/castor shampoo success, I decided to try a more cleansing formula: 72/27 coconut/avocado. I read my notes from the last time, and prepped. Two things were different: this time, I used room temp distilled water for my KOH, and it really hissed and got hot--since cooling the lye isn't an issue with HP liquid soaps, I didn't take the temp. Last time, I used refrigerated water, and it barely reached 105F.

The other difference was coconut oil, the darling of liquid soap makers.

I kept the induction heater at 210, which kept the water in the double boiler at a simmer. Last time, that kept the soap mixture at a comfy 160-165F.

Last time, with all that olive oil, it took a while to reach trace. It went through stages pretty slowly. I left it, and returned to stir several times.

Note the use of the phrase "last time." And the "thank you, Hesty."

This time, I added the lye to the oils, and stirred and stick blended. Took the temp: 138F. Stirred, stick blended. Reached trace. I was just considering whether I was going to put the lid on it and come back in 20 minutes to stir when it started growing. Oh my.

The book I have says that soap can puff up and need to be stirred down. I almost grabbed the spoon to do just that, but then Hesty's volcano and subsequent mess came to mind. I turned off the double boiler and I grabbed that hot mess, and turned and put it in the stainless steel sink behind me, then I grabbed the spoon.

The spoon probably didn't do much good, but being off the double boiler did. I lost about a baseball's worth of soap and the rest subsided into a very thick paste. I took the temp-- 188F.

So--did it cook up that fast? I don't think it was on the double boiler for 10 minutes, but it's definitely a translucent paste. I washed my hands with a bit of cooled paste, and it was bubbly and not caustic. I'm going to Ph test it, and dilute a bit, but man, is it sticky compared to the olive oil!


So--lesson learned. Turn the heat down to maybe 180 on the double boiler, and don't leave it. I might also use a larger double boiler I have, which would give me even more head room in case of volcanic action.

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
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Glad it worked out for you. I keep my crock pot on low for liquid soap and never get a volcano.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

My LS cooks longer then that. I check the pH with phenophtalein.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Where do you get your phenolphthalein? BB doesn't carry it. I'll zap test this one, but I'd rather do a more thorough ph test before I try it on anyone but me. (I'm near a university; maybe I should ask a chemist friend...)

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

Hehe, glad I could help! Silly soap volcanoes! The soap I "made" was a beautiful paste once it stopped erupting, might have been good to keep if it hadn't been full of food particles from inside the stove's crevices! LOL

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thanks for the link!
I found some phenol red used to test garden soil ph, and I played around with it, but I don't think that will work. I'll have to order the real thing. It didn't zap, and washing my hands with the undiluted paste was not a horrifying experience, but I should have some on hand, in any case.

Interesting that on the soap making forum, a lot of people (including some experienced ones) really seem to feel there's no need for it, that the zap test is plenty. Hmmm.

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

How much superfat should you do for liquid soap?

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Debbie

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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Debbie

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Just an update on this: I find the mostly-coconut oil soap to be really drying. I used a coconut/avocado mix, and I think the avocado is really causing a layer of cloud, too. I don't mind that, but the drying part I really dislike. I think it will be used as dish soap!

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

My fav so far is olive and castor, but I just made an olive, castor, and a wee bit of coconut (75/16/9-ish%). The olive/castor works for me as both a hair and body, but some people need more cleansing, so I'm creeping up the amount of coconut. The 75/25 coconut/avocado is too drying, and I suspect most of Failor's recipes would be too drying for me, since they nearly all use high coconut amounts.

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries