Teach Soap

Here is my latest attempt at liquid soap. I'm doing a single oil (butter). Not ready to say which yet as I may have goofed and will be embarrassed!

I decided to do a small 1/2 lb batch. This may be too small for my crockpot, as it was kind of tough to blend. But it came to trace Friday night, no zap, and Saturday I started to dilute.

It actually gelled after I let it cook with water for awhile! Prior to that it was just a blob.

I really don't want this to get super thin, so I am adding water slowly. Talk about an exercise in patience!

8oz Sat morning, then 8 more oz throughout the day, split in 2

Sunday I went to 2oz increments, and added 6oz total.

Yesterday I added 4oz total and finally saw in improvement in texture by night. It was less of a blob of gel with water pockets but more of a mix - still too much of a paste though.

This morning I have turned on the crockpot but not added any water yet. I think I will wait till I get home from work and maybe add 1oz then. This morning when cold, it was a pretty solid paste, but there were creamy spots along the edges.

Saturday and Sunday I was letting it sit (heated) for maybe 4 hours before adding more water. Yesterday I let the first 2oz sit till 2pm unheated when I was out of the house, then added the second batch of water a few hours after that. Not sure if this is right, or if there is any right when it comes to diluting!

I took the pic last night.

Looks good!

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

I added another ounce before I left for work - just turned it on again now. Will see how it does during the night.

Did I mention I am doing this slowly lol

As I mentioned I am adding water extremely slowly in the hopes that I don't go over the fence and have it too runny. Thickening with salt didn't work so well for me last time.

Since I've been at work during the day this week, it's only heating for an hour or two in the morning, and then I get maybe 6 hours at night. I usually add a bit of water each time.

Does this method hurt the dilution at all? ie say I add 8 ounces over 4 days time..... will that dilute worse than adding 8 oz all at once since it's continually cooling?

I was thinking that the amount of water it needs is the amount of water it needs no matter how long it takes to get in there.

I just remember adding my last 8 oz to my first batch and immediately thinking, damn! I should have only added 4! So I'm trying to do it the other way around this time.

Hope this makes sense~

It's all about experimenting to get it the way you like. Taking it slow may be frustrating but then you'll know how much to dilute that recipe for the next time. Good luck and let us know how it went!

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

Thanks Linda - it's almost there!

Question though - do you (or anyone) normally keep the heat on while diluting? I was having a problem with it starting to regel as the longer it was heating Saturday and Sunday night. It was suggested to not heat while diluting, so today I took everything and put it in a container and just let it sit - seems to be doing great!

I had followed the BB Liquid Soap Guru kit instructions and it said to boil water, add the paste to be diluted, stir etc. Never said to turn heat off. Since I was using the crock pot, I was boiling water and adding it to my already warm paste.

Just wondering - seems like it can be done both ways.

My first batches, I added boiling water to my crockpot that was on warm. I left it on until everything mixed together. That took quite awhile so the next time I boiled the water and added the paste to the boiling water. Too much stirring made it suds up quite a bit. (Once I got distracted and it started boiling over! ) Tried it again with less stirring and it worked well. I had also tried just adding the boiling water to cooled paste but that didn't work well for me. Go with the method that works best for you.

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

I wonder if it depends on the ingrediants?

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

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

Did you still heat in the crock pot though? Mine keeps it around 160-170 degrees when it's on low. After all afternoon of heat, it would start to re-gel

Yes, in the crockpot on low. But I don't think my crock gets that hot.
Are you sure it's re-gelling? I've had that happen with my mostly OO LS when I didn't add enough water - it kept balling up into paste again. I finally ended up just adding a bunch of water at once and cooking it on low with the lid off so some of the water could evaporate off.

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