Teach Soap

i need to make some laundry soap and dish soap (like Dawn, not dishwasher soap). What are some good oils to use and/or recipes? Is it pretty straightforward just using potassium instead of sodium hydroxide from the lye calculator?

I have never made liquid soap, so I'll let someone else give a fuller explanation, but the process is very different from cold process so don't just try subbing the lye with potassium or you will end up with a mess! Liquid soap involves boiling down to a paste and then adding water and cooking up again from what I recall. I looked into it and decided to stick with bar soap which is familiar and less labor intensive.

You can use all olive oil for liquid soap. It is a time consuming process from cooking to dilution.

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

If you want it for laundry or dishes, I'd use all coconut oil, which is a really good grease cutter (but maybe harder on your hands). This video: http://youtu.be/3VUGV_H7bZU from Soaping 101 will give you the basics. She mixes her potassium hydroxide with glycerine to make a more emollient soap--but you can use water. There are several books out there, too. I have the Catherine Failor book, which has a lot of good info, but the organization is confusing (for me).

One things I've noticed is that if I use much coconut in liquid soap base, the soap at some point in the cooking gets very hot and will try to volcano. So be forewarned: keep an eye on it, be ready to stir like mad, have a lot of headspace in the pot, and if necessary, be ready to pull it off the heat and put it in the sink, in case you can't stir it down! If it volcanoes, at least it will be into the sink!

Good luck!

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

thanks for all the replies. I ordered a book that has some info before I try it, the Soapmaker's Companion. I would like to be able to make liquid dish and laundry soap and possibly shampoo too w/ potassium lye. Right now the recipe I am using uses NaHO soap then I rebatch it using shredded soap and water in a regular pot. It works pretty good for laundry soap but not dish soap...

Soapmaker's Companion has a section on liquid soap, but it isn't as up-to-date as it could be. The Everything Soapmaking Book has a more current chapter on liquid soap.

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

BB has a video tutorial you can purchase, its awesome! Its how I learned to make liquid soap.

_________________
~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Mellifera, I didn't really care for the liquid soap recipe in The Soapmaker's Companion when it finally came in. I don't particularly care to use Borax.

Thanks Hestey I think I'm going to check out that video.

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

Irena, I agree Borax doesn't sound very natural. I thought liquid soap was supposed to superfated at 0%?

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

I finally watched the Liquid Soap video where Anne very cutely makes liquid soap (thanks Hestey). Ok. So where do I buy an electric double-jacketed soup warmer or soup tureen like Anne uses in the liquid soap-making video? The only one I could find on Amazon is a non-electric water jacket by KitchenAid that obviously won't work as it has no means for heating bc it is intended to be attached to a mixer. That looks like it would be too tricky to do on a stove anyway, in a double-boiler or stove heated water-jacket...

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

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

Mellifera, what size double boiler do you use? At least a 6 quart BD? How long does it take you? Do you literally have to stir the ENTIRE time?