Teach Soap

neutralizing liquid soap paste superfatted at 0%-----------

I made some liquid soap paste yesterday and I have a few questions about finishing the paste as pertains to neutralizing & pH measurement if someone knowledgeable can pls answer a couple questions for me.

First of all, my liquid soap is superfatted at 0%, and from what I gather from people's comments is that if you don't superfat your liquid soap at 2% then you must neutralize (the lye) it w/ either Borax or preferably citric acid. I have some citric acid already in my closet already i just need instructions on how to mix it pls.

The video does not say how to superfat the liquid soap recipe or give any instructions on how to neutralize the liquid soap IF necessary, so can someone pls tell me how to incorporate the citric acid into the paste? I assume i need to mix the citric acid w/ water then add the resultant C.A. solution AFTER the paste has been diluted with water into liquid soap, right? Can someone pls tell me the ratio of citric acid to water i need to mix, and how much of this citric acid thickening solution I should add to the fully diluted liquid soap?

Is the citric acid added before or after the thickening salt water solution? Before, right? So citric acid, then salt water, then fragrance, right? Is that the correct order? (I'm not using any added color beyond whatever is supplied by the EOs)

Finally, how important is it to test pH? I don't have anything specifically labeled phenolphthalein but i have a bottle of smthng for testing the pH of a pool that says in large letters 'pH' on it and the corresponding pH color chart legend says high acidity is orange (just like in the video) so I am hoping it's phenolphthalin but if it isn't i don't have anything to test the pH.

Thanks in advance for advice and suggestions. And to Anne for sharing this recipe w/ us.

That soap is terrible. Not terrible it has lot of cleaning power but I was hoping my liquid soap would be as much better than liquid detergent soap as cp soap is to detergent soap like they sell at Walmart. No suck luck. I didn't add any citric acid and i used avocado which is i guess a no no for high level of unsaponifinables. I can't use it for dish-washing sink soap but i guess i can use it for laundry detergent.

I need to order some of Dr Bronners and see what good liquid castille soap looks like, or from Mountain Rose.

I read somewhere that it is more important when making liquid soap to measure the pH than w/ bar soap, & it needs to be an electronic pH meter to do it right. And just keep adding citric acid solution until the pH hits 8.5 like Dr Bronners.

I always superfat at 3% for my liquid soap. That way I don't have to neutralize.

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

i didn't neutralize but the problem is not that the soap stings my hands like the pH is too high. The soap is completely clear until i add fragrance. It just isn't as good as the detergent soap i get from Whole Foods- i like Dishmate, the only stuff i can find that doesn't have sodium lauryl sulfate in it. MY soap that i made, however, has a lot of cleaning power but i don't like the way it smells either before OR after i add EOs and i don't like having water in my sink that is not clear and has stuff floating in it. Since i used avocado oil 5/6ths AO has too much unsaponificables it looks like there is unsaponified fats left but there isn't. It looks dirty even when it's clean.

It will work for laundry soap good tho so at least i dont have to put chemicals on my cloths that never gets completely washed out and then is often absorbed into the bloodstream thru the skin during perspiration during the course of the day so i'd much rather use real soap instead of detergents+chemicals for my laundry.

If you superfat at 3% doesn't it look like you have a bunch of gross unsaponified lats floating around in your sink?

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

My liquid soap is also a completely translucent see-thru amber color. It is very pretty in the jar but in the sink it leaves a residue on glass. I think it is bc I used too much avocado oil, 90%, and I hope when I try it w/ olive & coconut it works better. I read avocado is a poor choice for liquid soaps bc of the high level of unsaponifiables that make it good for bar soap makes avocado bad for liquid soap.

SB, do you use more olive or coconut in your liquid soap recipe and can you give me percentages? I notice a lot of liquid soaps, like Dr Bronner's as well as the stuff I bought last year at the farmer's market, use more coconut than olive (or other unsaturated).

I don't use my LS for dishes. It seems to always leave a residue no matter which recipe I use.

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

I decided you know what I like this stuff after all. Its works good scratch that great for laundry, foaming hand soap, & it's just fine for dishes too, 'cause it doesn't cost me $5 per little bitty bottle.

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Thank you for the advice, Soapy. Certainly I will try this as soon as I get some glycerin. I know what you mean about how it's pretty miserable stirring the paste for 7-10 hours. 30 minutes is way better.

But I'm just a little concerned about how to melt down the KOH with room temperature glycerin on medium heat? It sounds pretty safe the way you said to do it but when I goggled it the best directions I could find said the glycerin needs to be heated up to between 160-300 degrees. The reason I'm wondering if it's safe is because, as I know you are well aware, glycerin is flammable and it has a flash point (like,the temperature where it ignites), of 160 Celsius or 320 degrees Fahrenheit. The author of tutorial linked below is telling me to turn off the heat off the glycerin when it gets to 300 Does that sound a little hot to you? Bc I don't want to approach the flash point of a flammable substance if it's dangerous, you know what I mean? Do you keep a fire extinguisher handy?

I read somewhere when adding the KOH to glycerin as it is foaming up on you a good way to beat back even the most persistent foam is to blast the foam w/ a spray bottle filled with isopropyl alcohol.

http://alaiynab.blogspot.com/2013/07/gl ... aking.html

maybe you can recommend me a better tutorial or just give me some guidance on how to safely heat the glycerin bc I would really like to cut my cook time down from ten hours to 30 mins if at all possible. Thank you so much for taking the time to sharing some knowledge, Soapy.

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You only get One Chance to make a great first impression, but you get MANY Chances to be a Blessing.

OH YA....NEVER...NEVER ADD KOH TO HOT GLYCERIN!!! Ya...that is where MOST ppl get hurt. I was refering to adding it to room temp Glycerin and slowly heating it on med heat. She ...in that link you posted...talked about turning it off at 300 degrees....well, like I said, it all happens so fast I do not eve use a thermometer. I add the KOH To room temp Glycerin. Place it over medium heat and stir stir stir....it will start to bubble up and steam. let the steam go into the exuast fan. do not breath. In a few minutes, like 3 or 4 even, take it off the heat and let the bubbles go down and SEE if the liquid is clear or not. if not clear then place back on for only another minute or two and keep stirring, check by bringing it off of the heat and the BUBBLES WILL GO DOWN...not need to spray ANYTHING on it...that's right, the bubbles go down all on their own. Shucks...I could see if you were in the RUSH of a lifetime, then by all means spray what you want.....YIKES....I do not believe anybody should EVER be in such a rush that they need to force down those hot bubbles.....so, it should only take like 30 seconds for the bubbles to go down all on their own!!! 4 to 7 minutes and the liquid is or should be clear as a bell. If you have like one or two tiny crystals that refuse to melt....then take them out and thro that away in the garbage...you ONLY want to add clear as a bell liquid to your oils.

Now, make sure you FIRST Use Pure KOH..and not a mix of any other item...dont use like 80% KOH or any weird mixture...make sure it is ONLY KOH....I have made this liquid soap now a good handful of times to know that this recipe works...and is the best one i have found online. I will never do anything but the glycerin method as long as I shall live. I agree with the writer over at the sage forum....a majestic mountain sage... forum , on that forum. she stands by it...and now that I have tried it, I do to

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You only get One Chance to make a great first impression, but you get MANY Chances to be a Blessing.

ps Johnny....I WILL help you. if this is not what will help you, the stuff I wrote, PLEASE let me know...cause I WILL help you..ok? ok!!
and yes.....what a relief to be DONE with the soap making in just 30 minutes and then WALK AWAY...lol...the crock pot will do the rest. NO STIR METHOD...ha ha....(only before hand...during that first 30 minutes)

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You only get One Chance to make a great first impression, but you get MANY Chances to be a Blessing.

Wow Soapy that sounds like the biggest advance in LS-making since the stick blender.

I learned SO much from reading that tutorial. It is too bad the author has not had a chance to put a video on YouTube yet but I spent some time reading it and am quite excited to try it once my glycerin gets here. Thank you so much for letting me know about this technique. Wow.

I am still processing all that information and this weekend when my stuff arrives and I get the time to try it I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again. I really appreciate it.

Wish some other people would chime in, too. I like to get input from people in this forum before i do too many experiments. People in this forum have done a great job keeping me from blowing up my kitchen thus far. I did buy in addition to glycerin buy a real nice fire extinguisher, just in case and purely for my peace of mind. Like the spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol- bc it can't hurt.

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You only get One Chance to make a great first impression, but you get MANY Chances to be a Blessing.