Teach Soap

Soaping 101 has a youtube video in which she made what she called "glycerin based" liquid soap. It is made with heated glycerin to mix the KOH in, no water at all. The recipe didn't match Summer Bee Meadow's liquid soap calculator but I tried it anyway. Yup, it makes soap! It is deep amber like hers but that's the only resemblance. Mine didn't behave as hers did in the video, but I admit to not adding all my KOH at once ( was afraid of a lye volcano so added a little at a time). My soap didn't trace and go to translucent gel quickly as hers did. She said that was a major benefit of replacing water with glycerin, along with a reduced cook time. My cook time was 3 1/2 hours (cooked until passed clarity test), not the 1 1/2 hours hers took. The major attraction to me was actually that her soap was thick like a gel even though she did nothing to thicken it. Mine, at the recommended 3:1 dilution ratio, has a nice lather but is not any thicker than normal. This is the recipe given:

1.5 oz castor oil
1.5 oz coconut oil
13 oz olive oil

6 oz glycerin
3 oz KOH

I weighed everything carefully and used her recommended 200*F plus to heat the glycerin so the lye would dissolve. Any ideas? Has anyone had experience with replacing all the water with glycerin? I was so disgusted I made a batch of liquid soap using 90% KOH/10% NaOH (different recipe) and it isn't thick either. True, I didn't thicken it but I have had no luck using salt solution and marginally better using borax. Drats! I guess I will have to try a 80% KOH/20% NaOH batch next. Does anyone have advice for making a thick liquid soap, the consistency of a shower gel? Maybe I'm just dreaming!

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Linda

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

That's what I now use; all glycerin instead of water. It creates a much faster liquid soap.

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

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Linda

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

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

Well darn it, I'm stumped then. Fortunately, I love to experiment!

Forgot to mention the KOH/NaOH experiment seemed to work like a dream. It turned thick and creamy from stick blending the lye solution in. It was just like vaseline when I pulled the SB out and just tapped it off against the crockpot. It came clean just from that! Good thing it was pulled out then. After just a couple of stirs with a silicone bowl scraper, it went solid. I mean solid not just really thick. Not knowing what else to do, I cooked it anyway. Over time more of it turned into a translucent gel, about half by the end of the cook. This batch was only diluted 2:1 but was still not very thick. It seems to be a nice soap but nowhere near a shower gel. I'm actually looking forward to trying the 80%/20% blend of KOH/NaOH and seeing if that works better. It hurts to use up so many ingredients without getting a successful batch though! Wish me luck.

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Linda

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

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

Well, you could always use a thickener, such as Glucamate VLT or Crothix.