Vodka?

[Penny]

Hi Everybody.

I found a recipe for liquid soap and it calls for 1 teaspoon of vodka. What does the vodka do and can I sub regular alcohol for it? TIA

[Carol M]

It's probably in there as a deterrent to mold. That's the reason it's added to smelly jellies. I've used rubbing alcohol as a substitute in smelly jellies for myself and it did fine as far as preventing mold, and it looks like it would do for hand soap (since it's not a leave-on product). You could try it in a small batch to make sure it's not going to do something weird, like thinning the soap down too much.

[Penny]

Thanks for replying. I made a batch with alcohol and I'm waiting for it to cool. Actually, this is my second batch. The first batch go too thick. So, I'm giving it another shot. I tried watering it down, but I want to know exactly what combination of what works. I'll post the recipe if it turns out okay. Thanks again.

[RobinInOR]

When you make liquid soap from scratch (for example like the recipes in th eCatherine Failor book), alcohol acts as the solvent. It accelerates saponification and dissolves the soap into a mix that's easy to stir.

[Penny]

I'm still working on this recipe. I'm not sure yet if I really like it. I've been using one bottle and letting it set in another to see what will happen over a little time. It's really thick so I'm working to get it thinned out more. I'll keep y'all posted. Thanks