Grumpy Girl Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 I just ordered some potassium hydroxide to make liquid soap. Someone stop me.Anyone have any recipe suggestions or do's and dont's when it comes to building one? Spanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Do not superfat! Ummmm.. Do really wait til the goop is translucent.. Do not expect it to be any other color than amber. It's gonna be amber.. Floggings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecandlespastore Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Do not superfat! Ummmm.. Do really wait til the goop is translucent.. Do not expect it to be any other color than amber. It's gonna be amber.. Floggings!Yep yep yep yep. Do not use a lot of coconut oil because then it will be amber.....runny.....and will look like urine after taking a multivitamin. Good oils to use are sunflower or canola, olive, and castor with some coconut oil (will get back to you later with ratios..too sleepy to think.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppygirl Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Do not use the ethanol method... I have pics... it's not pretty!I have a great tutorial thread saved here somewhere. Let me know if you want it! Oh, and always check with me before you order anything girl. I have 4lbs of KOH sitting in my pantry LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecandlespastore Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Here is a really good tutorial, and so far its been tried and true and never fails:http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/liquidsoap/ss/basicliquidsoap.htmOh, you can skip the borax part, I like the way the soap behaves better without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beloved Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Do not use the ethanol method... I have pics... it's not pretty!I have a great tutorial thread saved here somewhere. Let me know if you want it! Oh, and always check with me before you order anything girl. I have 4lbs of KOH sitting in my pantry LOL!I would love to see your tutorial thread. like they say not a lot of coconut oil. It could be really runny. [ask me how i know]. That was my frist batch of LS so i am glad so one else asked the [?] I am on my #2 batch today I plan on useing my frist batch to diulte the 2Have funn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beloved Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Do not superfat! Ummmm.. Do really wait til the goop is translucent.. Do not expect it to be any other color than amber. It's gonna be amber.. Floggings!No supperfat???????????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sage Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 This question is for candlespastore. I tried the tutorial from candle and soap this weekend. Everything was going great and I got to the dilute the paste part. I stirred it twice with the boiling water then again and took his advice and went to bed leaving it covered in crock pot till morning. This is where I had trouble. The gel was still gooey and didn't mix that well so I stirred it again the next morning. I turned the crock pot back on and then neutralized it. It still was soft but gooey and nothing like liquid. I boiled more distilled water and thinned it down after adding my essential oils. It is now in jars resting but now is too thin. I can buy some thickener but wondered if anyone else had that problem with the recipe he gave. I also didn't understand the dilution chart so I may have added too much water to the paste. I also have lab grade KOH so wondered if that had anything to do with it not diluting in the dilute the paste stage. I am wondering if lab grade doesn't take as much and may have messed up the calculations of KOH. I am not giving up and it smells wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecandlespastore Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Mmm, I dont know really. Did you boil the water that you added to the paste to dilute? Also, what oils did you use? I subbed the sunflower for canola in the recipe, I also added castor and olive (I am a brat, I never follow anyone else's recipe, lol.)Instead of buying a thickener, try boiling some of the water out of it. Get your double boiler set back up and then just let it boil for awhile. It will get rid of some of the water. I superfatted mine at 5%. I added excess lye so that I could make sure the soap would not be cloudy from superfatting, with the anticipation of adding more water during dilution and just boiling it out. It works very well. I kind of combined this tutorial with David's, and of course my own substitutions, but I followed her advice and adding extra KOH. The soap is wonderful:http://candleandsoap.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=candleandsoap&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ellensessentials.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sage Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 I followed David's recipe using sunflower oil and coconut oil. I had the soap heating in a crock pot when I added the boiling water. I wonder if my crock pot doesn't get it hot enough. Do I pour the soap into the double boiler method now or do I wait till two weeks of resting then try to get some of the water boiled down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecandlespastore Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 I would boil it down now as it is still going to be just as runny as it is now 2 weeks from now, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscus Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 LOL...sounds like you guys are having a whole lot of fun with this. My persoanl expereince with LS is that if you allow it to sit for a few weeks it will thicken up to almost a gel and that is without neutralizing it. I don't cook it until gels anymore, it's not necessary with the recipe I use. It still comes out clear and honey colored. I made several gallons over the past few days. Trying new recipes now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 I superfatted mine at 5%. I added excess lye so that I could make sure the soap would not be cloudy from superfatting, with the anticipation of adding more water during dilution and just boiling it out. It works very well. I'm totally confused by this statement, as it seems to contradict itself. If you add excess lye it takes away the superfat, and without calculating it to 0, it very well may be lye heavy. I'm not understanding at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscus Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 I'm totally confused by this statement, as it seems to contradict itself. If you add excess lye it takes away the superfat, and without calculating it to 0, it very well may be lye heavy. I'm not understanding at all. I didn't either but then I don't understand the coconut making the soap runny..well not if you're using the about recipe and I've only had runny soap when I added too much water during dilution or used a high percentage of soft oils. It was runny and kept forming a skin. On the snowdrift site they suggest that you add extra lye for Gm liquid soap but then the fat in the GM is supposed to take care of the extra lye.A question for you bunny- Is you LS drying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscus Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 I followed David's recipe using sunflower oil and coconut oil. I had the soap heating in a crock pot when I added the boiling water. I wonder if my crock pot doesn't get it hot enough. Do I pour the soap into the double boiler method now or do I wait till two weeks of resting then try to get some of the water boiled down?I don't recall boiling any water down or out when I used that recipe. Why are you doing that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 I don't think mine is drying. But it's not as perfect as I would like it either. I just doesn't bubble well yet. I need to play with this some more! Hurry up and go back to work hubby! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Girl Posted January 22, 2007 Author Share Posted January 22, 2007 I'm stuck on what oils to use... the only thing I know for sure is not a lot of coconut oil, okay, but up to what % is considered not a lot?I'm stuck on stupid today, overlook me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in KY Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Do not use the ethanol method... I have pics... it's not pretty!I have a great tutorial thread saved here somewhere. Let me know if you want it! Oh, and always check with me before you order anything girl. I have 4lbs of KOH sitting in my pantry LOL!Is that my KOH sitting in your pantry??? I didn't see any samples coming my way with that KOH you got from me, are you holding out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscus Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 I'm stuck on what oils to use... the only thing I know for sure is not a lot of coconut oil, okay, but up to what % is considered not a lot?I'm stuck on stupid today, overlook me.I learned to make LS using the about recipe. You can follow the guidelines on that site and use whatever oils you want. The only oils that I read were to be used sparingly were butters. Also, some oils will make the soap cloudy.If you use the about recipe I would double it because it will cut your time in half and you won't have to cook the snot out of it until it gels. You should be able to dilute while it's in the very thick mashed potato stage just be sure and do a clarity test before diluting the entire batch. Stick with that basic recipe until you learn it and then make your own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppygirl Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Is that my KOH sitting in your pantry??? I didn't see any samples coming my way with that KOH you got from me, are you holding out?LOL, yes, some of it's yours and some I got off the classifieds. I didn't think you'd want a watery sample of blueberry muffins that was dark brown and smelled like pineapples. Next time I give it try you'll get a sample, no worries! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sage Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 OK I finally took my runny soap:undecided and used the double boiler method to boil out some of the water. It is still a little runny,but looking like it might be some what thicker than it was. My house smelled great, but wondered if that boiled out most of my essential oils for scent. I feel like a dork, but this has me stumped. Appreciate the feed back I got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sage Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Hibiscuss sorry I didn't notice that you had replied to one of my posts. I added more distilled water to that recipe because my paste was still really thick and gooey after I added the 40 oz. of water in his recipe. I let it sit over night after stirring it a few times and I wondered if it cooled down too much during the night before it had a chance to dilute. So like a newbie that I am making liquid soap, I added more water and then it was too much. I like my liquid soap to be thick enough to stand on wash cloth and you can see it. It still has to be able to pump through a pump bottle. That is my goal. :highfive: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscus Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Hibiscuss sorry I didn't notice that you had replied to one of my posts. I added more distilled water to that recipe because my paste was still really thick and gooey after I added the 40 oz. of water in his recipe. I let it sit over night after stirring it a few times and I wondered if it cooled down too much during the night before it had a chance to dilute. So like a newbie that I am making liquid soap, I added more water and then it was too much. I like my liquid soap to be thick enough to stand on wash cloth and you can see it. It still has to be able to pump through a pump bottle. That is my goal. :highfive:I see. I must have missed that part:embarasse somewhere in my notes is the exact amount needed to dilute the paste. What are you using to neutralize/thicken. I know that sometimes it is too thin to be thickened but the neutralizer helps with any excess lye as well I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 From my experience, every time you heat the soap up it will become thicker but you may not notice until it has completely cooled down. I don't add any scent to mine until I know I have the consistency I want. I have my recipe with the oils I use down pat now so I know exactly how much water to use. Have you neutralized yet? That will thicken it up as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Lol.. When I try that, I get the consistancy I want, and the moment I add my scent it turns totally different.. UGH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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