Liquid soap experiments

[GrandmaArial]

I got my own copy of Failor’s book so I don’t have to rely on my faulty memory. This week I am concentrating on sequestering agents (page 45). As my skin reacts badly to alcohol that leaves sugar and glycerin. The first picture is of samples made at 3% superfat (-7% on SoapCalc). From left to right, the first four are all soft oils. First (blue, looks rather green) has 1% glycerin, second (red but looks orange) has 1% sugar solution. Third (yellow but looks golden) is .5% each of sugar and glycerin. Fourth is untreated and far right is plain coconut superfatted @ 3%. This one was actually colored green… but looks yellow in this picture. I used FDC colors to keep track of them. The colors did morph a bit but mostly it is just the picture, or maybe my monitor… what you can't see in these pictures is the pearlescent look the unsaponified oils give them.

The second picture is the newest batch. I used 30% castor in this one, easy on the coconut. OO and safflower make up the bulk. Not superfatted at all (KOH calculated at -10% on SoapCalc). This has not yet been sequestered, so may brighten up a bit more.

Opps... for got the pictures! Here they are.

[CBE]

Whoa... you LS girls rock! These look nice and clear. Very nice! How are they coming along now?

[Vio]

Very pretty clear colors!!

[soapbuddy]

Those came out great; nice and clear!

[kandlekrazy]

They are all L:shocked2: king Good! Smiley is not supposed to be shocked in this case, just o's. Are you sleeping at all, or just soapin?

[Denise2456]

WOW!!! they look Great!!

[lbtddr]

looks great nice and clear i never did come up with one that was not drying

[GrandmaArial]

looks great nice and clear i never did come up with one that was not drying

Yeah, I’m still working on the drying thing. I personally prefer the 3% superfat for feel. And 3% doesn’t seem to hurt the lather to much. The addition of the glycerin and sugar also seems to help, both in moisture and lather. Not a lot, but a little. Of course it’s not as clear and pretty as 0% superfat, but everything is a trade off.

I used the CCO LS to clean my bathroom the other day. Yes, it’s very drying to my hands but compared to commercial cleaners its much better, and cleans better too. No scrubbing needed! And rinsed easily too. Left all surfaces sparkling! And a couple weeks ago I spilled about an ounce on the kitchen floor… wound up mopping the whole kitchen with it. It did a fantastic job, though was a little hard to rinse, just kept foaming. Now I’m using ½ ounce (I have about 200 sq feet of floor space in the kitchen). It does a good job. I’ve also tried it on dishes, and won’t be buying dish soap anymore. A little goes a long way; it rinses easily, and gets the greasiest pans clean. It is thin, you can’t thicken it like you can soft oils.

I have been using the soft oil LS for about a month for shampoo, and I like it. My hair is very fine, so I was worried the alkalinity would be a problem but it’s leaving my hair nice, no vinegar rinse necessary. I forgot to refill the bottle the other day and used the Pantene… my scalp definitely knows the difference. After just a few hours my hair was feeling like it needed to be washed. The recipe needs tweaking but I feel like I’m on the right road with it.

My next project is bath gel.I’m thinking castile will be best for it.

LS will never replace bar soap for me. I prefer both to make and use bar soap, but I am learning that LS does have a place in life.

[Louise]

Grandma, they look great.... very nice, and clear! Mine never turn out that way, so I finally just moved on to other things lol. But after seeing all the LS pics lately, I may revisit it down the road sometime.