Liquid Soap Making

[Loulougirl]

Hi everyone!

I've decided to try making liquid soap and I was wondering if anyone had any pointers to share!

I've been reading this tutorial here:

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73514

Seems pretty easy, and since I've been doing HP more, I think I'm comfortable with using the crock pot, and recognizing the different stages and so on.

I wanted to maybe try a different recipe than in the thread, and I was just wondering if someone could help me out with the soapcalc on this.

For the amount of lye and water it gives, that would be the amounts to mix together and add to the oils, correct? Not including the amount of water used to dilute the soap. Probably a silly question, but I just want to be sure I do this right. lol

Thank you ladies!

[3bees~1flower]

the best calc for creating LS recipes is www.summerbeemeadow.com never had a bad batch once i started using that calc.

[Loulougirl]

Excellent, thank you 3bees!

[patka]

3bees, may I ask, do you use 0% superfat and then neutralize any potential excess of lye with citric acid? Or do you leave some superfat in the soap according to the Summerbee calculator? I have been playing with making liquid soap recently and was wondering about this.

[3bees~1flower]

i generally do a 3% lye discount...then i don't have to mess with the neutralizing thing. i always get clear soap.

[country bee]

Hello,If any one is interested,I have a great recipe for liquid soap,its fast it is easy and and it is made from cp base.I have used it for years.It does not sting my eyes and you can shampoo with it too.

1/4 cup casto oil

1/4 cup of olive oil

3/4 cup corn oil (i use stafflower oil)

1.6 ounce of sodium hydroxide

3/4 cup water

warm all oils together

pour lye into water let cool

all ingredients must be same temperature(95 to 100 f is good)

pour lye water into oils(slowly)!

stir well -to trace(do not scent yet!)do not color yet!

pour any to any mold that will hold this amount

you do not have to cover,sit aside in warm place

in 24 hours-take soap out of mold and grate it up

liquid soap

boil 3/4 cup water

add 1/4 cup grated soap

stir til smooth

you have to mash it up-then stir til smooth

some timesI add extra water for a thinner liquid soap.

let this sit over night

now

you can color or scent it

you can put it in a pump bottle or what ever

[candlemama]

Hello,If any one is interested,I have a great recipe for liquid soap,its fast it is easy and and it is made from cp base.I have used it for years.It does not sting my eyes and you can shampoo with it too.

1/4 cup casto oil

1/4 cup of olive oil

3/4 cup corn oil (i use stafflower oil)

1.6 ounce of sodium hydroxide

3/4 cup water

warm all oils together

pour lye into water let cool

all ingredients must be same temperature(95 to 100 f is good)

pour lye water into oils(slowly)!

stir well -to trace(do not scent yet!)do not color yet!

pour any to any mold that will hold this amount

you do not have to cover,sit aside in warm place

in 24 hours-take soap out of mold and grate it up

liquid soap

boil 3/4 cup water

add 1/4 cup grated soap

stir til smooth

you have to mash it up-then stir til smooth

some timesI add extra water for a thinner liquid soap.

let this sit over night

now

you can color or scent it

you can put it in a pump bottle or what ever

This sounds interesting. I wonder why it doesn't sting your eyes? I love my CP/HP soaps, but man do they ever sting the heck out of my eyes. I heard it's because of the higher ph of handmade soaps. Do you think it's because your liquid soap is diluted, or is it something with your recipe?

[country bee]

I went through that with lye soap-sting the eyes before but I kept after it until I made a recipe or 2 that does'nt and thats what I make.I use a 10% discount.It is mild with lower ph but it only stores for about 1 year if it is around that long.The liquid soap is mild also even though there is no cure time.Holds up well-scents great-natural creamish color-lathers nicely-will not turn slimey-with age it gets thicker.Try it-Don't change the recipe -water portion can be more or less- or you wil get unfavorable results.I don't know why this is but I have tried different combo's and have had unfavorable results.

[green-tangerine]

So you don't have to let it cure at all? Sounds great!

[country bee]

no cure time.I got the recipe from "Making Good Scents"quarterly.They are no longer publishing.I hate it too.I loved it so much.

[katshe]

Country bee thanks for the recipe , I am going to try this soon.

Does the 1/4 cup grated soap need to be smooshed into the cup tightly or is there a certain measurement in ounces?

[katshe]

country bee or anyone that has tried this cp recipe to make into liquid soap...please help

I did countrybee's recipe exactly as she said and it is lye heavy so i am affraid to make into liquid soap and use it that way.

I did go to the soap calc and put ingredients in, in ounces and seems that the lye is .891

countrybee's lye amount says 1.6 oz sodium hydroxide

And if someone could explain the 10% discount she said she used, how do I figure that on the soap calc???

[patka]

Katshe,

I don't know about the lye calculations for the soap recipe listed here, but it is my understanding that to make good quality liquid soap one needs to formulate a recipe using potassium hydroxide and not sodium hydroxide. I tried to dilute a regular NaOH soap and while it was usable, I would not share the product with anyone else, even as a gift. When I used the liquid soap recipe from the tutorial on this website, I got a very nice soap, using KOH. I just modified the recipe to include a slight superfat, using the summerbee calculator, because the way the tutorial recipe is formulated could, in my opinion, result in a lye heavy soap. So I run the recipe through the summerbeemeadow calculator, put 2-3% superfat and use that as my recipe. It results in a nice clear liquid soap.

[katshe]

Yes I have made liquid soap before but I thought why not give this a go... I too have also tried the bar method and gotten glop so I was wondering if this recipe would be like that ...it seemed like a small recipe so i gave it a try, but so far my results are not good.

[LuminousBoutique]

I toss all my bits and ends into a bucket of water to use to wash towels and heavily soiled stuff... its glop, and its not preserved.. I wouldnt use it on my skin. The same goes for grinding up a bar and boiling it... obviously you'd hope the PH of the soap would keep things from growing but thats too much of a risk, imo. There are tons of tutorials online that suggest doing this very thing, so obviously people have had success with it in the past.. but I think its just as easy to make a batch of liquid soap with KOH.. know what I mean?

the tutorial from here is a really good start

[katshe]

luminousBoutique...I have since decided that very thing. I found a nice liquid soap recipe and I am going to make it tomorrow.

I did look at the tutorial on this site and it is all coming back to me now so I feel confident.

I have a recipe with castor, sunflower and coconut oil in it, hope it turns out nice at least for a body wash or a hand soap...