question about using KOH

[rebeccajo99]

I was going to try the 2 recipes listed in this thread as my first 2 to try.

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25595&highlight=castile

I was wondering if you can also use these recipes using KOH and make a liquid soap too. Do you need a preservative if you use KOH?

My long term business line planning is have a solid soap bar, body wash and liquid hand soap all using the same base recipe if possible (only difference is using potasium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide depending on what I'm making. Possibly something to thicken for the body wash if needed since I don't know if just lowering the amount of water would thicken liquid soap).

I'm not planning on trying liquid soap until I got solid bars down pat, just thinking and planning out my long term business line right now.

Thanks in advance.

[LuminousBoutique]

You can technically use any recipe to make liquid soap, you just have to make sure you are using a reliable lye calculator because KOH is not, say, interchangeable for lye.

Some oils are better than others for a nice clear liquid soap. Some oils are more drying than others.

You do not need a preservative for liquid soap, the PH of the soap is enough... I suppose if contaminated water was used, or it was boiled previous to mixing it into the soap.. or too much water to soap was used.. there could be a problem, but I've never run into one.

I've never used lard to make a liquid soap... thats something you'll have to test. Not saying it doesnt work, I've just never personally done it.

Honestly if you are thinking of trying liquid soap I highly reccomend using a pre-prepared recipe like the one in classes just to get the technique down, just to know what to expect... before formulating your own. It helped me the first time I tried to do it that way, so I could get a firm idea what to expect.

[rebeccajo99]

Thanks for your response. I have been playing around with the soap calc (found the link on this website) and it gives both a NaOH and a KOH number. Also, in my limited researching of liquid soap, somebody suggested a different calculator for making liquid soap. So, when that time comes, I will probably play around with that one too and see which calculator I like better for liquid soap.

Thanks for the suggestion on trying a tutorial liquid soap recipe first so I know what I'm all looking for. I have that written down in my notes now to do first.

Quick question on your response. You mention that some oils are drying, are you saying that if I get a nice solid bar of soap, making it into a liquid might be drying? I know in my research it says that coconut oil can be drying to the skin whereare something like Olive oil is very nice for the skin in solid bars. Just for example... could olive oil, which is nice for the skin in solid bars be drying to the skin in liquid soap? I hope I'm making sense.

I'm not sold on using lard in my soaps yet. I just found the recipe and it said it was a good beginner one. In my soap calc printout, I actually changed the lard to palm oil per somebodies suggestion in that forum. I hate touching fat and raw meat when I make my husband and kids (I won't eat the stuff:lipsrseal), I'm not sure I could touch lard. Not that I'm opposed to it, I just not sure I could handle the feel of it (I know, I'm weird :embarasse)