kssoaper Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Hi All -I found, and followed, the liquid soap tutorial by "Z" from 2008. I followed it, everything seems to go right along with instructions (and the participants comments).... dropped some of the soap glob in boiling water (at about the 4 hour point) and had clear soap.So, my crock pot wasn't big enough to hold the dilution water so I boiled my distilled water in my big spaghetti pot, and plopped all the globs in..... I did give it a little stir but now 6 hours later I have about what I had 6 hours ago! It didn't all melt together, wah!!! I'd say maybe 1/2 of this soap melted into the water. Do I just *wait*?? Thanks in advance for any advice ~Judy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuminousBoutique Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Hi Judy, you can slightly warm it after 24 hours to help it dissolve but yes I'd keep waiting sometimes it takes up to 24 hours. After 24 hours if I still have chunks, I strain them out- boil some more water, and dissolve them aside from the rest of the batch. I dont use z's recipe but the same process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kssoaper Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 Thank you so much for your reply ~ ok, I'll let it sit until after noon today. Her instructions were to add 60-80 oz. water to dilute, I added 60 wanting the soap to be a little thicker; also thinking it would be easier to add more....so maybe I'll add 10oz. more boiling water and see what that does?? Can I also ask you this - - I ran the recipe through a lye calculator and as I remember (this was yesterday, afterall ) it wasn't anywhere close to the recommended KOH - -My main question - being an old Cold process soaper I use and trust the calculator I use. Can I feel confident using this calculator (Rainbow Meadow); obviously switchingto KOH and going with 0% superfat?I feel like a fish out of water here!Thanks SO much,Judy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuminousBoutique Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Yeah I'd scoop out about 10oz, heat, and add 10oz of water or so with it. I'm not familiar with that calculator but im sure its fine- I do use 5% superfat with my liquid soap however, unless I am making it specifically for laundry purposes. You can use borax to neutralize after the fact, but I find just doing a 5% superfat is much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kssoaper Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 (edited) Well, before I got your reply above I added 10 oz. boiling water to the whole batch, heated over low heat for about an hour, tried to break up my globs thinking smaller globs would disolve easier...................3 hours later I have a pot of liquid soap (thin) with still large chunks of clear soap. If this is how long this process takes all I can say is this is no fun! With Cold Process you can tell right away if a batch has flopped ~ with this stuff I have no clue. I used 33 oz. sunflower, 14 coconut, 11 KOH, 33 water. Added 60 oz. water to dilute then another 10 oz. 24 hours later.............no progress on dissolving... Edited June 30, 2011 by kssoaper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara AL Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Heat it up to around 140 degrees and stick blend it to get the clumps out of it.Barbara AL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuminousBoutique Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 liquid soapmaking can be a real pain in the butt... its true! But once you get the hang of it I swear its fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kssoaper Posted July 1, 2011 Author Share Posted July 1, 2011 So far about as much fun as going to the dentist! Ha! Ok, Barbara - I'll try the stick blender on it tomorrow, Thanks!Judy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kssoaper Posted July 1, 2011 Author Share Posted July 1, 2011 One last question, promise!!!!If I can find the answer to this I think I'll have it figured out. In reading I find a site with dilution rates. For Example it says:For 15 percent soap — 48 ounces water (3 pounds) added per pound of pasteI think my brain is thicker than my soap but how do I figure out the 15% soap?? I'm stuck in the "If I have 16 oz. soap paste I need to add XX amount of water"I'm sorry to be so helpless here ~ I really appreciate the help.Judy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara AL Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Please tell me your recipe how many ounces of oils did you use and how many ounce of water at first for the recipe? Add the oils and water weight along with the weight of your KOH.I use about 13 ounces of water to each pound of paste.Barbara AL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kssoaper Posted July 1, 2011 Author Share Posted July 1, 2011 Ok, here's what I used: 33 oz. Sunflower Oil 14 oz. coconut oil 11 oz. KOH 33 oz. waterSo does that mean I technically had 91 oz. of paste? (roughly 5.5#) Using your 13oz water/lb. I should haveadded 72 oz. water ---- I've add 70 oz. so I've apparently screwed up somewhere else along the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara AL Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Depending on how thick you want it using all that Sunflower oil you won't have a thick soap. I use more Coconut and mine is a thick gel. I like to use Catherine Failors recipe called Coco Loco.If you want I can email you the Coco Loco recipe.Heating it back up and stick blending should thicken it up a little are you saying it is too thin?Barb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kssoaper Posted July 1, 2011 Author Share Posted July 1, 2011 Sure, I'd love to try the Coco Loco recipe, it comes out clear?The part of the soap that diluted is fairly thin, but if the whole batch was 'emulsified' i'd be happy.Going to try your suggestion of heating to 140 and stick blending later this afternoon.thanks again,Judy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara AL Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 (edited) Try heating and stick blending and let me know how it goes. Off to find that recipe for you.Coco Loco Recipe from Catherine Failors book page 76 this is a Shower Gel but I use it for gel soap.This is a high-foaming gel. Cocoa Butter adds body and emollience.Oils 24 ounces soft oils of choice21 ounces of Coconut oil3 ounces of Cocoa Butter.Lye Solution 12 ounces Potassium hydroxide36 ounces soft or distilled water.When I dilute it after it is made I put 3 ounces of borax to the boiling water break up the pieces into the water.I superfat mine with Red Turkey oil.Barb Edited July 1, 2011 by Barbara AL add something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kssoaper Posted July 3, 2011 Author Share Posted July 3, 2011 Hi Barb -Well, I stick blended my soap (after heating) and it's in a clear jar now...the bottom is starting to go clear. I imagineI've worked air into the soap so we'll see what happens but I've pretty much written this batch off )I'm going to try your recipe above (crock pot method ok?) - will I use about 40 oz. water to dilute that recipe?Thanks so much for your time and help,Judy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara AL Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 The recipe is for 36 ounces of Distilled water. I use Soapfreak's recipe and don't cook it I just stick blend to hard trace in the crockpot and cover and insulate for 24 hours and the next day I still have a full gel doing it that way and the soap is clear.Barbara AL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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