Hand soap

:roll: Even DH's without motorbikes come home greasy
The kerosine idea is wonderful, but I'd be a bit scared to use in and to have it laying around. Very curious how your soaps will turn out.

Is there much of a smell left with Kerosene? How do you make your stain sticks - if you don't mind giving me a clue!

I've been thinking of using the kerosine thing. Or maybe just PineSol - what do you think?

I don't know if I'm weird, but I quite like the smell of kerosene.
And no I don't sniff it or anything.
Does anyone know how the kerosene would work to remove stains?

ChrissyB said:

I don't know if I'm weird, but I quite like the smell of kerosene.
And no I don't sniff it or anything.
Does anyone know how the kerosene would work to remove stains?

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It dissolves grease/oil....greasemonkeys use it to clean engine parts (and hands!) so it's gotta work!

But I've not had any luck getting rid of the kero smell

The kerosene smell dissipates quickly once you rinse your hands or the article of clothing in the case of the stain stick.

No additional fuss is needed with the kerosene. Just pour it in to your melted oils. It's flammable, but not explosive like gasoline or turpentine, which I heartily do NOT recommend using. Just keep it out of the reach of children like you would with other chemicals. It's the same stuff they used to fill lamps with.

For stain sticks, just make up a 100% lard or palm batch. Use soapcalc/soapmaker etc.... to determine lye for 0% superfat. Add 1.6 oz kerosene for each pound of melted oil, add your lye, and stick blend to a thick trace.....you want a heavy trace to minimize the chance of curdling.

Then I pour it into a mold, I don't bother insulating. When it's set up, I cut the soap into butter sized sticks. These will remove soaping oils, and they're dirt cheap to make.

Mike, those sound great. I'm going to give them a try.
DH is an HVAC/MacGyver guy, he always come home smelling of grease/dirt in the warmer months, and fuel oil in the winter. Ugh.

Deda said:

Mike, those sound great. I'm going to give them a try.
DH is an HVAC/MacGyver guy, he always come home smelling of grease/dirt in the warmer months, and fuel oil in the winter. Ugh.

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They work very well....another happy byproduct of the kerosene....it's a GREAT deodorizer.

Hmm...what do you think of putting them in twist up tubes? Would that even work? Probably not. Do people freak out when they read kerosene is in them? I can see my smell/germ freak mother slipping immediately into a cardiac arrest...lol

LJA said:

Hmm...what do you think of putting them in twist up tubes? Would that even work? Probably not. Do people freak out when they read kerosene is in them? I can see my smell/germ freak mother slipping immediately into a cardiac arrest...lol

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You can always label them with "petroleum distillates" and be perfectly correct.

If you want something odor free that will sub for the kerosene.....go over to the art supply section and look for odorless turpentine substitue....."petroleum distillates" is still the correct label. Turpenoid is what I buy, and it doesn't compete with fragrance oils.

Basically, these stain sticks are nothing more than a homemade version of Fels Naptha.....it uses the same products to cut oils.

Awesome. Mike!! Thanks for that info and idea!

Well, you've inspired me. I've been buying hand soap for some mechanics and now I'll try to make some and see what they think. Fun never ends, huh?
I'll use the odorless turpentine, but now I'm wondering how much? I'll use cornmeal instead of pumice (already know they prefer the commercial cornmeal hand cleaner to Lava). This commercial stuff is a paste, so I guess it doesn't matter how much turpentine. It goes into a tub and they just scoop a bit out each time. I'll let you know what they think of it.

10%-20% of the total weights of your oils. I like 10%.....so, for 16 oz (1 lb) oils, you would use 1.6 oz.

MikeInPdx said:

10%-20% of the total weights of your oils. I like 10%.....so, for 16 oz (1 lb) oils, you would use 1.6 oz.

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THANKS! I'll make a test batch as soon as I can find the odorless turpentine.

Okay Mike you've got 50% of smf members making kero soap this weekend!
I actually can't wait to give it a try, I'm just going to make a plain old 100% palm batch and add it to that. It sounds great!
Thanks Mike!

ChrissyB said:

I'm just going to make a plain old 100% palm batch and add it to that. It sounds great!
Thanks Mike!

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I made a test batch of 100% palm once.
The soap had a coarse-feel to it, doesn't lather worth toot and yeah, it's hard alright...not good soap.
Have you made 100% palm oil soap before and experienced something different?

ChrissyB said:

Okay Mike you've got 50% of smf members making kero soap this weekend!
I actually can't wait to give it a try, I'm just going to make a plain old 100% palm batch and add it to that. It sounds great!
Thanks Mike!

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You might be happier if you add about 20% coconut oil.....especially if you're put off by the texture that Castor Fan descried.....otherwise, it works well.

I think my favorite batch of stain sticks to date, now that I spent an evening with my notebook and soaping books are 70% lard or palm and 30% coconut.

I think my favorite batch of stain sticks to date, now that I spent an evening with my notebook and soaping books are 70% lard or palm and 30% coconut.


Mike you are sooooo close to what I do with that recipe. Yes I do like them as well!

Bruce

Hi all -
I'm curious how long the kerosene smell remains in your laundry. I'm interested in making a good batch of laundry soap and utilizing it's oil removing qualities.

Does anyone know what the effect of kerosene is on the durability of clothing? How often can you use this type of soap on laundry?

What percentage super fatting is recommended when working with kerosene soap? (For laundry use and hand cleaning)

Will safflower oil work in laundry soap?

Thanks!!

Cheers,

Joe Gill
Missoula, MT

Hi Joe, Welcome to SMF.
I made this soap way back when this thread was started.
As I stated before, my DH rides motorbikes, and he works in a bicycle shop, so he always has grease marks on his jeans.
In the end I used 70% palm and 30% Coconut oil with a zero superfat, this soap wasn't being made to wash any person, just clothes.
To use it, I wet the soap, wet the stain and rub. Rub rub rub. It lathers up some. I leave it for a few minutes while I sort other clothes. Then throw the jeans/whatever in the wash. I wash with cold water. I have never ever ever noticed the smell of kerosene on the clothes. Next time I am going to make these in tubes, so they can be taken out in my handbag. I have small children who always get grubby. Actually I have nearly grown children and they always get grubby too. I just don't follow them around.
As far as the safflower oil, how much in % would you use for this soap? My experience with this soap is that the harder it is, the better. Safflower used in a high amount will make for a soft soap, and most definitely DOS (dreaded orange spots, or rancidity/oxidisation of the oils). Not entirely bad for just a laundry soap but not really good either.

Did anyone else make this soap? Deda? Carebear? Dag?