Recipe of Catherine Failor

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I am new to liquid soap making and have never seen rosin mentioned in all the recipes I have looked at. What is it and what is it made from.? I would suppose it is available at all soap suppliers. any information would be appreciated, Thanks

No, you won't find rosin at any of the usual soap suppliers. It's not a common soaping additive anymore, and it's hard to find. Catherine Failor uses rosin in some of her liquid (KOH) soap recipes, but you will seldom see it in other's liquid soap recipes and almost never in bar (NaOH) soap recipes. It supposedly helps make liquid and transparent soaps more transparent, but, like Saranac, I think rosin is not a hugely amazing and beneficial soap additive. I would be the last to encourage others to use it, except as an unusual additive to try for the sake of trying.

Rosin, also called colophony, is a clear golden solid material made from pine sap. The sap is collected by tapping pine trees, similar to how maple trees are tapped to make maple syrup. The pine sap is boiled and the vapors that rise from the boiling sap are collected and condensed into liquid turpentine. Rosin is the solid material that remains after the turpentine is removed.
 
Thanks for the information about rosin, think I will just continue to make my soaps without it, as it sounds like it could be tricky. Just amazed that I have never heard of it before. Thanks again, nice to have a source for this type of information.
 
People use rosin on the strings of their bows for violins, cellos etc.
You may get it from a musical instrument store but probably not in bulk.


If you're in uk the soap kitchen they selling rosin in bulks.
 
The first time I used rosin in soap I bought 8 oz bag of rosin at Dick's Sporting Goods -- Baseball Department. I think it's used to soften their gloves ??? Not sure. You can also find it on line. It comes in chunks & in powder. The powder is preferable because it's easier to melt. If all you find is the chunks, be sure to put it in a plastic bag, wrap a towel around it, and pulverize it to powder. I use a dedicated food processor to grind it to a fine powder. Melt it with some of the coconut in the recipe to get it fully melted with no sappy bits on the bottom. Keep the temp up when processing to keep it fluid.

I love it. As little as 1 oz in a 5 lb batch of hard bars bumps the lather. ROSIN saponifies much like an oil but without any resulting glycerin. It gives a smooth cold cream finish to the lather and also acts as a detergent and preservative. To calculate - Rosin has the same SAP value as Wheat Germ Oil. (NOTE: May cause contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals). I use it regularly in Flaxseed Oil Shampoo and Murphy's Oil Soap dupe -- great for cleaning wood floors and surfaces.
 
I did a batch of liquid soap today using 4 oz of rosin and it become trace quickly about 8 minutes and turn transparent. Here's after the trace. I cook the paste for 3.5 hours. ImageUploadedBySoap Making1499730843.547818.jpg
 
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