First time LS

Okay so I made the glycerin method LS today after reading the entire thread over at The Dish. I did what I'll call the "standard" 65% OO, 25% CO, 10% Castor w/3% SF.

Dissolving the lye was done in what I thought was a unique manner since I was only on page 32 ... I added the lye to the cool glycerin, stirred to break up lumps, then headed to just slightly boiling. As I posted in EG's thread: The liquid was maybe 320-330° F which is well under the boiling point of pure glycerin at 554°F so I assume that the boiling is driving off the moisture adsorbed by the lye.

The CO was melted by sitting in the sink full of hot water so while I did not take the temp of the oil I would be very surprised if it was over 90° F. I thought about heating the oil but turned off the crock-pot after maybe 5 mins.

Adding the lye and then using the SB I got the classic "stages": emulsified, applesauce, taffy, amber liquid goodness. I was careful to not whip any air in so there were no flying bubbles but I could see where they definitely would have been possible. At this point the soap was ~250° F which was a hint I should have paid attention to. I let it sit while I read some more and it solidified into what I would have to call "Lanolin" consistency.

My wife has a pint size mason jar LS dispenser sitting on the sink so I somehow translated what IrishLass shared about using a mason jar to dilute into buying pint jars. Clearly too small for diluting, I heated the paste in a saucepan on the stove. I got it melted and set my water (75% of taffy weight) to boiling. I then dumped about a cup in the soap, stirred ...

You experienced folks see where this went right?

Soap volcano!

I got it over to the sink, scraped what was on the counter back into the pot and stirred the foam back down. About 30 mins of cleanup and scraping most back in the pot commenced. Tired, but committed, I continued to add a little water at a time, stirring it in (smooshing), only after getting my IR thermometer and assuring myself it was under 200° F. I was not expecting adding water to solidify the soap but it did. I'm not sure if the paste needs to be past the boiling point of water to be liquid? Anyone know?

So yeah it took a really long time to get it to where all the water was in and it would be semi-reasonable to use the SB to get rid of lumps. By this time there was some good foam going on (even before the SB) and using it did not make it any better. As it cooled I folded in some Lemongrass Bergamot FO which is really nice. I poured it into a plastic bowl to sit and settle with some Saran over the top. I hope it does settle.

I've seen some other pics where people get this foam (more like whipped soap) and it does seem to settle some. I guess tomorrow I'll scrape it off and see if there's some amber goodness underneath.

I was feeling pretty cocky after making the paste turned out so well. The Soap Gods laughed and struck me down.

I still routinely have to clean up half the kitchen when I get busy and forget I am diluting liquid soap. So, don't feel bad.

I think you did extremely well for your first go at making liquid soap!

It was an experience, that's for sure. I'm going to see about getting some SL, and definitely do the hot water bath/mason jar dilution next.

Hopefully his one does have some real LS underneath the foam. If I were thinking straight I would have put it in a clear vessel .. but Nooooooo!

Sounds like you had a fun, exciting time, Lee! lol

Have you had a chance to read our own long GLS thread here?: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=46114

Yep- you definitely want to have at least a quart-size canning jar for dilution (the wide-mouth kind). For what its worth, I explain step by step the whole process of how I make my GLS from beginning to end in the above link.


IrishLass

IrishLass said:

Have you had a chance to read our own long GLS thread here?: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=46114

Yep- you definitely want to have at least a quart-size canning jar for dilution (the wide-mouth kind). For what its worth, I explain step by step the whole process of how I make my GLS from beginning to end in the above link.

Click to expand...

Well, I started the day thinking I was going to make it and was only able to (initially) find a link here to the The Dish's thread. Im not sure at what point you shared your dilution method there but I think it was before page 32 where I stopped and made the soap, convinced I knew everything there was to know. :wink:

Do you get a pound of oils + water in a single quart jar?

Today I'm on a hunt for:

1. More glycerin (6oz bottles from the pharmacy are no longer enough)
2. Sodium Lactate
3. Kaolin (for the cream soap experiments)

Should be fun.

I'm hooked on this LS soap thing, now, having just started playing with it. My biggest challenge is adding scent. I've got one that made the soap so thick, I can't do anything with it
I've forgotten just how long it takes until you know more than the soap does.

Okay that was a dismal failure. I let it settle for 2 days and got about a tablespoon of liquid. The soap was nice, good consistency, nice color ... just not a lot of it for all the work I did.

Next time I follow IrishLass' advice!