My Soaps leave a film. Is this okay ?

[Gaspar Navarrete]

Hello everyone,

If I wash a piece of clear glass (or a piece of dark shiny plastic) with my soap and then let it sit to dry, I see a thin white film.

That same film is left on my skin when I bathe with the soaps. It feels similar to talcum powder.

Is this okay ? Should I be concerned ? How do you all deal with films ?

The soaps are:
Lard soap: 100% lard, 4% lye discount, cured 4 months.
Castile soap: 100% pomace olive oil, 6% lye discount, cured 4.5 months.
Combo soap: 66% pomace olive oil, 32% coconut oil, 2% castor oil, 6% lye discount, cured 3.5 months.

Thanks.

 

[pamielynn]

Not a scientific person at all, here, but I'm going with it's the unsaponified oils in the soap.

 

[lsg]

It sounds like your problem is hard water. I cannot use homemade liquid soap to wash my dishes because of the same problem. Here is a little more info. I don't feel any deposit on my skin, but I sure have to scub my wash basins and showers because of the film. If you are hand washing your dishes, try adding a just a little white vinegar to the rinse water.



http://www.pa.msu.edu/sciencet/ask_st/081695.html

 

[Gaspar Navarrete]

lsg, I used distilled water for the lye solution. :eh:

pamielynn, if it were unsaponified oils, then wouldn't all the handmade soaps that we make leave a film ? After all, we all either superfat or do a lye discount.

 

[Bex1982]

If it's soap scum then yup it's normal. All real soaps will do that. If you superfat then what's on your skin is that extra bit of oils.

 

[pamielynn]

lsg, I used distilled water for the lye solution. :eh:

pamielynn, if it were unsaponified oils, then wouldn't all the handmade soaps that we make leave a film ? After all, we all either superfat or do a lye discount.

Yes. Did you say that only one of your soaps does this?

It's what the commercial soap companies will tell you is "soap scum". And boy, has that been ingrained in our collective unconscious.

Maybe it's just one of your ingredients. I've never really paid attention when washing out my glass instruments to see if I get "scum". So I am not much help with this.

If you are really bothered by it and can't figure out why you're getting it, you could always add some Tetrasodium EDTA solution to your batter. It will cut that down a bit and helps the soap to bubble better in hard water.

 

[Seawolfe]

I don't think its soap scum, because I don't get that with any of my soaps - bar or liquid, laundry or dish-washing, hair, hands, face or body (holy wow I'm using my handmade soap for everything!). I think its because the water you are washing in is hard.

 

[Obsidian]

Seawolf, do you have hard water? Hard water will make more soap scum then softer water. I have moderately hard water and while I don't notice soap scum in the shower, I do in a bath.

Gaspar Navarrete, it doesn't matter what you made the soap with, its the water you are using to wash with that mixes with the soap and creates soap scum. Its harmless and perfectly normal.

 

[Seawolfe]

Seawolf, do you have hard water? Hard water will make more soap scum then softer water. I have moderately hard water and while I don't notice soap scum in the shower, I do in a bath.

I actually had to look this up, I had always thought our water was soft to medium, but our water district map says our water is considered hard at 136 ppm. I do get hard water deposits on the kettle and cats water glass (dont ask), but soap also lathers well and rinses well, so I'd always assumed we have soft water. Huh, funny.

 

[lsg]

My soap lathers well and rinses off my body well, but it does form a film on the dishes, the shower, bath and wash basins. That is because our water is hard. I use distilled water to make soap also, but I wash in regular water.

 

[Bex1982]

My tub gets scum on it.