Recent content by bakmthiscl

Sorry for shouting and also for 2 messages -- some keyboard shortcut bit me in the ... Anyway, Don't throw away rancid soap, especially when soap is our best single defense from the novel Corona virus. Rancid OIL (or fatty acid, more likely) stinks. Rancid SOAP, not so much. If your soap...

DON'T THROW AWAY RANCID SOAP!

I wonder whether we can get in trouble for "hoarding" all that soap! I came here (belatedly) to point out the same thing. And, YES, ordinary "lye soap" (no excess lye needed) will tear bacteria and viruses apart -- given sufficient lathering and rubbing. Chemist here, with biochemistry training...

About two years ago I posted a thread on salting out: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=32717 I'm now reporting my latest success story, using this technique. In essence, what I did this time was the same as what I reported before. However, this batch of that muck oil had...

Graceyworks, Well, judging from my latest batch of soap, your idea is nothing short of wonderful. Okay, this latest batch of grease MIGHT have been slightly cleaner than the usual waste grease I collect from roasts, but it wasn't a night-or-day difference. The grease, as usual, was a medium...

Follow-up. I tried this with pine needles. The pine smelled wonderful, but the quantity of needles needed was outrageous. Clearly, the way to get the scent from evergreen is by steam-distillation. That's not hard to do, but takes equipment larger than anything I have.

Gracyworks - If I read your post right, you were cleaning up rancid OIL with boiling brine. That's not the same as the salting-out I was speaking of, but it sounds like an excellent trick to add to my bag. Thanks for posting. For some time now I've been considering re-acidifying a bar of...

There is no lye left in this soap. Milling is done after saponification is complete. This little batch I'm working on weighs in at about 16 lbs, meaning the store-bought fragrance would add an unnecessary $16 to the price, according to judymoody's figures. I'll stick with my approach for now...

I'm probably a maverick when it comes to soapmaking, but I see no point in spending big bucks on ingredients for soap. My soap is made from grease drippings, used cooking oil, or worse! (I'd make my own lye, but don't burn enough wood to make it practical.) So when the latest batch smelled...

I've never quite understood the rationale for worrying about glycerine in soap. Glycerine is a natural byproduct of saponification of triglycerides, so it ends up in soap, but I don't follow how it's a benefit. It's touted as being beneficial to the skin, but I've tried using pure glycerin and...

I'm following up on my (top) posting with a detail I didn't fully realize and didn't report: Use soft water for the salting-out process!!! Some years ago I posted on a failure of salting out, and I've since had one more such failure. The problem, I'm convinced, was that in both cases I had...

Four years ago I posted a question here about salting out soap, which was received with some confusion. I now have reached the point where I have mastered salting out to my own satisfaction. I will describe my procedure, not because I think it original or in any way better than any other, but...

Cleaning up Ugly Soap Well, I realized on rereading my original posting that I'd made an error that confuses the question a LOT. The following offset section has been corrected: ============== I've been making my own soap for a few years now, from waste grease and oil. This is for my use...

Those of you who took Chem 1 will remember phenothalein, brom thymol blue, etc., which are used to measure approximate pH of a solution. Most of these are synthetic dyes with some significant toxicity. So to have a pH indicator that is not only non-toxic, but edible, is good to know. Years...

I've been making my own soap for a few years now. This is for my use only, from waste grease and oil. It's ugly to look at but very good soap. Recently I read about "salting out" soap, and tried it. The procedure I used was to grate the bar soap, dissolve it in minimum water, mixing to...