Recent content by Shewearsfunnyhat

Do you know if the elastic on your clothes is wearing out faster? I read that can happen.

Has anyone found a water softener that has no scent? I am typically allergic to them. I found Sodium Tripolyphosphate online. But phosphates can be bad for the environment so I have mixed feelings about using it.

Thank you for writing a detailed response. I appreciate your knowledge and patience with me. I have been looking into ph tests for soap. I think I am going to do the titration method for my soaps. The instructions are in Scientific Soap making. I am sorry it took so long to respond. I needed...

I quoted Zany who said adding the washing soda and borax lowered the pH of the soap to 7.5 when added to the liquid soap. A pH of 7.5 is low for a soap product. Low enough to cause it to turn into fatty acids.

I have been reading Science Soap Making by Kevin Dunn. I learned that you don't want to lower the pH of the soap too much because that will convert the soap to fatty acids. This means it no longer has surfactant properties. You can shift it back to soap by adding a base to your solution. Given...

My first attempt was a hot mess. I made up a recipe, put it into an old soap calculator website. I had no clue what I was doing. I did not have a stick blender, so I was mixing for hours. The final product was lye heavy. This was in the time before soap making videos were a a prominent thing on...

Thank you. I am not too worried about technique. I am a chemist. I have lots of experience with lab techniques. I am more worried about the art part of soap making.

I just ordered KOH to make this. Grocery Outlet had 12 oz bottles of coconut oil for $2. How much concentrate would you suggest for an apartment sized washer? I am thinking of starting with 1 tbs. This will be my first liquid soap.

Your recipe is on my to try list. I don't mind the slime myself, but some of my friends do. We just need to get through the remodel first.

Thank you KiwiMoise and Alioop. I can definitely get cardboard boxes and parchment paper. The bathroom only has a toilet and a sink. It also has a dehumidifier in it. I live in Oregon, and found that most rooms need one.

What do you place your bars on during the curing process? I am going to cure mine in the spare bathroom (safe from the animals in the house). It has wire shelving. I read that curing on wire shelves can cause DOS. Most of my soaps have high OO so the curing process will be long.

Kevin Dunn has great instructions on how to do it properly in Scientific Soap Making. You can easily get the chemicals needed to do it at home. (Well mostly easy, reagent grade ethanol can be hard to find due to COVID). The most expensive piece of equipment is a scale that reads to 0.00 g. The...

From a chemical safety perspective, chemicals (including soap) with a pH of 11.5 or higher are considered to be category 1 corrosive substances under the GHS. They cause irreversible damage to human skin. Most cold process soap has a pH of 10 or higher. This is why it's important to have a way...

His book Scientific Soap making is well written and informative.

This is a good tutorial on how to test for alkalinity.