2 unsuccessful batches of liquid Castile soap from scratch...HELP!!!

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Carreiram

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I want to cry. I've blown so much money trying to make my own soap and all I end up with is a watery and milky dark yellow like fluid. I want to make clear shower gel like body wash. When I use my immersion blender for 15 minutes like the recipe says, I have a chunky mashed potatoes like substance, and then I stir it every 20 minutes, and end up with a yellow paste. The distilled water gets poured over it, I mix it again, and I still do not have a clear soap and it forms layers. I'm ready to give up. Please help!
 
Before you waste any more supplies, read this thread on liquid soapmaking using the glycerin method (http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=46114). Yes it's 50 pages long but well worth the time. You really shouldn't need to stickblend for 15 mins or cook the paste to death.

Just for reference this is my diluted paste using the above method and this recipe (http://soapee.com/recipes/178):

IMG_1140[1].jpg
 
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I do not want glycerine soap. I want all natural Castile soap for my body washes.

I just need to know where I'm going wrong is all

Plus I only have one day off a week to do this. It has become stressful.
 
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I do not want glycerine soap. I want all natural Castile soap for my body washes.

The link she gave you is for liquid soap and is very helpful for liquid soap makers.

There is no need to stress and no need to make assumptions without reading links that are provided. That can come off as disrespectful to someone who is trying to help.

There could be a multitude of issues with your liquid soap. Providing a recipe with the weights of everything used and pictures will allow us to better answer your questions.
 
If you don't use glycerin, I'm afraid you'll be forced to actually cook your paste. Can you post the recipe you've been using? That might help us troubleshoot better.

If it's watery maybe you're just diluting too much or may need to add a thickener. Not sure about the milkiness if you're using 100% olive oil . . . could be your superfat % but without a recipe I'm just guessing.

ETA: good points made by galaxyMLP, if you could post a pic of your diluted paste that might provide some clues as well
 
The glycerin method does make liquid soap, its a simplified process that uses vegetable glycerin in place of some of the water.

Trouble shooting your soap isn't as simple as saying you ___ wrong. We need your recipe including oils, liquids and lye amounts. We need to know how much distilled water you used to dilute your paste. I picture of your finished soap would help too.
If you don't want to read the 50 page thread, at least watch this video. This is formula I used for my first LS and it worked great.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VUGV_H7bZU[/ame]
 
If you have only one day, please use it to read that thread. Not only will you know the easiest method of making a great liquid soap, you will actually be able to whip one up on a week night and dilute the next day in no time. There really is no use trying to make soap without understanding the process, as you should have realized already.
 
Galaxymlp, I was not putting anyone down or disrespecting them. Quite frankly, the manner in which you have responded to me comes off as a mother disciplining their child, therefore, this has just gotten worse. So yeah, thanks.

And thank you to all who have given advice. If I could please ask you all to show a bit more mercy on me considering I work two jobs and just stayed up until 5am trying to perfect this, therefore going into a bit of a hazed and sleepy panic, that would be appreciated. I am beginning and pressed for time.
 
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Guess I'm not understanding your issue with glycerin since all handmade soap contains it whether you explicitly add it or not. The method I posted is a big time saver since you're in such a rush and having trouble with the thickness of your diluted paste I thought it might help.
 
I'm sorry I came off that way. However, I was sincerely trying to help. When we try to communicate through a forum we are sometimes unaware that people may be from other cultures or have a disconnect through written word.

I am not trying to mother you; I was just trying to help. Soap making should be a stress reliever and not stressful especially when you are just beginning. I am sorry you have not slept very much and I hope you get the rest you need and come back ready to solve your soapy dilemma.
 
I rarely have any wisdom to share because I am fairly new and unsure about many things. But here is what I can speak about confidently:

1. Making soap under pressure or when tired for me is a recipe for mistakes. All of my oops batches happened because I was not able to focus and take the time to get thorough directions, prep thoroughly, take notes, and double check my work.

2. Reading crazy long threads have been more helpful in terms of providing current and solid information than ANY material that I found prior to this group. Sometimes I learned things that changed my goals of soapmaking because my prior goals were based on incomplete or misdirected information.

3. Soaping is not a hobby that no one can successfully do without a full understanding of the process. It can be frustrating to not get a simple answer, but sometimes engaging in the conversation and taking the time to read will save you lots of time and money ... And frustration.

4. I just realized that I am assuming that you are new to soapmaking. If I am wrong about that then I apologize. You never said that you were new. If you are new, having improper tools could be the culprit. I did my first batch with an imprecise kitchen scale. I ended up with a stinky soupy mess instead of soap. Making good soap is all about good technique and good precision. There are more freehand ways of making soap but you have to have good experience and understanding to make on the spot corrections.
 
And thank you to all who have given advice. If I could please ask you all to show a bit more mercy on me considering I work two jobs and just stayed up until 5am trying to perfect this, therefore going into a bit of a hazed and sleepy panic, that would be appreciated. I am beginning and pressed for time.

I'm sticking with my previous post C, I feel that IS the most helpful advise you need right now. No matter how pressed you are for time, you do have to learn something before you go about doing it. I don't think anyone is being hard on you. I only see kind people trying to help you. Also, please know that you'll get some wrist slaps if there's a need for that. Please get some rest and come back here, read that thread, at least the first 50 posts, there's a recipe in there somewhere or you could make up your own Castile recipe but use the method outlined. Your time will be better spent that way.
 
We all sometimes feel the way you do -- you aren't the only one with a stressful life! :)

The posters who have responded so far are indeed trying to help you and they're offering advice out of the goodness of their hearts with no expectation of payment or other reward. You are understandably frustrated, but honestly you're not providing much useful information that can be used for troubleshooting. Please take a calming breath, and let's try again --

Please post your recipe. Provide ALL ingredients in WEIGHTS.
Explain in detail the process of how you made the soap.

With more specific information, perhaps we can figure out where you're going wrong.
 
Galaxymlp, I was not putting anyone down or disrespecting them. Quite frankly, the manner in which you have responded to me comes off as a mother disciplining their child, therefore, this has just gotten worse. So yeah, thanks.

Galaxy was just telling you how your posts sounded, you may not have meant them that way, but they did. And I found the post above somewhat disrespectful, frankly.

You may be tired/overworked/stressed out (not a good time to make soap, as JJ pointed out), but that is true for many posters here, so it is hard to make allowances for that when someone seems to think that it a good reason to be testy, especially when they are new posters. We don't have a very good basis on which to judge whether this is typical of you, or if you are having a very, very bad day.

I agree with the others regarding the long thread. I am planning on making a shaving soap, the go-to thread on that is even longer. It is taking a long time to plow through it and take notes, but when I am done I think I will have a much better idea of how to do it, and it will be worth it.

Also, people have told you that they can't really help w/o you posting your recipe/process, you should do that ASAP.
 
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ImageUploadedBySoap Making1442852235.717024.jpg this is my paste thus far

And I must say that this thread takes offense to people quite easily. I'm quite hesitant on asking for help from this form now, but will do so anyway in hopes that I will come across someone who does not take the stress of another to heart.


And this is the link to my recipe

http://m.wikihow.com/Make-Liquid-Castile-Soap



By the way, in the process of being informed of how much information I
Did not provide to this thread, I was waiting on the page in which
I retrieved the recipe to load, considering my phone has become haywire, and attempting to pay one of my bills over the phone, so I apologize for not uploading in a timely manner. My phone is the devil himself lately
 
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JayJay - Even though you are fairly new to the forum you give some great advice! I have made some of my most spectacular blunders when tired or when I haven't taken enough time to research and prep. Doing your homework is essential! I feel the time invested reading a 50+ page post on making liquid soap with the glycerin method or an even longer post on shaving soap paid off in a big way. Because I invested that time up front, both of my first batches were successful so if I can do it anyone can!

Carreiram - please don't feel like we're being harsh with you . . . we're really a bunch of soap nerds that want to help! I'm so glad you posted your recipe because I already see some potential issues. Your recipe calls for lye very generically . . . did you use NaOH (sodium hydroxide) or KOH (potassium hydroxide)?
 
Potassium hydroxide was the substance I used and it seemed to be going well at first. Until
The dreaded paste...
 
Good deal, I was worried you had used sodium hydroxide instead but your soap paste actually looks okay to me. Got any pics of the diluted paste? I've never used soybean oil in liquid soap but know some oils require a different dilution ratio.
 
I actually used safflower oil, extra virgin olive and coconut oil. I have a picture of finished Castile soap that I am less than satisfied. But, here it is...

ImageUploadedBySoap Making1442853543.194048.jpg
 
I have a thought on what might be wrong. I ran that recipe through a lye calculator. Specifically www.soapee.com
I played around with the super fat and the lye concentration. This soap recipe is 5% superfated when you assume a 100% purity of KOH. Most KOH is 90% pure (it really loves to absorb water/ react with the air).

That means with a 90% purity which is likely what you have, you acually have a 15% superfat. Thats probably what you see separating out. You will want to run this recipe through a lye calculator with 90% purity (unless you have the certificate of analysis for the KOH stating otherwise) and a 3% superfat.

This is because the excess fats/oils are not soluble in your liquid soap when you dilute it and the fat will float to the top.

I hope this will help you.

ETA: I used the original recipe and not the substituted safflower. Let me go check that.

When you make substitutions in soap making, things must be re-run through a lye calculator. This is because all oils have what is called a saponification value. That value is what tells us how much lye is "eaten up" by that oil when they are combined. If you don't do that, the soap can come out lye heavy or highly superfated.

In your case, substituting the safflower oil upped the superfat just a little bit more (less than one percent).
 
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