CopyCat Dr. Bronner's Liquid Soap

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Hana Alifah

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Hi, i tried to make copycat of dr. bronner's Liquid Soap, but without hemp seed oil, palm kernel oil, jojoba oil and i wanna add illipe butter. I tried a lot of recipe and it failed, especially with the consistency. I've ever found copycat recipe, but the color turn darker time by time when i modified it. do you have any suggestion?

copycat recipe : coconut oil, olive oil, hemp oil, jojoba oil, KOH, distilled water, glycerine
modified recipe by me : coconut oil, olive oil, illipe butter, avocado oil, rice bran oil, distilled water, glycerine

i didn't use jojoba oil, because i heard that jojoba oil will bring unsaponified fatty acid, and i'm afraid it will bring cloudiness to the soap. because i want my liquid soap to be clear.
i didn't use hemp seed oil, because it's forbidden in my country.

and maybe do you have any suggestion how to avoid my soap from getting darker time by time? i heard vitamin e do nothing, but Rosemary Oleoresin extract is quite expensive for me. thank you very much :).
 
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the color turn darker time by time when i modified it. do you have any suggestion?
There are as many ways to make LS as there are LS'ers! LOL
To help us troubleshoot, please post a printout of your recipe, your method and any other details you can think of.
 
View attachment 68897

There are as many ways to make LS as there are LS'ers! LOL
To help us troubleshoot, please post a printout of your recipe, your method and any other details you can think of.
for the recipe and details is in this thread and i made some modified based on this recipe
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/particle-in-my-liquid-soap.88680/
i tried to dilute the paste 1 : 1 and it's quite thick, and almost similar to dr. bronner's consistency, but i think it's too harsh, makes may hand dry. so, i think if i reduce the ratio (paste : water), it will make more harsh.

i read about jojoba oil that can be replaced or substitute with cetyl alcohol to make the consistency thicker, so i added 3% of total oil weight cetyl alcohol (i use 3% because i read in one post, i forgot where is it, but she said that is a good starting point). in my opinion it's thicken the liquid soap a little bit but not as thick as dr. bronner's liquid soap. but it make may paste more stable, that my other paste that didn't use cetyl alcohol. my paste that used cetyl alcohol didn't give any differences almost for 1 month and the color is brighter. and the others paste getting darker 1 week after cooked and the color is darker. i thought it because i cooked the paste too long, so the oil maybe oxidize. or maybe the difference because of different oil.

i already try CP, but still in sequestering time for 2 weeks. i also add glycerine, the ratio is 60 : 40 (glycerine : water) to reduce the cooking time. and it really reduce the cooking time, usually i cooked the paste for 5 hours for 100 grams paste but now i cooked the paste for 1 - 2 hours :). but it is make my soap thinner, too so i have to reduce the ratio between paste and water, i start with 1 : 0.5 (paste : water) and it quite thick. but i'm afraid it will make more harsh to my skin :'), because 1:1 still harsh for me.

i read that NaOH can thicken the soap, so i try to made dual lye soap. i learned this from my friend's teacher. she used 75 : 25 (KOH : NaOH) and it is quite thick. so i applied to my recipe, but it's not as thick as her. but i really concerned about her method, she heat the oil until the temperature reach 90 - 100 C and you can pour the lye solution. i'm afraid it will make the oil oxidize. she also use glycerine in the recipe 25 : 75 (glycerine : water). i like the consistency but afraid of the methods :'). and i only get the recipe without any details form her.

i hope you can understand it :'). i really need any feedback :'). thank you

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I don't have any input about your other questions, but I do have a safety warning. Your friend who is heating the fats to 100C / 212F and then pouring in the lye solution is risking a serious accident.

If you want to make soap at those temperatures, combine the ingredients FIRST and then heat the mixture up while blending frequently to keep the lye solution mixed with the fats.

NEVER pour lye solution into hot fat (by hot, I mean temperatures above about 80C / 180F), because the lye solution may start to explosively boil, spraying hot fat, steam, and lye droplets everywhere.

I'm not saying people have done this and gotten away with it, because I'm sure they have. But we've also heard from people who have paid a price for doing this. The risk isn't worth it.

If you've ever put food into hot fat to fry the food and got spattered in the face with hot fat, you've experienced a very tame version of what I'm talking about.
 
NEVER pour lye solution into hot fat (by hot, I mean temperatures above about 80C / 180F),
Good advice! The exception, of course, is Carrie Petersen's Glycerin sub for water LS where hot KOH & glycerin lye solution is poured into hot oils.

NOTE: NOT for beginners due to the high temps (over 210°F 99°C) and exposure to toxic fumes if scorched.

i also add glycerine, the ratio is 60 : 40 (glycerine : water) to reduce the cooking time. and it really reduce the cooking time
:thumbs: The advantage of using part water and part glycerin to make the lye solution is that you can dissolve the KOH in the water portion and add the glycerin to the oils.

Thanks for including your recipes! It's going to take some time, that I don't have at the moment, to study them and get back to you. 😉
 
I don't have any input about your other questions, but I do have a safety warning. Your friend who is heating the fats to 100C / 212F and then pouring in the lye solution is risking a serious accident.

If you want to make soap at those temperatures, combine the ingredients FIRST and then heat the mixture up while blending frequently to keep the lye solution mixed with the fats.

NEVER pour lye solution into hot fat (by hot, I mean temperatures above about 80C / 180F), because the lye solution may start to explosively boil, spraying hot fat, steam, and lye droplets everywhere.

I'm not saying people have done this and gotten away with it, because I'm sure they have. But we've also heard from people who have paid a price for doing this. The risk isn't worth it.

If you've ever put food into hot fat to fry the food and got spattered in the face with hot fat, you've experienced a very tame version of what I'm talking about.
thank you for your response :) finally i get an explanation about it. thank you very much :)
 
Good advice! The exception, of course, is Carrie Petersen's Glycerin sub for water LS where hot KOH & glycerin lye solution is poured into hot oils.

NOTE: NOT for beginners due to the high temps (over 210°F 99°C) and exposure to toxic fumes if scorched.


:thumbs: The advantage of using part water and part glycerin to make the lye solution is that you can dissolve the KOH in the water portion and add the glycerin to the oils.

Thanks for including your recipes! It's going to take some time, that I don't have at the moment, to study them and get back to you. 😉
thank you very much for your response :), i hope i can get any feedback from the others. thank you for helping me :)
 
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