Effy's Liquid Soap Experiments

[springonions]

Looking forward to your updates on the 12.5%.

May I ask what soap calculator did you use? I put your oils into SBM and Soapcalc and tried SF at various levels, but did not get the 54.5g koh and 171g water that you used.

 

[liquidsoaplady]

hicker 100% CO Formulation

To make a 100% CO liquid soap thicker, is pretty much in the dilution rate,

Add 9 oz distilled water per pound of paste. If you make six pounds of paste then it would be 6 x 9 = 54ounc of distilled water. If thick crust forms on top add 9 oz of distilled water at a time till no longer forms crust.

Will produce a thicker liquid soap. Can also add 3 oz of borax to dilution water, adds the added benefit of water softener, foam booster and gives the ability to make the soap stay liquid at lower dilution rates.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[ngian]

Well, both were a wee bit harsh for my tastes, after I diluted a little bit at the ration 2 parts paste to 1 part water. I did use normal tap water rather than distilled water for the dilution, but not sure it would make such a difference to the feel of it.

Won't tap water affect liquid soap's quality in the dilution? Especially if tap water is hard water?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Looking forward to your updates on the 12.5%.

May I ask what soap calculator did you use? I put your oils into SBM and Soapcalc and tried SF at various levels, but did not get the 54.5g koh and 171g water that you used.

I used the calculator in the post by Susie - I can't remember which one that was, though.

Won't tap water affect liquid soap's quality in the dilution? Especially if tap water is hard water?

It might well do so, but I am thinking that it will be the same in all cases so I am still comparing like-to-like. When I am happy and then use distilled, it will only be better

 

[Saponista]

Tap water makes diluted soap real cloudy, even the zero hardness tap water I have at home contains some minerals and I have to buy di water to get clear liquid soap.

 

[ngian]

Well I thought it would produce soap scum before using it in the bathroom, so I am thinking that tap water is a no no for dilution.

But I understand your thinking TEG.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I'm not averse to cloudy LS - I might just be lazy, though.....................

 

[Saponista]

I didn't mind cloudy either for home use. I wanted to gift it though so I made some clear as it looks prettier in the bottles. I also tried some with naoh and KOH as I read somewhere that it makes thicker soap. That was an epic fail as the naoh soap just solidified on dilution and my liquid soap just had horrible chunks in it. I shan't be bothering with that again!

 

[Susie]

My tap water does not make my soap cloudy. Neither in Texas, nor in Louisiana. Not sure why your's does.

@Craig- I use SBM, either advanced or regular.

@springonions-Craig added citric acid, so he had to change the amount of KOH(and therefore the water amount also) to compensate for the additional acid.

 

[Saponista]

How odd susie. It was definitely my water, as soon as I changed to di it fixed the problem. It was the same batch of paste that I used too.

It's not just me. I got the same result as this lady.

http://blueviolafarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/liquid-soap-success.html?m=1

 

[LBussy]

Same here ... guess Susie's juts lucky.

 

[springonions]

My tap water does not make my soap cloudy. Neither in Texas, nor in Louisiana. Not sure why your's does.

@Craig- I use SBM, either advanced or regular.

@springonions-Craig added citric acid, so he had to change the amount of KOH(and therefore the water amount also) to compensate for the additional acid.

Thanks for the explanation, Susie. Never knew more water had to be added for the citric acid. I would have thought that the original water that was used for the koh would have been sufficient to dissolve the citric acid. But I guess Craig used the whatever amount that SBM spit out.

 

[Susie]

He had to add additional KOH to compensate for the acid.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

He had to add additional KOH to compensate for the acid.

And the water was then of course upped by the calc. Thanks, Susie - I had totally forgotten about the ca as I used it automatically now

 

[DeeAnna]

I did a test of hard water, softened water, and distilled water and the difference is marked, at least with my water -- see http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=52456

"...Never knew more water had to be added for the citric acid...."

Spring onions -- Just to clarify -- the citric acid itself does not need more water. It would be happy to dissolve in just a tiny bit of water. Effy is using more KOH to neutralize the citric acid. If he uses more KOH then he needs to use more water as well to keep the lye solution at a constant concentration. More lye => more water.

 

[Susie]

Thanks DeeAnna, I forgot to clarify that. Sorry, Springonions!

 

[springonions]

Thanks DeeAnna, I forgot to clarify that. Sorry, Springonions!

No, Susie, there is nothing to say sorry about. You guys have been so generous and helpful. Salute:clap:

But one more question. Citric acid is used to lower the ph of LS. Putting more koh will up the ph. So what's the point of using ca then

 

[Susie]

To reduce soap scum in hard water areas. It chelates the minerals.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

No, Susie, there is nothing to say sorry about. You guys have been so generous and helpful. Salute:clap:

But one more question. Citric acid is used to lower the ph of LS. Putting more koh will up the ph. So what's the point of using ca then

As Susie said. The CA reacts with some of the lye to make a citrate.

 

[springonions]

So, all of these are at 50% paste weight dilution, but with varying salt amounts -

View attachment 14261
5% salt solution - far too runny

View attachment 14262
10% salt solution - getting better but still rather runny

View attachment 14263
15% salt solution - a tad too thick!

So, next I'll try a 12.5% salt solution at 50% paste weight and see how it looks

Thanks for the ca explanation.

I often read on the soap forums that it is not possible to thicken LS made with a high percentage of co (some say 10% is the limit). I was so puzzled when you managed to thicken your LS which contains 31% co.

After reading this thread over and over again, I think I know why. The conventional way of thickening LS is to make a 20% saline solution and add it into the diluted soap drop by drop until it thickens to the right consistency. So the amount of salt that has been added in is very little. Since your salt is based on the dilution water, the amount of salt is waaaaaaay more than that of the conventional way.

So LS with a high percentage of co CAN be thickened with salt. Just that it requires so much salt that the conventional way won't do it. Salt must be based on the dilution water and added in during dilution, not after.

Correct me if i am wrong.