Hard Water

[Jack]

I just started using my home made soap and find it works great in the bathroom but not so cool in the shop.

In the latter it works but with nearly zero lather and the runoff looks like thin milk.

It dawned on me that the shop is not on the water softener and conclude that this is the problem.

Is there any magic bullet for making soap that works in hard (well) water?

Jack

 

[CaliChan]

the first thought that comes to mind is adding more coconut milk to increase the lather.
This video came to mind as well [ame="http://youtu.be/SVaK5sm0jmc"]http://youtu.be/SVaK5sm0jmc[/ame]

 

[green soap]

I just started using my home made soap and find it works great in the bathroom but not so cool in the shop.

In the latter it works but with nearly zero lather and the runoff looks like thin milk.

It dawned on me that the shop is not on the water softener and conclude that this is the problem.

Is there any magic bullet for making soap that works in hard (well) water?

Jack

I love the feel of my soaps (most are bastilles) at home. I found out recently that my bastilles feel 'slimy' in hard water. However, my 100% coconut soaps with high super fat worked great. So did my salt bars, which are made of 100% coconut and 50% salt (50% of the oil weight).

I would have never known that had I not travelled to some of the places I ship soap. Now I know what soaps to recommend for folks with hard water. What a huge difference that makes, doesn't?

 

[lsg]

You might try adding EDTA to your next batch of soap.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f11/very-hard-water-30590/

 

[Jack]

Thanks for the ideas.

Had to Google EDTA as I have never heard of it and hope I never have to pronounce what that stands for. Looks like the only source is pills from a health store.

I also just made a bar of salt soap which is still in the oven.

My interest in soap making is based on not wanting to throw out 2 gals of corn oil from the fryer every few months. This means coconut oil is off limits so we will have to see when corn oil produces.

The only sea salt I have is chunky stuff for ice melting and about the time I was stirring it in, the kitchen blender came to mind. Well, there will be a next batch for that.

It's not clear how so much salt can dissolve in so little water but I guess it isn't supposed to?

So far I am just making 100G single bars for the sake of science and have learned a lot. There are about 20 in various stages of aging.

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