How much borax in cold process soap?

[Queeniewildwood]

Worked fine for me, but I boiled more water than I would need, poured the exact amount I needed into another container, and then added the borax immediately. A long as the water amount is more than the borax amount, I haven't had an issue. Just to see, I'll go try it now with your amounts (1/4 c water and 2 tbsp borax) and see if it works for me.

 

[Queeniewildwood]

Hmmm. Well, guess I will have to try again. Thanks for testing it.

 

[Servant4Christ]

Hmmm. Well, guess I will have to try again. Thanks for testing it.

I just posted pics, in case it helps anyone. (Post #40)

 

[Servant4Christ]

For kicks, I just added a bit more water and am microwaving it again to see if it will redissolve....

Wow, it went totally clear! I just learned something new. Glad I did this because it's going to be mighty helpful in the future.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I've decided to test a hypothesis based on yesterday's findings. Today, I'm going to add 2tbsp borax to 1/3 cup boiling water, stir and let sit 5 minutes to allow the borax to absorb the water. Then I'm going to reheat/boil the mixture in the microwave, which surprisingly evaporates quite a bit of water. What I'm looking to see is if the mixtures dissolves fully and goes clear, as well as and if the liquid amount reduces to 1/4 cup, which I believe it will based on the amount of addiitional water I used yesterday. Wish me luck and stay tuned.

 

[Servant4Christ]

Ok, I did the test. I used 1/3 cup water at room temp. Microwaved for 2.5 minutes. Added 2 tbsp (27 grams) borax, stirred, and left to sit for what amounted to about 15 minutes, stirring once or twice to break up the hard crust that forms on the bottom of my measuring cup. Then, I microwaved again for another 2.5 minutes and everything went completely clear and the total liquid remaining was just under 1/4 cup.

 

[KiwiMoose]

A lot of us have had problems dissolving the borax - others seem to have no problems at all. weird.

 

[Servant4Christ]

A lot of us have had problems dissolving the borax - others seem to have no problems at all. weird.

I think part of this might be the method used. Mine doesn't dissolve when I add it to boiling water; It dissolves after letting it sit until it's thicker and then re-boiling it. Most seem to give up and toss it once the hard borax crust forms under the water. That's actually when I stir it to break it loose from the bottom of the cup and let the mixture thicken before boiling the second time. I couldn't believe it went totally clear! I really hope others who have had issues dissolving theirs will try this and let us know if they have better success this way

 

[Queeniewildwood]

I think part of this might be the method used. Mine doesn't dissolve when I add it to boiling water; It dissolves after letting it sit until it's thicker and then re-boiling it. Most seem to give up and toss it once the hard borax crust forms under the water. That's actually when I stir it to break it loose from the bottom of the cup and let the mixture thicken before boiling the second time. I couldn't believe it went totally clear! I really hope others who have had issues dissolving theirs will try this and let us know if they have better success this way

I will definitely be trying this. Thank you for doing this little experiment.