carebear said:
I've never bathed in the lake (esp when I've been to and seen some with leeches... :shock: ), I bathe at least 200' from any water source, per Leave No Trace guidelines. I at least did my research on THAT, lol....
How to lower ph of a handmade CP soap?
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I've never bathed in the lake (esp when I've been to and seen some with leeches... :shock: ), I bathe at least 200' from any water source, per Leave No Trace guidelines. I at least did my research on THAT, lol....
ChrisShepp
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Beckis19 said:I was just sharing my spur-of-the moment urge to try experimenting, and I didn't think to stop to check the forum to see what would happen. Actually, I had told my hubby about the idea, he has a chemical engineering degree (though he is now an environmental engineer) and I guess he didn't give it too much thought since he didn't say anything about it not working. So I know next time I want to experiment to consult those who have actually tried/know :wink:
No offence taken, but a little background, to help explain my madness:
I wasn't aiming to have the poo bar be my every-day shampoo. Though it would be nice if I could find one that worked, like some people have. I'm a backpacker, and wanted to see about making a bar soap I could use for my hair as well (though I have to admit, Dr. Bronners is an interesting read at times, lol...) that I can take with me. I don't want to wash my hair and leave syndets all around the Great Outdoors. I was aiming for something that I could tolerate using to clean my hair when it starts to get really nasty. I didn't know I was voilating the 4 Great Laws of Soap :wink:
Umbrella drinks after a long, hard day at work do make people type the strangest things, don't they?
I feel obligated to disclaim that although it looked my rant was directed at you, Beckis19, I was merely throwing my two cents into the general pot along with a healthy stir.ChrisShepp
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Beckis19 said:
Congratulations! When are you due?
cwarren
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I have learned to do zap test.. my book says ph of 7 sooo i was in a huge panic trying to get ph down ( before I found this site) and I threw out countless batches .. cause ph strips said 10 and 10.5 right after cutting .. oh how frustrating................ goatsmilk will help lower ph if you are worried..Soapmaker_CRO said:I need help on how to lower the pH of soap.
I have made a couple of natural soaps with lye and evan after 6 weeks PH is still around 10.
I thought about using an acid to neutralize the base (NaOH), but I have not found an acid that is safe to use with NaOH that is also not deleterious to the skin. Also, I would like to know in which phase to add the acid or some other ingredient.
Please, help
Soap doesn't strictly split back into fatty acids when the Ph is lowered below 8.0
Some of the fatty acids may split off the metal but not remotely close to all. To split all the fatty acids from the soap the ph would need to be lowered to about 4.5.
Furthermore week acids like citric, acetic, boric etc., are not capable of splitting all the soap/salt back into fatty acids. Weak acids lower the ph mainly by reacting with the free OH ions in the solution. When adding a weak acid to a salt an equallibrium is obtained that prevents all the fatty acids from being split.
To split all the fatty acids from the soap a strong acid is required (sulfuric, nitric, hydrochloric etc).
Soap/salt is created around a Ph of 8-8.5, going above 8.5 does not indicate that more soap has been made only that there are OH ions present in the solution.
Ph is a tricky thing since Ph is the negative logarithym of hydrogen activity in a aqueous solution. It's largely related to the H+ or OH- concentration.
My apologies to those that may be offended
Some of the fatty acids may split off the metal but not remotely close to all. To split all the fatty acids from the soap the ph would need to be lowered to about 4.5.
Furthermore week acids like citric, acetic, boric etc., are not capable of splitting all the soap/salt back into fatty acids. Weak acids lower the ph mainly by reacting with the free OH ions in the solution. When adding a weak acid to a salt an equallibrium is obtained that prevents all the fatty acids from being split.
To split all the fatty acids from the soap a strong acid is required (sulfuric, nitric, hydrochloric etc).
Soap/salt is created around a Ph of 8-8.5, going above 8.5 does not indicate that more soap has been made only that there are OH ions present in the solution.
Ph is a tricky thing since Ph is the negative logarithym of hydrogen activity in a aqueous solution. It's largely related to the H+ or OH- concentration.
My apologies to those that may be offended
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