I followed the recipe...why so acidic on the PH tape?

[Slabobbin]

There is a post on here somewhere about how I screwed up on my first batch of soap. So I took my recipe and plugged it into several of the online calculators. I followed it using a scale. I first measured my container and then added the ingredients to the container, being sure to account for the original weight of the container, and to add the correct amount of ingredient.

So I made my soap yesterday. It didn't trace very well but I don't have an electric beater so I was doing it by hand...that could be why. It did harden. But this morning when I test it with my PH tape, it is showing very acidic (like off the scale). Is this normal? Did I somehow screw up again?

My recipe was as follows:

12 oz lard
12 oz coconut oil
10 oz vegetable oil
5 oz lye
16 oz water

plus extra virgin olive oil after trace and orange oil for scent.

 

[Guest]

While I don't have the answer I thought I had read somewhere sometime that PH tape wasn't accurate because your using it on a solid material and they are made to be used with liquid products. Also if you are doing cold process soap, it needs time to cure for the chemical reaction to take place so the oil and lye can react with each other to make 'soap'. So even if this were accurate it would be wrong because the chemical reaction hasn't taken place yet.


But maybe someone has more accurate information....

 

[Guest]

My recipe was as follows:

12 oz lard
12 oz coconut oil
10 oz vegetable oil
5 oz lye
16 oz water

plus extra virgin olive oil after trace and orange oil for scent.

I know i'm not the most experienced soaper in the world, but I have learned a thing or two about soap recipes, since I decided to branch out and create my own recipe pretty much from the beginning.


Unless your a experienced soaper this holds pretty much true, and does make an awesome bar of soap.....

But your lard or vegetable shortening should be no more than 50% of your recipe. I personally use either that 50% to be all vegetable shortening or 1/2 shortening and 1/2 lard.

Your coconut oil is what gives the soap the lather and helps with hardness, and should be 3 ounces of coconut oil for every 13 ounces of the other oils used.


Your other oil which your vegetable oil, can be split up between the other oils you want to use in your recipe for the properties that they can do to benefit the skin. If you use to many of these oils, such as olive oil, or vegetable oil you will get a soft bar of soap. While most know how good olive oil is for the skin, but it's also expensive. But most don't know that canola is equally good for the skin. And is priced about the same as vegetable oil. Plus it's heart healthy to cook with canola oil instead of olive oil, so you can buy a big jug and use it for soaping and for cooking.

So not all oils are created equal and can't be used in place of each other.


Your recipe uses 34 ounces of oils, so you could go up on the shortening some, and down on the coconut oil since coconut oil tends to be more expensive, and using more doesn't mean it makes a better bar of soap since it can dry the skin out. So you really depend on those 'other oils' to benefit the skin.


Good Luck..... and above all have fun.......

 

[Mothi]

I have heard pH strips are not accurate. Maybe how you used it might change results? (Never used them myself so don't know.) To get accurate pH, use phenolphthalein.

How acidic is your soap testing out to be?

 

[Slabobbin]

I'm not sure exactly how acidit it is, lol. It only goes up to 8.0 and the color is even darker than that...so it is definitely off the charts, lol.

 

[lsg]

I am not the best one to answer this either; but just a few thoughts. I have read that soaps with a PH reading of 9 are safe. Your soap should test milder as it ages.

 

[smellygoodsoapy]

Just a note... a high pH (above 7) means it's basic. Since lye is a strong base a newly made soap will be alkaline. Like lsg said, the pH will go down as it ages. A safe pH is anywhere between 5-8.
Here's a link to a site about soap pH and skin that I find really helpful.
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen01/gen01715.htm
Good luck!