Lather/Hard, iron heavy well water issue.

[KLittle]

I'm new at making CP soap so my first batches are just now coming out of the 30 day curing stage.
I have well water, it is HARD and lots of iron. So, not sure I'll ever get a soap that will lather good for us at home. I have started adding citric acid but it's not ready to try out yet. 1) I've see on here that you can add like 1 tsp. of sugar to the water before adding lye may help too?
2) And will it matter that I'm already adding citric acid?
My mom is in the next town over in the nursing home & she (and her buddies) loves my first experiment at soap, says it lathers great for them. They have city water.
(Just fyi: I use distilled water for soap & NO, we don't drink this crap)LOL

 

[Ekuzo]

You won't know if it has issues lathering until you try, but I understand your concern.

There are many things that can help with the lathering and you need to experiment which one works best for you, your conditions and your recipes.

First, make sure there's enough CO in the recipe - that's a strong foundation for bubbles - something like 20-25 % (unless someone finds it too harsh for their skin). After that, you may try other things in addition - for example, you mentioned adding citric acid, which is reported to help with soap scum and therefore lathering.

A small amount of castor oil helps make the bubbles that are there more stable. Also, as you mentioned, there are additives like sugar - you can add a little sugar (also honey or sorbitol) to help with how soluble your soap is, and therefore boost the lather. Finally, you can use an alternative liquid like milk, beer or juice/puree which helps the same way as the above because of the sugars inside. You can also add artificial foaming agents to your soap (I don't know much about them since I don't use, and I can't say I'd recommend them - but it's another option for you. After all, we usually make our own soap because we want to avoid the usage of chemicals).

Experimenting with those and finding a combination that works great for you is the key, no one says you need to use only one - try different stuff