Liquid Soap Additives

[Tasha]

Hi, so I am just getting started with liquid soap and have successfully created a paste. As I am in the experimented stage of LS.
I have read alot about thickening, diluting, clarity, and things like that but I haven't seen much about additives.
My question is in comparison to bar soap. What type of additives work with LS ?

Example, can you add acticated charcoal, tumeric, silk, oatmeal, ect the same?

Sugar, honey, ect are often added to increase bubbles. I read somewhere that you shouldn't add sugars to LS but is there something else that can be added for more bubbles OR do you just dilute the soap less?

Lastly, when they say table salt for thickening, can sea salt or other salts be used instead?

Thanks in advance

 

[DeeAnna]

Anything that's not a liquid may not work well in liquid soap unless the soap is really thick. Activated carbon, turmeric powder, ground oatmeal, etc. may not do well. And any form of oatmeal will add "bug food" to soap -- another thing you want to avoid.

I'd stick to liquid additives or do a test using a sample of soap. Don't commit your whole batch to an additive you haven't tested and aren't sure will play nice.

You can make the soap paste with sugars or honey (1 tsp to 1 TBL per 16 oz or 500 grams of fats). You can dissolve silk in the lye solution.

For faster and more abundant lathering, you want to dilute the soap MORE, not less, assuming you're trying to do the "dilute to the right thickness" method that most soap makers use.

More concentrated soap is actually harder to lather. Dilute the soap to a lower pure soap content and then add a separate thickener if you don't want a water-thin soap. Or you can use less soap on your hands or washcloth and/or add more water as you try to develop the lather.

I suppose you can use sea salt, but plain old table salt or canning salt works fine. Never use any salt that contains magnesium, calcium or other metallic salts -- this includes salts like dead sea salts, epsom salt, and himalayan salt. You want to use only sodium or potassium salts.

It is difficult to use salt to thicken some types of liquid soap, such as 100% coconut soap. There has to be some oleic soap in the product for salt to work.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

when they say table salt for thickening, can sea salt or other salts be used instead?

Salt is used to thicken 100% Olive Oil castile or bastile with less than 20% coconut oil and similar formulas. These soaps, when diluted to their optimum viscosity, tend to be thin (watery), although the lather is amazing. Plain ole table salt is the perfect thickener and isn't drying at all because it doesn't take much.
Additives: There are a variety of herbal liquid extracts available for LS. For example, here's the selection at Majestic Mountain Sage.

TIP: Make small 12-16 oz. batches at first until you get the hang of it. 12 oz. oils makes 16 oz. paste that you can then divide up into four 4-oz portions to experiment with.

Alaiyna B's Blogspot is a good place to learn the basics and you can go from there. Much has happened since that info was posted in 2011. Hence, there are about as many different ways to make LS as there are LS-ers! LOL, so it is easy to get confused by too much research. Here are a few links to posts you may find helpful.

DeeAnna's SOAPY STUFF Table of Contents. Scroll down to "LIQUID SOAP"/

FAVORITE METHOD FOR LS MAKING

ADVICE ON DILUTING LS

COLOR & FRAGRANCE FOR LS

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM VARIOUS OILS IN LS

 

[Tasha]

Thanks guys, that helps. I'll stay away from additives for the most part then. That dilution logic is a bit of doozy, I was thinking you would dilute less and salt would decrease lather. This is why this community is so important.
Thanks again

 

[DeeAnna]

Yes, salts do decrease the amount of lather although the difference is often small if only small quantities of salt are used. But even so, you can see the difference if you compare a soap that has some salt versus the same soap without salt.

But try making a salt soap or a brine soap sometime. If you use a normal bath soap recipe, this much added salt will almost or completely kill the lather.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I was thinking you would dilute less

Dilution Phase, Part 2: Most LS-ers dilute their paste to a viscosity that they like, and more often than not, to replicate the viscosity of commercial liquid soap. This ends up with a lot of soap going down the drain as extra rinsing is necessary for a squeaky clean rinse. As DeeAnna wrote:

For faster and more abundant lathering, you want to dilute the soap MORE, not less, assuming you're trying to do the "dilute to the right thickness" method that most soap makers use. More concentrated soap is actually harder to lather. Dilute the soap to a lower pure soap content and then add a separate thickener if you don't want a water-thin soap. Or you can use less soap on your hands or washcloth and/or add more water as you try to develop the lather.

TIP: During the dilution phase, the batch may reach a point where a film forms on the surface. That is an indication that you're at the optimum visicosity. Add a bit more water to dissolve the film and you're there!