Liquid soap cloudy after adding salt water

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

froggybean37

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2013
Messages
162
Reaction score
132
Hello!

I made my first batch of liquid castile soap which came out wonderful and clear, however after adding salt water to thicken, I notice a fine precipitate floating throughout it now a few days later, compared to the part of the batch I left separate as a comparison.

Any ideas? Will this clear with time? Is it just a reaction of the salt with the KOH?

Thanks!
 
same here

I have used Borax with great success, but I can't add it in products I sell in the EU. I tried the saline solution, it worked great, the soap was crystal clear, but the second day the entire batch went cloudy. I have no separation, no precipitation, perfect soap, just cloudy. There is very little info out there coming from people that regularly use salt solution to thicken their liquid soap if cloudiness is something you need to accept and live with, or the cloudiness will disappear after a while. Bumping this, maybe somebody out there can help with some input.
 
Hi, Kyra! Just as an update - 2 weeks after adding the salt water, the cloudiness/ precipitate has gone away. Lather isn't yet back to what it was pre-salt water, but still quite nice. Let me know what yours does!
 
good news

Oh, that is good news froggybean37. Is it crystal clear? The soaps in which I used Borax were a gorgeous perfectly clear amber color. Is it getting to back to that kind of clarity? Mine is almost one week old, still cloudy. I will try to take some pics and post them later on.
 
still cloudy

It's been more than 2 weeks and my soap looks the same: a bit cloudy, not the crystal clear soap I usually get when using borax.
 
I don't know if there is a "safe" proportion to avoid the cloudiness, but there is a "salt curve" and if you go over that curve, you will end up back with a thin product. Add salt solution slowly and give the soap plenty of time to thicken (at least an hour) between additions.
 
Faith, it sounds like I might have added a bit too much salt. My soap is not thicker than before adding the salt (maybe a tiny bit thicker), it still has a rich lather, but it remained fuzzy in appearance, not clear.
 
Here is the pic of my soaps. The fuzzy one is thickened with salt, the darker clear one with borax. Almost three weeks sequestering, it looks like the slight cloudiness is clearing up, but not stark clear like the one thickened with borax. I am patient LOOOL

DSC_0048.jpg
 
Last edited:
Happy to report that after a bit over 3 weeks of sequestering, my salt thickened soap cleared up to perfection. It is now just as clear as the one I thickened with Borax. In the meantime, my order of HEC came in and I tried it on a 7 liter batch of castile soap . It worked beautifully! I might stick with the HEC, I love the way the soap looks and I love the thickness of it.
 
I make use of salt 350g
Urea 200g, LABSA 1litre
SlS 125g, caustic 50g,
Texapon 1500g

Maybe my recipe is wrong. I will be needing help for the right recipe I can use to get a standard soap. I just started the soap business. I will be need your help.
 
I make use of salt 350g
Urea 200g, LABSA 1litre
SlS 125g, caustic 50g,
Texapon 1500g

Maybe my recipe is wrong. I will be needing help for the right recipe I can use to get a standard soap. I just started the soap business. I will be need your help.
Please start a new thread. This post is old. The members aren't even here any longer to see your response. Thank you!! Also, be sure to go to the introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself.
 
Please start a new thread. This post is old. The members aren't even here any longer to see your response. Thank you!! Also, be sure to go to the introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself.
I couldn't locate the introduction section on the tab.
 
I don't know if there is a "safe" proportion to avoid the cloudiness, but there is a "salt curve" and if you go over that curve, you will end up back with a thin product. Add salt solution slowly and give the soap plenty of time to thicken (at least an hour) between additions.
I added way to much salt in my solution and it becomes thinner than ever. How to fix this problem? Help anyone
 
Back
Top