My first try at creamy soap

[Organic Chemist]

I have been making bar soaps as gifts for friends and relatives for some time but too much of good stuff is no good.

They bleach out if I play with natural moisturising or healthy additives such as yogurt, glycerine, urea or vitamin C.

I am now venturing into the new field. Idea is not to add the additives into soap but to make first an almost solid beeswax or alternatively petrolatum base and blend it with the soap noodles. Will it work? My additives are all water soluble; do I need to emulsify them into wax or petrolatum? What would be the best surfactant? I need something natural based and not irritant. I have few samples of not irritant surfactants (sorbitan oleate, cocamidopropyl betaine, coco glucosides, cocoyl taurate) but I dont know what to be careful about?

 

[DeeAnna]

"...Idea is not to add the additives into soap but to make first an almost solid beeswax or alternatively petrolatum base and blend it with the soap noodles. Will it work?..."

I have no idea what you are trying to make, so I cannot say if it will work. Why do you want to blend soap with beeswax or petrolatum? What is your goal for this product?

"...They bleach out if I play with natural moisturising or healthy additives such as yogurt, glycerine, urea or vitamin C...."

Really? Hand crafted soap contains about 8% glycerin so why would it bleach out if you add more?

Many soap makers including myself add yogurt or other dairy to their soaps, and I cannot recall anyone saying yogurt bleaches out their soap. That certainly has not been my experience.

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) simply reacts with sodium hydroxide to form sodium ascorbate. If you're an organic chemist, you can balance the equation and do the math. Or see my article for the answers -- https://classicbells.com/soap/ascorbicAcid.asp It too does not bleach soap.

"...My additives are all water soluble; do I need to emulsify them into wax or petrolatum?..."

If your additives are hydrophilic (water soluble), of course they will need to be emulsified to stay mixed with hydrophobic materials (fats, waxes, etc.)

"...What would be the best surfactant? I need something natural based and not irritant. I have few samples of not irritant surfactants (sorbitan oleate, cocamidopropyl betaine, coco glucosides, cocoyl taurate)..."

You speak of soap and soap noodles in the first part of your message, but then list these synthetic detergents at the end. Do you intend to use soap or synthetic detergents or both? Again, what is your goal for this product?

 

[Organic Chemist]

Aim is to have a very soft soothing and nourishing soap. I once had such soap and petrolatum mixed with olive oil was listed among the ingredients.

I even tried with formulation with lactic acid (for intime hygiene, that is why I am considering yogurt and vitamin C) but it did not work out. Also, as soon as I try to put into soap bar anything conditioning to make the hair softer, I get problems even if I take very small amount.

I read that wax and petrolatum function as carriers for the additives, that is why I was thinking of them.

 

[shunt2011]

Soap is a wash off product it will never be nourishing/mositurizing. You can however formulate a recipe that's not as cleansing as many store bought soaps. And I personally don't want petrolatum in my soap. I use milks, yogurt, and all kinds of other additives with no issues. There are recipes for synthetic shampoo bars on the forum as well as online. Swiftcraftymonkey.com is a great resource. I make soap and other things to keep out not needed ingredients which can be found in store soaps.

 

[DeeAnna]

Aim is to have a very soft soothing and nourishing soap. I once had such soap and petrolatum mixed with olive oil was listed among the ingredients.... I read that wax and petrolatum function as carriers for the additives, that is why I was thinking of them....

Well, mixing soap with petrolatum or extra olive oil will certainly soften the mixture. Not sure why you're adding beeswax into the blend if you want the cleanser to be soft. Beeswax adds hardness.

It makes no sense to use hydrophobic ingredients (wax, petrolatum) as "carriers" for hydrophilic ingredients.

Soap can emulsify, but only to a limited degree. You have not mentioned any other ingredient that could function well as an emulsifier. Adding an effective emulsifier will be more likely to create a stable product.

"...I even tried with formulation with lactic acid (for intime hygiene, that is why I am considering yogurt and vitamin C) but it did not work out. Also, as soon as I try to put into soap bar anything conditioning to make the hair softer, I get problems even if I take very small amount...."

Yes, you're going to have problems if you mix acidic ingredients into soap. Your "handle" is "Organic Chemist" so I'm taking you at your word that you are one.

Soap is an alkaline salt. It functions as a buffer. You're adding an acid to an alkaline buffer. What is the chemistry result?

Synthetic detergents will tolerate the acids you want to use.

"...Also, as soon as I try to put into soap bar anything conditioning to make the hair softer, I get problems even if I take very small amount...."

If you are adding enough petrolatum to make the cleanser soft, it is difficult to think this is something you would want to use on hair. It's going to leave a definite film of lipid on the hair.

Frankly, I'm still puzzled. What you are describing seems more like something that should be made with synthetic detergents, not lye-based soap. Or a heavy conditioner or lotion.

You have not shared the ingredient list of the product you want to duplicate or adapt. I am at a loss to give more advice, so I am bowing out of this discussion. Best of luck to you.