Soap ph
- Thread starter JanaSmith
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Welcome, Jana! 
If you are making lye-based soap (as opposed to melt-and-pour type soap), you will not get a reading of 6.5 to 7.7. That would be impossible, because lye based soap, by definition, is an alkaline salt of fatty acids, so the pH will always be on the alkaline side of the pH scale. The pH of properly-made and cured lye-based soap will settle out anywhere between 8.5 to 12.35, depending on your formula.
A pH of 6.5 to 7.5 is more in line with a melt-and-pour type soap made from synthetic detergents.
I'm not sure how to use turmeric to test pH, but if you are making lye-based soap, a simple tongue-test, or zap test as it is also known, is more reliable than a pH test in terms of the safety of your soap, i.e., whether or not it is lye-heavy/has active lye in it. Here is how to properly conduct a zap/tongue test: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-properly-safely-conduct-the-zap-tongue-test.63199/
If you are using paper pH strips at the moment, just know that they are very unreliable when it comes to testing lye-based soap. The surfactant nature of lye-based soap messes with the testing indicator chemicals on such strips and can give you grossly false readings. The best pH strips to use with soap are the plastic lab-quality strips that measure from a range of 7 to 14 pH, such as those made by Machere-Nagel. They are not as good as a well calibrated pH meter, but they are the next best thing and come very close in terms of reliability (as compared to paper strips). To use them, make a 1% solution of your soap (i.e., 1g of soap dissolved in 99g of distilled water) and stick the plastic pH strip in it to set for about a minute.
All in all, though, unless your skin is highly pH sensitive, there's really no need to test the pH. The only thing that really matters is making sure the soap is not lye-heavy, and a pH test will not tell you that. There are only 2 ways to tell if a soap is lye heavy....the tongue/zap test (which is the easiest, fastest way) or the total alkalinity test which requires certain lab chemicals and a bit more involvement. Dr. Kevin Dunn in his book Scientific Soapmaking spells out how to conduct a total alkalinity test.
IrishLass
If you are making lye-based soap (as opposed to melt-and-pour type soap), you will not get a reading of 6.5 to 7.7. That would be impossible, because lye based soap, by definition, is an alkaline salt of fatty acids, so the pH will always be on the alkaline side of the pH scale. The pH of properly-made and cured lye-based soap will settle out anywhere between 8.5 to 12.35, depending on your formula.
A pH of 6.5 to 7.5 is more in line with a melt-and-pour type soap made from synthetic detergents.
I'm not sure how to use turmeric to test pH, but if you are making lye-based soap, a simple tongue-test, or zap test as it is also known, is more reliable than a pH test in terms of the safety of your soap, i.e., whether or not it is lye-heavy/has active lye in it. Here is how to properly conduct a zap/tongue test: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-properly-safely-conduct-the-zap-tongue-test.63199/
If you are using paper pH strips at the moment, just know that they are very unreliable when it comes to testing lye-based soap. The surfactant nature of lye-based soap messes with the testing indicator chemicals on such strips and can give you grossly false readings. The best pH strips to use with soap are the plastic lab-quality strips that measure from a range of 7 to 14 pH, such as those made by Machere-Nagel. They are not as good as a well calibrated pH meter, but they are the next best thing and come very close in terms of reliability (as compared to paper strips). To use them, make a 1% solution of your soap (i.e., 1g of soap dissolved in 99g of distilled water) and stick the plastic pH strip in it to set for about a minute.
All in all, though, unless your skin is highly pH sensitive, there's really no need to test the pH. The only thing that really matters is making sure the soap is not lye-heavy, and a pH test will not tell you that. There are only 2 ways to tell if a soap is lye heavy....the tongue/zap test (which is the easiest, fastest way) or the total alkalinity test which requires certain lab chemicals and a bit more involvement. Dr. Kevin Dunn in his book Scientific Soapmaking spells out how to conduct a total alkalinity test.
IrishLass
Thank youWelcome, Jana!
If you are making lye-based soap (as opposed to melt-and-pour type soap), you will not get a reading of 6.5 to 7.7. That would be impossible, because lye based soap, by definition, is an alkaline salt of fatty acids, so the pH will always be on the alkaline side of the pH scale. The pH of properly-made and cured lye-based soap will settle out anywhere between 8.5 to 12.35, depending on your formula.
A pH of 6.5 to 7.5 is more in line with a melt-and-pour type soap made from synthetic detergents.
I'm not sure how to use turmeric to test pH, but if you are making lye-based soap, a simple tongue-test, or zap test as it is also known, is more reliable than a pH test in terms of the safety of your soap, i.e., whether or not it is lye-heavy/has active lye in it. Here is how to properly conduct a zap/tongue test: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-properly-safely-conduct-the-zap-tongue-test.63199/
If you are using paper pH strips at the moment, just know that they are very unreliable when it comes to testing lye-based soap. The surfactant nature of lye-based soap messes with the testing indicator chemicals on such strips and can give you grossly false readings. The best pH strips to use with soap are the plastic lab-quality strips that measure from a range of 7 to 14 pH, such as those made by Machere-Nagel. They are not as good as a well calibrated pH meter, but they are the next best thing and come very close in terms of reliability (as compared to paper strips). To use them, make a 1% solution of your soap (i.e., 1g of soap dissolved in 99g of distilled water) and stick the plastic pH strip in it to set for about a minute.
All in all, though, unless your skin is highly pH sensitive, there's really no need to test the pH. The only thing that really matters is making sure the soap is not lye-heavy, and a pH test will not tell you that. There are only 2 ways to tell if a soap is lye heavy....the tongue/zap test (which is the easiest, fastest way) or the total alkalinity test which requires certain lab chemicals and a bit more involvement. Dr. Kevin Dunn in his book Scientific Soapmaking spells out how to conduct a total alkalinity test.
IrishLass
