Sodium Lactate

[sabon]

So far, I have been soaping with only lye, oils, botanicals and EO's. The only drawback of my soap is that it turns soggy very soon (even if placed in a well drained tray, outside the shower). The constant rains and humidity for the past 2 months has me worried (We do not use a dehumidifier or air conditioning) for my soaps.
I have been reading a lot about Sodium lactate used to harden soap. Does Sodium lactate increase the life of soap in the shower? Since it is a humectant, I was wondering if it does not draw more water from the atmosphere thereby making the soap even more soggy in shower or sweaty outside?
Has anyone using Sodium Lactate noticed any change in its 'shower life'?

 

[MooreThanBags]

I can't really help with the sodium lactate but I make CP goat milk soap and have never had any problems. My bars dry out well in the shower and at the sink between uses.

 

[innerdiva73]

So far, I have been soaping with only lye, oils, botanicals and EO's. The only drawback of my soap is that it turns soggy very soon (even if placed in a well drained tray, outside the shower). The constant rains and humidity for the past 2 months has me worried (We do not use a dehumidifier or air conditioning) for my soaps.
I have been reading a lot about Sodium lactate used to harden soap. Does Sodium lactate increase the life of soap in the shower? Since it is a humectant, I was wondering if it does not draw more water from the atmosphere thereby making the soap even more soggy in shower or sweaty outside?
Has anyone using Sodium Lactate noticed any change in its 'shower life'?

I have used it and it is not the Sodium Lactate making it soggy. How long are you curing your soap? It is best to allow soap to cure for at least 3 months (just my 2 cents) in order for it to get harder. The longer the soap cures the harder it gets. Have you also tried a doing a water discount? Also sometimes a high percentage of Olive can impair the hardness of a bar as I have learned.

 

[shunt2011]

What oils/butters etc are you using in your recipe? Too much soft oils can play a big part in how long you need to cure your soaps. Also as previously stated a water discount could help I use sodium lactate in my high oil soaps primarily to help them release and unmold easier however haven't noticed a long term difference in the performance of my soaps as they are all hard and long lasting after a proper cure of 4-6 weeks. Perhaps if you share your recipe there will be others that can help you trouble shoot.

 

[sabon]

I have used it and it is not the Sodium Lactate making it soggy. How long are you curing your soap? It is best to allow soap to cure for at least 3 months (just my 2 cents) in order for it to get harder. The longer the soap cures the harder it gets. Have you also tried a doing a water discount? Also sometimes a high percentage of Olive can impair the hardness of a bar as I have learned.

I have not used sodium lactate in my formulations. My question was does adding sodium lactate to CP/HP soap help increase the life of a soap in shower?
Does addition of Sodium lactate cause soap to 'sweat' as it is a humectant?

I let my soaps cure for 6 weeks, and have noticed that my aged soaps (older than 6 months) last a bit longer than those cured for 6 weeks, but they are still soggy after a few days. Especially if I HP

I mainly use 2 formulae with coconut oil 100 % SF 20 %
And coconut 95% castor 5 % SF 7 percent.

I have never discounted water, maybe I should try that too.

 

[Cindiq4u]

I have not used sodium lactate in my formulations. My question was does adding sodium lactate to CP/HP soap help increase the life of a soap in shower?
Does addition of Sodium lactate cause soap to 'sweat' as it is a humectant?

I let my soaps cure for 6 weeks, and have noticed that my aged soaps (older than 6 months) last a bit longer than those cured for 6 weeks, but they are still soggy after a few days. Especially if I HP

I mainly use 2 formulae with coconut oil 100 % SF 20 %
And coconut 95% castor 5 % SF 7 percent.

I have never discounted water, maybe I should try that too.

I've used to several times and haven't noticed the bars being harder. I might be wrong, yet I believe I've heard it helps speed up the curing time, not by much though. It can be tricky to work with.
My first attempts I believe I added to much and the bars seemed not as smooth and silky visually, but on skin they were just fine. I've learned to add small amounts. I'm not completely sold on it though. Still working out the bugs.
Anyone else have more info on this topic?

 

[OliveOil2]

I've been thinking about using sodium lactate, haven't tried it yet so can't comment on that. However it may be the soaps are getting soggy due to the high superfat. I know that a 20% superfat 100% coconut works fine for salt bars, not sure about without the salt.

 

[Sanguine]

I've used sodium lactate in my hp soaps and in my 100% olive oil. The soap is harder and easier to unmould but I don't see much difference in the shower. If you want to use it, please dissolve it in water first otherwise you will have a speckled soap like this:

Castille soap loaf by Ileandra, on Flickr

At the moment it's very hot and humid in belgium, some of my soaps seem to sweat a bit but not the ones with sodium lactate so I don't think it will attract water. Just don't go over the recommended usage rate, maybe it will start to attract if you use to much...

 

[sabon]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences with Sodium Lactate.

So far I have learned that sodium lactate does help the soap turn harder (especially when working with soft soaps or soaps with high% soft oils) and hence easy to unmould, cut into pieces but doesn't reduce the cure time ( I could be wrong). It makes HP easy to pour. Adds humectant quality to soap but has no significance as far as improving its life in the shower.
Carefully dissolve in lye water to prevent specks in soap , add very little and experiment with proportions.

Anything more to add to the list?

 

[lsg]

According to soaping101, 3% is the recommended usage rate. Anything over that may cause the soap to be soft.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFI4WlM85SI[/ame]