Thoughts?

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Oct 9, 2017
Messages
252
Reaction score
656
Location
London, Ontario, Canada
Hello fellow soapers,

I have been asked to come up with a soap for our horses. I know that the PH of their skin is approximately 7 - 7.4. So my question is do you think that a cold process soap's PH can be lowered enough for safe use for my herd. I also have access to horse milk (we breed them) so wondered if a combination of milk into a high superfat might make it tolerable? I could also probably do a syndet bar which would be lower PH (possibly too low) but much more costly to make and we have quite a few horses. I certainly will be investing in a proper PH reader and not the strips, so anything that I do make will be tested thoroughly. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
Hi Whillow. In New Zealand there are many makers of bar soap for horses and dogs that are not syndet. Given that both their skins have a higher pH than humans' I think it should be OK. However, I know that in the US with the suing culture that people are more careful about such things. Not sure what it's like in Canada. You won't be able to get the pH much lower than about 9 I think before it ceases staying in solid form. You can research online regarding some good additives for insect repelling etc.

https://washbar.com/products/horse-hound-shampoo-bar/
 
Last edited:
Hi Whillow. In New Zealand there are many makers of bar soap for horses and dogs that are not syndet. Given that both their skins have a higher pH than humans' I think it should be OK. However, I know that in the US with the suing culture that people are more careful about such things. Not sure what it's like in Canada. You won't be able to get the pH much lower than about 9 I think before it ceases staying in solid form. You can research online regarding some good additives for insect repelling etc.
Thank you very much.
 
I found the ingredients for the above. Soap oils highlighted in blue. The glycerin is a by product of saponification. I'm not sure what the TD adds other than "whitening" so I would leave that out.:
  • Saponified Sustainable Palm Oil
  • Saponified Coconut Oil
  • Vegetable Glycerin
  • Neem Oil
  • Manuka Pure Essential Oil
  • Kanuka Pure Essential Oil
  • Lemon Myrtle Pure Essential Oil
  • Titanium Dioxide
I make a similar bar. If you add the olive oil from the other link @KiwiMoose provided, it would be similar to one of my standard bars that DH loved as a shampoo bar. Oodles of lovely lather, that rinses clean and left his white hair shiny and bright, no yellowing. See recipe attached. Sub Coconut Oil for the PKO in the formula. If you try it, please let us know how it turns out. :)

HTH

ETA: I like the EOs in both bars but prefer those mentioned in the second link.
Upon rethinking the recipe, TD is a common ingredient in natural sunscreen so, if adding it, you can look up the SPF of TD to add that feature.

As stated in the second link "Due to the soaps high pH balance we do not have to add in chemical preservatives." I agree. This is just me and my experience, but when using lye-based soap for shampoo, the biggest mistake soapers worry about is the pH. IMHO, the pH is not nearly as important as a thorough rinsing to get all the soap scum out. That is what causes the scalp to dry out and hair to break off as mentioned in SO many SMF threads about shampoo bars. Even adding a bit of apple cider vinegar to the (cold) rinse water (1:7) to restore the acid balance of the skin, would help with that. :thumbs:
 

Attachments

  • Palm Olive.pdf
    101 KB · Views: 8
Last edited:
Back
Top