What a mess!

[Melodee]

Ok, so I'm making my first batch of liquid soap... Failors recipe makes a BIG batch, so I decided to cut it down by a third. Everything goes well, although this "paste" is more like tar in January! ok, so I test for fatty acids; yep, they're there - so the book says melt down with alcohol and add more koh; which I did, now it's slightly alkali like it's supposed to be. But now, I've got this jelly like mass that I don't know what to do with... Do I keep cooking it down back to tar?

My, if this blob ever makes a batch of clear soap, I will be absolutely amazed!!!!

Sorry, had to vent, it's becoming quite frustrating!

Melodee

 

[krissy]

how does it look now?

 

[Guest]

I can't find my liquid soap book with my notes , right now . When I made it , you put the end paste in a container and made smaller batches of the liquid soap from the paste . It does get very very thick . Maybe I made it using a different method . I sure hope it works out for you , that is a lot of work and time to make .

HTH

kitn

 

[fireweed]

It's supposed to be a really thick paste, almost unstirrable. Mine was like mashed potatoes, but miraculously turned into perfectly good soap after I added alcohol (a couple of oz for full size batch). I assume you used Failor's paste method? I love what I ended up with

 

[Melodee]

Thank you all for replying - I don't know, I must have made a mistake somewhere. I just left it alone to try to cook off the alcohol, and then it all liquefied, so I just turned off the crock pot and hopelessly left it... This morning, it had jelled to a soft mass; so I did an alkaline test - only to find out, It's WAY too alkaline!!! Failor said use 80-12 drops of 20% acid solution to neutralize the sample; well it took 48 drops to change the phenolphthalein to neutral (yikes!). I've decided, in a final act of desperation, I'm going to add some more oil and see if I can salvage it - if not - I'll chock it up to a really good lesson learned!!!

How can something so frustrating be so much fun???

Melodee

 

[hestia]

I make a lot of liquid soap (my personal preference) and I used Failor's book as a starting point. I make mine in a crock pot. 16 oz of oils (while they are melting, make the KOH/water blend), when the oils are melted, add the lye/water stir, then SB to trace. Leave on low for around 3 hours, stirring every 20 - 30 min. It'll be a translucent paste. If you don't want to use all the paste at once, it'll keep in the fridge- just put it in a baggie. Boil your dilution water (I use 1/2 water & 1/2 aloe juice). Turn the heat off & add your paste. Cover & leave overnight - the paste will liquify. When you're ready, warm up the diluted soap, & add about 4 Tblsp of a 33% borax solution to neutralize & thicken a bit. Never has failed me yet!

 

[Melodee]

Thank you Hestia!!! I'm going to try that method! I think this batch is a flop :-(

Thanks again! Melodee

 

[Guest]

Bummer ! Could you turn it into liquid laundry or washing up soap ?

Kitn

 

[kittywings]

This is good to see... I just got some KOH to try my hand at liquid soap...

:shock:

 

[IanT]

ooooooohhhh ohohohohoooooooooo I cant waaaaaaaaaaaaait to try liquid soap!