I was going to make a 100% coconut oil soap via hot process. When I was done I realized I got the wrong bottle and used KOH instead of NaOH. Would it be advisable to just add in the rest of the KOH in and cook it further? Can this be recooked after it has had time to cool down?
Wrong lye used.
- Thread starter tinterz
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ResolvableOwl
Notorious Lyear
Yes, and yes. Pure coconut soap is quite well-behaved with respect to dilution (in fact, so well-behaved that it has a water-thin fluidity once diluted to sensible concentration).
You now have a liquid soap paste with about 40% superfat. It'd be a shame to toss it.
Take a soap calculator, enter your amount of coconut oil, switch to LS, and adjust KOH purity & superfat. Note the recommended amount of KOH, and subtract the weight of what you had added in your first recipe. Weigh this difference, and slowly dissolve in about its weight of water.
Heat up the soap paste (you can add a bit of water if it appears to burn). Once warm, carefully stir the extra lye into the soap paste. Add a little at a time and wait a few minutes – if you add it all at once, it might seize (salt out), which isn't bad, but takes some time to dissolve again.
Keep it warm until it passes the clarity test.
You now have a liquid soap paste with about 40% superfat. It'd be a shame to toss it.
Take a soap calculator, enter your amount of coconut oil, switch to LS, and adjust KOH purity & superfat. Note the recommended amount of KOH, and subtract the weight of what you had added in your first recipe. Weigh this difference, and slowly dissolve in about its weight of water.
Heat up the soap paste (you can add a bit of water if it appears to burn). Once warm, carefully stir the extra lye into the soap paste. Add a little at a time and wait a few minutes – if you add it all at once, it might seize (salt out), which isn't bad, but takes some time to dissolve again.
Keep it warm until it passes the clarity test.
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