Adventures In Liquid Soapmaking: My Bath Company

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Adventures in Liquid Soapmaking I have been a soapmaker for more than 12 years mostly via the cold process method. Just when I thought I couldn't get more passionate about soapmaking, I discovered liquid soapmaking. Previously intimidated by all mystery, scant literature and complicated recipes, I kept putting it off. After all, I was pretty comfortable and proficient with the cold process method and the variety of lovely soaps it allowed me to produce. Finally conquering the fear and dread, to my surprise, the very first batch turned out to be a wonderful success. I can tell you, that was not the case with my first attempt with the cold process method. The only thing I needed was more patience during the process. With the cold process method the patience comes afterwards--waiting for your soap to cure. Now I could kick myself for waiting so long. I hope you don't wait. It really is pretty easy and loads of fun. And best of all--ready to use immediately. So get soaping! ~D.Batiste

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My Bath Company http://www.mybathco.com

10 Steps to Making Liquid Soap from Scratch All soap, whether hard bar type or liquid, starts with the chemical reaction of oils and an alkali. The difference comes in the alkali used to saponify the oils. For bar soaps, it's sodium hydroxide (NaOH) while liquid soaps, use potassium hydroxide (KOH). Many variations in both bar and liquid soaps can be achieved using different oils and slight alterations in techniques to change the final product - from a light liquid hand soap, to shampoo, or shower gel. 1. Clear your work space and assemble your supplies. Recipe: 4.5oz. Coconut Oil 8 oz. Corn Oil 5 oz. Distilled Water 2.6 oz. Lye - Potassium Hydroxide (KAOH) Dilution: 32 oz. Distilled Water 3 oz. (6 T.) Borax dissolved in 6 oz. hot water You will need: Basic container(s) for mixing the lye crock pot (at least 4qt capacity) Scale Measuring cups Stick blender pH strip testers Storage container(s) for soap 2. Measure & Melt Oil Solution: Measure your oils (by weight) and put them in the crock pot on low. The oil mixture should be around 160 degrees (give or take 10) throughout. While the oils are heating up, mix your lye-solution. 3. Mix the Lye Solution: Weigh the amount of distilled water your recipe calls for. Remember in soap making the water is weighed on the scale (instead of fluid measure). Next use a separate container to measure the required lye (again on the scale).After you have weighed both the water and the lye, slowly add the lye to the pitcher of water being careful not to splash. (You should be wearing your safety goggles and neoprene gloves). Gently stir the mixture until the lye is completely dissolved. Continue to stir until the solution is thoroughly mixed. dlbDesigns© 2007 All Rights Reserved 2

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Safety Note: ALWAYS add the lye to the water, never the other way around. Adding the water to the lye can cause an unpredictable violent reaction or splashing. 4. Mix the Oil and Lye Solution: When the lye-water is completely mixed and clear, slowly add it into your oils. (No need to wait for it to cool.) Using the stick blender began to blend the oils and lye together. Initially the mixture may want to separate. Just keep blending. 5. Bring to Trace: Depending on your mixture of oils, it may take a while to reach trace. Don't give up...this is the stage for patience and perseverance. Trace appears as a thick pudding or applesauce like consistency. 6. Cook the Mixture (to saponify): After it reaches trace, put the lid on the pot, and let the mixture cook (saponify). Check on the soap about every 15-20 minutes. If there's any separation, just stir it back in and return the lid. Continue checking on the soap every 20-30 minutes or so. In 3-4 hours (sometimes longer) the soap should be completely cooked/saponified. During this time it will change and go through several "stages." The saponification stages (loosely defined/described): Thick applesauce Cooked custard with small bubbles Watery mashed potatoes Stiff taffy Chunky/creamy vaseline Translucent vaseline Keep stirring every 30 minutes or so through each of the stages. It may be difficult to stir through the taffy stage - do the best you can. Then, just when you think it's never going to finish, it will start to get creamy and move into the vaseline stage, getting more translucent. The mixture should remain translucent as it cools. 7. Dilute Soap Paste: More patience - diluting the paste. Take your remaining 40 oz. of distilled water and bring it to a boil. Add the water to the soap paste. Stir it in a bit with a stainless steel spoon or large slotted spatula. Turn the heat off on the crock pot. Put the lid on and wait. After a while - an hour or so, stir it some more. The mixture will have softened some but will probably still be very chunky and gooey. Put the lid back on and wait some more. You can leave it to sit overnight and dissolve. Or you can keep waiting and stirring, stirring and waiting. dlbDesigns© 2007 All Rights Reserved 3

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8. Neutralize the mixture: After the soap paste has completely dissolved in the water, it's time to neutralize. Turn the crock pot back on and bring the mixture back up to 180 degrees or so. In a glass measuring cup, mix your neutralizing solution. I use a 33% borax (20 Mule Team) solution. Some soapers use a 20% boric acid solution. For the borax, use 3 oz. borax in 6 oz. of boiling water. For the boric acid, take 8 oz. of boiling water and add 2 oz. boric acid. It's important to stir this solution extremely well and keep it very hot for it to completely dissolve. If the mixture cools, the borax or boric acid will turn gritty and precipitate out of the mixture - and it won't mix into your soap! Add about 3/4 oz. of neutralizer for every pound of soap paste (the paste before you added water) Too much neutralizer will cloud your final product, so it's best to round down and be conservative. Slowly pour the neutralizer into the re-heated soap mixture and stir well. 9. Add Fragrance & color (optional): After you've neutralized the soap, but while it's still hot, to add your fragrance and color (food grade, water-soluble), if desired. A good rule of thumb for fragrance is about 2-3%. Add the fragrance to the soap and stir well. If you will be adding color (remember to take the amber color of the soap base into account), add a few drops at a time, stirring well. When adding fragrance to the soap it may cloud the soap., the soap will clear again as it cools.

10. Final Curing Stage: Let the soap cool then pour it into a large storage container. Put it aside in a cool place to allow it to rest. This will give any cloudiness time to settle and clear up the final solution. During this resting phase, any other insoluble particles should settle to the bottom. When transferring your soap into their final bottles or tubes, make sure this milky layer is left behind.

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Soapmaking Terminology: Neutralize to balance the pH. For skin care products a pH of 6-8 is desirable otherwise it could be too harsh on the skin. At pH 7, the balance is just right. If there are more positive hydrogen ions, a material is acidic (between 1-7 on the pH scale). If the are more hydroxyl ions, the substance is alkaline or basic (between 7-14 on the pH scale). Potassium hydroxide is a caustic base, also known as lye. Also known as caustic potash, was the alkali used most thoughout history to produce soap. Water steeped through wood ashes yields this caustic chemical which reacts with fats or oils to form liquid or soft soaps. Saponification is a chemical reaction that occurs when fats or oils (fatty acids) are combined with lye (alkali base.) Saponification literally means "soap making" from the root word, "sapo", which is Latin for soap. The saponification reaction yields the byproducts of glycerin and soap. All fats and oils have a “saponification value” or SAP value, which is the amount of lye needed to completely neutralize them into soap with no lye left over. Each has a different value, which is why it’s important carefully calculate your recipes. There are many online lye calculators which can make this task easier. Soap a mixture of salts of various fatty acids made by an alkali acting on the fatty acids. Fats or oils mixed with an alkali form one molecule of soap and three molecules of glycerin. Sodium hydroxide a strong caustic base, also known as lye or caustic soda. This highly alkaline chemical combines with fats or oils to form hard soaps. Trace the point in soapmaking when the soap mixture leaves a line, footprint or trace, across the top of the mixture before blending back into the mixture.

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