Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Natural Hair Care Products Recipes and Guide
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Liquid Soap Making

I'm rather chuffed (again...he he!) at my first attempt at making Liquid Soap from scratch, using a recipe of Coconut, Extra Virgin Olive, Avocado, Hempseed and Castor Oils, Potassium Hydroxide and Water. Apologies, blogger is not accepting photobucket html, so here is the link to slideshow
OK, if you have not made Liquid Soap before, I really recommend that you do some reading and info digesting beforehand. The information out there is a little conflicting and confusing, particularly regarding the % use of Lye and also the amount of water to add in after you have cooked the Soap Base. So, as with all things, I think its best to absorb some info and then go play and experiment.
For the one I made, I used a recipe which said to add 40 oz of boiling water at the end of the cook, I erred on the side of caution and did not add the full amount and the end result was still a little thin. However, once I had neutralized with a Borax Solution and added some Glycerine, it did thicken up a little. I have also read that if you leave the finished Liquid Soap for a couple of weeks, it will also thicken up more.
Anyway, the basic process was as follows:
1) Weighed all ingredients
2) Added the Potassium Hyrdroxide (lye) to the Water, waited until clear. Heated the Oils in a double boiler and then added to the Crock Pot. For anyone who has not worked with either Lye (Potassium or Sodium Hydroxide) before in liquid or bar soapmaking, please research your health and safety basics - these are highly caustic and are not to be messed with
3) Added the lye solution to the oils in a crock pot on low heat. Stirred with a spoon, then stick blended until consistency of thick custard. It takes a lot longer to reach trace when making Liquid Soap than Cold or Hot Process Bar Soap. I presume this is because Potassium Hydroxide takes longer to trace than when using Sodium Hydroxide in bar soap.
4) Then pop the lid on the crock pot, still on a low heat, cook for 3-4 hrs, sitrring every 20 mins or so, or just turning when it goes through the tough "taffy" stage.
5) Once it starts to turn a little like vaseline and you think it may be ready, take out 1oz of the cooked soap, put it in a measuring jug with 2oz of boiling water. Stir and stir until the soap dissolves, if the water stays clear, you are good to go...if it turns cloudy, cook some more.
6) Once fully cooked, switch off the heat on the Crock Pot and add your additional water. Depending on the size of your batch and amount of additional water, you may want to transfer to a larger Stainless Steel Pot. Stir and wait, stir and wait until the soap paste has fully dissolved. I did this for a while and then just left overnight.
7) Then I neutralised with a solution of 66% water and 33% Borax (available from Boots in the UK) and added some glycerine.
OK, here are some good resources to get you started:
Making Natural Liquid Soap by C Failor
Lye Calculator with option for Potassium Hydroxide used in Liquid Soap Making
Candle and Soap Forum fab threads...take some time with this one!
Another Great Liquid Soap Making Link which also has a Lye Calculator and some interesting information on making transparent soap and cream soap (yet to be conquered!)
Fab Tutorial includes photos of step by step process






