HANDMADE LIQUID SOAP

Don't know about you, but I love a good challenge so making liquid soap at home...let's give it a try, why not?

Before you do give this a try though, I would suggest you become very familiar with the cold process soap making technique(and that means actually making the soap several times, not just reading about it). Many of the steps are similar but in many ways it can be trickier to work on it so your familiarity with the soap making process in general is essential to your success.

We'll be making liquid soap with the use of a Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) which will make for a more readily water soluble soap that will be easy to water down and keep at that liquid consistency.

Theoretically speaking, you can even dissolve regular bar soap (made with Sodium Hydroxide) in water to make liquid soap but it will be more of a challenge to keep it at that consistency as it usually tends to re-solidify or seize, depending on the type of soap you use, your room temperature, container type and more.

As with every soap recipe I shares, I will remind you to please revisit the Natural Soap Making 101 tutorial in order to revise the general soap making terminology, safety tips, soap making steps etc. before we start.

Besides the fact that we'll be using a different type of caustic soda, we will also be making this soap with 50% (of the total oil quantity) water instead of the usual 38% for bar soaps.

A final note on making this liquid soap is with regards to superfat. This method of liquid soap making will keep the usual 5 % superfat ratio. This means that the soap, once dissolved to its liquid form, will have a shorter shelf life than a bar soap or commercially produced liquid soaps as the high water content will speed up the extra oils from the superfat going rancid. This is why this recipe should not be used for liquid soap production on a commercial scale.

Let's have a look at the recipe above. You will see that the soap is predominantly made of coconut oil, which is a very good cleanser. Since we generally use liquid soap for washing our hands and more heavy duty dirt removal, coconut oil will be a perfect fit for making liquid soap out of. We'll also be adding a bit of castor oil to adjust its mildness and additional glycerine (besides the one naturally occuring within the soap itself) to increase it's hydrating properties and prevent skin dryness.

1. Start by preparing your work surface, equipment and wear your protective gear.

NOTE Please disregard my lacking in protective gloves . It is not an excuse to do it but I was multitasking and did not wear protection for this tutorial. Needless to say this is a big NO NO.Better safe than sorry!

Measure out the water in a heat resistant jug or steel pot.

Measure out the coconut and castor oils in a pot. Remember to choose a pot that has enough room to contain the additional lye solution and to prevent spilling during blending, as well as the additional water you'll be adding at the time of dissolving the soap.

The pot should also be made of a non reactive material like steel and have a heavy bottom in order to prevent the soap from burning during cooking time.

NOTE If you'll be dissolving the soap in this same pot then make a note of it's weight before adding the oils to it.

Measure your caustic soda (KOH) and add it to your water, stir well until the crystals have completely dissolved and then put the lye solution aside until it cools down to room tempertature (around 20 C)

Pour the lye solution into the oil blend. There's no need to heat up the oils prior to doing this. We'll want to work at as low a temperature as possible.

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Here is where things start becoming a bit different from bar soap making. You'll immerse your blender head in the oil + lye blend and start blending with the same technique as for bar soap: short high speed bursts with breaks of stirring the soap in between.

What will be different though is that it will take much longer for the soap to reach trace. You may potentially be at it for 20-40 minutes until the trace will occur. It is OK to take short breaks from blending the soap, but always make sure that the pot is supervised or out of reach of those who are clueless about its contents.

During the initial stages of blending the oils and the lye solution will keep separating.

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As you continue blending you will notice at some point a more curdly texture which is when you need to pay most attention...tracing is just around the corner.

When the soap finally traces and reaches a smooth, evenly combined texture it will also immediately harden into a blob (see picture below)

And this is when it's time to get cooking.

Add the gycerine and stir as best as you can.

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Place the pot on the stove on the lowest heat setting you can and cook your soap, stirring it occasionally.

Stirring the soap will be a challenge in the beginning as the texture is quite solid and this is to be expected.

As you cook your soap, you will notice it gradually turning translucent or jelly-fying.This may take anywhere from 40 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the quantity of soap you're making, the pot size etc.

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When the soap has turned completely translucent it's time to add the additional water to dissolve the soap into a liquid. Measure the weight of the pot containing the soap and subtract the weight of the pot in order to get the quantity of the actual soap contained in the pot.

Add the same amount of water as the soap quantity you just got and keep heating it gently until it's completely dissolved.

Once dissolved, cover with a lid to prevent a dry film forming on the surface and leave to cool.

Add your essential oils, stir well and pour in dark glass containers.