I’ve gotten a few responses from my questions on April 20th. Today, I’ll answer a question from jaspersgarden with help from Technical Support.
From jaspersgarden) Your 2nd question ~ I would really LOVE to make a liquid soap from scratch. I’m already familiar with NaOH, so I would have to pick up some KOH to get started – but I’m just scared to death for some reason when it comes to liquid soap…it’s probably really easy, but when you’re scared because you haven’t seen pictures and instructions, it’s hard to get up the nerve! I would really love to make my own shampoo ~ so that it would go nicely with my hair conditioner. I’ve tried your shampoo base already – but it’s not the same as making it yourself – do you know what I mean? It feels like I’m cheating or something ;o) And if I’m stuck using bases (I don’t have a problem using bases BTW!), are there ingredients I can add to it to make it more conditioning?
Certainly you should consider the Making Liquid Soaps book by Catherine Failor. It is a great book. KOH (potassium hydroxide) is not an easy product to find. Once you get some, make several batches. Soap is fun and you will find that liquid soap isn’t harder to do, it just is different. The nice thing about mixing KOH into water is that it doesn’t get as hot as NaOH (sodium hydroxide). This can be misleading to some people who think the KOH is bad, but it isn’t.
I really like liquid soaps made with anything but Castor Oil. I think castor oil liquid soaps feel gummy. So, personal preference is showing here. Let’s have a KOH soap day. Everyone who wants to participate should send a photo of their liquid soaps, during the making of the soap, and we will post them as a blog. Be sure to tell us what stage of the process the photo is representing. We will send gift certificates to our guest bloggers of the day.
PS: Bases aren’t cheating. They make available unique ingredient combinations to those of us who want only a little bit of soap. Bases also help with being cost effective for not storing unusual ingredients. Bases also make quick gifts. Don’t ever think that Bases are cheating, they are only a helping hand!
Hot Process Soap Week will be May 25th through May 29th.
I have this book and it is wonderful. I chose to make the recommended alcohol version of liquid soap. I struggled with knowing when the soap was at trace before I cooked it and probably didn’t stir it enough. Could you include a picture of what trace looks like?
Thanks to you and all the MMS staff!! Love soap making and all things moisturizing.
Bonnie,
Adding a picture of what trace looks like is a good idea. Let me see what we can do.
Regarding bases. Before Christmas, I bought your Body Milk Lotion base and I love
having a ready made product (and a good one at that!). I make my own olive oil cream and balms,
so it was nice to have a light lotion to compliment my other things. If someone wants peppermint
lotion tomorrow, no problem, coconut later today, I can do it. I can color and scent as I go
along. I have 4 oz. bottles that fit nicely in gift baskets, also 6 oz. bottles that do well
as a stand alone product.
I look forward to the liquid soap making blog. If you want “why does my liquid
soap look like this?” pictures, I have those too.
Terry
terrylynn22-
I would love to share the those pictures with everyone!