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In today's fast-paced times, when other unpleasant things in the form of pandemics and viral diseases besides various responsibilities are rolling at us, it is very important to take care of constantly improving our hygiene habits. After all, you know. You come home from work, you've travelled by bus and the first thing you do when you step into the house - you wash your hands. Or remember sending your children to wash their hands before eating, or when they come in from outside and interrupt their play with the dog. That's why we at Handymade decided to share a great recipe with you, along with the process, to make homemade liquid soap.
The key to making soap, whether liquid or solid, is saponification, that is, using potassium hydroxide - KOH to turn the oils into a soap paste and then dissolving it in distilled water. It is the potassium hydroxide that ensures that the paste is soft, dissolves easily in water and also that the soap remains liquid. Be careful, though! KOH is also a corrosive and safety precautions must be taken when working with it.
Of the oils , it is advisable to use solid oils containing saturated fatty acids, such as coconut oil, then the soap will remain beautifully transparent. However, coconut oil on its own can dry out the skin, which is why we are bringing you two recipes right now.
One will be purely with coconut oil alone and with the addition of orange essential oil - it's good for washing dishes and cleaning a variety of surfaces. But since we mainly wanted to make a hand soap so that the skin would stay supple and moisturized at the same time, we tried several versions with different oils added. The soap calculator helped us.We liked the version with castor, almond and olive oils the best. We tested this version at our company workshop and the soap came out beautifully transparent.Turbidity is not a defect, however; it occurs when all the fatty acids do not go through the saponification process. That is why it is not recommended to overfat - that is, a higher fat content than the hydroxide is able to saponify.On the contrary, a slight excess of KOH, roughly 3%, is recommended. This slight deficiency can be cleverly covered by adding, for example, mica powder. You can colour and scent your homemade natural liquid soap exactly as you wish. By adding tea tree and lavender essential oils, your soap will have antibacterial properties.
Liquid soap and its creation is not rocket science, it just looks like it. However, the whole process is subject to rules, without which we will not get to the final result. As it happens, it is necessary to follow all the steps and work gradually to make the result as it should be.The preparation is quite lengthy, so make sure you set aside enough time. Just cooking the soap paste alone takes at least 3 hours and we will still be dissolving the paste in water, adjusting the PH and finishing.
Moisturizing soap:
Coconut soap:
Essential oils are consumed as desired for fragrance, mica powder for colouring, distilled water for dilution and 100ml 20% citric acid solution for pH adjustment.
Scale, thermometer, one large and a slightly smaller pot with a lid for the water bath, whisk for stirring, hand mixer or potato masher if the paste is too thick, container for diluting the hydroxide, ph papers, gloves and goggles for working with the hydroxide.The production of liquid soap can be divided into 2 stages: 1. making the base paste and 2. diluting the paste in water.
In a water bath we let the oils heat up to 70°C, we try to maintain this temperature. In the meantime , prepare the hydroxide solution.Hydroxide is corrosive, so when working with it we use protective equipment - goggles, gloves, long-sleeved clothing and work in a ventilated room so as not to breathe in the fumes.
ALWAYS POUR THE HYDROXIDE INTO WATER, NEVER POUR WATER INTO HYDROXIDE !!!
Weigh 400g of distilled water, preferably in a glass container and slowly pour the hydroxide into the cold water. This reaction will cause a high temperature up to about 90°C. Watch out for fumes. When stirring, it is better to tilt your head away. Measure the temperature of the solution and wait until it reaches 60 - 70°C. In addition, measure the temperature of the oil. If it is also 60 - 70°C, stop heating. Then slowly add the hydroxide solution to the oil. Stir with a whisk, or use a hand mixer. If the mixture starts to bubble (too high a temperature), cool in cold water - cool by stirring. Keep the mixture at 70°C until it has set. Cover with a lid and leave to cook in a water bath for 3 hours. Check every 30 minutes to see if the fat has rendered from the mixture, if so, stir in and continue cooking.After 3 hours , make a test: dilute 40g of the mixture in 80g of warm distilled water and leave to cool. If the liquid is cloudy, boil for another 30-60 minutes. Then repeat the test.
Dilute the mass 1:1 in warm distilled water, stir until dissolved or allow to dissolve freely. You can dissolve only part of the paste, store the rest in a bag in the refrigerator to use later. Measure the pH and adjust with a solution of citric acid and water (1:4 acid : water).We prefer to add it slowly, a spoonful at a time, stir it, let it sit for a while and remeasure it until we reach a pH value of 8-9. Don't know how to properly measure the pH of a product? You can find out on our blog in the article Measuring the pH of a product.
Then we can add essential oils and colors depending on what someone likes. I didn't dye mine, but mica powders are good, which we dilute in a little liquid soap and then mix in the desired amount. You can also add essential oils, we prefer to add less and gradually max 0.5 - 1% by weight.
The essential step of the whole liquid soap making process is to let the soap mature and stand for at least 1 to 2 weeks. Aging is important to allow all the mixed ingredients to settle and for the whole soap to get the right pH. If aging does not occur and the soap is used right away, it could have adverse effects on our skin. Let it rest and it will repay you with its quality.
We hope you enjoyed making liquid soap with us. We hope our post with the procedure and important tips helped you throughout the making process. Have you made your liquid soap following our process? Share your tricks and tips with us. What ingredients did you use? What is your favorite scent? We're interested in all of that. Let's discuss, create a community and learn from each other.Do the saponification, my friends.
