Friday, July 27, 2012

Liquid Soap

USA USA USA!!!! Happy Olympic Games everyone!!!

One of my goals this summer was to start a line of liquid soaps!  So I researched a lottttt and finally got around to making my first batch of liquid soap.  I thought the whole batch of soap was going to be a complete fail because nothing seemed to be going the right way according to everything I read about liquid soapmaking.  However, I think it actually turned out pretty good.  Here are some pictures from my soaping venture!!

First, I added all the oils together.  Since I am making liquid soap, I have to use potassium hydroxide instead of lye.  This was right after I added the KOH.

Yahoo things were looking great!!  This is exactly what was supposed to happen after awhile of stick blending! It supposed to go from cloudy to clear.

Okay this is when I started getting worried.  For some odd reason, the soap went back to the cloudy stage after the clear stage.  Yall, that is not supposed to happen so I was freaking out a little bit, but I decided to keep going even though I had no idea what was going on.

The next morning, this is what the stuff looked like.  Now, this is actually not that bad.  When you make liquid soap, you are making a 'soap paste' which you add water to after this stage. The only bad part: this is pretty cloudy when it is supposed to be clear. I figured I would still keep going and if the soap turned out cloudy, I would kick this whole batch to the curb (AKA put it in my bathroom to use up!) I also tested this soap paste with a pH indicator which told me that the pH was stable for skin.  So the venture continues.

I heated the soap paste back up in the crockpot and added water to the mix.  It took a whole 24hours for the soap paste and the water to mix all the way together.  (Uhhh if you are keeping track of the time, yes it took me about 3 and a half days to finish four bottles of liquid soap....) Finally when it finished it was a little cloudy which I expected, but still great soap! But then....

I let the soap settle for about a day and look!  The end result was clear (not cloudy!) liquid soap!  This is super exciting.

However, even after all that jazz, what it comes down to is that it took three days to make this stuff, which that is a crazy amount of time compared to the research I did online.  Somewhere I did something wrong, but in the end the soap turned out great.  I'm off for more trial and error of liquid soap, but hopefully will have this recipe down pat and can start selling it by the fall!

I came up with my own recipe for this soap.  It is made with coconut oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, and castor oil.  I scented this batch with Blue Fir - a blend of grapefruit, fir needle, and coriander essential oils. 

PS - Revive never tests our products on animals, so that is why we need YOU!  If you are interested in testing out our liquid soap, please leave your email in a comment so I can be in contact with you!  Testing the soap will cost $5 - this covers the cost of materials plus shipping the item to you.  You will be required to write a review on the product after you have been using it for awhile.  Please let me know if you are interested!

Have a Reviving day and GO TEAM USA!!!!!!
Caitlin

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful and Kudos for endurance!

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  2. I am going to try liquid soap making too. I just keep forgetting to order the Potassium hydroxide. Great job! It looks wonderful!

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  3. I recentely began the liquid soap adventure as well. I have made 2 batches - both quite liquidy (why did I think I would get a nice thick gel easily?) but good soaps. The second one was intended as a shampoo and I have been using it for a month or so. Once my busy selling season (summer) is over I will be going gung-ho into liquid soaps again and want to be able to release a good one by the end of the year! Good luck with your adventure and keep us posted! xo Jen

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    1. Haha yes I made another batch yesterday and it is quite the experiment! I am hoping to get my recipe down pat so I can have a product that is somewhat the same every batch before I start selling it. Hopefully you will have some luck on your next batch!

      Caitlin

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  4. I've done 2 batches of liquid soap over the years -the second one wasn't bad....but all the TIME it takes! Yikes! I just don't have the patience :(
    I wish you much luck with your liquid soap, I'm sure it will be a great addition to your line. :)

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  5. I am still trying to perfect a liquid soap also - I might need to buy a second stick blender to gt it to trace - it takes soo mich longer than CP soap and the stick blender gets sooo hot!

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    1. Lisa - that's a good idea! But yes, it takes so long! You really have to babysit it. I usually will start a batch in the morning and then keep it cooking in the crock pot all day while I'm making bar soaps or lotions. Usually by the time I get done doing those at the end of the day, the liquid soap is ready to add water.

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  6. I would so test this for you.. let me know if you still need testers. i make soaps too, so i could give you real honest feedback.

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