Liquid soap

[whitecrow]

Originally Posted by Carol

Liquid soap recipes will be handy if you want a mild everyday soap in your bathroom or kitchen.

This is good information, but it's not enough. I've been a soapmaker for years, so let me shed a little light on the subject.

First of all, I can never fathom why people prefer liquid soaps. They must contain preservatives and often emulsifiers which at the least are not natural and can harm the environment. There are very, very few all-natural liguid soaps out there. Bronner's is the only one I can think of although Alba, Aubrey, Kiss My Face, Jason, Burt's Bees and many others make "somewhat" natural liquid soaps.

In addition to the liquid itself, there is the matter of the packaging. What do you do with it when it's empty? What did you add to the waste stream simply to take the package out of ITS package?

Second, potassium hydroxide is a form of lye, the more common form being sodium hydroxide. These are caustic and poisonous. You must ALWAYS add lye to water - NEVER pour water into lye!!! No exceptions ever! When lye is added to water, the temperature rises rapidly. I pour lye into water that is just short of frozen solid...the temp goes from 32º to over 160º in about five seconds flat. If you pour the water over the lye, it will instantly flash into steam and you will have a wet explosion in your face that can cost you your vision. Do as ya oughtta! Pour the lye into the watta!

And third, while it is true that you mix your oils and simply add the lye solution (mixed with water, tea, milk, or juice), it is important to realize that to make soap, the AMOUNT of lye relative to the EXACT weight of EACH separate oil must be accurately determined. The very first step to making soap is to sit down with a pencil, paper and a calculator. Too much lye or too little will ruin the soap.

Soapmaking is fun and not difficult. I have created a nice little side income with handmade, herbal, all-natural soaps. But unlike baking a cake, it is as much science as it is art.