Cold Process Liquid Soap (CPLS) is a handmade soap created from soap paste that has been diluted over time. The soap paste is created using the Cold Process method of adding oils with potassium hydroxide (KOH). It is allowed to gel using its own heat, unlike the hot process method.
I made a pure coconut bar soap without any superfat using NaOH. It turned out to be the best soap I have ever used on dishes. This made me think, why not try it in a liquid soap?
Coconut oil is known to be a drying soap. Most soapmakers superfat when using it alone because it is so drying. This is what you want for dishes. Who wants a moisturized dish? Don't get me wrong, this soap can also be used as a body soap. I would not recommend using it as such if you have dry skin.
Before I begin, I will assume you know all the safety dos and don't when making soap. If you don't, STOP! Do not try this without knowing safety. Caustic chemicals are no joke.
For this recipe, I decided to add a few things that were not in my bar soap. Some additives and oils act differently in liquid soaps versus bar soaps. This is my formulation:
With all recipes, run them through a soap calculator if you want to try this recipe. I have found Soapee to be a great one. I use Soapmaker3 usually but found that the math didn't add up without having to alter the settings. It is still the best software for soapers.
Knowing how to manually calculate recipes is a great tool. If you do not have this knowledge, I recommend learning it. It comes in handy for making sure the calculators are correct. As we soapers know, it doesn't take much to ruin a batch of soap.
Let's get started.
Gather the ingredients and equipment you will need. Begin by measuring out your Coconut and Castor oil. I prefer to make this Cold Process Liquid Soap in a small bucket that has a lid. It is perfect to make and store the paste keeping it airtight. There is no need to melt the coconut first although you can if you prefer.
Next, measure out your distilled water and set it aside. Then measure your KOH and set it aside as well.
Once those are measured, get your additives ready so you do not have to stop once you get started.
Pictured is sugar (1 tsp PPO) that will be added to the lye water while it is hot. Also pictured is the sodium lactate. In bar soap, it helps with unmolding but in liquid, it helps the paste dissolve better.
Carefully and slowly pour your KOH into your water and stir until it is all dissolved.
Be careful. As you can see, it heats up fast. Next, add your sugar and stir until it melts and completely dissolved.
Once the sugar and lye have dissolved, gently pour the lye water down the shaft of the stick blender to keep the caustic fluid from splashing out. This is the safest pouring method.
Stir with a stick blender until all the coconut oil has melted. This will initially cool down the batter but it will heat up again.
Stick blend for 4 minutes and then rest for 10-15 minutes.
After the first blend-rest period, expect some separation. (see below) This is normal. It easily blends back together with a few pulses from the blender.
After another 4 minute blend, rest again for 10-15 minutes.
There is no need to stand over the batter blending. This will only make you tired and cause your blender to overheat.
As you can see below, there is still separation and the batter is heating back up.
Before the next 4-minute blend was done, my batter seized up nicely and became too difficult for the stick blender. I then turned to the spatula and stirred until it was impossible to continue.
At this point, cover with plastic wrap and secure with a rubber band or string and let it sit for 18-24 hours while it gels.
As you can tell, it kind of looks like it did when we last left it but it isn't. The paste heated up enough to gel and have a shiny appearance. This let me know it was ready.
Next, we take equal parts paste to hot distilled water and dissolve. This takes patience because it also takes time. I know, patience is hard for us soapers.
Once the paste has fully dissolved check for clarity.
I would say that is pretty clear. SMILE!
The ph for liquid soap is not the same as bar soap. You want it to be around 9, more or less. This batch was spot on!
Now for the fun part, dilution. Since this is coconut soap and I will be using it for dishes mostly, I will not be adding in fragrances or colors. Also, I will not dilute past a 1:1 ration water to paste. To me, coconut liquid soap seems thinner than other oils and I am only a fan of thin soap when it is in a foamer bottle.
Heat your distilled water and either gently pour over the paste or add the soap paste to the water. Doesn't matter here. You can dilute it all at one time or just dilute as you need. You can also dilute in stages and add parts of the water slowly, allowing each to soften the paste as you add more.
If you are adding in scents, please be aware that some can change the clarity of your soap if you are wanting a clear batch.
Now that the paste is completely diluted, add your preservative according to the direction of the manufacturer and bottle up. Many will skip this step. Bacterial growth is no joke in water-based items. I see more and more people selling water-based products without any protection and I cringe. If you sell your liquid soap, use a preservative! Also, you can color or scent the finished soap at this point.
I hope you enjoyed this step by step guide to making Cold Process Liquid Soap (CPLS) for Dishes or Oily Skin. It was fun putting it together as a guide to help where I can. In the future, I plan to write a blog on how to formulate a recipe along with tips. Once it is done, I will provide a link here. If you made this soap, be sure to share it in the comments!
Happy Soaping!
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Social media is less than social when it comes to many small businesses. In today’s day and age. everything is surrounded by socialization. We have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc... Everything we do is shared with everyone on our friend's list or with our followers.
When it comes to small businesses trying to grow on social platforms, it is not as easy as it may seem. With SEO and the constant change on the social platforms, small online businesses with limited funds can’t get noticed unless they have a huge dedicated following, make false claims about what they are selling, pay tons of money on ads that may and may not give back 1 click, or fall to their knees and beg.
As a small business owner, I have relied upon Facebook to begin growing my business as so many often do until recently. It was brought to my attention that friends who have me added to see what I post before anything else, see nothing I do. They have to physically go to my wall to see what I have posted. Something isn’t very social here.
Then there is the whole "invite your friends to like your page" thing. You can send out requests until you are blue in the face and still many will not hit that thumbs up even if you danced naked in front of them while holding a sign. Sadly, that doesn’t stop them from sending you requests to like the pages of your competitors... Sigh.
Social media is about being social yet so many that use these platforms aren’t all that social. We can change that by following these 5 things so YOU CAN HELP GROW someone’s small business.
If they are selling something you use, choose to try their products. Chances are they are selling things you buy and use every day or something you would try. You could discover that what they make and sell is better than what you normally choose to purchase. So often, handmade is of higher quality than mass-produced items.
Whether you are purchasing or not, it costs nothing but a click to give a thumbs up to a page or a heart to a post. This helps the small business score and be seen with many of the algorithms on social media platforms such as Facebook.
By sharing their posts to your wall or page, you bring awareness to them that says “HEY LOOK! I EXIST!” Sharing is caring and SOCIAL! Who knows, one day you may need them to do the same for you.
When you do this, you are doing the same as sharing their posts and bring more awareness to their business which helps more than you realize. Even if it is an emoji, show some support. <3
Help them grow their business, their brand, and gain followers by once again increasing awareness. If someone sends you an invite, check it out! Like the page and repeat.
If people do not know that a small business exists, they will either struggle or never grow. If we all support one another in our business ventures, we can all succeed together.
By following the simple 5 things, YOU CAN BE A KEY PLAYER in a small business’s growth and success.
Let's face it, we give more attention to big companies like Walmart and Amazon than we do the little guy.
Its time for a change. Start by following me on Facebook. Let's get social!
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In the south, we believe in sharing. So be sure to share this video with all your friends and family.
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Egyptian Dragon Handmade Soap is naturally darkened & colorant free.
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You only turn double digits once in your life. My granddaughter recently turned 10 and she was having a glow-in-the-dark themed party and sleepover for a few of her friends. I was given the opportunity to make several products as gifts to go in the guest gift bags. Who doesn't like birthday party gift bags?
It was an honor and great joy to be able to do this for her and the feedback from her friends made it worth every second.
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It was a huge success and all the little girls were excited and loved their gifts. What a memory they all made.
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