Homemade Soap

Seakay

Does anyone know where potassium hydroxide can be purchased - I've tried Googling but just come across lab supply sites which are slightly scary as they seem to imply that there are loads of different sorts and I don't know that much about it.
I just want to have a go at making liquid soap with a possible view to using this to make shampoo, washing up liquid, bath stuff etc

rosieben

Great thread!

Seakey, have you checked out the links on pages 1 or 2 of this thread - there are a couple of soap-making suppliers, maybe they sell it?

I've really enjoyed this thread and fancy making some CP soap. I've made a note of the good advice and off to check out some websites for more information - thanks Angelina!! :T

Seakay

Good thought rosiebien, but I re-read the whole thread before posting and found nothing.
I have Googled potassium hydroxide buy but don't know enough about what I actually want to sort out if there is a company I can approach to buy from - as I said, there seems to be different grades/strengths and most that come up seem to be linked to labs or industry.
Does anyone have any experience or information which could point me in the right direction?

Angelina-M

The soapkitchen.co.uk sells it. Its not expensive however there are laws about shipping lye so it may cost you more if it has to be sent by carrier. Often cheaper to buy a few things from them.

Seakay

Thanks very much Angelina-M, they have pretty good prices for oils etc so I'm going to take this opportunity to stock up.

melimel

Angelina-M wrote: »

Hi there.

Everyone is different and thats great, i'd hate loads of clones of me everywhere!

I have chosen to decide what I put in and on my body as much as I possibly can. I make my own beauty products and my own food items because I want the best for me. I could go up to Mcdonalds drive in and get a juicy burger for no effort at all, but i'd rather spend an hour mincing some beef and making my own. The satisfaction of feeding my family in this wholesome way is tremendous!

Same with soaps. I know not all Lush soaps have SLS in them, but there are other things in there too such as Titanium Dioxide and whilst this is classed as a safe additive, its also added to paint and cement and that makes me shudder.

Another thing that worries me is the colourings, the bright pink soaps look great, but I cant make anything like that with my natural soaps, the nearest I can get is bright orange from carrots, or white from using milks and light oils like shea butter. But thats ok because whilst my homemade soaps isn't flourescant, it is natural and that is what im looking for. And I do believe my skin thanks me as I really dont have a need for handcreams etc anymore as my skin is not at all dry.

Its a choice we all have. For me, the purest route is what drives me :-)

Hi Angelina-M I've just stumbled across this thread whilst trying to research soap making.
2 things: have you tried making beetroot juice/water to make pink soap - I know it's used in food these days as a natural alternative?
My husbands family are olive farmers in turkey and have just returned from a fairly dull couple of weeks but spent a day with ma in law making soap. I'm trying to figure out what they do as they were totally unable to explain their process, when I do I will post again to let you know about their ultra traditional methods - my soap is lovely though!!

Angelina-M

melimel wrote: »

Hi Angelina-M I've just stumbled across this thread whilst trying to research soap making.
2 things: have you tried making beetroot juice/water to make pink soap - I know it's used in food these days as a natural alternative?
My husbands family are olive farmers in turkey and have just returned from a fairly dull couple of weeks but spent a day with ma in law making soap. I'm trying to figure out what they do as they were totally unable to explain their process, when I do I will post again to let you know about their ultra traditional methods - my soap is lovely though!!

I'm a bit stuck, do you mean they make soap the traditional way, the cold process method? If so its a simple process of oils and lye going through whats known as saponification. I agree with you though, the soap is gorgeous!

As for the beetroot juice, I've never used it... hate the stuff lol but I expect that the lye will kill it and the colour will end up brown. Nearly all vegetation turns brown once it meets the lye.

I've done an apple soap that is curing at the moment and its brown. Actually its a nice colour brown, a bit like chocolate. I'll try and take a picture later so you can see.

As I said before, the only real vegetable colour that comes through the lye is the orange from carrots. Even nettles which are strongly coloured turn brown.

Its not such a bad thing though, if you want a natural soap then its good to see it in lovely earthy colours :-)

Angelina-M

Here you go, this is a picture of the apple soap I made. http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i119/cooip/soap.jpg The fresh apple colour doesnt survive the lye process.

I must learn how to post pics properly, I've edited it about five times!

Nice things like lavender flowers dont survive the lye either, they just turn a brown colour :-(

jembie

WOW that really does look like blocks of chocolate - Good enough to eat.
I rally want to start my own soap production. If I start now would they stil be ready for Christmas?

Angelina-M

jembie wrote: »

WOW that really does look like blocks of chocolate - Good enough to eat.
I rally want to start my own soap production. If I start now would they stil be ready for Christmas?

Thanks for the compliment! :-)

Cold process soap needs a minimum of four weeks to cure. I tend to leave mine ages longer than that as they harden even more over time.

If you mean could you be selling them for Christmas, then yes. You need to get some recipes sorted and certified. If you have no experience though its worth taking time learning about the different oils and finding out what properties they bring to the soap.... good luck with it! :-)