This DIY liquid castile soap recipe is easy and inexpensive to make. It’s a great multipurpose cleaner, perfect for both your body and around the house!
A couple of years ago, I showed you how easy it was to make a basic beginner soap, even if you’ve never done it before. I understand why making soap can sound intimidating, but once you give it a try, it can become very addicting. Seriously, not only is it a pretty thrifty hobby because you can make large batches that will last you a long time, but it’s fun to be able to customize the soap to be exactly the way you want it and not depend upon what’s on the market.
Even if you’re just a beginner, it’s easy enough to change up your soap by only using different essential oils, or exfoliants like poppy seeds, or other fun ingredients without having to do a lot of research into making a new viable recipe. As you get more experienced, you’ll probably want to take things a step forward and make new recipes of your own and add in milk or pumpkin or spices and colorants. Once you learn how to use a soap calculator, that isn’t really that difficult either.
But maybe, you’d just prefer something a little different?
A liquid soap perhaps?
I’ll have to admit that I was making soap for a very long time before I started making liquid soaps and coming up with a DIY liquid castile soap recipe for you to try. There aren’t as many resources available for making liquid soaps, so it’s a bit of trial and error at first, but once you find a recipe that works out well, it’s pretty simple to make. While it does take a little more time and effort than whipping up a batch of bars of soap, I think you’ll find that it’s well worth it, especially when you take a look at the price of a store bought liquid castile soap.
I want to call special attention to something. When making liquid soaps, you use KOH, potassium hydroxide, rather than NaOH, sodium hydroxide, the lye used in bar soaps like my easy, beginner soap.
What is castile soap?
Technically, castile soap is a type of soap originating here in Spain, and made with olive oil. Over the years, the definition of castile soap has broadened to include other types of vegetable oils such as coconut oil. Dr. Bronner’s Soap, which has probably become the most famous commercial liquid castile soap, even has a greater percentage of coconut oil than olive oil.
When it comes to making a homemade castile soap, though, I was a bit of a purist, and wanted it to be the real deal and made with only olive oil.
Why did I decide to make a pure, liquid castile soap?
The great thing about liquid soaps over bars of soap, is that it is very versatile and you can make several different types and then mix them to the perfect combination for you after having made them!
Soaps made with different oils have different properties.
Soaps made with olive oil, for example, tend to be more hydrating for your skin than soaps made with coconut oil. On the other hand, they don’t lather up as much as a coconut oil soap, nor do they leave you feeling squeaky clean in the same way (partly because they are more hydrating). Pure coconut oil soaps tend to be great for cleaning around the house and for laundry. Pure olive oil soaps tend to be gentle on the skin and great for gentle body cleansing.
The ideal solution would really be to combine different oils when making your soap to get the qualities you want from the various oils you use. That’s exactly what they did when they formulated Dr. Bronner’s soap, and what I did when I showed you how to make a basic beginner soap using a combination of olive oil and coconut oil.
When you’re making a bar of soap, you have to decide what combination you want to use from the very beginning, and your entire batch will have that very same combination.
With liquid soaps, though, you have the advantage of being able to combine your various soaps after the fact, making it easier to experiment with smaller combinations until you find the perfect soap for your need.
That’s why I made a pure liquid castile soap, using only olive oil, and then later made a pure liquid coconut oil soap (recipe here) and I mix them together in differing quantities depending on how I want to use each soap.
The other great thing about making liquid soap is that, unlike with bar soap, you can also add in your additives like essential oils after the fact. This means that you don’t have to divide your batch at trace and work quickly to mix in your different essential oils to each part before the soap sets up. I, instead, make a concentrated liquid soap base, and as I dilute it and mix it using soaps made with various oils, I also decide what essential oils I want to add. This gives me the freedom even months after having made my soap base, to play with fun combinations.
So have I convinced you to give it a shot?
I hope so!
Easy, beginner, DIY liquid castile soap from scratch!
Easy DIY Liquid Castile Soap Recipe
This DIY liquid castile soap recipe is easy and inexpensive to make. It’s a great multipurpose cleaner, perfect for both your body and around the house!
Makes 1-2 gallons of liquid soap. (See notes below)
Ingredients
Instructions
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Measure out the olive oil and begin to heat it over low heat. I warmed mine on the low setting of my slow cooker. A slow cooker is perfect for this sort of job because it will gently warm without burning, and keeping things at a steady temperature. (In the picture you can see that I first thought to try using a glass bowl in my slow cooker as a sort of double boiler, but I later found it too difficult and just poured the ingredients directly in the slow cooker itself.
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Mix together the glycerine and water, and measure out the potassium hydroxide (KOH).
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Carefully add the KOH to the water (and not the other way around!) in a well ventilated area. I usually do this outside. Stir the KOH into the water until it dissolves. It will be cloudy at first, but then it will clear up.
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Slowly add in the the KOH mixture to the warm olive oil, and slowly stir them together in the slow cooker over low heat to incorporate the lye mixture into the oils.
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Using a hand held blender, begin to blend the ingredients together in the slow cooker. In a few minutes the mixture will begin to thicken and look like mayonnaise, and then just moments later will look like a creamy pudding.
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A couple of minutes later, the mixture will begin to look grainy. A lot of people call this the mashed potatoes stage because that's sort of what the mixture resembles. Continue to blend. (If at any point the mixture becomes too thick to blend with the hand held blender, switch to mixing with a wooden spoon, but when working with only olive oil I found the mixture to be pretty workable throughout the process.)
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As you continue to blend, it will start to get creamy again, and you will notice that you will start to see translucent streaks in your mixture. Once you reach this point, you can stop blending with the hand held blender, and begin to stir occasionally with a wooden spoon.
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The mixture will begin to thicken up and become more translucent. We are now working on making a soap base paste which will be dissolved into a clear liquid soap. The process will take 3-4 hours, and you will want to check on it and stir it up every half an hour or so. (See, I told you this takes a bit longer than making bar soap, but the results are worth it!!)
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To check for "doneness," we will look to see if our paste is dissolving into a completely clear liquid soap. To do this, take a small amount of the soap paste and dissolve it in water, and look to see if the water is clear once the soap paste is dissolved. If the liquid is cloudy, you will want to continue to cook the soap in the slow cooker. You can let it cook another half an hour before checking on it again. If it dissolves clear like the soap in my picture, you are finished making the soap paste.
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Your liquid castile soap paste is now ready to be stored or dissolved into liquid soap as needed.
Recipe Notes
- This recipe makes 4.5-5 lbs. soap paste which can be diluted to 10-20 lbs. soap or more. That ends up being 1-2 gallons, or more, depending upon desired concentration.
- Keep in mind that liquid soap is not as thick as commercial gels and surfactants. Liquid soap is of a thinner consistency, and doesn't need to be thick to be concentrated and work well.
Diluting your soap paste
Once you have made your soap paste, you’ll need to dilute it as needed to get your liquid soap. For that, you’ll need to take some of the paste and let it dissolve into water over the course of several hours or over the stove. I used distilled water for my liquid soap to help make sure it will last as long as possible, but for small batches that are going to be used relatively quickly, you can probably get away with tap water without any issues. You can read more about how to dilute a soap paste here.
When I made my first batches last fall, I diluted my various soaps into thick, clear liquid soaps, but was disappointed to find that a week or two later, they started to turn opaque and much thicker.
Why did my DIY liquid soap turn opaque?
It turns out that as the weather got colder, my soaps turned more opaque and thicker just like coconut oil solidifies when in a cold environment!
I wouldn’t have been surprised that the coconut oil soap did that, but my beginner liquid castile soap did the exact same thing!!
I had my suspicions that that was the issue, but wasn’t able to confirm it until this spring when some of my thicker liquid soaps, left as is as an experiment, turned perfectly clear and beautiful again. (update: this winter, my soap has become very thick, opaque and a bit gloopy again. Keep this in mind if you are making this soap in winter!)
So, does that mean you can’t use homemade liquid soap in the winter/cold environments?
No.
You can still use your soap, you’ll just need to dilute it a little more. I haven’t provided an exact amount of water to use for dilution because I’ve found that it depends upon the temperature outside, and what I’m looking for in consistency for each particular use of the soap.
I was curious to compare, so I recently bought some of Dr. Bronner’s soap to compare with mine, and I have noticed that the soap I bought was also quite a thin, diluted consistency. After some reading, I’ve learned that most commercial liquid soaps are later thickened with added ingredients. I prefer to keep mine as natural as possible, so I leave it as is… diluted until transparent and usable in a soap pump.
In the winter, then, my soap is a little bit thinner than it is in the summer, but that isn’t a problem for me.
Why did I add glycerin to the recipe?
This question has come up several times, so I thought it was best to update this post with an answer.
When I first wrote the post, I had studied several methods of making liquid soaps. One is called the glycerin method, and replaces part of the water with glycerin. In theory, that is done to help move the process along and make the liquid soap paste process more quickly. Because this was meant to be a beginner liquid soap recipe, I wanted things to be as quick and fool proof as possible, so I chose the glycerin method.
In the end, I don’t know if it really makes the process quicker and easier or not, but I have found several benefits to adding glycerin to the recipe:
- The resulting soap paste dissolves very easily in water. I don’t need to heat the water nor do I need to leave it for days at a time. I can cover my soap paste with distilled water and in a couple of hours I have a beautiful, clear liquid soap effortlessly.
- I find that even my liquid coconut oil soap is hydrating enough to use on the body despite the fact that it hasn’t been superfatted at all. I think the extra glycerin helps to make a really great, hydrating soap that is clear and doesn’t need extra oils. (I think that’s also why my homemade glycerin bar soap is hydrating even without superfatting at all.)
My DIY liquid body soap recipe:
60-70% liquid castile soap (made with olive oil)
30-40% liquid coconut oil soap (for lather, link goes to the recipe post)
Essential oils of choice.
I mix all of the ingredients together, and keep a bottle in the shower to use instead of shower gel.
I like to switch up the essential oils used in each batch, and have so far tried adding lavender essential oil with a bit of tea tree oil in one batch, and a citrus blend using lemon and bergamot in another.
I’d love to hear what blends are your favorites.
This post is also available in Español.
Hi Tracy!
I just make my own liquid castile soap!
Aaah! So happy that this recipe work so well!
It’s so translucent. I halved the recipe.
At first, it did not turn out like yours step by step. Mine didn’t even reach that mashed potato /grainy stage. Don’t know why. But i just cook it until 4hrs and done the clarity test. And the result looks wonderfully translucent. I’m amazed that i could make my own liquid castile soap!
Thanks so much Tracy!
You’re so welcome, Adrianne!
Thanks for letting me know it worked out well for you. 🙂
Yes, I’ve made this recipe several times since then, and it doesn’t always look exactly the same throughout the process. That said, it always seems to eventually work itself out right.
I think maybe subtle differences in different oils used (from different brands), temperature variations, etc., can all affect the process slightly.
I think liquid soap is one of the best, the most cost effective DIY projects there is. Welcome to the world of liquid soap making!
Hi, Tracy.
Can i half the recipe? Because my crockpot not large enough to make the full recipe.
Really want to try this recipe asap! Hehe..
Thanks.
Hi Adrianne,
Yes, that’s fine! As long as you maintain the proportions, you should be OK! 🙂
Good luck! I hope it goes well for you!
Ok, I started this soap last night and it still isn’t ready. My work area is in my basement and it stays around 68-70 degrees in here. Could it be too could?? Should I turn my slow cooker up to high?? I only have low and high on it. I’m about over this soap, but I don’t want to waste it. HELP!!
Hi Dana,
Definitely don’t throw it out. It could be something about the temperature. Other people have told me that theirs started working when they turned the heat up higher. I’m considering updating the post to tell people that they may need to turn the heat up higher on their slow cookers, but I’m afraid of people burning the soap. I’d give it a try, but would keep a close eye on it.
I will say one thing: I recently did an experiment. It actually wasn’t meant to be an experiment, but I separated out a small amount of the paste before processing it in the slow cooker. I wanted to show the difference between processed and unprocessed paste. The unprocessed was more opaque and white. I set it aside for several weeks, and when I took it out again to take final pictures of my soap, guess what I found? The unprocessed paste had become translucent too!
I’ll be diluting both soon to see what happens, and if I can even tell a difference between the two! It may be that you don’t even really need to process the soap in the slow cooker if you aren’t in a hurry to use the soap. It appears that eventually the paste may get where it needs to be on its own. In any case, I suspect that all of the processing is really only done to get a translucent soap. If you don’t care about that, it’s probably not even necessary. (I’ll be doing more experiments with that, and will try to share the results as soon as I can!)
Good luck!
Hey Tracy ,
thanks for the amazing Blog.
my question is can i use liquid castile soap as hair shampoo?
Hi Salma,
Thanks so much!
I personally don’t use soap in my hair. Soap is on the alkaline side, and I feel like it strips hair of its moisture, and just isn’t the best choice for hair. If you have used other castile soaps to wash your hair before, though, this one would work in the same way. If anything, this one would be gentler because it is made with only olive oil, and most castile soaps sold commercially aren’t pure castile soaps and use mostly coconut oil. Some people use castile soap on their hair and their hair adapts to it, and they like it.
I’ve been working on developing some gentle shampoos using gentle surfactants, and hope to get them up on the blog. I’ve also used my DIY hair conditioner as a sort of cleansing conditioner. It’s worked well for me to a point, meaning I can go a week or two between washing with something else, but eventually I need to wash with something else.
I am experimenting and working on different ideas for people to try, and will try to get them up on the blog soon after figuring out what I think works best. 🙂
Hi Tracy, I love the sound of your conditioner, as soon as I can get hold of some btms (seems a little elusive here) I will give it a try. I use an infusion of rosemary with some citrus EO’s added at the moment, I have used it for yeeaars lol so would be good to try something new.
Hi Pauline,
I hope you’ve been enjoying the sun! 🙂
I wanted to mention last time that if you were using a shampoo base, that shampoos are made with surfactants and not soaps, so that could explain the difference in behavior. Of course, if you were making a homemade shampoo using soap as one of the ingredients, that’s different.
I did make my double batch of liquid soap, but I’ve been using the old one up mostly for cleaning. I haven’t really played much with the essential oils as I still have all of the soap dispensers around the house mostly full. I’ll try to remember to use rosemary next time, though, to see if I have the same problem.
It’s always been difficult for me to find stuff here in Spain, and I normally have to look to the UK and Germany, so it’s interesting that you can’t find BTMS there. I can try to look for it later on. (I’m about to head out right now.) I lucked out and found a relatively new online store here in Spain that has all sorts of natural ingredients, oils, emulsifiers, etc.
I imagine they probably ship to anywhere else in Europe, so you may be able to get it from them. I have no idea how much shipping would be. I buy lots of stuff in bulk, as I’m always making new things, so I usually get free shipping for having spent so much. 🙂
Have a great weekend, and enjoy the weather!
Hello Tracy,
Ooh would you let me know the details of the online store you have found please? I don’t suppose shipping will much different to that from France or Germany.
No I didn’t use a surfactant shampoo base, I used a gentle liquid soap psste, rosemary infusion and EO’s. I know a lot of people don’t think you should use soap for your hair, but mine is doing much better with it than with commercial shampoo.
Must get some more coconut oil then I will make both soap pastes again, then experiment with the essential oils. I WILL figure it out lol The weather took a turn for the worse and we had lots of rain and it felt quite chilly. It seems to be improving though. 😀 Thanks for your help.
Hi Pauline,
I buy from a place called cremas-caseras.es.
I just took a look and they do appear to send to all of Europe. They also send through Amazon. http://amzn.to/2uk7NNt
(That’s an affiliate link to the BTMS)
I’m not sure if it works out cheaper to buy through one or the other. (Their site or Amazon)
So you may want to take a look to see which way works out better. 🙂
Yeah–things have been colder here lately too. Most people seem to be happy about that, but I like pool and beach time with my little guy and easily get cold, so…
I don’t mind the heat. Ha!
Enjoy your summer!
Hi Tracy, thank you for replying, the oil combinations I used were rosemary and lavender, and rosemary and orange. I will try to do a test and see which is the culprit. It is really odd because I use rosemary and citrus oils (blood orange, lime and grapefruit) in my shampoo (made from a different soap base) because it smells divine 😀 and haven’t had this happen.
Thanks again, looking forward to more recipes 😀 Take care.
Hi Pauline,
That’s really interesting. I have often used a combination of lavender and citric oils, but I don’t think I’ve used rosemary in the soap. I don’t know why it would change the consistency like that, though! I do often use a combination of lavender and rosemary in hair products like my homemade conditioner, but that’s a totally different sort of recipe too.
If you do figure out the problem, I’d love to hear about it. I just made a huge double batch of the coconut oil soap, so maybe I’ll try it out on that.
If it does end up being rosemary that’s the “problem oil,” perhaps you can try with lavender and orange. I really love that combination, and I’m guessing it’s pretty similar scent-wise. 🙂
I will let you know when I make my next batch. The weather is really nice at present, so I am enjoying that while it lasts lol we don’t see enough of it here in the UK, so soap will have to wait a while 😀 How did your experiment go?
Hi Tracy,
I made a couple of different liquid soap pastes which came out great. But, I dissolved some of the castile paste (50 gms in 150 gms distilled water) it was lovely like a shower gel consistency, I then added a few drops of essential oil (as I didn’t like the olive/soapy smell) and it changed consistency immediately to that of water 😭 I wanted a nice body wash/shower gel. Any ideas what went wrong and what to do with the next batch please?
Thank you.
Hi Pauline,
Hmm, interesting- that hasn’t happened to me (yet)! I’m sorry that happened and I totally understand your frustration!
What essential oil(s) did you use?
If you don’t like the new consistency, there is something you could try to save this batch.
I’ve been using foaming soap dispensers with my liquid soap, and I really love them! You’re supposed to use them diluted anyway, so the watery texture isn’t a problem. When you pump the soap, it comes out nice and foamy, and you end up using less soap that way! (Plus, I find dispensers easier to use in the shower than trying to open bottles.)
As for what to do next time…
I guess I’d try separating out very small amounts and test them with a few drops of different oils to see which ones are reacting with the soap to change the consistency like that. Once you have a better idea of what causes the problem, you can avoid those oils in your larger batches. I haven’t experienced that myself yet, but it is now something I will be on the lookout for!
I’d love to hear back if you figure it out, and if I find out something, I’ll let you know too!
It’s be great to help other people avoid the same frustrations!
Hi,
Can I use regular cooking pot instead of a crock pot and would that make the cooking process longer? We don’t have them where I live so I can’t buy one. Thank you
Hi Lena,
Well, you can give it a try in a double boiler, being very careful not to let it burn. The reason for the slow cooker is that it stays at a constant low heat and is safe to leave alone for several hours. With this being such a long process, the slow cooker is ideal.
The other, perhaps easier option, would be to bake it in the oven, at least in the later stages. I’d probably try the first part over the double boiler, and then once you are ready to cook it, to bake it in the oven at around 190ºF/90ºC. (That’s the normal temperature for the low setting of a slow cooker.)
Remove it from the oven to stir, and then place it back in the oven to continue cooking it.
I hope that helps!
Hi! I’d love to try this recipe but I have a serious issue.
I do not own a slow cooker. Is it possible to be made in ordinary pot?
If yes, please let me know the cooking time and procedure.
Wait for your answer anxiously! Thank you
Hi Matina,
While it’s possible to make this in an ordinary pot in a double boiler on the stovetop, you’d have to be a lot more careful throughout the process to keep the soap from burning, or to keep from running out of water, as you go. The reason most people use a slow cooker for this is because the temperature is maintained pretty steady and you have a lot less possibility of burning the soap paste.
I have recently seen one other possibility. After reaching trace, you can cook the paste in a pan in the oven (at around 250º F), removing the pot to stir the ingredients throughout the process. That sounds like an easier, less messy way to do things without a slow cooker!
I want to know if potassium chloride is the same as soda ash?
Hello Olaitan,
Soda ash usually refers to washing soda or sodium carbonate. It can’t be used for making liquid soap.
Help!
I measured out all the ingredients exactly.
My original stick blender burned up by the “mayonnaise” stage.
The second blender wasn’t able to handle past the “mashed potato” stage.
I used a spoon and got through all the steps… but it turned into a white stiff, hard lump I haven’t been able to stir.
I put the lid on the crockpot, the very outside of the blob started to look a little yellow/ clear , but the inside is still hard and white.
Is it going to be okay?
Help!
Hi Terry,
I’m sorry to hear your blender had issues with the mixture. I guess I should update the instructions and let people know that they should allow the blender to rest and not use it too continuously, and that if it appears to struggle, to just move to hand mixing.
I wasn’t able to use my blender much for making coconut oil liquid soap, but with this recipe, the mixture stayed thin enough for me to use the blender throughout the entire process. From what I hear, there is a huge difference in types of olive oil, and many people have told me that in the US, many olive oils are diluted with other oils. I don’t know whether or not that is actually true, but if it is, it would definitely explain differences when trying to make soaps with the various olive oils.
I had a very hard time stirring the coconut oil liquid soap, and had to work really hard with steal forks, and spatulas to try to mix it as best as I can. You may want to check out that recipe to see if the process mimics more the struggle you were having.
Having a solid, hard mass, though, does surprise me a bit. You did use KOH and not NaOH, right?
My gut feeling is that it probably is still OK, but, of course, it’s hard for me to be able to assure you without having been there and being able to check to make sure all was done correctly.
If I were you, I’d go ahead and try dissolving it and seeing if it behaves as soap. Castile soap made from only olive oil doesn’t provide a lot of lather, so it’s normal for it not to be super bubbly, but you should get some bubbles. I’d try cleaning something with it to see how it behaves.
You can also check out my posts on diluting the liquid soap, and my thoughts on pH and neutralizing the soap. They may help you get a better idea about the quality of your final soap.
I hope that helps. If you have any more questions about it, don’t hesitate to ask!
Hi Tracy!
Thank you for getting back to me so soon!
Last night I turned off the crockpot, put on the lid and went to bed.
This morning most of the glob was mostly gelatinous and clear with only a small amount of firm foam tracing within it.
I tried dissolving a little of the clear and the same amount of ‘foamy’ in distilled water… the results were CLEAR.
That’s good, right?
I’ll check out the pH and go from here.
Any other suggestions?
Tracy, you are amazing!
Thank you
Terry
Oh, yay!
Yes, that does sound good! I’m sure it all worked out after all. 🙂
Thanks so much, you are too sweet! I’m always happy to help. I know these sorts of things can be intimidating at first- and that things don’t always turn out exactly the same.
As long as the outcome is good, that’s what’s important. 😉
Have a great weekend. Don’t spend too much time cleaning with your new soap. Ha!
Hi Tracy,
Thank you sooo much for such an informative article. I was about to start making the liquid soap according to your formula, but was wondering how you got the amount for KOH, because I was trying to convert to grams, so I did my own calculation for KOH, for 32oz of olive oil, I get 6.08oz of KOH, I am scratching my head on this, I am new to soap making, am I missing something here?
Thank you again for your help, can wait to try your recipe.
Julie
Hi Julie,
There is quite a bit of variance in the calculations of the KOH for liquid soaps in the various lye calculators online. Many places say that it’s because some account for the humidity that may be left in the KOH crystals, making them weigh more or less, and others don’t. Lye calculators don’t seem to vary so much for NaOH used for bar soaps because they supposedly don’t hold water in the same way. 😉
I actually tried out a lot of different calculators at the time I formulated this, and after researching what people had to say, I ended up using this calculator because most people seemed to say it was THE lye calculator for liquid soap formulation. I also liked that it allowed for adding glycerin to the recipe, which is good for beginners because it helps move the process in the right direction more quickly.
I think the Bramble Berry one gave me a smaller amount of lye to use, specifically 6.4oz, but I haven’t seen one so far go as low as 6.08oz. It doesn’t surprise me that there is one, though, as I’ve often seen people complain about the crazy amount of variance in the lye calculators.
I will say that after having made this, my soap is clear and isn’t irritating to our skin, so I think the calculation is pretty good. If you were to use less KOH, you’d probably have leftover oils that would end up clouding up your soap. (I have more information about that, pH, neutralization, etc. in this post.)
I hope that helps, and I hope it works out for you! I love this soap- and actually use the coconut oil soap version even more. (It’s great for general cleaning, washing dishes, etc.)
Hello there Tracy!
I came across your site and am SO impressed with your clarity and passion! This is obviously a “labor of love” for you; evident in the time (and patience!) you’ve taken responding to all the posts you’ve had. Kudos to you, Tracy!
I also have a question that I haven’t seen in the posts. I would like to make an organic liquid Castile soap, and therefore do not want to use KOH (Potassium Hydroxide) aka caustic potash, which is inorganic. I read somewhere that NA²CO³ (Sodium Carbonate) aka washing soda, soda ash, soda crystals, which is organic, can be used in making Castile soap. Also, it’s a natural foaming agent.
Do you have any advice about using this instead KOH? I’m wondering about how this would affect the process – and the ratios.
Looking forward to hearing you thoughts on this!
Sincerely, with so much respect,
Joni
Hi Joni,
Thanks so much for your comment! It really made my otherwise not so great day! 🙂
Now to the challenging part of your question…
One of the reasons that soap can’t be labelled as “organic” in the US is because it can never reach 95% of its ingredients as organic. I remember reading that even water isn’t considered “organic,” so lotion makers will sometimes infuse organic herbs into their water to call it an organic ingredient. (Just found the link now.) Are you sure that sodium carbonate is considered organic? All of the terminology is so confusing- especially when comparing the different meanings of organic, of course. (Is it made from organic farming? Is it an organic or inorganic compound (organic chemistry)?)
Either way, I’m not really sure why it would be to your advantage to use it over KOH. If it’s to make a saleable product, I’m not really sure you can ever really call a soap “organic.” Most people who choose organic products would still choose a soap over a chemical detergent, especially if they know reasonable effort has gone into using quality ingredients and organic oils, etc., when possible.
In any case, back to the question…
I’ve tried to do a search of how to make soap using sodium carbonate, but haven’t found a lot of information. I did find someone who did a not-so-successful experiment.
Sodium carbonate isn’t a strongly basic as NaOH lye, so if it is possible, you’d need more of it. Of course there are lots of stories about how people used to make soap by using ashes from their chimney and mixing it with water to use as their lye. They then mixed that with homemade tallow or lard, or whatever fat they had on hand, to make their soap. The problem with those methods is it’s really hard to get the soap “right” so to speak. It may be a lot more harsh (too much lye) or have too much fat and not be very cleansing. With the ability to buy soda ash now, it seems feasible to be able to calculate an amount and make soap with it, but I’ve never tried it myself.
In any case, using sodium carbonate, if you did make a successful soap, it would almost positively be a bar soap and not a liquid soap. I tried making liquid soap with sodium hydroxide and it definitely doesn’t work the same way.
Sorry that I can’t be of more help. At least I tried. 😉
Hii Tracy,
The recipe looks great and I want to make it.
With what calculator are you using?
Thank You
Oana
Hi Oana,
I cross checked it on a couple of different lye calculators. Right now I can’t remember the specifics, but I can try to take a look at my notes and see if I can find more information about how I chose to use what I did.
There are a couple of them that do help you out with liquid soap recipes, and they now seem to compensate for the humidity that can be found in the KOH crystals.
Hello, I am at the soap paste stage. It looks really good and like it is supposed to. However, when I do the clarity test it is still cloudy. Is this a problem? It seems like you said that it should be okay if I made it to the clear, gel paste stage. Also, if I store it In Paste form will it keep longer? How long does it keep in paste form? How long does the soap keep after dilution? Thank you so much. I’m sorry if these questions were already answered, but I couldn’t find specifics and I don’t want to hurt anyone with the soap. Again, thanks for your detailed and useful recipes.
Hi Shiloh,
I’m going to guess you’re going to be fine.
It may even end up clearing up for you as the weather gets warmer or with time.
The soap being transparent or not is just aesthetic.
I do keep most of it in paste form because I figure that without water, it should keep longer.
I’ve had a batch for 2 years now that is still fine to use (both what I have in paste form and the part I have partially diluted). With time, it may start to smell a bit rancid, which is when you might consider tossing it. That said, you can still use it for general cleaning.
I go more into detail about how I dilute it in my post about diluting liquid soap.
I did have part of the paste stored in a tin that had metal, and it looks like the metal affected the paste. I’m going to try it out in the next few days to see if it’s salvageable or not.
When in doubt, you can always try using it for general cleaning around the house. 😉
I hope that helps!
Hello, made your beginner soap yesterday worked so well, this is my next endeavour, I just wanted to check you keep your mix in paste form and dilute as necessary, if you do keep it as a paste, may I ask how you store it. Unless I missed part of the post 🙂 thank you. Love your work!
Hi Gina,
I’m so happy your soap worked out!
I usually divide up my paste. I leave some in paste form, and semi-dilute some of it for easier combining with the coconut oil soap when I want to mix up another batch. I then fully dilute the small amounts I want to actually use.
This is my reasoning: the paste will keep the best and takes up the least amount of room, but it takes awhile to dilute, and it’s harder to work with when you want to mix up batches of liquid soap.
I pretty much am always using a combination of both this soap and the coconut oil liquid soap, so it’s easier for me to keep both on hand partially diluted.
I talk more about my process in my post about diluting liquid soaps.
Oh, I forgot to answer how I store my paste.
I keep it in a wide mouth glass jar in a dark cabinet in my pantry. 🙂
Thank you! One quick question do you cover the crock pot or leave it open? Asking because the lid makes condensation not sure if that matters. I made it today, I will say that heat makes a difference not all crock pots seem to have the same temps. I struggled in the beginning to get it to thicken but when I turned the crock pot to high it worked very quickly. (I got the crock pot off a freebie site so not 100% familiar with it yet.) I love it I will feedback once I’m done.
It’s perfect looks just like yours! I weighed it for the sake of interest and it was 1.250kgs. Thank you so much for sharing this excellent tutorial
Yay!
I’m so happy to hear than, Gina!
Liquid soap making is really rewarding. I love it.
I hope the coconut oil soap goes well for you too. 🙂
Traté de buscar esta receta en la sección en español pero no la encontré, pero igual entiendo inglés aunque prefiero comentar en español, espero no te moleste. Estoy haciendo una receta que pusiste en los comentarios:
Aceite Castor 1oz
Aceite Coco 1oz
Aceite Oliva 6oz
KOH 1.68
Liquido 5oz
peeero, doblé la receta para q no me salpicara al batir, de esta manera:
Aceite Castor 2oz
Aceite Coco 2oz
Aceite Oliva 12oz
KOH 3.36oz
Agua 7.5oGlicerina 2.5oz
Por alguna razón por más que batí no llegué al estado de “apple sauce” sino que me quedó más gelatinosa y empecé a ver que se separaba el aceite y en el fondo de la olla se hacían como rios líquidos… Sabes que pude hacer mal? La idea es aprender de los errores. Gracias por tu ayuda! Me encanta tu página
Hola Nancy,
No me suena nada la receta esta, y he buscado en los comentarios de esta receta y no lo encuentro.
Sea como sea, nunca he hecho un jabón líquido con esa combinación de aceites. Tengo pensado hacer un jabón líquido con varios aceites para los que no quieran hacer 2 jabones distintos como yo, pero hasta ahora no he probado de hacerlo. Estoy muy contenta con mi sistema de mezclarlos una vez hechos.
Eso dicho, he mirado con una calculadora de jabones, y parece ser buena la receta. A mí me sale que hay que usar 1.66 oz. de KOH, pero eso sería para salir exacta la receta.
Con 1.68, quedaría un poco de KOH, algo común en recetas de jabón líquido para que salgan transparentes. (Después, si causa irritación el jabón, se podría “neutralizar.”)
Sin haber probado con ese jabón en particular, no sé la textura “normal” para ese jabón.
Verás, si miras el proceso de hacer jabón líquido con aceite de coco, la textura era completamente diferente y la pasta de jabón se hizo muy duro en seguida y casi no lo pude remover.
Igual no has hecho nada mal y la receta necesitaba más tiempo de calor y removerlo de vez en cuando hasta que se quedara translucido en algunas partes.
Hi Tracy,
I found your idea to do separately olive oil and coconut a grea idea. So I did the same and it came out well.
I wonder if you have already tried different % combinations to use for toilet cleaner, shampoo, dishwashing liquid, etc using these as base?
Hello!
I’m happy to hear your soaps turned out well! 🙂 Yay!
I don’t really measure anything out, to be honest. I just add a lot more coconut oil soap when I’m doing cleaning. For washing clothes, I only use coconut oil soap. For the shower, I make a mixture of around 50%/50%. I’d probably use more olive oil castile soap than that if it were for just me, but my husband likes the lather and the “clean” feeling that the coconut oil soap gives, so it’s really a matter of your skin and preferences. I use the same for hand washing for the same reason. We use it up pretty quickly, so you can keep experimenting.
For dishes, toilet, etc., you could even use pure coconut oil soap too, or you can add in some of the olive oil soap to help use it up more quickly. I find that I use the coconut oil soap much more, so it gets used up a lot more quickly.
Perhaps I should come up with a hair shampoo idea that combines the olive oil soap with conditioning ingredients or something. 🙂
You can read more about how I dilute and combine it in my post about diluting liquid soap.
Hi Tracy, I was wondering if I could use this instead of Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap. I buy the one without sent and use it for my stain remover recipe and other cleaning stuff. Also in my hand soap foam dispenser. Can I just use the olive oil or the coconut one, or combination?! since Dr. Bronner’s is a combination. This looks like a great recipe and I would also want to safe some money:) Thank you
Hi Klara,
Yes, Dr. Bronner’s is a combined soap that uses more coconut oil than olive oil. Having made both types, I can totally smell the coconut oil in the unscented version that I bought to compare. 🙂
I’d suggest using the coconut oil one if you are going to be using it for cleaning mostly. For hands, I prefer using a combination with some of the olive oil one to make it milder, but you could use just the coconut oil one.
I’ve found it really convenient to make both to add different combinations for what I need for each situation. I use the coconut oil one for cleaning and adding to detergent for washing fabrics, etc.
That said, would you be interested in me posting a combination recipe so that you only have to make one for most general needs?
I could make it a priority to try to come up with a new recipe and make it, film it, and post it as soon as I can get to it.
I’m seen other articles where castile bar soap was turned into liquid castile soup without adding other ingredients, including KOH. (essentially dissolving the cut up bar soap in water…I’m simplifying of course). What would be the difference in usage or functionality between the two methods?
Hello,
I have tried dissolving bar soap into water, and have never been satisfied with the results. I have tried with both homemade and several store bought soaps. Usually I end up with a clumpy mess that ends up separating into a thick, opaque layer and a very thin, watery one.
Functionality wise, I would guess that you would end up with a soap that “works” either way.
The difference I see is that with KOH you end up with a true liquid soap base, that will dissolve into a translucent soap that doesn’t separate. As I’ve mentioned, in cold weather it will likely turn cloudy and thicken up too, but I still personally quite prefer it to a dissolved bar soap.
I recently dissolved a bar soap I made for my dog, and much preferred using it as a bar rather than use it as a liquid on her. I really needed to use a lot more of the liquid, which was very concentrated, than what I used when using the bar itself. I’m not really sure why, though. In any case, it’s just one more example of why I don’t like dissolved bar soaps.
From reading the comments, I can see that people drastically different experiences while making this soap. One this that people need to consider is that a lot of olive oil sold in stores (especially in the US) is adulterated. That means it has been mixed with other oils to make it cheaper (and it usually listed on the label) or it is a blend of olive oils from a variety of locations. In Spain, you are pretty lucky to be able to get EVOO or VOO from a local manufacturer but in the US it can be a challenge. I would suggest that people research the source of the oil that they are using to find out if it is pure.
Hi Sara,
I’ve been wondering if that could be one of the problems, myself.
With soap making, the type of oil used makes a huge difference for the calculations to turn out correctly, so obviously if you are using a mixture of oils, you aren’t going to have a same results as somebody who uses pure olive oil. For some oils, you’ll need more or less KOH.
I think there are a lot of factors that could be contributing to people’s different experiences, but, yes, if they aren’t using a pure olive oil, that could mean the difference between things turning out perfectly, and not making soap at all!
I think the temperature outside and the temperature of each person’s slow cooker could also have a huge difference of how long the process takes, which could make people give up too early too.
I need to make this again soon, so I can make a video of the process and get a better feel for some of the nuances in the process. Hopefully I’ll be able to give some more ideas about things that could go wrong.
I really appreciate your insight, though, to help with one more possible problem area. Thank you!
Tracy HELP!!
Followed your recipe…down to the letter.
Everything was going well; even though it took a bit longer due to winter weather to move thru rhe different stages.
Got it to trace after the mashed potato stage, covered the crockpot and brought all my tools inside to wash and put away. I came back out to give the soap a quick stir and it was completely solid!!
Did my best to chisel it into chunks with 2 heavy duty wooden spoons.
What happened?!
It is still in the crockpot (uncovered) but it resembles whole potatoes that weren’t cooked long enough to mash! Just big chunks!
What should I do?
The coconut oil recipe went so well!
Theresa
Hi Theresa,
I just came to the blog for one quick look on my way to bed, and decided I should at least try to help you out with an answer, even though I have to admit that I don’t know what is going on to make your experience so much different than mine.
Mine never got hard at all, and stayed soft enough to use the blender the entire time (unlike the coconut oil soap).
If it were me, though, I’d actually keep going with it to see if it goes translucent like the other one. I’ve read of other people who have done mixed recipes (ones that use coconut oil and olive oil) that end up with a very solid stage in the middle that they break up as well as they can throughout the process. I assumed that it had to do with the mixture of oils that they were using, but it could just be differences in environment, etc.
I really need to try both recipes again soon. I haven’t made these as often as the bar soaps because I end up with a rather large batch and have enough to not have to make it again in a long time. It’s been so long now that I barely remember the process.
I wouldn’t worry too much about trying to stir it that much. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!
How much soap paste does this make? Also How much liquid castile soap did you end up with one batch of this recipe?
Hi Rebekah,
To be honest, I don’t remember exactly how much I ended up making. It would depend somewhat on how much water has evaporated out, etc. I plan on making it again soon to record video of the process, and I’ll weigh the final amount of soap paste.
The amount of soap made is even more dependent upon how you decide to dilute the soap paste. I find that I usually end up dissolving it with about 1 part soap to 3 parts water (or more). I usually mix it with the coconut oil liquid soap, though, so it’s hard to quantify it. I will say that I’m still using a batch from over a year ago.
HI Tracy, this is so informative! Thank you for sharing ! I REALLY wanna make this , like right now ! But I am a little unsure how to convert the measurement units in your recipe into metric measurement. Is it safe to just convert the weight of potassium hydroxide into grams straight and treat it like any other matter such as salt or sugar for example… As for the liquids (water , glycerine, olive oil), are those fluid ounces or just ounces (weight)?
Hi Abigail,
I’m sorry to have taken so long to get back to you, but you caught me on a holiday weekend here in Spain. We just celebrated 3 Kings Day and my son finally goes back to school tomorrow.
I can try to remember to convert to grams in the morning. I personally also prefer grams for the very reason you stated – Ounces tends to confuse people with liquid ounces and regular ounces. All of the ingredients for this soap were just “regular” weight ounces. I’m not really sure why I went ahead with using ounces this time as I usually formulate my soaps in grams. It may have had to do with the soap calculator I was using at the time because I ended up using different ones for formulating my liquid soaps.
I’m off to bed now, but I’ll try to convert the amounts in the morning! If you want to go ahead, any grams to ounces weight converter should work.
Hi Abigail,
Not sure if it shows up on your computer/tablet/etc the same as mine, but there is a drop down that allows you to convert it right on this page! I thought that was rather clever of Tracy to add that option but being a bit bias as I think Tracy is the absolute Bees’ Knees…here it is for your reference if it is not present on your device for one reason or another:
Ingredients
184.84 g KOH This is not lye (NaOH) that is used in bar soap!
907.18 g olive oil
327.44 g water
226.80 g glycerine
Good luck
Theresa
Thanks so much, Theresa!
Yes, I spent a bit more money on this specific recipe plugin because it did have the ability to convert to metric. I don’t like it as much for recipes which started with cups, but for this sort of recipe it is perfect! I sort of forgot about it when I answered the comment last night.
Thanks for helping out and saving me a bit of time on the conversions! 🙂
Have a great week!
Tracy
Glad you didn’t mind me posting a response to another reader.
I was just trolling/stalking/always on….I mean posting my question on your site when I saw Abigail’s question. I guess the secret’s out that I absolutely adore you and admire and so appreciate all the info and work you put into your recipes that you share with us!
I will definitely work my way up to using paint for the shirts soon!
Have a great week yourself!
Theresa
Hello! I am making this recipe as we speak (well, as I’m typing this 😉) and am pleased to report that after a very slow start to my own concoction thickening up, I upped the heat setting to high on my 4 qt Crock Pot (I cut the recipe in half due to having such a small Crock Pot) and it almost immediately thickened to the desired 2nd “pudding” stage. I’m under the impression that the colder weather may have something to do with it; though I am actually letting it rest for a few minutes between blending sessions. It’s moving along nicely, as I stand with a sleeping baby girl wrapped up on my chest while I soap tonight, as always!
Thanks for the feedback, Jana!
I was wondering why more people seemed to be having more problems with it thickening up now that it’s winter. I was suspecting the same thing, but it actually surprises me since you are making it in the slow cooker either way. It could also have something to do with the fact that different slow cookers emit different amounts of heat. Who knows? It’s good to know that turning up the heat helps speed things up.
I need to make this recipe again soon. I want to get the process on video to help people better understand the stages. Soon luck with it, and enjoy your baby girl. I miss having my little guy strapped to me, but have to say no when he wants to be held too long as he weighs way too much now. Now I’ll stick with snuggling on the couch/bed. 🙂
Yes, thank you.
I will rebatch the soap with the coconut oil and go from there since it will be impossible to know how much lye is actually in any given small amount.
I also wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your posts and appreciate the thoroughness with which you outline your process. When I come across an idea I’d like to try on Pinterest, I find myself searching thru your site first to see if you have posted on the same thing since I would completely trust your calculations over the mass of other ‘bloggers’. I definitely then do purchase any supplies I may need thru your affiliate links as well!
Even my grandson (3) is going thru the same likes as your son at the same age…I am in the process of making the Wall-e & Eve shirts for him as he is obsessed with them now 😉.
May the new year bring you and yours peace, joy & prosperity!
Theresa
Great! Yes, you’d have to do the whole batch at once to get things to be precise. Otherwise it would be more of a guess, which you probably don’t want to do if you want to use it for face and body.
Thanks again for your sweet comments. If there is ever anything specific you are looking for and would like to see on the blog, I’m all ears. I do like a challenge, as you may have noticed. 🙂
Have fun with the Wall-E shirts. I’ve actually made a few of each of them; as he outgrows them I need to remake them in a new size. My son still likes Wall-E and we just put together the cutest Wall-E Lego figure that he got for Christmas. I stopped posting a lot of the kids stuff on the blog as most of those posts aren’t as popular, but maybe I should start adding them again for fun. This last year we did a Paw Patrol Party.
I haven’t been making as many shirts for him lately as his school has uniforms, and it sort of takes the fun out of dressing him in cute things. He only gets to wear his other clothes on the weekends. I’m not a big fan of uniforms, as I tend to think that they crush kids creativity in a way. (Plus, I’m always fighting the ones at our school made out of polyester, which I really think should be illegal, and my son wears a modified cotton one due to his atopic dermatitis.) Anyway, I guess that was off topic, but sometimes you just gotta vent. 😉
Have a great week!
Hello Tracy,
Well, I finally got around to ‘rebatching’ my soap. The holidays are always filled with a lot of traveling and we just got back from Santa Barbara spending a January Christmas with the in-laws.
I decided to add the 14.5 ozs of coconut oil and it is currently in the crock pot now. It is pretty solid (a very thick mashed potato consistency) and I am going to let it cook for a bit more to allow more time for me to make sure that it is completely ‘stirred’ together and homogenized. I think that I will let it dry out a bit without molding it since it really looks too thick to mold and store is the way I did the ‘play doh crumbles’ that I made the first time when I used the lye instead of the potassium hydroxide.
Question: After reading your post on making the bar soap; do I now have to let it cure for the weeks you recommended for the bar soap before I use it? Remember that my plans are to grate up this batch and dissolve to use as a ‘liquid’ soap.
My grandson loves his Wall-E shirts (I too make him shirts in several sizes to allow for his growth spurts ;)) I actually took the easy way out and printed several Wall-E pictures onto Iron-On paper then heat transferred it onto his shirts! Not enough hours in a day, especially around the holidays! My grandson also loves Paw Patrol now…and robots. We’ll see what his interests are when his birthday rolls around in September.
Theresa
If you are going to use it as a liquid soap, there is absolutely no need for you to wait. You can use it right away.
The heating process will allow for the saponification process to finish right away. If you were making it into bars, the wait period would mainly be just to allow for the drying of the soap so that it holds its shape and you don’t use it all up as quickly.
As for Wall-E— if you don’t have a lot of time, you should try out the Wall-E galaxy t-shirt. It really is super quick and easy, and older kids love to help out with it. I was thinking of making a new one soon just to make video for it. This year I want to go through older posts, make videos and update anything outdated, and that was one of my very first posts. 🙂
That said, I can appreciate the iron on method as I’ve used it myself a few times. I have a hard time finding good iron on transfers that hold up well, though, which is what I don’t like about that method. The paints hold up better to washing/drying and feel softer.
Ah-yes, my son also loves robots. I guess we’ll be birthday planning at right about the same time as my son’s birthday is also in September.
Happy New Year Tracy!
Hope your holiday was a good one over there in Spain! Here in San Diego, we enjoyed some much needed rain and got to experience some crisp weather, which I do enjoy around the holidays (even though it was in the 70s for much of the Christmas week).
Just wanted to update you on the outcome of my goof-up when I added lye instead of KOH to this recipe thinking it was one and the same.
Per your suggestion, I went ahead and diluted some just to see how it would turn out (I didn’t measure, just added some of my play-doh crumbles (hehe…soap) into a large mason jar and filled with distilled water. Being impatient, I ended up heating the sealed jar in a pot on top of the stove top. Well it still took a while to dissolve but it turned into a beautiful shade of almost golden-hued (still clear) liquid soap. I have to admit, I found myself admiring my jar of liquid soap for quite awhile until my husband asked me why I was staring at the mason jar! 🙂
I then put the jar on a shelf in the garage and as the weather was getting colder, I saw that it turned considerably thicker and more opaque until today when it became solid and white just like your picture of the coconut oil soap even though I did not add any coconut oil!
I should have weighed out the soap I was diluting but didn’t really think about it since this was just an experiment. It was VERY thin liquid when it first dissolved. I wish I could send you a picture!
You mentioned something in one of your replies about ‘cooking off the excess lye’ as I was reheating the soap…how would one be able to tell? Do I just scoop some out, use and see if it irritates my skin (or worse burn?) Isn’t there a more scientific/exact way to do this?
I am still hesitant to actually use this since I am unsure about the excess lye. I will definitely be ‘cooking’ the soap more as I am rebatching it into a usable liquid soap and would like to know how I can calculate whether or not the lye is sufficiently neutralized. I am hoping to use the final liquid castile soap in household cleaning recipes as well as some face washes.
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.
Theresa
Hi Theresa,
Thank you, and Happy New Year to you too!
So, in the end, you decided to not add either coconut oil or olive oil?
You will most definitely have a lye excess then based on the calculations I did. If you want to neutralize it into a useable soap (for your skin- I’m guessing that it should be useable for cleaning as is, but it should be a very harsh soap), you’d need to add the amount of oil I told you to add in the other comments. Just cooking it won’t neutralize the soap. Cooking it will make the saponification process complete more quickly if you have the right amount of ingredients being used, so it will help complete the chemical reaction between the oils and lye to make a soap. As of now, your oil will have all been used, but you will have leftover lye.
I would put all of the soap together, and cook it with the extra oil. I calculated it to use up all of the lye, so you would end up with a soap that you could use for your body (and even face) too. If you want to use it for your face, I’d probably add the higher amount of suggested oil I gave you (14.5 oz. vs. 14 oz. of coconut oil- or however much olive oil I calculated).
Does that make it clearer?
Good luck!
Happy new year! I would love to try this recipe but I’d be looking to make a gallon of it. Do you neoprene to have the quantities necessary for each ingredient to do so?
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks! Happy New Year to you, too! 🙂
Are you looking to make a gallon of the finished soap?
It really will depend on how you end up diluting the soap, but this recipe should make you over a gallon of finished soap.
I’m going to be making these recipes again soon so that I can record video of the process, and I’ll have a better idea of how to quantify it then, but I’ve been using a mixture of a batch of this soap and a batch of the coconut oil liquid soap for well over a year now.
Hey there!, so I’m about to try this recipe and was wondering about preservatives and antioxidants. If I were to add a soap similar to my product line to sell, would this be safe for the consumer so as to not go bad or grow any bacteria? I saw you mention Dr. Bronners soap which i’m a fan of and it looks like they use tocopherol and citric acid..any thoughts on those ingredients?– thanks!
Hi Brian,
I don’t really know anything about what is needed for commercial soap making. I haven’t really even considered it because here in Spain they make it basically impossible for an individual to legally make and sell soaps. You would need to make a huge investment to legalize it, one that is really out of the reach of individuals in general.
I will say that tocopherol is a good antioxidant that helps keep oils from going rancid, but isn’t really a good preservative per se. I think the citric acid in their soap was mostly used for neutralizing the pH of the soap and not so much for preservation. I sort of doubt that it would work as a preservative at all in soap because of the normal alkaline pH of soap (normally in the 9-10 range). It’s alkalinity in itself probably helps inhibit bacteria to a certain extent.
In any case, I’m still using batches of liquid soap that I made over a year ago, and I don’t really notice any change in them. I do keep the soap mixture pretty thick and only fully dilute small batches at a time, though. I’m not sure how long they should last, but it obviously depends upon how much water is in the final product, the final pH of the soap, what sort of water is used, etc.
The addition of certain essential oils may also help inhibit bacterial growth.
I wish I could have a more concrete answer for you.
Hi Tracy. I’m having the same problem as another poster in that my soap is not doing anything after 20 minutes of blending still very liquidy). I’m curious if I used the wrong measurement of KOH. You say ounces, and I assumed weight ounces since my KOH is flakes. Did I assume incorrectly? Should I have used a liquid measurement of ounces? If so, how would I do that since it is a “dry good”?
Hi Paige,
No, you assumed correctly. I’m wondering if the cold temperatures of winter is causing problems for some people, even when using a slow cooker to heat the soap? Or maybe it’s an issue with different olive oils or KOH (Maybe not all KOH is of the same concentration. I’ve heard about that being a problem with NaOH in bar soaps.)?
I think what I’m going to try to do is to make the recipe again after Christmas, filming myself throughout the process, to have a video that shows what the soap should look like through the various stages. That will serve the dual purpose of seeing what it’s like to try to make this recipe in the cold of winter to see if that affects the recipe for me.
I’m not sure what other suggestions I can give at this point. Did it end up solidifying? Does it seem like soap if you dissolve it after hours of stirring?
What is the ratio for dilution please?
Dalton
Hi Dalton,
I don’t use a specific dilution ratio, and I explain why and how I dilute my soaps in the post about how to dilute liquid soaps. (In the end, it’s probably roughly one part paste to 3 parts distilled water, more or less depending on the temperature of the house, etc.)
Hi, i don’t have a slow cooker or crock pot, could i make this on the stove?
Thank you
Hi Jessica,
I’m guessing that you could make this on the stove, but you would have to be very careful about it because the soap can burn. Keep in mind that it needs to be cooking several hours, and you would have to be around a lot more to make sure things aren’t burning. Perhaps you could try doing a double boiler setup in the later stages to help prevent that, but I’ve never tried it to know how well it would really work.
Thank you for replying to me.. I want to let you know how it worked out. I made a batch using a double boiler set up and i’ve been using the liquid soap for everything… Really everything i’m getting ready to make my second batch this month. At the time i didn’t have a stick blender so i used a hand whisk. My mixture didn’t get passed looking like mashed potato but after 4-5 hours at that stage i tested it and it looked like it was ready so i went ahead and diluted it anyway and as soon as it was diluted it looked exactly like yours. it’s stayed a clear liquid, i’ve used it for household cleaners, hand soap dishwashing liquid, face wash recipes, even my friends have been taking some to use. Looking forward to making batch 2!!
Hi Jessica,
Thanks so much for your comment!
I’m so glad it worked out for you.
I suspect that it just takes a little longer without the stick blender, but because it’s cooking for so long, it’s probably easier to get by without it than it would be for a bar soap.
I need to make a new batch soon, too. I use up the coconut oil soap a lot more quickly than this one because I use it a lot for cleaning, and I’m almost out. 🙂
Ive measured everything perfectly but it’s still pretty liquid-y after about 10 minutes on medium with my hand mixer. Any advice?!
Hi Carla,
I’m not really sure. I can’t remember right now exactly how long it took to thicken up. I do remember that when using only olive oil, the paste never got as thick for me as it did with the coconut oil liquid soap. I’ve received comments from people who have had the opposite problem, and their soap paste has gotten a lot stiffer, but this is the first time I’ve heard about the soap not thickening.
You posted this at midnight my time, but I had to get up with my son and noticed your comment and wanted to respond right away to see how it was going. A couple of hours have passed, so perhaps things have improved with heat and time?
The only other thing I can think of is- Are you sure you are using KOH potassium hydroxide? I received a couple of comments from people who used NaOH instead, the lye they were using for bar soap, and you can’t use it in the same way as you would KOH for liquid soap. That said, I suspect that if anything, you’d end up with a more solid mass rather than a liquid if that were the case. I hope things have thickened up since you wrote. If not, perhaps with a few more details, I can try to help you out in the morning.
Well- I ended up with a whipped version- I added a smidge more olive oil when that happened and it seems to be working better now, 6 hours in. I used KOH, yes. I think it might be too cold in my house for this? The slow cooker didn’t seem to heat it up enough so I have it on low on a gas range. I think it’s finally about done! How did you store the end result? I’m using it for home made cleaners and well, I have A LOT more than I needed.
Hmmm. Interesting.
With some of the other issues, I was going to suggest that the cold weather may be a factor, but then because it is in a slow cooker, I ruled that out. I hadn’t really considered the variance in slow cookers, though. Mine gets pretty hot, almost too much so for making bone broth for hours at a time. Even on the low setting, the broth is simmering the whole time. I remember reading a discussion once about how people were complaining that newer slow cookers don’t really have a low “low” setting, and that bone broth can taste burnt when making it in the slow cooker for as many hours as is normally suggested.
If you added more olive oil to your soap, your soap will probably end up being more cloudy and won’t get as clear in the warmer weather. If it hasn’t separated, which can happen if you add too much oil, then at least you should be able to use it fine as soap anyway. Soap making is normally a pretty precise science, where you have to be careful about getting the measurements exact, or you could end up with either unreacted lye (too little oil) that could burn your skin, or your soap could separate with too much oil. With bar soaps, with too much oil, you normally end up with a really soft bar of soap that takes months to hard, but also can go rancid more quickly. If you only added slightly more oil, and it didn’t separate, your soap should be more conditioning in the end, so it should be quite gentle for using instead of shower gel. It may not be as cleansing, and may have more of a slippery feel when using it. You can add some coconut oil soap to help balance that out if it bothers you.
For cleaning around the house, I personally prefer the coconut oil liquid soap. Pure castile soap made with only olive oil is conditioning, but not as cleansing. You can definitely add this one to your house cleaning mix, though, to use some of it up if you ended up with a lot.
Mine ended up getting pretty thick and solid, though not as much as the coconut oil soap paste. I have part of the pure paste in a jar in a cool, dark closet so that it will keep longer. I then have 2 really big jars of partly diluted soap paste on top of the cupboard in a bathroom we don’t use very often. One of the jars has coconut oil soap and one has olive oil soap. I combine those together depending on how I want to use the soap, and then finish diluting by adding more water to the mix. That’s also when I add in my essential oils. You’ll find that in the winter, the soaps won’t get clear anyway, unless your house is heated a lot more than mine. My house is pretty cold all winter, and my soap gets thick and a lot more gloopy, and then it thins out and gets clear when the weather warms up.
You can read a bit more about how I store and dilute the soap here. I hope that helps, and that the soap works out for you.
Theresa,
I did the same thing on the same day, only with the coconut oil soap (Tracy provided great feedback in the comments under the coconut oil soap recipe)! It was a mess. I trashed the batch and made a new one today with the correct ingredients, and it worked well.
My daughter was so excited, she asked to make the castille soap, so we did! Our hand mixer burned out before getting to the mashed potato stage, so I had to use my spare. It moved through the stages quickly, and after an hour of cooking, the paste is a bit solid. I had to chop it up with a stainless steel serving spoon.
But it’s Soap! Bubbly and slippery on our hands! I’m letting it sit in the warm crock pot to see if it loosens. Then I’ll dilute some and jar the rest.
Again, Tracy, thank you for generously sharing your expertise!
~Annmarie
I’m so sorry to hear about your hand blender, but I really appreciate the feedback because it helps me know how to edit posts to prevent people from having problems in the future. I use a really inexpensive hand blender that I bought at an ALDI-like store, and it has held up amazingly well through all of the hard work I put it through. So, I guess I just sort of assume that if my blender held up through it all, everybody else’s would too. 😛
There is a lot of variance in olive oil, so perhaps different types of olive oil will make more of a solid soap base than others. (Or maybe it’s more of a temperature issue? Who knows?) Since you have already tried the coconut oil soap, though, you’ve already worked with a more solid paste, so I’m glad it didn’t scare you off.
Just a heads up…my liquid soaps are pretty gloopy and even the slightly diluted ones have almost solidified by this time of year, so if yours aren’t super clean and clear looking, don’t worry about it. Wait to see what happens when it warms up in spring. In any case, as you said, “but it’s soap!” 🙂
Mine still works really well, even though it’s not as pretty as it is in warm weather. hahaha
Oh, and yes, the castile soap is a lot more “slippery” feeling. That’s kind of how the conditioning oils feel. That’s why I like adding in a bit of coconut oil soap to give more of a “squeaky clean” sort of feeling.
I’m really happy these are working well for you.
I’ve been playing with more solid soaps lately myself, and have decided that I actually like bar soap better for washing my dog! (Who’d have thought it!) I’ll try to share that post and recipe soon, but first I need to get the seasonal posts out. 🙂
DAG NAB IT!!!
I didn’t realize that I used sodium hydroxide instead of potassium hydroxide until the very end!
Now I have a crock pot full of pastey, crumbling muck (was wondering why it was not going back to a creamy state after it began the translucent streaks)!
Is there anything I can do to salvage this into something usable or is it best to dump the entire batch which would be such a shame & waste 😭
Hi Theresa,
I’m so sorry that happened to you! I’m about to go to bed, but I saw your comment at the last minute, and I wanted to respond to you before I went. First, let me say that I’m going to update both liquid soap recipes tomorrow to make sure it doesn’t happen to more people.
Meanwhile, I’d like to say that while you won’t have ended up with a liquid soap, you’ve basically made bar soap that you can dissolve into a “liquid soap”. It won’t be the same as a “real liquid soap,” but will be useable. I’ll run it through a lye calculator tomorrow to see what sort of bar soap you’ve ended up with. Depending on if it ends up being lye heavy, superfatted, or whatever, you’ll be able to use it for different things. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Tracy
Thank you for taking the time to respond!
I’m hesitant to use my ‘soap’ (resembles dry, crumbly play doh) for anything since the lye content is so high. This is my first attempt at making liquid soap so needless to say I don’t know what I’m doing and will wait on your response once you’ve had a chance to run it through the lye calculator.
Thank you again Tracy, not only for the response but for the great recipes as well.
Annmarie – thank you for your comment! Heading over to the coconut oil recipe now to read all the comments/feedback. My hand blender got very hot during this process and to be honest, I haven’t attempted another soap recipe but I will definitely check to see if it still works before I do 😀
Hi Theresa,
I’m sorry I forgot to write again with the calculations. I ended up doing the same for the coconut oil recipe, and I guess I got confused and thought it was the same one.
For this recipe, if you were making a solid bar of soap, with NaOH instead of KOH, you would want to use somewhere between 4-4.1 ounces of NaOH to get the soap into a good zone for using.
You used 6.52 ounces, if you followed the recipe above, meaning you used about 2.5 ounces too many for the amount of oil.
If you want to neutralize that lye, you’ll want to melt the soap with 20 more ounces of olive oil. you may need to add more water to get it workable, but should use as little as possible.
If you are willing to risk the ingredients, you should end up with a usable bar soap.
You can pour the soap into molds like silicone baking pans or something like that and allow it to harden. I’ve made rebatched soap before, and it isn’t as smooth and pretty as newly made cold process soap, but despite being a little more rustic looking, it still makes a nice soap.
When you add in the oils, you can add in any scents you like or exfoliants, colorings, etc.
You’ll probably end up with a lot, so you may as well have fun with it and experiment. 😉
I hope that helps, and I’d love to hear how it goes.
Oh- if you want to add more cleaning power and lather to your finished soap, instead of adding 20 ounces of olive oil, you could add 14.5 ounces of coconut oil instead!
Just as thought- as with a bar soap you won’t be able to combine them after the fact.
Thank you Tracy!
You are without a doubt one of the best! And I mean it sincerely! I’m definitely a newbie in this arena and spend most of my time reading and doing reasearch!
The time you must spend gathering your ideas, notes and taking pictures all before you even begin to write your tutorials are so evident in your work…and so greatly appreciated!!
As far as my fail pie crust, play doh, I mean soap; I am definitely only using this batch for household cleaning and will rebatch with the coconut oil for the added cleansing power!
Question- Once I rebatch and mold this soap, since I will only be using this for household cleaning, will I then have to melt/dissolve this down even further to use as a ‘liquid’ castile soap for cleaning purposes?
Essentially would I then be following those recipes out there that outline how to turn a bar of castile soap to liquid castile soap?
Not trying to cut corners, it just seems like a double step. Or is this step necessary to neutralize the lye first and then further dissolve as needed?
Thinking about using some of this in my homemade laundry detergent in addition to making solutions to use in spray bottles just to use it all up but don’t want to risk the skin contact if the lye content will just irritate our skin.
Thank you, Theresa!
You don’t know how much I really appreciate messages like this one!
Yes, I do try to take a lot of time to research as much as I can, and take the time to get things right before posting. Even then, I do miss things, but I try to fix everything as soon as I can and help people out as much as I can.
I get really frustrated with blogs that post recipes that just don’t work as if they did, and have heard of cases where they haven’t even tried the recipes themselves! That really bothers me. (I’m struggling with that right now as I’m about to post my recipe for Spanish turrón- after years of trying to get a good recipe, because none of the online ones worked for me- and by the comments on the posts, I wasn’t the only one with issues.)
If you are planning on dissolving it for use like the recipes online that make a liquid soap out of bar soap, then you don’t have to worry about getting it into molds. I’m not sure if it would be better for you to let it dry out slightly before trying to do that or not. You may be able to go ahead and dissolve it right away. Because you are going to be heating the soap anyway, you’re basically doing a warm process soap procedure, so, depending on how long you are cooking the new soap, you may end up using up all of the lye without having to wait at all.
If it were me, and I wanted a liquid soap, I probably would still mold up some of it to keep it as bar soap that I could later grate and dissolve into liquid soap. It just keeps better without all of the water. Plus it takes up a lot less space! 😉
I’d probably dissolve part of it right away and see what happens with it.
For cleaning, it should be fine. You could get away with a tad less oil if you are only planning on using it for cleaning. I told you to use 14.5 oz. of coconut oil to put you in a safe zone for using on skin, but if you only want it for laundry, I’d probably only add 14 ounces of coconut oil then. In that zone, you won’t have as many leftover oils, so it won’t be conditioning to the skin, but it will probably have more cleansing power. In the 14.5 ounce range, though, your soap will be more versatile. Up to you! 🙂
Good luck- can’t wait to hear how it goes.
Hi Tracey,
any chance I can replace the potassium hydroxide with sodium hydroxide? I can only get KOH in bulk lots where I’m from but can get sodium hydroxide in smaller quantities. Sodium hydroxide is also known as lye and caustic soda. I cant find any recipe’s for olive oil liquid soap, only coconut based ones. I’m sooooo keen to try this but keep getting brick walls
Lauren
Hi Lauren,
Well, yes and no…
Sodium hydroxide is what is used to make bar soap. Potassium hydroxide is used to make liquid soap.
So, you will end up with soap, but it won’t be a liquid soap.
I had to buy the KOH online because while I can readily find sodium hydroxide in just about any store, KOH isn’t something that is readily available.
I think I tried once to make liquid soap at the beginning using a mixture of the two, or sodium hydroxide only maybe. I can’t remember what I did or what happened with that batch, but I remember having to start over because I wasn’t happy with it. I sort of learned my lesson about KOH/NaOH the hard way.
I think there are ways to at least make a creamy sort of soap with NaOH, but it really doesn’t turn out the same. I guess it’s more like grating down a solid soap and making it into a liquid soap of sorts. A lot of people do that and are happy with it, but I’ve tried several times and hate the outcome personally.
Thank you, its so awesome to ask a question and be answered honestly and with correct info. I’ve done a bit of research and I can only get 25kg of KOH locally. Looks like I will have to purchase on eBay, most online suppliers wont even freight it here for some reason. I don’t know why but old fashioned Castile soap is so appealing to me lol
Thanks, Lauren!
I love to help out however I can! 🙂
I’ve done a lot of eBay-ing here over the years. I have found soap supply stores online, though, for KOH. Those sorts of stores always have lots of fun things to buy, and I always end up buying a few too many things, that turn into new posts on the blog. hahaha
I love castile soap… and really love the liquid soap with coconut oil that I just finally got up on the blog this week because it’s so great for adding later and for cleaning around the house.
Good luck with your soap adventures!
Hello, this is great. Would you be able to use this for diy shampoo?
Hi Connie,
I have to admit that I still haven’t tried using soap for my hair. I’ve been wanting to do more research and try to come up with a recipe that could be used for hair, or to give using this castile soap myself before making the suggestion for others.
What I have seen online is tips for people who do use castile soap for washing their hair.
First, you should dilute the soap a lot. Second, you should do an acidic rinse after cleaning your hair.
Maybe I should give it a try and write about it on the blog.
My husband and I use the bar soap I make on our hair. After washing my hair, I spray a mixture of ACV and distilled water on my hair and then rinse with cool water. I have long hair so this helps to soften and detangle.
Hi Dana,
That’s great!
I haven’t ever really had luck with either soap nor apple cider vinegar in my hair.
I have tried lots of different “no poo” protocols, the best of which is what I do lately- basically washing my hair with cleansing conditioners. I also wash with my homemade conditioner.
I’m working on making a gentle shampoo with more natural surfactants lately. I should be getting it up on the blog soon.
I always find it interesting how we all react differently to different products. That’s why I’m always looking for different alternatives for people to try. 🙂
Hello,
I love your blog. Just a quick question when using coconut oil. What kind of coconut oil do you suggest? Is it the virgin coconut oil? Refined, Bleached, Deodorized (Processed oil, odorless, colorless) or can a plain coconut oil (with nutty smell) would do?
Thanks!
Hi Chris,
Honestly, I don’t find that it makes that much of a difference in soap. I used to always use virgin coconut oil (which has a coconut smell/flavor) because that’s what I had at home for cooking and everything else. I would buy in bulk from Germany because I couldn’t find coconut oil here in Spain at all.
Now that the health food stores are finally starting to carry different types of coconut oil here, I have tried with several types. There was one that was expeller pressed (doesn’t have a coconut smell/taste) and I have used that in the last couple of batches. I’m not sure I notice a difference at all. I tend to use olive oil a lot with the coconut oil in soaps, so if anything leaves a scent, it’s usually the olive oil. That said, the essential oils tend to cover any scent of the oils.
What is important, though, is to use a coconut oil that solidifies around room temperature, or under 76ºF. There are coconut oils that have been treated so that they won’t solidify as easily, like fractionated coconut oil, that will change the recipe completely.
Going to make some this week. Coconut oil here is plenty (Philippines). Olive oils here are prized and really expensive. Lookin forward to your coconut recipe. Thanks!
Hi Chris,
Here in Spain I have the opposite… Lots of wild olive trees, and olive oil is cheap and plentiful.
Not that I’m complaining, because I love olives, but I’d love to be in an area where coconuts were plentiful. I’m in love with them.
I’m working on the coconut oil soap recipe as we speak. I’m hoping to get it out in the next day or two! 🙂
I think it’s really funny. lol
Hi Chris,
I just wanted to let you know that I finally got the recipe up for the liquid soap made with coconut oil! 🙂
id love the recipe for the liquid coconut soap? when are you going to share the love with that one?
looking forward to making my first batch of liquid castile soap next week with a friend
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for the reminder!
Every once in awhile I need a reminder and a friendly kick-in-the-butt to get a post out. I’m going to add it to the top of the priority list for this week and see if I can get the post out in the next few days. Sound good? 🙂
I hope it goes well for you!
Is it possible making liquid castile soup from solid one? If yes, how?
Hello Baruch,
It is possible to grate and dissolve bars of soap into water, but I’ve never been happy with the results. (You can either melt them into the water over the stove or just allow the soap to dissolve by itself overnight.) A lot of blogs will teach you this method, but I have tried with many types of bars of soap, both homemade and store bought, and don’t like the resulting “liquid soap.”
In my experience, it ends up either very liquid-y, even when you use a large concentration of bar soap to water, or it gets goopy and opaque. It doesn’t make a nice liquid soap like this one.
I personally think it is a waste of a nice bar of soap because you end up using a lot more soap than you normally would, but a lot of people are happy with that method.
Hello Tracy!
I am about to begin making my own soap using your recipe. I am so exited, been looking forward to start days ago!
I have a few questions:
-I have been looking for your pure liquid coconut oil soap but couldn’t find it. Perhaps you haven’t yet uploaded the recipe?
-Would you share with me your experience on how do you dilute the soap resulting from this recipe? And how do you use the dilutions?
I choose your recipe over many other on the net because I liked the way you explained how you use it. It seems very practical!
Looking forward to your reply 🙂
¡Hola Beatríz! 🙂
Yes, you are right. I still haven’t gotten around to posting the liquid coconut oil soap recipe. I had a busy summer in which I didn’t post as much as I wanted to, and right now I’m concentrating on getting my fall/Halloween posts out before it’s too late. It’s definitely on my “to-do” list for as soon as possible as I’ve been working on more fun soap recipes. If you are interested in making it soon, though, I’m happy to try to look for it and send it to you privately.
As for diluting the soap…
I really don’t measure anything out when it comes to the dilutions. Let’s see if I can give you an idea of my system, though.
Right now I have two small jars of the paste in a cupboard, one of the coconut oil and one of the olive oil soap. Then, I also have two large glass jars in one of my bathrooms in which I added some distilled water to some of the paste to get a thick liquid soap. I have that as sort of a middle point for mixing up the soaps I need because it’s easy to further dilute the thick liquid soap than the paste, so you can mix up batches to use immediately. (I hope that makes sense.)
I actually just made a new batch of soap for our shower just around 2 hours ago, so I’ll tell you what I did this time. 🙂
I took some distilled water and filled an empty plastic soap bottle to around halfway. I then took a big syringe to add some olive oil and coconut oil soap until the bottle was full. I added around 2/3 olive oil soap and 1/3 coconut oil soap, but I don’t measure it; I do it by eye. I think that’s a good combination for shower. We’ve been using that sort of combination for a few batches now and the whole family likes it. Today I added a few drops of lavender essential oil to give it a scent. Each time I’ve tried different essential oils.
I will admit that when I mix up the soaps together, they tend to get cloudy (I’m not exactly sure why) and don’t stay as clear as the individual soaps in the picture. I don’t have a problem with that, but some people really want a clear soap, so I think it’s worth mentioning.
I’m about to start experimenting with using the coconut oil soap, mainly, for washing clothes. I hadn’t gotten around to trying it yet because I was finishing up a batch of homemade detergent. My batch is almost used up, though, so I’ll be trying it out soon.
I also want to try it for my dishwasher, but I haven’t tried that yet either.
So far, we’ve just been using it mainly in the shower and as a hand soap. My hope is that by the time I get my coconut oil soap recipe up, I’ll have done more experimenting with more cleansing applications and I’ll be able to comment on those more.
If you do give it a try, I’d love to hear how it goes for you! I’m also happy to answer any questions as best I can along the way.
I checked out your website, and I like the idea. I like the idea of trying to make the world a better place little by little. Keep it up!
Tracy this is pure genius! Best tutorial for making the real deal liquid castile soap from scratch!
Thanks, Krystal! 🙂
Hello Tracy.
Thank you for the great post,it is so inspiring :).
I am making the soap today,but after cooking for 12 hours the clear test in still milky,the (KOH) was milky as well when I started,after 2-3 hours of dissolving. Is my KOH not good or it might be from the water? I used mineral water,not distilled 🙁
Thank you 🙂
Hello Latinka,
Well, it could be due to a number of factors.
If your water is hard, that can affect your outcome.
Also, my recipe was made pretty precisely so that beginners wouldn’t “need” to neutralize their soaps. Most liquid soap recipes use a “lye excess” meaning that not enough oils are used, and leftover lye will remain in the soap. This is done to help ensure a clear soap, but means you have the added step of needing to “neutralize” the soap. It’s possible that if there was an excess of oils in your soap, that the final soap may not turn out perfectly clear.
That doesn’t mean that your soap won’t work, though, and is purely cosmetic.
If it were me, I’d just save what you have and give it a try.
My guess is that you have made a perfectly useable liquid soap that may just be a little cloudy. With some luck, in the heat of the summer, your soap will turn transparent.
Mine is cloudy this time of year, but clears up as the weather gets warmer.