Dr. Bronner’s soap is a versatile, all purpose cleaner that is a great addition to any household. But let’s face it, it’s can be quite expensive. Learn how to make a multipurpose liquid Castile soap at home. It’s easy, frugal, and very rewarding.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know by now that I love making soap.
Making bars of soap is a lot of fun, and you can experiment with all sorts of ingredients, colors, and other additives to customize your soap exactly as you like. If you’ve never made a bar soap before, take a look at my easy, beginner soap recipe, which shows you exactly how to start making bar soaps and also gives you ideas for customizing the soap to suit your needs. That beginner soap recipe is a modified Castile soap recipe, just like this one.
What is Castile soap?
I call this recipe a modified liquid castile soap recipe because it uses a variety of vegetable oils. Pure Castile soap normally refers to a soap made with only olive oil.
Over the years, the definition of “Castile soap” has been extended to include other soaps made with not only olive oil, but that also add in other vegetable oils. Other vegetable oils are added to change the properties of the soap, normally to give it more lather and make it more cleansing.
Soaps made with only olive oil are on the conditioning side, meaning that they are mild, and not stripping, when used on skin. On the other hand, they don’t form as much lather and aren’t considered highly cleansing soaps.
Coconut oil in soap makes a nice lather and is very cleansing, but it can be drying on the skin when used alone.
Combining a variety of oils allows you to add the beneficial properties of each oil in the soap, making a soap that can be ideal for a number of uses.
Why make your own liquid soap?
While it is fun to make bar soaps, I find it more rewarding to make liquid soaps at home.
Let’s face it, Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile soap is a very handy soap to have on hand, but it can be pretty pricey. By making your own liquid Castile soap at home, you can save yourself a lot of money. (And it’s actually pretty easy to do too!)
What’s in Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap?
Despite the fact that they call it a “pure Castile soap,” it isn’t a soap made only with olive oil. In fact, coconut oil is the main ingredient of the Dr. Bronner’s soap that I tried to copycat (and of all the Dr. Bronner’s soaps that I can find here.)
I chose to try to make a soap similar to the Dr. Bronner’s 18-in-one Hemp Baby Unscented Pure Castile Soap. One of the reasons I chose that particular soap is that it is unscented, and it allows for me to see if my homemade liquid Castile soap has a similar natural scent. (I’ve noticed that my homemade liquid coconut oil soap and my homemade pure liquid Castile soap don’t have the same scent. Both have a mild natural soap scent, but my coconut oil soap smells a lot more like the Dr. Bronner’s soap than my soap made with olive oil.
Interestingly enough, I’m seeing that the version sold on Amazon in the US appears to be different from the bottle I bought at a local shop here in Spain.
Here in Spain palm kernel oil wasn’t listed at all, but in the US it is the oil that is used in the highest concentration after the coconut oil.
In the US, the soap has this ingredient list: Water, Organic Coconut Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Organic Palm Kernel Oil, Organic Olive Oil, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol
You’ll notice that the main oil used is coconut oil, and that all of the other oils are used in a lesser quantity than even the lye itself. (In the case of liquid soaps, potassium hydroxide is the lye used.)
When I made my copycat liquid Castile soap, I didn’t use palm kernel oil because I was trying to copy the bottle of soap that I had at home. I had no idea that they made different formulations of their soap here in Europe.
I tried to make my recipe as similar to theirs as possible, so I used coconut oil as the base oil for my liquid Castile soap recipe, and used the other oils in descending order, using a smaller amount of those oils than the potassium hydroxide just like theirs.
The last two ingredients in Dr. Bronner’s soap are citric acid and tocopherol. Citric acid is likely used to neutralize the soap to keep it on the mild side. (You can read more about that in the section below about superfatting.)
Tocopherol is a form of vitamin E. It is often added to soaps to help extend the life of the soaps as it can help keep any excess oils from going rancid. In the case of liquid soaps that aren’t normally superfatted, it probably doesn’t help as much in this way, but it still may somehow help extend the shelf life somewhat. (Keep in mind that while the antioxidant properties of vitamin E can help extend an oil’s shelf life, Vitamin E is NOT a preservative, and won’t prevent bacterial or mold growth.) Still, vitamin E is a nice addition to any beauty product that will be used on face and body as it helps add moisture and can help soothe skin. You can most definitely add a few drops of vitamin E to your homemade liquid soap when you dilute it to help gain some of its positive benefits when using your liquid soap.
Differences between oils in liquid soap
When I first started making liquid Castile soap, I made the pure Castile soap with only olive oil as often as I made a liquid soap using coconut oil. I figured that for face and body use, the pure liquid Castile soap would be a lot better to use because soaps made with olive oil are milder and more conditioning than soaps made with coconut oil.
I wanted versatility, though, so I was making batches of both types of liquid soap to later combine them dependent on each particular use. The nice thing about liquid soaps is that you can combine the soaps after having made them. I used a mixture of different liquid soaps, using mostly olive oil soap for general bathing and mostly coconut oil for cleaning around the house.
Since then, though, I’ve found that I use my homemade liquid soap made with coconut oil much more than I use the liquid Castile soap made with only olive oil. I even occasionally use it 100% in the shower, and don’t find it to be drying on the skin. I think part of that may have to do with me using the glycerin method of liquid soap making. I use glycerin as part of the water component of the soap. I do it to help make an easier to use soap, but I think the extra glycerin (all soaps have glycerin in them that is made during the soap making process) likely helps prevent drying and makes a more conditioning soap.
Despite its popularity here on the blog (more than twice as many people check out the olive oil liquid Castile soap recipe over the coconut oil liquid soap), I have to admit that I rarely make that recipe anymore. I find myself often making double batches of the liquid coconut oil soap, though. I think people are so used to seeing “liquid Castile soap” for sale, and assume that the olive oil soap, being called “Castile soap,” will be closest to what they would normally buy.
That’s part of the reason that I decided to come up with another recipe that would be a nice, versatile, all-purpose cleanser like Dr. Bronner’s liquid Castile soap. This new recipe would combine coconut oil and olive oil, along with a couple of other oils, to make one batch of all-purpose liquid Castile soap. Some people had no desire to make two different batches of liquid soap, and I totally understand! Don’t get me wrong; either of the other recipes is pretty multi-purpose as well, but this one allows you to make just one batch and use it for pretty much anywhere you’d want to use liquid soap.
This soap compare vs. Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby Mild Liquid Castile soap
Scent comparison
While this soap had a similar scent, Dr. Bronner’s has a natural fragrance somewhere between this soap and that of my coconut oil liquid soap. I think my soap smells a bit more like hemp oil than Dr. Bronner’s version, which makes me think that I used higher concentrations of hemp and jojoba oils than Dr. Bronner’s does. (This, of course, is all guesswork on my part!)
Seeing as how hemp oil and jojoba oils are the more expensive oils in those recipe, that would make a lot of sense. To save even more money, you could definitely reduce those oils in this recipe, but you’d have to run the new formula through a lye calculator first to make sure that you use the right amount of potassium hydroxide. When formulating liquid soap recipes, I usually use the Summer Bee Meadow lye calculator, as I’ve often read that it’s the best calculator for liquid soap making. Not only does it take into account the water component in KOH vs. NaOH, but it also allows for calculating in glycerin and alcohol should you choose to use them.
Color comparison
My diluted soap is slightly lighter in color than my bottle of Dr. Bronner’s. Dr. Bronner’s soap is closer in color to my liquid soap paste. That likely means that their soap is a bit more concentrated than the soap I diluted to use as a hand soap. That makes sense when you consider that Dr. Bronner’s soap is marketed as being very concentrated, and most people dilute it further before using it. If I were to dilute my liquid soap paste with less water, I’d likely be able to make a liquid soap of the same color as theirs.
I would like to say that I’ve also had the bottle of Dr. Bronner’s soap for longer than my homemade liquid Castile soap. I’ve found that my liquid soap pastes tend to get slightly darker with time, so that could be another factor that affects the difference in color.
Use comparison
When using them, both soaps lather up nicely, and neither is drying on the skin. I don’t really notice any differences while using them.
Why use Glycerin (When Dr. Bronner’s doesn’t list it)?
Adding glycerin does add to the cost of making your own liquid Castile soap, but it does have several added benefits.
When I first started developing liquid soap recipes, I remember reading about people who replaced all of the water in the recipe with glycerin. The idea was that it makes the process more fool proof and speeds up the process of making a clear liquid soap.
I wanted to make the process of making liquid soap at home the easiest I could, so I chose to substitute part of the water component for glycerin. I’ve found that not only does it help move the process along quickly, converting the soap quickly into a liquid soap paste, but it also seems to make a very nice, mild liquid soap, even when only using coconut oil. When you take into consideration that liquid soaps aren’t normally superfatted, that’s saying a lot.
When making a homemade glycerin bar soap, I learned how glycerin can be a solvent of sorts that helps make a more transparent soap. My guess is that the addition of glycerin to my liquid soap helps to make it a bit more transparent even when I don’t use excess lye in the recipe.
I also think that the addition of glycerin helps make a liquid soap paste that easily dissolves in water. I’ve read horror stories from people who have a difficult time trying to dilute their soap paste in water. On the other hand, I’ve always easily dissolved mine just by adding some water to it and leaving it alone for a few hours.
What is superfatting?
Superfatting is the process of adding more oils to a soap than what are needed to react with all of the lye used. The idea is that not only will all of the lye be safely converted into soap, but that leftover oils also remain in the soap to help leave the skin conditioned and soft.
While most bar soaps are superfatted, especially those meant for face and body, leftover oils in a liquid soap can cause cloudiness. Because most people are aiming to make a transparent liquid soap like the ones sold in stores, liquid soaps aren’t normally superfatted. In fact, they are normally made with a lye excess and later “neutralized” to bring down the pH from the unreacted lye. You can read more about how to check the pH of soap and how to neutralize liquid soaps here. (The term neutralizing is a bit misleading as it will only bring the pH down slightly to a non-irritating range. You won’t be bringing the soap to a neutral pH. It will still be alkaline.)
You’ll notice that Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap lists citric acid as one of the ingredients. My best guess is that they are using the citric acid to help neutralize their soap so that the pH isn’t too high and doesn’t irritate your skin, all while allowing for a nice, clear, transparent soap.
To simplify things, I’ve calculated all of my liquid soap recipes to be 0% superfatted. Basically that means that if the recipe is followed precisely, you shouldn’t have any unreacted oil or any unreacted lye left.That said, it’s very possible that even if you follow the recipe precisely with a well calibrated scale, that you may have the tiniest bit of one or the other leftover, but it shouldn’t be enough to throw things far enough in either direction to make a big difference. If the soap is slightly cloudy, you may have some unreacted oils, but that will also make for a more conditioning soap. I personally don’t have a problem with cloudy liquid soap, but if it bothers you, you can try making with a lye excess and neutralize the soap later. Or you could go the easy route and use an opaque soap dispenser. (There are some beautiful stainless steel and ceramic ones available.) 😉
If you do end up with some unreacted lye, as long as it isn’t enough to bring the pH high enough so that it irritates the skin, it shouldn’t be a problem. If you find the soap irritating to your skin, though, you can check the pH and try neutralizing the soap. Up until now, I’ve never had an issue with any of my homemade liquid soaps using the recipes I’ve shared with you.
Video
Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby-Mild Copycat (Updated Recipe)
When I originally posted this recipe, I used larger quantities of the hemp and jojoba oils. Not only does this make the recipe more expensive to make, but I also found that it made for a cloudier soap.
I had a reader comment to me that she had made all of my liquid soap recipes, and that while the others were crystal clear, this one stayed cloudy for her. Mine was cloudy at first, but then an opaque layer settled out and fell to the bottom of the jar. Neither of us found it to affect the quality of the soap, but I didn’t really find it to improve the soap either. I decided to give you an updated version of the soap, with reduced quantities of the more expensive oils. I’ve found this updated version to much clearer, and I think it behaves similarly to the soap I bought in the store.
For those who want a soap without the hemp and jojoba oils, try the last recipe on this page. I’m guessing it’s perfectly clear and cheaper to make. I’m not convinced that the hemp and jojoba oils are providing any benefit in this soap anyway. (They are likely added for label appeal.)
Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby-Mild Copycat (Updated)
Materials
- 28 oz. coconut oil
- 8 oz olive oil
- 1 oz hemp oil
- .5 oz jojoba oil
- 9.4 oz KOH
- 20.2 oz distilled water
- 8 oz glycerin
Instructions
- Weigh out all of the oils and add them to a slow cooker on low heat.
- Weigh out and mix together the distilled water and glycerin.
- Dissolve the Potassium hydroxide (KOH) in the distilled water and glycerin mixture in a well ventilated area. Add the KOH to the water and not the other way around. Use gloves and safety goggles when working with potassium hydroxide. the mixture will heat up and get hot. Avoid inhaling the fumes.
- Add the potassium hydroxide solution to the oils in the slow cooker and begin to slowly mix them together.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the oils and potassium hydroxide solution together. At first it will get opaque and thicken slightly, then it will look curdled. Keep blending!
- Continue blending until it gets more opaque and begins to get too thick to blend with the immersion blender. I stopped blending as soon as I felt too much resistance so as not to burn out the blender, and my soap paste turned more solid almost immediately after I stopped.
- Continue to heat the paste, stirring as best you can with a spatula or spoon every half an hour or so. You want to continue to cook the soap paste until it becomes translucent. A good way to check what your final soap should look like is to dissolve a small amount in some distilled water and see if it dissolves clear. If not, continue to process a little longer. You’ll probably end up cooking the paste for a few hours.
- Once processed, you can store the soap paste in glass jars in a cool, dark place until you are ready to dilute it to make your liquid Castile soap.
- Depending upon how concentrated you want your soap, dissolve the soap paste in distilled water. I usually use somewhere between 2-4 parts water for every 1 part of soap paste. I dissolve small amounts at a time and leave the rest as a soap paste until I need to use it. The soap paste will keep for longer than diluted liquid soap.
- You can now add in any essential oils that you want to use to add a fragrance to your soap, or you can keep in unscented. You can also add in a few drops of tocopherol (vitamin E) at this time.
- Enjoy using your homemade liquid Castile soap.
Notes
- This recipe makes 4-4.5 lbs. of soap paste which can be diluted to 10-20 lbs. of liquid soap, or 1-2 gallons, depending on your dilution rate.
- Keep in mind that liquid soap is not as thick as commercial gels and surfactants. You’ll find that this soap, like Dr. Bronner’s, doesn’t need to look thick to be a concentrated, effective cleanser.
- Find more information about diluting your liquid soap paste here.
- Read more about checking the pH and neutralizing liquid soap here.
Dr. Bronner’s Copycat soap recipe (Original version)
This was my original recipe for this post
Version 1: Dr. Bronner’s Copycat
Ingredients
- 25 oz. coconut oil
- 8 oz olive oil
- 5 oz hemp oil
- 3 oz jojoba oil
- 9.68 oz KOH
- 21.05 oz distilled water
- 8 oz glycerin
Instructions
- Weigh out all of the oils and add them to a slow cooker on low heat.
- Weigh out and mix together the distilled water and glycerin.
- Dissolve the Potassium hydroxide (KOH) in the distilled water and glycerin mixture in a well ventilated area. Add the KOH to the water and not the other way around. Use gloves and safety goggles when working with potassium hydroxide. the mixture will heat up and get hot. Avoid inhaling the fumes.
- Add the potassium hydroxide solution to the oils in the slow cooker and begin to slowly mix them together.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the oils and potassium hydroxide solution together. At first it will get opaque and thicken slightly, then it will look curdled. Keep blending!
- Continue blending until it gets more opaque and begins to get too thick to blend with the immersion blender. I stopped blending as soon as I felt too much resistance so as not to burn out the blender, and my soap paste turned more solid almost immediately after I stopped.
- Continue to heat the paste, stirring as best you can with a spatula or spoon every half an hour or so. You want to continue to cook the soap paste until it becomes translucent. A good way to check what your final soap should look like is to dissolve a small amount in some distilled water and see if it dissolves clear. If not, continue to process a little longer. You’ll probably end up cooking the paste for a few hours.
- Once processed, you can store the soap paste in glass jars in a cool, dark place until you are ready to dilute it to make your liquid Castile soap.
- Depending upon how concentrated you want your soap, dissolve the soap paste in distilled water. I usually use somewhere between 2-4 parts water for every 1 part of soap paste. I dissolve small amounts at a time and leave the rest as a soap paste until I need to use it. The soap paste will keep for longer than diluted liquid soap.
- You can now add in any essential oils that you want to use to add a fragrance to your soap, or you can keep in unscented. You can also add in a few drops of tocopherol (vitamin E) at this time.
- Enjoy using your homemade liquid Castile soap.
Notes
- This recipe makes 4-4.5 lbs. of soap paste which can be diluted to 10-20 lbs. of liquid soap, or 1-2 gallons, depending on your dilution rate.
- Keep in mind that liquid soap is not as thick as commercial gels and surfactants. You’ll find that this soap, like Dr. Bronner’s, doesn’t need to look thick to be a concentrated, effective cleanser.
- Find more information about diluting your liquid soap paste here.
- Read more about checking the pH and neutralizing liquid soap here.
Don’t want to use hemp and jojoba oils at all?…
Multipurpose Liquid Castile Soap (Coconut + Olive Oil)
Some people have been asking me for a soap without hemp and jojoba, so I decided to calculate it out for you. I haven’t personally tried this recipe myself yet, but I imagine it would make a wonderful soap.
Multipurpose Liquid Castile Soap
Ingredients
Instructions
- Weigh out all of the oils and add them to a slow cooker on low heat.
- Weigh out and mix together the distilled water and glycerin.
- Dissolve the Potassium hydroxide (KOH) in the distilled water and glycerin mixture in a well ventilated area. Add the KOH to the water and not the other way around. Use gloves and safety goggles when working with potassium hydroxide. the mixture will heat up and get hot. Avoid inhaling the fumes.
- Add the potassium hydroxide solution to the oils in the slow cooker and begin to slowly mix them together.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the oils and potassium hydroxide solution together. At first it will get opaque and thicken slightly, then it will look curdled. Keep blending!
- Continue blending until it gets more opaque and begins to get too thick to blend with the immersion blender. I stopped blending as soon as I felt too much resistance so as not to burn out the blender, and my soap paste turned more solid almost immediately after I stopped.
- Continue to heat the paste, stirring as best you can with a spatula or spoon every half an hour or so. You want to continue to cook the soap paste until it becomes translucent. A good way to check what your final soap should look like is to dissolve a small amount in some distilled water and see if it dissolves clear. If not, continue to process a little longer. You’ll probably end up cooking the paste for a few hours.
- Once processed, you can store the soap paste in glass jars in a cool, dark place until you are ready to dilute it to make your liquid Castile soap.
- Depending upon how concentrated you want your soap, dissolve the soap paste in distilled water. I usually use somewhere between 2-4 parts water for every 1 part of soap paste. I dissolve small amounts at a time and leave the rest as a soap paste until I need to use it. The soap paste will keep for longer than diluted liquid soap.
- You can now add in any essential oils that you want to use to add a fragrance to your soap, or you can keep in unscented. You can also add in a few drops of tocopherol (vitamin E) at this time.
- Enjoy using your homemade liquid Castile soap.
Notes
- This recipe makes around 5.5 lbs. of soap paste which can be diluted to 12-25 lbs. of liquid soap, or around 2 gallons, depending on your dilution rate.
- Keep in mind that liquid soap is not as thick as commercial gels and surfactants. You’ll find that this soap, like Dr. Bronner’s, doesn’t need to look thick to be a concentrated, effective cleanser.
- Find more information about diluting your liquid soap paste here.
- Read more about checking the pH and neutralizing liquid soap here.
Vijay Lad
Best but give exact process and quantities.
sally sumner
if we were making this to sell, do we need a preservative? If yes , which preservative?
thank you, Sally
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Sally,
Well, I don’t sell my soaps. What you need to do will depend, legally, on the country you live in. Most countries want you to do microbial testing on your products made to sell.
Liquid soaps are tricky in that sense. They are normally self preserving because of the naturally high pH of the soap. Also, most preservatives, especially natural ones, don’t really work at high pH’s anyway. I have a bit more information about that in my post about preservatives. (I think I wrote about a couple of preservatives suggested for use with liquid soaps in that post, but I have never used one personally.)
Melanie
Hi Tracy.
I love reading the content on your blog. You make so much of the cosmetic/toiletry products that I, myself, really want to have a go at. Like, just about the exact same formulations that I would be looking to make, eg, this Dr Bronner baby mild liquid soap. I’ve been using for myself & my family for years now and have always thought it would be great to be able to recreate it.
I just wanted to share the ingredients list on my 3.8l bottle of baby mild soap that I purchased in the UK. It appears to be different to both of the versions you mentioned in this article.
Aqua
Potassium cocoate
Potassium palm kernelate
Potassium olivate
Glycerin
Potassium hempseedate
Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil
Citric acid
Tocopherol
So, as you can see, mine does contain glycerin AND it would appear that the jojoba is used in this one for superfatting as it hasn’t been saponified.
Do you think it’s maybe because Dr Bronner have changed their own formulation since your observations about the difference between the Spanish & US versions? Or just that it’s yet another version?!
I remember reading on Lisa Bronner’s blog that the baby mild BAR soap is superfatted with the hemp & jojoba (they’re added after saponification) but that her brothers had made attempts at doing the same with the liquid soap without success. Perhaps they have since had success with using jojoba alone to superfat. If you’d like a link to that information I can email it to you.
Thanks again for the wealth of knowledge & information you have shared, and for doing the experimenting, so we don’t have to!?
Melanie
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Melanie,
I’m so sorry I missed this before- and thank you so much for the information! It’s gold!
I wonder if they do make it differently in different countries because of the regulations- OR- possibly- they may even label it differently according to the regulations for labeling from country to country.
I had never seen glycerin added, though- that’s so interesting!
I find that the saponified jojoba makes things cloudy, so maybe that’s why they didn’t add it that way. I don’t know. With my next batches, I’ll try experimenting with it.
Thanks again!
Mercy
Hi there! I’m really grateful I came across your recipe. I made the first recipe back at the end of April and it came out superb! I stored the paste and have diluted it as needed for several purposes like hand soap in a foam dispenser and laundry soap. I did keep a small amount of it as a liquid concentrate in a glass gallon jar and recently decided to use it for dish soap as I finally used up my commercially bought soap. However I have noticed that when I add it to a sink of hot water it turns the water almost milky and doesn’t sud at all. If I’m understanding correctly, this is due to remaining fats. Do you think I should try and remedy this or would it be just as effective to use as it is for washing dishes? I did add a small amount of tea tree oil to it when I first diluted and stored it.
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Mercy,
Hmmmm. I don’t know. I don’t have that problem, but I don’t normally add it to the hot water. I add it directly to the sponge I’m using to wash the dishes. If it appears to be working well everywhere else, I don’t see why there would be a problem using it like that to wash dishes. Do the dishes appear to be clean afterward? That’s what I’d use to judge the effectiveness.
There seem to be a lot of reasons that the liquid soaps can become cloudy. Some have to do with temperature. Some with the amount of lye, etc. Some with if the saponification process has finished or not. (I don’t think that’s an issue for you at this point.) It can also depend on the oils used. In the end, most of the time it’s more of a cosmetic issue.
Mercy
I did try adding to the sponge and it does lather when I do that. I’ll just stick to that when I clean dishes. Thank you!
Vishali
Hey can we use any other oils like castor oil or something like that instead of hemp and jojoba oil?
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Vishali,
Any changes to oils in a soap recipe really should be run through a lye calculator because the different oils have different saponification values, meaning that they will need a different amount of lye. Because these oils are used in small amounts in this recipe, it’s likely that the changes won’t affect the recipe that much, but it’s something to keep in mind.
In the end, I actually prefer to leave those oils out as they are more expensive and I don’t really notice much of a difference in the soap when using them.
Sandra
Hi Tracy,
If I want to use the recipe to use for showergel and add slsa for more foam. How much should I use and where in the process should I add it?
Hope you have a tip for me!
Thanks in advance!
Best wishes Sandra
( a Dutch girl who moved to Southern Spain!)
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Sandra,
I don’t normally mix soaps and detergents because they work best at different pH’s. I find that soap lathers quite well on its own, and don’t see any need to add SLSA. (I think the soap foams more than SLSA for me anyway.)
SoSo
I am obsessed with trying to make SAFELY make their peppermint version of soap. I’ve hit so many dead ends because i dont know how to exactly do all the calculations. I really want to make this version. Have you posted it anywhere? I absolutely love your page and am extremely proud of your diligence to updating recipes, listening and answering comments. Also to the extreme meticulous detail of this entire site. I’ve been on here ALL day reading and learning. That’s where i mustered up the courage to ask. he he from one mid-westerner to another…i salute you. BRAVO!
ps. i also read that adding the citric acid is so that the citric acid can bond to the lye with potassium or sodium hydroxide to create a salt. not lower the PH. “What is so special about sodium and potassium citrate? Both of these chemicals are Chelators.” Basically they keep your soap from scumming or going randic. ESPECIALLY when someone has hard water or doesn’t use distilled water DURING the soap making process. Chelators pulls metals out of the soap that can negatively effect it. they are electric charges ions and they bond and draw metals together.
I’m a nerd and I also have the website link if you’d like. I just didn’t want to add it on your page without permission. anyways I hope this contributes to the discussion.
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi SoSo,
I haven’t posted a version for that specifically, but I would guess that the main difference would just be the addition of peppermint oil. Do you have a list of ingredients? (I think they vary from place to place, so I’m curious to see what one you are trying to make.) I think all of their soaps, though, are mostly coconut oil, and honestly, don’t see a huge difference in the different liquid soaps. (Olive oil vs. coconut oil) I was quite surprised because the bar soaps made with those oils couldn’t be more different!
That’s interesting about the chelating. I’ll have to investigate that more. I have had some soap pastes for years and haven’t had problems with rancidity. I had one batch go bad, but I think it was because of the container in which I store it. The lid had metal that had come in contact with the soap, and it changed the soap. I can’t remember what happened exactly anymore, but I remember it was weird. 😉
You can tell me your website either here or in an email to [email protected].
I usually remove links in comments after looking at them. It’s not because it bothers me to have a link elsewhere- the problem is that many of the links left for me are for websites that end up being short-lived and they later and up being broken links. I’ve had to spend a lot of maintenance time removing bad links, which is why I prefer removing them from the beginning. It saves me a lot of time years later. 😉
marissa
Thank you for this post. I have been wanting to recreate this soap for a long time! I would love to know how much citric acid to add to add if it helps improve the final product!
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Marissa,
I’ve never used it. This is just me guessing, but I think they probably make the soap with a lye excess to ensure it’s completely transparent, and then they probably use the citric acid to “neutralize” the soap.
I don’t think it would otherwise help in any way.
You could experiment with testing the pH of your soap and adding a small amount to a small portion of the soap and see if you can see any improvement. I’ve never bothered with it, but may experiment with it just for the gained knowledge. 😉
NG
Good day,
I used your recipe for the baby mild but doubled the ingredients. The paste has been cooking for over 12 hours and not turning translucent. Any advice would be great.
56 oz. coconut oil
16 oz olive oil
2 oz hemp oil
1 oz jojoba oil
18.8oz KOH
40.4 oz distilled water
16 oz glycerin
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hello,
Stop cooking it!
I am going to work on a general liquid soap-making post to address these issues.
It should definitely not take that long to cook, so stop cooking it. I’d take a wait-and-see approach.
Generally, even if you aren’t seeing that translucency that I mention, you are probably OK and most likely have a decent soap paste that can be used.
I’d try diluting the soap paste and see what happens. Does it get cloudy? Does it eventually settle and make a transparent liquid?
Even if it doesn’t make a transparent liquid, it may work perfectly fine as a soap. I’ve found that the hemp and jojoba oils can cloud up the mixture.
I’d say test it out and see if it lathers and works as a soap.
Desi
Hi Tracy !
Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes 🙂 But i wanna ask a few things
As we know that Dr. Bronner uses tocopherol and citric acid in it, do you know how much we put tocopherol and citric acid in your ingredients above?
The second question, if I want to add essential oil, how much do we need to put in your recipe above?
Thank you for your attention, I really hope with your reply 🙂
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Desi,
The tocopherol is an antioxidant and was probably added to help extend the shelf life. It’s normally suggested to use at around 0.5% of the recipe by weight. So, for every 100g of liquid soap, you would add around half a gram of it.
As for the citric acid, it’s probably been used to “neutralize” the soap. Liquid soaps are often made with a lye excess to ensure they turn out clear and transparent. To keep them from irritating the skin, the pH is later lowered to compensate for the excess lye.
I choose to make the soap with exact measurements. Mine have turned out clear and transparent anyway, so I can skip the step of adding citric acid.
I have a post that talks more about “neutralizing liquid soap” that may help you understand the topic and help you decide if you want to experiment with that or not.
Desi
Thanks for the answer ! Btw i’ve made it !!
Once again thank u so much Tracy ;D
Geek
Hi!
I was wondering if I could use castor and sweet almond oil instead of jojoba and hemp oil, and how will this effect my soap. Also, can I use Bain Marie since I don’t have a slow cooker?
Thanks!
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Any changes in oils will need to be run through a lye calculator. (I have more information about using a lye calculator here.)
I’m not sure how those oils will react in a liquid soap recipe as I’ve never used those in liquid soap.
You can try using a double boiler. I0ve also heard of people baking the paste in an oven.