My first liquid soap, liquid shampoo to come, Bar shampoo use.

I was very excited to get to start my first batch of liquid soap yesterday.  I had actually gotten the potassium hydroxide a couple months ago but I was working on my upcycled toddle clothing and couldn't take the time to develop the recipe I wanted to use to make the first batch.  I was making up batches of laundry soap yesterday when I decided it was the day.  I was also trying to take it a little slow and rest up from the last two days of over load.  I made up a batch of laundry soap, not detergent, as detergent is a petroleum product and I don't make petroleum products, for our use and a second for a friend.  I made a third batch and found that the fragrance I used in the third batch made the batch thinner, I had recently deleted one of the ingredients in my laundry soap as it thinned the soap as well.  The ingredient is in the original laundry bar that to make the liquid laundry soap so deleting it had not been a problem.  I will have to test fragrances to determine which make the soap thinner than I would like, the thicker is more efficient in the HE machines.  I made the batches and then went to the computer and used the Soap Calc to make sure my liquid soap recipe would saponify. 

Liquid soap, not made from grating and rebatch bar soap, had come to my kitchen.  The beginning process is very similar so it takes a very similar path in the beginning as cold process soap, liquid soap is actually a hot process soap or cooked soap.  I measured out oils, heated them, mixed the lye (potassium hydroxide in this case and not sodium hydroxide) water and goats milk.   I then combined them and used my stick blender to make a good trace out of the oils and lye mixture.  Once I reached thick trace I poured the newly made soap mixture into my trustee crockpot.  My mother had given me a triple hot pot a year ago when I had gone to visit her after her stroke.  I loved it, to begin with, but found that the little crocks were a little too small for making meals with out having to use more than one at a time.  Poppie bought me a wonderful large one for Christmas last year so I have drafted the three crockpot unit and it is now officially my "rebatcher", I digress.  I had to split the soap into two of the crocks, set it on low and began the 4 hour process of cooking the soap, every 20 minutes I stirred it.  I was very surprised that at the first 20 minute interval, it was very thick, I had to stir it with the potato masher.  I had to cook it until it looked like Vaseline, not just the thick part but to the clear look.  Once I had cooked it to Vaseline stage, the 4 hours, I put it into 80 ounces of water and tried to stir it together,  If you have every tried to, or thought to try, stirring Vaseline into water you know that it is an almost impossible task so, as a tip had told me, I put it in the water, left it on the burner on low and went to bed.  I got up about 4 this morning and it was melted together and lovely clear soap, if it had been cloudy I would have not cooked it long enough to the true Vaseline stage. I have lovely clear soap this morning so cooked long enough. I now have to neutralize it and add fragrance.  My next batch will be a true liquid shampoo.

I do love my bar shampoos, but some of the friends, that I have gotten try it, found it left a residue, made their hair oily or tangled their hair.  I have since found that that, per the Internet sites, is a response to the commerical shampoos on our hair it is used to.  Our hair has had to combat the chemicals in the commerical shampoos with oil and is used to doing it.  So once you try a shampoo bar your hair has a learning curve before it responds to the natural cleansing of the bar shampoo by not over oiling itself. The commerical shampoo strips that hair and the body has to oil it to keep it from being damaged and healthy.  I know that the change was so nice to my hair I would encourage anyone to take the time to wean themselves off of the commerical shampoos and use shampoo bar.  I will see how the liquid ones work, once I finish my first batch, I am thinking that, as they are similar, there would be a weaning curve on the natural liquid shampoo as well. 

I have floors to clean, soap to finish and a party to get ready for.  Poppie is putting in a new dishwasher we got from Bug, nicer than my old one.  I have a studio to repurpose, I am going to split the studio, there is a nature division anyway as there is a half wall in the middle.  I am moving the the carving part so I can shut it off so the dust won't effect my sewing, roving and spinning area. I will be able to get the sewing machine out of my front room and the knitting machine out of my bedroom, yay.   I am also going to let the girls paint their mural and set them up their own drawing and sewing area in a corner of the studio. Too much fun, so can't wait to begin the process, maybe soap making is my new hibernating, who knew..... tomorrow.