Search results

  1. ChemicalPyros

    Pure Coconut Oil

    Hello TriniKellKells, What you are looking for is commonly known as coconut oil RBD (refined, bleached, deodorized). You should be able to find it at food suppliers. Deodorizing is a long process that may take a lot of your time and budget, because it requires a vacuum distillation unit, and a...
  2. ChemicalPyros

    What am I doing wrong?

    To the best of my knowledge, the most likely culprit in this case is the unrefined shea butter. Unrefined oils/butters have different saponification numbers that vary from batch to batch, and the unsaponifiables that are still present may affect the properties of the soap. So my suggestion to...
  3. ChemicalPyros

    Avoiding Cloudiness/Thickening/Dilution after mixing EO/FO on Liquid Castile Soap

    Hello Adni, It would be easier to help you if you put all the formula. Anyway cloudiness may result from undissolved compounds, it can be solved by adding a solubilizer such as PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil, Sorbitan, Polysorbates, ... In some cases it can be solved by adding glycerin or...
  4. ChemicalPyros

    What am I doing wrong?

    Could you please post the full recipe. and the process. it could be due to a lot of reasons, mainly as SirenSoapsNZ mentioned an excess of lye, if you are using additives such as sodium chloride, citric acid, clays, ... too much can cause this crumbling. It may also be due to the fact that you...
  5. ChemicalPyros

    recipe feedback and opinion

    Thank you for taking my recommendation into consideration. The formula looks great, and in any case, if you have the time and patience try both recipes and compare them, this is the only way for you to learn and become an expert soapmaker.
  6. ChemicalPyros

    recipe feedback and opinion

    The recipe seems good, but I would recommend that you reduce the castor oil to below 5% because it might affect the smell of the soap. Otherwise, the soap is good enough, good luck in soapmaking.
  7. ChemicalPyros

    wire for cutting soap

    Hello @arunagirinathar , Any thin enough string will do, of course it should hold to the stress that will be applied, I usually use thin fishing lines, they have a good tensile strength and can be bought by the roll.
  8. ChemicalPyros

    What are the steps to make soap?

    I forgot to mention, that after pouring into the molds, you should cover the soap with a piece of nylon to isolate it for 48 hours, then remove the nylon and take the soap out. After this step do what you wish to the soap (cut, carve, stamp, ...) then leave the soaps in an aerated place...
  9. ChemicalPyros

    What are the steps to make soap?

    Hello @iram12 , The easiest and most straight forward way to make soap is the following: mix the oils/fats together and heat them if necessary till they form one single homogeneous phase. If you must heat make sure that the final temperature is somewhere between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius. In...
  10. ChemicalPyros

    Liquid Castor Oil Soap using Only Castor Oil

    Hello Narayana, Usually for liquid soap, you start by making a paste, this paste is made of the reaction between the oil and KOH. KOH is made in a solution with water with a concentration of your choice, but usually it is between 25 and 40%. The oil and KOH solution are mixed using a hand mixer...
  11. ChemicalPyros

    Emulsifier in shaving soap.

    Cetyl alcohol (or any other fatty alcohol) is not an emulsifier (a common misconception), it is a skin conditioner, it is mainly used in soaps to replace castor oil, because it gives the same mildness of castor oil with the added benefit of making the bar harder and the foam smoother and more...
  12. ChemicalPyros

    Clay

    Hello GoblinQueen, I use several kinds of clays in my soaps, and I can tell you in summary that: pros: - Smoother and longer lasting foam. - Harder and longer lasting bar. - Depending on the clay and its properties it may help the fragrance stay longer in the soap. cons: - The clays usually...
  13. ChemicalPyros

    Bourbon/Whiskey fragrance oil for soap

    Hello Sundae, Whiskey/Bourbon is a very tricky FO, personally I haven't found the best one for CP, but (and keep an open mind here) I use a Whisky flavor from Symrise, ironically enough it gives the best whisky fragrance in CP (it is dissolved in glycerin and contains 28% alcohol, which is not a...
  14. ChemicalPyros

    Lye from wood ash

    Hello @Yolanda, The early processes of making soaps are very difficult to make nowadays, you need to find alkaline plants and burn then to make the ashes, then add the water to solubilize the alkaline substances present in the ash. and you leave it for a while for the insoluble matter to go...
  15. ChemicalPyros

    Coffee question

    Coffee is very nice in a soap, I use it for special customers, caffeine is a very efficient skin conditioner. You can use the milled beans directly, but my favorite process is to boil the milled coffee beans for a good 20 minutes, then cool the mixture and add lye to it, and finally of course...
  16. ChemicalPyros

    Purple Solid Shampoo Bar

    Violet is really tricky, the most stable ones I used are Mica coloring, some organic dyes work especially when you mix blue and red, but keep in mind that the color change with pH, so I have seen the violet after one month of curing, which makes it a bit difficult ot know if the mixture worked...
  17. ChemicalPyros

    Hello, thank you for your interest in my article, the Pimenta is a different species altogether...

    Hello, thank you for your interest in my article, the Pimenta is a different species altogether, the laurel bay oil can be found mainly in turkey it is a bit expensive but it is worth it.
  18. ChemicalPyros

    lactic acid 80% - ingredients

    Hello Yooper, Please find attached the calculations I use for my lactic acid. I have already added it in the additives section, and used the SAP function to account for the added sodium hydroxide that should be added. As for the percentage, those calculations are for 100% lactic acid, so you...
  19. ChemicalPyros

    Check my post about Aleppo Soap Aleppo Soap - A Soap Stuck In Time

    Check my post about Aleppo Soap Aleppo Soap - A Soap Stuck In Time
  20. ChemicalPyros

    Infusing plants

    Hello, Infusing in the worst case scenario does not do anything, and in the best case scenario it does what you were hoping for. I would suggest that you do both, use infused oil and then dilute with infused water (this way you insure that water and oil soluble molecules are present in the...
Top