This document provides instructions for making liquid soap using the cold process liquid soap (CPLS) method without heat. It details the necessary materials, ingredients, recipe creation, step-by-step process, and tips. The method involves carefully mixing lye and oils at room temperature, allowing the mixture to reach gel phase, then diluting the paste with water.
This document provides instructions for making liquid soap using the cold process liquid soap (CPLS) method without heat. It details the necessary materials, ingredients, recipe creation, step-by-step process, and tips. The method involves carefully mixing lye and oils at room temperature, allowing the mixture to reach gel phase, then diluting the paste with water.
This document provides instructions for making liquid soap using the cold process liquid soap (CPLS) method without heat. It details the necessary materials, ingredients, recipe creation, step-by-step process, and tips. The method involves carefully mixing lye and oils at room temperature, allowing the mixture to reach gel phase, then diluting the paste with water.
This document provides instructions for making liquid soap using the cold process liquid soap (CPLS) method without heat. It details the necessary materials, ingredients, recipe creation, step-by-step process, and tips. The method involves carefully mixing lye and oils at room temperature, allowing the mixture to reach gel phase, then diluting the paste with water.
CPLS = NO HEAT : SOAP @ ROOM TEMP OR LOWER Before making your soap, please read this entire document carefully. Many details and answers are provided. If you have a question after reading, please post to one of the CPLS groups.
Recommended Materials Gloves (nitrile or tight fitting rubber) Hair Net or Covering Safety Goggles Long Sleeves & Pants + Closed Toe Shoes Plastic Apron Calibrated Gram Scale Lye Safe Pitcher Rubber or Stainless Steel Stirring Utensils Stick Blender Measuring Bowls that can hold up to 12 ounces (carefully sanitized plastic yogurt containers work well) Lye Safe Batter Mixing Container (stainless steel pot, hdpe 4/5 plastic bowl, cold crock pot) Stainless or Disposable Plastic Teaspoon Paper Towels Saran Wrap or Wax Paper Pen & Paper Camera
Ingredients Fresh Distilled or Bottled Water KOH (potassium hydroxide lye, usually 90% purity) Organic Olive Oil (Pomace can be used in a pinch) Sodium Lactate (OPTIONAL) 70-99% Rubbing Alcohol in a spray bottle
Create a Recipe at Soapee.com
Go to https://www.Soapee.com and fill out the Recipe fields as shown: Set the Superfat at 0% or 1% if you prefer Weight out Ingredients using these Figures
Make the Soap
Use Extreme Caution & Room Ventilation Keep Pets & Children Out of the Room Do Not Leave a Container with Active Lye Accessible!
Important – Wear closed toe shoes, long sleeves and pants, gloves, apron, and especially a hair net/covering. – Sanitize gloves, work surfaces, containers and utensils by spraying thoroughly with rubbing alcohol. Re-spray as needed throughout the entire process. Avoid using unsanitary things like a fluffy kitchen towel, or a wooden spoon. – Do not get lye powder on your skin. Wipe up a lye powder spill with a wet paper towel, fold several times, and discard in a safe manner. Do not hover over a lye container, or breathe the fumes. Especially do not get lye liquid on your skin; if you do, rinse immediately and thoroughly with cold water!
Step 1 Don’t forget to take photos! 1. Place a lye safe pitcher on the scale and press the “Tare” button. Weigh out the Distilled or Bottled Water amount from the recipe into the pitcher. Set the Pitcher of water into a clean, empty sink. 2. Weigh out the KOH lye in the same manner. Before moving on, tightly close the lye container and place it where children and pets cannot reach. 3. Slowly pour the KOH lye into the pitcher of water in the sink; slowly stirring until dissolved. It should bubble and release heat & noxious fumes. 4. Rinse the stirring spoon and leave the pitcher in the sink. Do not leave the room while it is accessible.
NOTE: I do not usually advise a new soaper to leave Lye Water sitting around in a pitcher. For a true CPLS, that is what you would normally do to allow it to cool. I seal the pitcher with saran and place it in a sink or refrigerator. I always tape on a note: “DANGER! LYE! DO NOT TOUCH!” Children in the home can greatly increase the danger – please use common sense.
If you feel it’s entirely safe, allow the Lye-Water to cool to room temperature or lower; then proceed to Step 2. Step 2 1. Place one of the smaller containers on the Scale. Press the “Tare” button. Weigh out the Olive Oil and add it to the batter mixing container. 2. Place the batter mixing container of olive oil in the sink; then slowly & carefully pour the Lye-Water into it. Rinse the lye pitcher thoroughly before moving on. 3. Weigh out 16 grams (4%) Sodium Lactate into a small container, and pour it into the container of oils (you can also wait until dilution to add this ingredient). OPTIONAL – not required.
Your mixture may or may not look exactly like this
MIX Step 3 1. Place the end of your stick blender into the batter and tap it to release trapped air. Blend like you would cake batter for 3 to 4 minutes, keeping the head of the stick blender under the surface at all times. If bubbles form, spritz them down with rubbing alcohol. 2. After blending for 3 to 4 minutes, cover the bowl air-tight with saran or a lid, and allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes. 3. If there is a bit of free liquid or separation when you return to the batter, blend again for 3 to 4 minutes, cover and rest for 30.
Repeated Separation is completely normal. There is NO NEED TO STICK BLEND FOR MORE THAN 4 MINUTES AT A TIME. Don’t overheat your blender. Blend for 4 minutes, cover and rest… blend for 4 minutes, cover and rest. At some point the batter will stay together.
Your batter may or may not look exactly like this
4. The batter will reach the Gel Phase at some point. Do not wrap the soap in a towel in an effort to speed saponification – the point of the CPLS method is to soap as cold as possible.
5. Batter that has reached Gel Phase is not always translucent. The color and translucency of the paste is not important, but if it is dark brown with this recipe, the temperatures may be too high. Remember to pour the lye-water only after the oils and lye-water temps are 75-110°F (24-43°C) or lower.
The paste in this photo has reached gel and it looks normal for a true CPLS. If you think your batter has gelled, but you are unsure whether saponification is complete, perform a Zap Test (directions in the Helpdoc below).
Dilute the Paste
Step 4 1. Sanitize everything with rubbing alcohol, and be sure to wear all safety gear. Don’t forget to write down all weights. 2. Weigh the paste: place a sheet of wax paper or saran on the scale, tare the scale, and spoon the paste on. Write down the weight & return paste to the bowl. 3. If you forgot to add Sodium Lactate up front, add 16 grams (4%) to the paste. SL is optional and not required.
4. You’ll be adding approximately 28 oz of dilution water.
Round 1: Weigh out and pour 397 grams [14 oz] distilled water over the paste, cover and check it periodically, breaking up the paste globs with a sanitized spoon. Spritz any bubbles with rubbing alcohol. Continue until the water is fully absorbed.
Round 2: Add another 397 grams [14 oz] distilled water, cover and rest. If you feel the second 14 oz will be too much, feel free to add a lesser amount! Go by what looks right to you. You can always evaporate out excess water (see directions below).
Round 1 Round 2
794 grams of dilution water will achieve a 2:1 water to paste ratio. Your ratio may differ slightly, depending on how much water your paste can hold.
5. Check the thickness by dipping your spoon and allowing the soap to run off. The texture should be similar to a medium slightly warm honey. If you feel it is too thick, stir in more distilled water ½ to 1 oz at a time and allow it to fully absorb before adding more. Near the end of the process, a few small globs of paste may float to the top of the container. This is normal. Do not continue adding water hoping the globs will dilute. Mash them on the side of the container with a spoon and stir, or dilute them separately and add back in.
Total Dilution Water can differ slightly from batch to batch and might go over or under the amount in this tutorial. If your soap ends up too watery, don’t panic: cover the bowl and leave a gap along one edge. Cover the gap with a clean paper napkin or doubled cheesecloth to keep out contaminants, and set the bowl aside. Check the soap periodically until it returns to the right thickness.
LATHER This Recipe should lather well. Keep in mind that handcrafted soap may need a bit more hand “work” to create lather, especially in hard water. To increase bubbles, consider dissolving a teaspoon or tablespoon of some type of sugar in the recipe water before adding the lye. Sodium Lactate, while optional, is an excellent lather booster. Lather will also increase if you sequester paste and preserved soap for up to 4 weeks.
NO CURE CPLS is ready to use immediately; it does not need to cure like bar or cream soap; however, paste and diluted soap is best when sequestered for several weeks in a container or bag with minimal head space. Sequestering helps the pH come down a bit, and makes the soap more mild and bubbly. Paste made with this recipe can be refrigerated or frozen for up to 1 year: I store in Ziploc freezer bags, squeezing out all of the air. I sequester my paste for 6-8 weeks in a refrigerator Video Link: https://bit.ly/Star9Divine_Youtube
I highly recommend working with 4-5 different small recipes before moving on to making a large batch, using scent, color and other additives. Watch over a series of small test batches for a period of months to see the possible changes and to become familiar with all the ins-and-outs of the method before moving on to selling!
WHY ISN’T MY CPLS CLEAR?
A true CPLS is not usually clear right away when made at room temperature or lower. Time is often how I achieve better clarity. This 4-oil batch was created on 3 M ay. As you can see, clarity of this soap improved over a period of 3 weeks. By 24 May, it was mostly clear:
Day 1 Day 7 Day 14 Day 21
I MESSED UP … SHOULD I THROW OUT MY BATCH?
It is very rare that a batch needs to be discarded. There are ways to troubleshoot almost every problem. Please post your questions and photos to one of the CPLS groups!
USE THIS LINK to look up any skin care ingredient: https://bit.ly/2KZA2Lb-Ingredients
