Table of Content
- Are these soap bases clear (transparent)?
- A Few Notes on Making Glycerin Soap
- Why is my soap ‘Sweating’ or Slimy?
- Watch This Video Before Starting Your Recipe
- NEW BONUS: Essential Oil Blending Guide
- Easy DIY Clear Soap- Learn How to Make our "Ultimate Transparent Soap" in Less than 10 Minutes!
- Step 7: Store the Soap Bars in Glass Jar
I’d go for Everclear if you can get it or a higher proof vodka. If you can get it in your area, moonshine is legal and goes upwards of 50% alcohol. It may take longer to get your soap to clear with lower proof alcohols, but it will still work.
Please note that the homemade base will thicken up a little faster than commercial base. Also, because the commercial white bases contain titanium dioxide, they will have more pastel tones than homemade base. My favorite is the triple butter soap base, but I realize not everyone has access to kokum butter, so created a double butter version, plus a simpler shea butter version. You’re able to completely control the ingredient list in these homemade bases, and make them as natural, organic, palm-free, etc as you’d like.
Are these soap bases clear (transparent)?
You’ll soon discover why homemade soap is better than store bought. • After you have molded your soap, cover to protect from debris and surface wrinkling, and allow to cool and harden. If you freeze your soap, it will initially sweat due to thawing and condensation. This is normal and will assist in the hardening process.
For this recipe, I use a 4 quart crock pot , picked up at my local big box store. Make sure not to use one with a non-stick or Teflon inner coating since it will react negatively with lye. Ensure you mix thoroughly at every point of the method, but stay within the heating limits as burning elements of your ingredients can also make the soap unstable. This is not a huge problem in the case of your soap sweating and can be easily remedied by using a paper towel to blot to soap. A byproduct crust is created which needs to be stirred so it doesn’t seal the top of the solution, in turn holding the reaction and gases in. Do it too quickly and everything is held in by the crust which creates a volcanic effect and you don’t want caustic lye spraying everywhere.
A Few Notes on Making Glycerin Soap
This is the fun part about formulating and creating your own soap- you can create a soap that fits your needs. Add half of alcohol and glycerin and continue to mix well with the immersion blender. Your mixture should turn liquid and clear. Can you please advise when you calculate the lye amount for making transparent soap do you use the common soapcalc.com or do you need more lye because of the extra additives. I saw another post where the writer used everclear, actually it was a video I watched.
Weigh out 14 to 16 ounces of glycerin and stir into the hot soap paste in the crockpot. Because crockpot temperatures vary widely, your soap may reach this stage sooner, or later than 45 minutes. These photos just show how my crockpot runs. If your soap develops glycerin dew on the surface while curing, you can dab it off with a paper towel or clean (non-linty) dishtowel. It will still melt up fine when the time comes to make projects with it. Visually, I couldn’t tell the difference between cured and uncured loaves of soap base.
Why is my soap ‘Sweating’ or Slimy?
So, using a lower temperature will turn your soap batter solid and so-very-white. I’ve followed the recipe, being able to stick blend when adding all solvents. T the end I’ve just heat it up to 80ºC – 176ºF.
I have never tried honey…that is a great question. Sugar makes the soap clear…I don’t know if honey will have the same effect. You can un-mold it as soon as it hardens, which is usually less than 24 hours. This quick process only takes about 20 minutes from start to finish. You can easily obtain these components while manufacturing clear soap at your local market, or you can visit the VedaOils online store to purchase them at a low price.
Turn your crockpot or slow cooker on high. Add the wax and butters, making sure the butters are broken up in small pieces first, for ease of melting. Add the coconut oil, olive oil, and castor oil, and any other liquid oils that the recipe calls for. Haven't got your copy of The Ultimate Guide to Hot Process Soap yet? Add the chunks of Transparent Soap base in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it for at least 3 minutes.
If you can, put the molds in the freezer, the faster the cool off, the more transparent the soap, if you do not have enough space in the freezer, put the molds in the fridge. I use Everclear, Kathy, which is a grain alcohol. I steer clear of isopropyl, you may never get the smell out of your soap. Denatured alcohol is mostly ethanol, the same alcohol that is in Everclear, but there are additives, one of them being isopropyl.
Food grade propylene glycol or a high % alcohol like ever clear. Spray with alcohol to reduce bubbles on the surface. Not the best picture but you get the idea. It looked a bit cloudy to me so I cooked for 30 more minutes and tested again.
You might notice it turning more translucent and Vaseline-like because it’s gelling, though it will be harder to see with zinc oxide added to the batch. These were added for an extra bit of hardness. Soy wax is a palm-free source of stearic acid (87% stearic acid), which helps harden soap. Beeswax provides a less processed and different way of hardening the soap base. You could possibly swap this with stearic acid .
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