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When making cold process soaps, one of the optional additives is sodium lactate. Here is a recipe for a soap that contains this compound, which helps to speed up the hardening of the soap. Therefore, if you are too impatient and want to cut your soap as soon as possible, sodium lactate is the right ingredient for you.
Making solid cold process soap can't do without sodium hydroxide, water, and of course oilsand fats, which are then saponified. To create the colour effect, mica powders were used in combination with titanium dioxide to achieve a more intense white colour.The quantities of ingredients needed are given in grams, as any change in the recipe regarding the fats and oils used requires the entire recipe to be re-calculated using a soap calculator (many are freely available on the internet). This is because the amount of sodium hydroxide required to saponify the fat in question will change. The soap shown was made from 400 g of oils and butters.
Below you will find important hints and tips that can make soap making easier or avoid mistakes.Always use protective equipment, especially goggles and gloves, when working with caustic soda.Work in a well-ventilated room, sodium hydroxide vapours are harmful. As sodium hydroxide produces a large amount of heat when it dissolves, you can replace part of the distilled water with ice prepared in the same way from distilled water, this will speed up the cooling of the solution.To neutralize sodium hydroxide from surfaces and utensils, use a dilute vinegar solution in which to soak utensils for a few minutes before washing them. Likewise, diluted vinegar can be used to clean surfaces.If you get soap on your skin during manufacture, wash it immediately with cold water for a few minutes and you can then rinse it with a diluted vinegar solution to remove any remaining hydroxide. Mica powders or other powdered dyes dissolve more easily if you mix them with oil beforehand. It is ideal to add them through a sieve so that no lumps of dye form in the resulting soap.Add sodium lactate to distilled water. Lactic acid can be substituted, but in this case you need to add a little more sodium hydroxide so that it can react with it to form sodium lactate.In this case, however, an exact calculation according to the equation of this reaction is necessary.The recipe already includes a 5% fattening, meaning that the oils are in 5% excess to the hydroxide, and so this amount of oils will remain unreacted and provide you with skin nourishing and moisturising properties. You can increase the proportion to 8% or 10%. However, it is then a good idea to run the whole recipe through a soap calculator to ensure you are using the correct amounts of all the ingredients.When blending, use a stick blender with a stainless steel or plastic attachment, regular metal will corrode due to the sodium hydroxide. Silicone pastry spatulas are also an ideal helper to make it easier to get the soap into the mould without a lot of residue. It is a good idea to wrap the soap in a blanket so that the higher temperature will promote a chemical reaction and the soap will go through the gel phase. You can skip the IPA spray, but there is a risk of soap dust (a white coating on the surface of the soap), an aesthetic flaw that will detract from the appearance of your soap. If, when you check the pH, you see that the soap has an uneven pH, it is likely that the hydroxide solution has been poorly mixed (some granules have been left undissolved). Such soap is not safe to use. You can also use phenolphthalein solution or papers containing phenolphthalein to check the pH. When using phenolphthalein papers, follow the same procedure as with litmus papers, the papers should NOT turn pink. If you use a solution, drop it on different parts of the soap, it should not turn pink anyway. A pink color indicates high pH levels and thus unreacted hydroxide, such homemade soap is not safe to use.
Find out more about the raw materials used in the production of sodium lactate soap and their possible substitutions or variations.
When making solid soap, it is advisable to combine solid fats and butters with liquid oils, ideally in a 1:1 ratio. Since coconut oil is solid at room temperature, it is a great complement to vegetable butters. You'll especially appreciate coconut oil if you want hard and foaming soaps. Conversely, pure coconut oil soaps are slightly less nourishing to the skin, so it's a good idea to combine this oil with other liquid vegetable oils to make a softer soap with a creamier lather.
Cocoa butter is particularly suitable for complementing coconut oil. This butter is popular for making solid soaps as it is easy to work with, giving a firm yet nourishing soap. You can substitute it for other vegetable butters, but in this case you need to re-read the recipe on a soap calculator (the amount of sodium hydroxide needed will change).
A softer butter suitable for softening soap and treating the skin is shea butter. This butter is well-priced and has universal use in many types of cosmetics, so if you have leftovers, be sure to use this butter in other cosmetic projects.
The basic liquid oil for soap making is olive oil. This oil is very popular in soap making, it forms the basis of Castilian soap, for example. Its slightly greenish colour can cause the soap to turn yellow, so if you want the added mica powders to stand out better, combine olive oil with other less coloured oils.
Cottonseed oil brings valuable vitamins and minerals to the skin. It softens and emollients the soap (a soap with 100% cottonseed oil would be too soft and would not provide enough lather).
Apricot oil is very well tolerated by the skin, absorbs quickly and brings hydration to the skin.In soaps, because of its minimal colouring, it makes the dyes used stand out. Feel free to add your favourite oil to your soap, but always check the amount of hydroxide and distilled water using a soap calculator.
As mentioned, sodium lactate accelerates the setting and hardening of soap. You get solid soap cubesin less time. However, it can be omitted from the recipe without changing the representation of the other ingredients. It is usually used at a concentration of around 1-2% by weight of the oils.
Fragrance oils are a great choice to liven up your soaps. They are preferable to essential oils as they are minimally coloured and so will not affect the final colour result. Try different scents or combinations of scents. Their quantity is usually 30-31 g per 1 kg of soap (sum of other ingredients).
The number one choice for colouring soap is mica powders. Not only do they shine brilliantly, but they are stablein the presence of soap, hold their colour and can be combined freely. However, in addition to mica powders, you can reach for cosmetic glitters or skip them altogether.
Titanium diox ide is an intensely white substance that is used as a colouring agent or carrier in various types of cosmetics, including decorative ones. It gives soap its white colour and makes other colours stand out better. Titanium dioxide can also be omitted from the product altogether, but be careful to mix it thoroughly when using it, as it likes to form lumps. You can also prevent lumps by choosing titanium dioxide for use in oil rather than water.
To reduce the risk of soap dust formation, the finished soap has been sprayed with IPA. When cutting, it is also a good idea to have IPA on hand and to spray each cube of soap (cut) with IPA, not only to reduce soap dust formation, but such soap will also be slightly smoother and set better.
As mentioned, you can experiment with homemade recipes to achieve desired properties. However, many factors such as humidity, temperature, quality of ingredients and storage can affect the final result. Before using any raw material to make a cosmetic product, familiarize yourself with its properties, recommended dosage, storage conditions or safe handling. Any raw material may have the potentialto cause an allergic reaction in sensitive individuals, so before using a product, we recommend that you find out if you suffer from an allergy to any of the raw materials or the overall product, e.g. by a skin test. If you have very sensitive or very acne-prone skin, or other skin and health problems, we recommend that you consult a medical professionalbefore applying a new product to your skin, whether it is a homemade cosmetic product, a pure raw material or a commercially available product.
Do you make classic minds by a cold process and sometimes get tired of waiting? Try using sodium lactate and you can shorten the process. If you do go ahead, be sure to let us know how you get on. You can send us your insights, questions and experiences at marketing@handymade.sk and we'll be happy to respond.Until we see you again for the next blog tutorial, stay creative.Until the saponification, my friends.
