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Maybe you have already come across interesting videos or photos with jelly soap, or you are hearing about it for the very first time, it does not matter – you too can make such a soap at home. Jelly soap brings a smile to the face not only of children but also of adults, you can use it as a gift. We bring you two recipes for how to prepare jelly soap in the comfort of your home.
Below you will find a list of ingredients for two basic jelly soaps. Of course, we will also deal with the comparison of these two soaps. First, however, we must realise that in order for the soap to foam, it must contain a surfactant which ensures the cleansing and foam-forming effects. Secondly, we need a gelling component; in our case we have chosen carrageenan – a plant-based thickener that is excellent for the production of firm jellies and is moreover vegan.
We bring you several tips and tricks, including advice on storage, so that you successfully produce your product and enjoy it for as long as possible.After removing from the water bath, the mixture sets very quickly, therefore do not hesitate with adding the essential oil. Due to the higher temperature, part of the oil evaporates and some thermal degradation may also occur, however when the temperature drops below 40 °C, the mixture is too firm to incorporate other substances.For this reason, no preservative was used in the product, even though the jelly soap contains a relatively high amount of surfactants and carrageenan. At the same time, at a higher temperature, when it is still possible to add substances to the mixture, the preservative would degrade and would not provide protection to the product. This is also why it is good that you use up the product as quickly as possible.It is also advisable to store the soap away from water after use (pay attention to residual water in the soap dish). If you want to store the soap, long-term storage is not recommended, because the soap will start to dry out when not used. Therefore, prepare smaller batches of soap, so that you always have a fresh product at hand.In the case of producing soap with decyl glucoside, the previous advice applies equally. Again, add decyl glucoside and lactic acid immediately after removing from the water bath, otherwise the mixture will set and it will not be possible to add the substances. Although higher temperature causes inaccuracies in determining the pH, this should not significantly affect the final pH of the product – the goal is to transition from an alkaline pH (8 and above) to a neutral (pH 7), or slightly acidic (down to pH 4.5).
We bring you a comparison of the properties of both soaps, so that you can choose the one that suits you the most.Already at first sight, the soaps differ partially in the working procedure, because in the first case we use a powder surfactant and in the second a liquid surfactant. These surfactants also have different pH values, decyl glucoside is strongly alkaline, therefore pH adjustment is necessary. You can also perform pH adjustment with the soap containing SCS, but since SCS has a lower pH than decyl glucoside, it is not as necessary. During use, the soap containing decyl glucoside provided a slightly larger foam, however, if it set too much, such a soap can withstand only one more heating for additional dissolution. In other respects, however, it was comparable to the jelly soap with SCS.The main criterion for you will therefore probably be the availability of ingredients; if you have SCS at hand, choose this soap. If you prefer working with glucosides, the jelly soap containing decyl glucoside is the right one for you.
Below we will go through the individual ingredients and their importance for the recipe. You will also learn more about their possible substitutions, so that you can tailor the recipe for your jelly soap.
The basis for dissolving surfactants or forming the jelly is demineralised water. Thanks to it, in combination with carrageenan, you obtain a firm gel, that is, a jelly. If you wish, you can replace demineralised water with floral hydrolates. Floral hydrolates can additionally give the product a delicate scent that can replace the use of essential oils.
Glycerine is an important component in both recipes. It is an alcohol, in this case of plant origin, which has a wide use in the cosmetic industry as a humectant for the skin. In our case, glycerine helps to speed up the dissolution of carrageenan, because it provides a better environment for the hydration of the powdered form of carrageenan than if carrageenan were added directly to water – lumps would form. The same applies to the use of mica powder; thanks to glycerine, it disperses faster and colours the product evenly.For this reason, do not omit glycerine from the product and do not substantially change its proportion in the recipe, because it may happen that you obtain a jelly soap with a different firmness.
The thickener and gelling agent in this recipe is carrageenan. Thanks to this plant-based substance, we obtain a nicely firm jelly. Carrageenan dissolves in water after heating to about 70 °C, therefore it is necessary to heat products containing it, otherwise your soap will not set.Carrageenan can be replaced with animal gelatine, however, take into account that with the same dosage you may achieve jellies of different firmness. Therefore, it will probably be necessary to try dosages with different ratios of gelatine until you obtain the desired firmness.Of course, if you want a less firm jelly, you can reduce the content of carrageenan by about 0.5 to 1 %. Conversely, if you want a firmer jelly, increase the carrageenan content by the same amount.
SCS, or sodium coco sulfate, is a surfactant that is widely used in various types of cosmetics requiring foaming and cleansing effects. SCS is sold in the form of white beads, and therefore it does not enter the air so intensively and does not irritate the respiratory tract during handling as SCI tends to do. If you avoid the use of sulphates in cosmetics, try our second recipe for jelly soap containing decyl glucoside. Otherwise, SCS represents a convenient form of surfactant that is easy to dose and quickly dissolves in water.
An alternative to the use of SCS is decyl glucoside. It is a liquid surfactant with a higher pH, therefore pH adjustment of the final product is necessary. Decyl glucoside has similar properties to coco glucoside, however we did not test this variant, thus we cannot guarantee that the final soap will set when using coco glucoside.Decyl glucoside provides an intense and rich foam which is more pronounced than when using SCS. If you have decyl glucoside at hand, try the jelly soap variant also with its use.
For colouring your products, mica powders are most often used, which you can use in a wide range of products. Mica powders are usually combined with glycerine for their even dispersion after adding water. Mica powders can also be added at the end into the still liquid product, but there is a risk that they will not be thoroughly mixed and lumps will remain in the product. You can choose the intensity of the colouring of the product yourself; you can dose mica powders until you achieve the desired shade. At the same time, you have a wide palette of colours to choose from, so you can create a product exactly according to your ideas.
To obtain a pleasant fragrance of the finished soaps, essential oils were used; these concentrated aromatic extracts from plants perfume your products with various scents. Their advantage and at the same time disadvantage is that they are released more intensively when warm. Therefore, when adding them to the mixture while warm, you will lose part of these oils; on the other hand, during showering and contact with warm water they will be released more intensively from the soap, and you will enjoy them even more.Of course, you can prepare an unfragranced version of the soap without these substances. Or you can reach for fragrance oils, which are synthetically prepared fragrance substances. On the other hand, they offer you an even wider palette of fragrances than essential oils.
For pH adjustment, lactic acid was used in this case. Lactic acid has the advantage that it is sold already as a solution, and thus dissolving and preparing a solution, as in the case of citric acid, is not necessary. At the same time, lactic acid is quite concentrated, and so you will not need as much of it as in the case of citric acid.For this reason, it is suitable, when adjusting pH, to proceed slowly, to add the acid drop by drop, stir thoroughly, check the pH, and only then add another amount of acid if necessary. To check the pH value, you can use for example pH strips.
IPA, or isopropyl alcohol, is a universal substance for removing bubbles from soaps prepared either from soap bases or from jellies. At the same time, it helps to prevent the formation of soap dust in the case of classical soaps from fats and hydroxide. The easiest way is to have IPA in a spray at hand, but if you do not have IPA at the moment, you do not have to use this substance. However, count on your soap having bubbles on its surface.
As mentioned, you can experiment with home recipes to achieve the desired properties. However, the final result can be influenced by many factors, such as humidity, temperature, quality of ingredients or their storage. Before you use any ingredient to produce a cosmetic product, familiarise yourself with its properties, recommended dosage, storage conditions and safe handling. Every ingredient can potentially trigger an allergic reaction in sensitive individuals, therefore before using the product we recommend finding out, for example with a skin test, whether you are not allergic to any of the ingredients or to the overall product. If you have very sensitive or very acne-prone skin, or you have other skin and health problems, we recommend that you consult a medical professional before applying a new product to the skin, whether it is a home cosmetic product, a pure ingredient or a commercially available product.
Jelly soap is a fun and interesting way to liven up your evening ritual or make the necessary hygiene routine more pleasant for children. Have you ever tried something similar?We thank Ivana Jakalová for the great tutorial on making jelly soap.
If you have any questions and ideas on how to further improve the jelly soap, be sure to write to us at marketing@handymade.skUntil we see each other again with another tutorial or article, have nice and creative days.
Until soaping again, friends.
