Adventures in Liquid Soap

I've made liquid soap in the past and, I have to say, I was underwhelmed. It was a time-consuming process. First, you make the base paste. That can take a few hours. Then you need to hydrate (dilute) the paste in water; that can take days. 

I'm not that patient. 

Recently, I joined a couple of Facebook groups that specialize in liquid soap making and someone suggested a liquid soapmaking course book. I thought about it for about two minutes and made the decision to invest in the book and have been working my way through it over the past few days. 

Basically, there are three different methods for making liquid soap; first is the Cold Process Liquid Soap. In this method, you create your paste and let it sit, with no external heat, until the paste is formed. Then, the dilution water is added and it is allowed to hydrate over time. It can take a couple of days to a couple of weeks. It's a lot of hands off time and, if you're patient, it's a great method. I, however, am not that patient. 

The second method is the Low Temperature Liquid Soap; in this method, a crockpot at a low temperature is used. It's a good method but the dilution can still take time. And, again, I'm not that patient.

You know where this is going, right?

The third method is the High Temperature Liquid Soap; with this method, a batch of liquid soap can be finished, from start to final dilution, in about half an hour. Sign me up! 

I decided, in the interest of education, to make my way through all three processes. I made a batch of CPLS Castile Soap. It's in a bucket, resting until my order of pump bottles arrives. It was pretty easy to make but the entire process took a couple of days to complete. The second batch I made is the LTLS, Palm Olive liquid soap. I probably did something wrong in the process because, after about 3 days, it's still diluting. I've been adding extra water and waiting for it to absorb. Once fully diluted, it will be a very nice soap if the initial testing is any indication. It's just taking way too long.

Then, yesterday, I decided to try the 30-minute High Temperature recipe. Wow! I am hooked!

Following a recipe in the book, I made a Tea Tree & Lavender Charcoal liquid soap. This soap is intriguing. It's pitch black! The lather is amazing and the scent of Tea Tree and Lavender smells somewhat medicinal but also kind of comforting. I never thought I'd like a black liquid soap, to be honest, but I'm really liking it. And the best part? Within 24 hours, it's ready for the market. Yes, it will benefit from some sequestering (equivalent to the curing of bar soap); my first market isn't for another couple of weeks. 

Now I just need to figure out a name for it.