Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Why is my cream soap slightly jelly-like?

  • Why is my cream soap slightly jelly-like?

    Posted by MarkEMark2 on September 4, 2016 at 6:17 pm

    I created a batch of the cream soap I have been producing with some variation: I added more water during the cook time, and I shortened the cook time. Same ingredients just a water to acid mix of 3:1.  My changes:

    1. Cook time down from 2 hours to only 45 minutes. The soap was saponified from what I could tell.

    2. H2O went to a 3 to one mix as the prior soaps were too thick for my liking. So, the acids were 100 grams, and the H2O was 300 grams. Total weight was 400 grams for acids and water.

    3. I added a total of 30 grams of glycerin: 20 during the cook and 10 as I was ending the cook.  Along with the final 10 grams of glycerin I added 10 grams of propylene glycol.

    This produced a very sloshy and liquid mix while cooling. I left it overnight (the cook ended at 5:00 pm) and before I went to bed I gave it a good mixing with the hand mixer at 10:00 pm. The funny thing about the soap was at 10:00, before I mixed it, it appeared to be a translucent clear mix covered by a white, slightly foamy cream topping. When I mixed it again, it became all white with a very “hand soap” viscosity, a quite liquid quality to it. 

    This is morning upon awakening I checked the mix and it was a full creamy mix, but had a definite gelatinous quality that I have noticed before on another high water content mix. I think there is a base of a soap here worth saving or modifying to still achieve the creaminess I want without making it the sloppy hand soap viscosity I saw last night. I want a somewhat fluffy mixture that is similar to a meringue. This is similar to the model soap I am imitating, and, have gotten close to with previous batches, but they were still a bit stiff.

    2 questions:

    1. To thin a mix like I describe, would more glycerin or propylene glycol be used, or would water be a better option?

    2. Does a longer cook time make a difference in this process? Once the apparent saponification happens, does cook time add anything to this reaction?

    Again, my appreciation for the help y’all!

    Mark

    MarkEMark2 replied 8 years, 2 months ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
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