Soap Experiments #1

 Experiments:

• Control: pure olive, std 5% superfat, 30% lye conc
• Pure olive with potassium citrate
• Pure olive with potassium citrate and crushed salt add half after batter
• Pure olive with potassium citrate, crushed salt and lotus
• Pure olive with potassium citrate, crushed salt, and conc tea

From https://www.lyecalc.com/ 

Calculations

• Extra water that can be added later = 147.41 - 63.18 (assuming 1:1) = 84.23
• We have 5 experiments, so each should have ~16.84 water max
• We give the conc lye solution some buffer, so each experiment can afford 15g water, we give back (16.84-15)*5 = 9.2g to the lye
• Conclusion:
• Each experiment uses 15g extra liquids add after batch trace
• Actual water for lye solution = 63.18+9.2g = 72.38g

Steps

1. Prepare lye solution
• WATER 72.38g
• LYE 63.18g
2. Experimental additives in paper cups
• A Water 15g (control)
• B Water 15g + Potassium Citrate 3g? = 4 of my capsules (out of 100g oil) - Note that my capsules have some silica anticaking agent...
• C Water 15g + Potassium Citrate 3g = 4 of my capsules + 5g salt (dissolved) + [[[ + 5g crushed salt for after trace ]]]
• D Water 15g + Potassium Citrate 3g = 4 of my capsules + 5g salt (dissolved) + [[[ + 5g crushed salt for after trace + Lotus Oil ]]]
• E Water 15g + Potassium Citrate 3g = 4 of my capsules + 5g salt (dissolved) + [[[ + 5g crushed salt for after trace + Tumeric
• Note that CDE can be prepared at the same time.
3. Olive Oil 500g
4. Mix lye solution with Olive oil until trace
5. Poor into cups containing the additives
6. Mix each cup
7. Pour into mold? (or just leave in cup?)

Results 

A: Somewhat gooey, and sticky. Softer than all the other soaps. Feels a bit yuck to use.

B: Despise having no salt, it feels pretty hard and solid. Perhaps the potassium citrate also functions as salt of some kind.

C: Feels the same as B above. Salt crystals seem to sink to the bottom.

D: saponification much faster than the rest. It basically cooked itself when I was stirring the salt and essences in. Lotus scent much stronger (somewhat overwhelming) than I anticipated, probably a couple teaspoons is enough even for a mid to large sized batch

E: the turmeric did not contribute too much to the color, but it seems to have created an interesting sandy texture. There is no scent detectable, or perhaps it was overpowered by the Lotus essence.

Conclusion: potassium citrate is a good substitute for plain salt. Pure olive oil soap some editors to make it not gooey and sticky. Turmeric does not give the yellow color as anticipated. Perhaps I should have infused the tumeric in oil instead of water. Have yet to actually try using the soap of B and C, maybe they will feel different?

Update Aug 2024: 

- When cut, C has a "chalky" or "grainy" texture compared with B, which is smooth. We probably don't want to dissolve so much crap in the water.... This observation seems to hold for D and E too.