Once I found out about cream soap (and specifically whipped cream soap), I immediately wanted to make some, so I googled it to find out what it was, and how to make it. And it turns out it’s a “secret”. As in you have to join a specific Yahoo group and are then prohibited from publishing any such recipes anywhere else. And I think that’s crap. I mean, I spend heaps of my free time developing and sharing loads of my own recipes for free online (200+/year), so I’m obviously pretty keen on open source. So, I set off to figure it out on my own, and then blog about it out in the open.
From what I gleaned from my Yahoo-group-free research, stearic acid is a big part of cream soap. Also, you use both Potassium Hydroxide and Sodium Hydroxide. And, at some point, you whip it (whip it good). After that, well, it was an open playing field for experimenting. Exciting!
So, this was my first base experiment, and combined with many whipping experiments, it worked! This part was borne of my DIY date with Colleen. After we had our awesome liquid soap breakthrough, I proposed this as project #2. She was intrigued, and I was pretty sure nothing too terrible would happen if we blended two different types of lye, so off we went.
We started with the same blend of oils that we used for our liquid soap paste, for a control. Then, we calculated the recipe at a 5% superfat, using 50% potassium hydroxde, and 50% sodium hydroxide. To do this, I ran the recipe through the calculator three times, twice for half the desired total volume (one using KOH and one using NaOH), and once at the total volume to get my numbers for the oils.
The process is the same as for my liquid soap—basically hot processed. The final paste came together perhaps a tad faster than straight liquid soap, and was quite a bit more opaque and chunky looking than liquid soap.
I decanted the cooked paste into two 250mL mason jars, labelled them, and set them aside for further projects. So far I’ve worked out about half a dozen different ways to use this paste in awesome creamy ways—far too many to cover as part of this entry. So, whip up a batch of this base and set it aside—the first whipped soap recipe comes out in a couple days 🙂
This is the creamed butter stage—we’re getting there!
This is the clumpy mashed potato stage—we’re done!
2019 update: I’m afraid I can’t offer much in the way of detailed troubleshooting information for this project as I haven’t made whipped soap in well over 4 years and my memory of the process is limited to my notes, which you’re reading here. Sorry! As you can see, it worked well for me back in 2014, but it has been a long while since I’ve made it.
DIY Whipped Soap Base
50% olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada)
30% refined coconut oil (USA / Canada)
15% unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada)
5% castor oil (USA / Canada)5% superfat (or lye discount)
Use SoapCalc to get your final measurements of KOH, NaOH, and H2O, based on your batch size (I’d recommend not going smaller than 500g of oils as that starts to get tricky to blend, especially if your pot is quite large). Here’s how (we’ll assume you’re making a 1000g batch for this example):
- Start by entering all the ingredients into SoapCalc using percentages, and setting the recipe to 5% superfat
- Run the recipe through once for a 500g batch (50% of your total), selecting NaOH as your lye—write down the amount of NaOH required
- Run the recipe through again for a 500g batch (50% of your total), selecting KOH as your lye—write down that amount as well
- Run the recipe through a third time for a 1000g batch—ignore the amount of lye, and just write down the amounts of oils and and water
- Now you should have amounts for both NaOH and KOH. Your oils should add up to the total amount you intend to make. If you’re familiar with soap making, the amounts for each type of lye should look like roughly half of what you’d use for a batch of this size, which comes together to total the full amount.
- Got it? Clear as mud? If not, ask in the comments (or read through the comments that already exist), I’ll try and explain it better.
Melt the oils together in a large (non-aluminum) heavy bottomed pot over medium heat.
Weigh out the water into a large, dishwasher safe jug.
Weigh out the KOH carefully into a small container. Weigh out the NaOH carefully into another small container. Add one type of lye to the water, swirling it gently to dissolve it. Once the first has dissolved, add the other and swirl to combine. The lye water will bubble and steam—avoid inhaling the emissions. Because both NaOH and KOH are strong bases they won’t react with one another, but you still shouldn’t inhale the gasses
Once the oils have melted, turn the heat down to low (2/10 or so) and add the lye water. No need to worry about matching temperatures here!
Get out your immersion blender and start blending to reach trace—this will take quite some time. After 20–30 minutes of stirring and blending, you will eventually end up with something the texture of pudding or applesauce. At this point, switch out the emulsion blender for a flexible spatula—we have achieved trace and are now cooking the paste.
Stir as the mixture continues to cook. There are a lot of cooking stages that you can apparently witness, but all I saw using this hot processed method was runny mashed potatoes to thick mashed potatoes to a less clumpy creamed butter like paste (no translucent vaseline stage here). With cream soap we are looking for a sort of lumpy/dry mashed potato stage after the creamed butter stage. Once you’re there, do a zap test to confirm it’s done (aka touch a small amount of the past [let it cool first!] to your tongue—it shouldn’t “zap”).
You’ll want to store most of the paste to dilute as needed—mason jars are great for that.
Stay tuned for a variety of recipes on turning this into whipped soap!
Liquid soap paste on the left, whipped/cream soap paste on the right.
Very nice! Quick question – do you ever check the pH balance or add citric acid or borax?
I rely on the zap test—no zapping, and I’m happy 🙂 I’ve never been zapped, so I’ve never even tried to lower the pH with an acid (which should always be unnecessary if you’re working with a superfat and a reliable scale, which I always do).
understood well about the soap base. but how can we make a creamy soap, using soap base?
There is an entire section of Cream Soap recipes on the site, all clearly packaged up for you 🙂
This looks so cool! As always, I love looking at your recipes (even though I don’t make them – maybe one day!). Do you sell your creations anywhere?
Thanks Hannah! I don’t sell anything at this point. I’ve been looking into it, but it sure is a pain with all the government regulations :/
What it’s the water :lye ratio it’s the best to use for this paste ?
I believe I used the standard-to-SoapCalc 38% 🙂
Oh wow! Can’t wait to try this and your liquid soap recipe. I’ll be ordering the KOH soon! Question though (probably a dumb question to boot), do you screw the lids on the soap paste and liquid soap bases when you are setting them aside to store for later use? I’m assuming you do, but thought I should ask in case there’s some weird reason it needs the air to prevent pressure or to finish a process somehow. –thanks in advance!
Hi LeAnn! I do screw the lids on for these, mostly in an attempt to maintain a relatively consistent moisture level to make softening the soap paste more reliable 🙂
This is exactly what i was wanting to ask just now.lol so, i made your recipe, it turned out great as usual and i put the paste in jars after cooled.But then i decided to make another batch and this time the paste was still a tad warm when i put the lids on and the next morning i had a very thick still liquidy soap. Its kinda like a super thick dove bodywash type consistency. Is it due to being diluted by condensation? Is it still ok to use? I did add a preservative just on case that might help save itA women on a forum said it is ok, but then amother said i need to throw it out because the “condensation is a big no no. Uhhh. Im so confused. And this batch turned out so perfect. Also, if it is in fact still ok to use, does it still need diluted to use? I took a small amount to test out if it would still whip and weirdly enough, it turned back into a paste and then after further whipping fluffed up like normal whipped soap. So i really hope its still ok to use.
Weird! I honestly have no idea what happened here. Soap is self-preserving due to its high pH so many of the lotion preservation rules don’t apply to it, but I’m not sure about condensation. Personally, I would still use it as I’ve never had a soap, liquid or otherwise, mould on me. It is very strange that the final consistency is so different, though—bottling it warm should not cause that big of a change! I’d just say have fun with it and see if you can pinpoint what you did differently that might’ve resulted in the change. Weiiiiiiiird.
I am completely stumped. I have a good accurate scale and weighed everything the same. My olny thought would be the condensation possibly thinned it a bit. Its not really liquid thin, its still really thick, just not a paste thick. But when i whip it, it immediately harddens somewhat back up nd whips into a nice bath butter whipped soap. I guess it is possible i made a mistake somewhere, but i was so determined to get this right the first go around that i thought i paid pretty good attention to detail. But then again, sometimes there are those times when youre trying extra hard at something, like coming home a late trying to be quite but then bump into walls, knock over pots and pans and trip over socks.lol so, i definitely could have missed something. I am giving it another shot this coming weekend to see if i can troubleshoot what went wrong/different. I must say though, i do like how the soap feels. Especially used shaving! Ill update on this next batch for sure!
Yup. That’s weird. I have not made this recipe so many times that I can offer a massive wealth of troubleshooting information, aka I haven’t had this problem myself so I’m not sure what’s going on. At least you are getting a nice texture once it’s whipped though!
You are a peach! Can’t wait for the next installment. I’ll be soaping tonight!
Thanks, Padme! I look forward to hearing how your first batch of whippy goodness goes 🙂
dear marie, you are brilliant . I am trying a lot of time to find recipes about whipped cream soap but nothing. I want to learn more about. so do something.
Thanks, Athanasia! Watch for my first whipped soap recipe in a few days 🙂
You might want to check out Soap Making Essentials. She has a recipe and some basic instructions for Whipped Cream Soap.
http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/how-to-make-soap-whipped-cream.html#.U6SefJRdWSp
I have yet to try it, but one of these days….
Oooh, very cool! Another out-in-the-open recipe! I should try hers and compare the results to mine 🙂
Dear Marie,
I stand by my belief that withholding information is wrong! All should be shared and free. You’re an awesome person (and quite clever, too) for cracking the whipped soap code 🙂
I’ve tried many of your recipes, and I am hooked. My DIY experiences started almost a year ago, and I’ve frequented your blog ever since. Just wanted to stop by and say, “keep up the good work!”
While I’m here, I had a question. On one of your other posts, you mentioned that you found a rating of 0-1 for emulsimulse on Skin Deep database. Where did you find this? I did a search for it and it came up with nothing. I have not yet made any of your recipes that require an emulsifier, for fear of the damn thing! Could you post the link from Skin Deep if you’re able to find it again? I need to read it for myself :p
Thanks again!
Hi Sarah! Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me 🙂 I’m super excited to finally be able to share this recipe!
Emulsimulse itself isn’t in Skin Deep, but it’s individual components (INCI: Glyceryl Stearate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol (and) Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate) are—that’s what I looked up 🙂
This is 2014. This is as old as we have gotten as a species. Before modern life all was shared for the well-being & safety of a tribe, nation or continent. Now we keep so much close to our chest. Could this help explain some of the feelings of separation & not being cared for by people worldwide even though some of these people are living in huge buildings with thousands of people around them. We need to reach out to each other, we need to share our knowledge, we need to care about each other. That, by the way, includes every human being walking this planet. I hope we change soon.
Hi Peta! You’ve nailed why I love to travel—there’s nothing like exploring the world and meeting new people to fall in love with our planet more every day 🙂
Hi Marie,
I think you may find this interesting, one is cold process and the other hot process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0muJtuhATH0&feature=kp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IHTkqP21-E
I haven’t tried them yet, but I curious 🙂
Soaps like this have been on my to-do list for ages! They wouldn’t be the same as the kind of whipped soap I’m talking about here, but I’ve seen some super cool things done with whipped bar soaps 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing the “secret” recipe. I researched cream soap for some time a few years ago and even joined that illustrious Yahoo group, only to find I never learned anything about cream soap from the group and got bored with the constant posts. Your recipe is very clear and concise. Thanks again!
You’re very welcome, Gina 🙂 I had a lot of fun doing the detective work for this project, and I now have a bathroom full of whipped soap… par for the course, I suppose 😛
Hi Marie, love your site! Why do you use 2 types of lye? Would this work with just one, say NaOH?
Hi Karen! The whole point of this base is that it’s half way between bar soap and liquid soap in terms of texture, which is why I use half of each. If you use all of one or the other you’ll either get bar of soap, which is too hard to whip, or liquid soap, which is too soft.
What is whipped soap used for? It seems like it would be too thick to use with a pump.
Store it in a jar and just scoop it out with your fingers 🙂 I use it to wash my hands or as a shave soap!
Great. I will definitely try this! Thank you.
🙂
I love reading about all of the things you make although most of it is over my head-but I am learning!! I hope !! I am wanting to find a lip stain (DIY) & then apply a lip balm over that. I so far like the crayon & DIY Vaseline but the color does not last long. Any ideas for a stain?? Thanks so much !! Linda
Hi Linda! Try my lip stain, it’s awesome 🙂
Hey i am a bit confused about calculations.. once we measure 50% of oils with KOH,then second time with NaOH..note it down..then third time to figure out proper amount of oils and water, what should we keep as our lye type to determine water,as both types require different amount of water.sorry if thats a stupid question, but i am not clear with this.
Hi Shivani! The soap calculator I use specifies the same amount of water for both types, but in any event tt doesn’t matter all that much since you’re cooking most of the water off immediately anyways 🙂
Marie – I actually make “Cream Soap” for shaving. Instead of running the calculation the way you were talking about doing a 50/50, there is an easier way. The best and easiest way is to keep the recipe with the oils the same batch size. Calculate the NAOH amount for the batch and write it down or print out that recipe, then go back and just change it to KOH and print or write out the lye amount. Then take your ratio, I use 60%KOH and 40%NAOH, and multiply the amount of NAOH lye amount by .4 for me, and then take the amount of KOH and multiply by .6 for me. The total amount of water and oil is the same, the only thing that changes is the lye ratio amounts Here is a random example just to show the calculation:
75 grams of NAOH x 40% = 30g NAOH
95 grams of KOH x 60% = 57g KOH
*If you are making this for shave soap, this ratio is the best for lather results, also don’t use olive oil for making shave soap. oils that do not contain Lauric, Myristic or Ricinoleic acids will produce a soap with just creamy lather. Also, if you are making this for shave soap, you want all of your oils/butters to have an extremely high Stearic Acid content. There is a book that just came out that has a few recipes and some of the ins and outs. Here is the link. Hope this info helps.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0692795448/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Thanks! I can’t say your way sounds any faster than mine, but that may just be me haha 😛 I definitely have not delved into shave specific soap in depth; I tried a HP one with a bunch of added stearic acid last year and it sure affirmed my preference for cold process soap, haha. The bars looked like smashed up mashed potatoes, lol.
Marie,
Please give me an estimate on the time it take to go thru the different stages of cooking the paste after you turn off the blender? Also I have also been searching for the cream soap instructions online and found this book “Making Cream Soap” by Catherine Failor. You might want to check it out but I’m looking forward to trying your recipes first…they seem easier with the same results. 🙂
Hi Claudia—I’m afraid I can’t give you a time estimate as I flat out do not remember how long it takes, lol. It’s been months since I’ve made this paste 😛 As long as you end up at the end stage, though, you’re fine!
I’ve heard legends of that book, but never quite got around to getting a copy. I definitely should, as I’m interested to see where our methods differ.
its taking me an hour and a half 🙂
Good to know, thanks!
Stupid question time….every time I use the Soap Calc….it puts my water at 38%. Is that what it should be??
I am used to making soap and never had a problem…but can’t seem to get this recipe right when turning it into the whipped soap (without the stearic acid).
Here’s EXACTLY what I use:
190g Water
36g NaOH
50g KOH
250g Olive Oil
150g Coconut Oil
75g Shea Butter
25g Castor
500g of Whipped Soap Base….. Marie, I know you’re a busy person…but is that right??? I feel like an idiot for asking since I’ve been making soap so long 🙁
I always use 38%, so that should work 🙂 And your calculations look totally fine!
I really appreciate that you asked this question! I was having the same struggle.
I am going to try this recipe as my first soap recipe. I’m not a fan of bar soaps. So I know that I will probably feel like I’m in over my head quite quickly. So can you please help me understand what a superfat is. Is that just the measurement? Or is it something you add to the mixture?
Hi Darah! I go over what superfat is here 🙂
New reader here – discovered you yesterday, and hands-down you’re the best I’ve read on the subject of DIY beauty stuff. Also, I’m so glad you’re Canadian – it’s not been easy (til now) to find good sources for some of the ingredients! I’ve got a decent herb supply place not far from me in downtown TO, but it’s limited to herbs, herbal powders and some clays.
I have a million questions, but I’ll just ask the relevant one here: could this be used for shampoo, or as a base for a creamy shampoo? I figure if your soap bars can, this probably can too?
Hi Tracy! Thanks so much for your kind words 🙂 I’m so glad I was able to help a fellow Canuck find some good ingredient sources—I definitely went through the same struggles a couple years ago! Does your herb place happen to be in Kensington? It sounds very Kensington-like 😉
You definitely could use this to wash your hair (though I wouldn’t whip it up), but I’d probably look at my liquid soap paste instead as it will thin out better 🙂 I already have a few liquid shampoo recipes up here that feature it!
Hi Marie,
Fabulous recipe! I can’t wait to try it. I too have looked about on various soap message boards only to find my search was futile. Thank you for sharing so freely!
I’m just wondering on how long this soap will last before going rancid or otherwise unusable with gross beasties?
Thanks 😀
Hi Carrie! Happy to help and share 🙂 My original experiments dating back to April/February 2014 are still going strong—like all soap they have quite a high pH that seems to do a nice job warding off the beasties!
I’m horribly new at actually *making* soap, though I’ve been researching it for weeks. Only just worked up the courage to try it!
I followed your instructions for the soapcalc, and it’s a bit confusing on the water settings. Does this look right to you, for a small batch? I’m using a very small kettle so that the trial run can be kept small- don’t want to fork over for the ingredients to make a large batch just in case it goes badly lol.
It said that for 200g of oil, I need 14.09g of NaOH, 19.76g of KOH, and 76g of water. Have I messed up the settings, or is it about right?
Hi Kathryn! I would, in general, not suggest this as a very first ever soap attempt, but hey, you’re starting small 🙂 And yes, those numbers do look right to me.
Thank you for double checking my numbers! As to first attempts, my first sewing project ever was a Victorian corset (followed by an Elizabethan), so I like jumping into the deep end of the pond 😉 As a backup, what would you recommend for a ‘first project’?
It sounds like we have that in common—one of my first sewing projects was the “Swim Dress” from Titanic. I was 12 and it was far from perfect, but I’ll be darned if I was going to make a pencil case!
I always recommend my All-in-One bar as a great starter bar. My favourite thing about it is how it traces quickly, which is great for new soapers who aren’t sure what trace looks like and how it acts. You can really see it happening here. Soaps using KOH trace quite differently than soaps using NaOH, and far more stubbornly as well. Even after all this time I’m often a bit unsure about when I reach trace with KOH soaps. They are fussy and irksome!
Then I’ll use that as a backup in case I have an “accident” with this one 😀
I heartily agree- who needs a pencil case?! We have Victorian/Edwardian reproductions and quilts to make instead.
Kids these days probably make laptop cases and iPhone pouches anyways 😛 What’s a pencil? Ha!
Hey Marie, Hope your are having wonderful holidays! Quick question, can i use this soap base (have yet to try it) to whip a sugar scrub.
Merry Christmas!
Hi Kal! I would be concerned that the water content in the whipped soap would dissolve the sugar, leaving it not terribly scrubby, but I haven’t tried it.
Thanks Marie! Will share outcome with you once try.
Happy Holidays & Happy New Year 🙂
🙂
Marie, have you found Stearic Acid that is not derived from palm oil? I’ve looked at 3 sources (including NDA) and not been successful yet.
So far the closest thing I’ve found is derived from palm and/or coconut :/
Hi there! I’ve been using shampoo bars and I’m growing a little weary of using the solid. You said you wouldn’t use whipped soap as a shampoo in a comment above. I’m curious what your reasons are. The first thing I thought of when I saw this article was “SHAMPOO!” but I don’t want to go through the process of making it if you don’t recommend using it as such.
Do you mind giving me your reasons for not using this recipe as a shampoo?
Thank you!
Bonny
Hi Bonny! For me it’s a texture thing (keeping in mind that I have past-waist length thick hair). It would be kind of like trying to wash your hair wish that shaving cream the comes in a can after you’ve lathered it up. Whipped soap isn’t as concentrated as liquid or bar soap since it has so much air in it, so it’d be hard for me to get the kind of sudsy coverage I need to get so much hair clean. If you have less hair you might be able to get away with it, though 🙂
Ah, I see! Well thank you for the reply! I may give it a shot and, if it doesn’t work for hair, I can still use it for body wash. Thanks!
Bonny
🙂
Hi Marie,
I was so fortunate to find your wonderful blog several months ago! You have inspired me, and just as importantly, put my fears of lye to rest. As a matter of fact, my first soap was your Blizzard soap. We love it!
I do have a question about this recipe…..do you think that the cooking could be done in a Crockpot on low ?
Many thanks for the thought, time and love you put into this blog!
Sincerely, Dori
Hi Dori! I’m so glad you found my blog, and I’m so glad I’ve helped catapault you into the world of soap making 🙂 I imagine you could cook this in a crockpot over low heat, but I haven’t tried it—report back if you do, k? 🙂
Will definitely do so. Thank you!
🙂
Thank you so much for sharing, do you suggest letting the soap cure?
Hi Griselda! You can use this soap straight away 🙂
Hiya, I make bar soap and liquid soap and I just joined that cream soap group to find out what it was about. It is a bit of a shame it’s closed, but with all the trolls on the internet I don’t blame them. You can share people’s recipes if you ask their permission, and that is fair enough. It’s great that you are all about sharing all your ideas though! There really is nothing stopping you joining the group, you can post your own recipes anywhere you want.
Thanks, Margaret 🙂 I do prefer to keep all my recipes here, but I may join one day for a look-see.
I really love your blog. Thank you so much for these beautiful posts. I wonder, what can we use instead of shea butter? I can’t find it always:(
In soap I find that avocado oil is a good alternative for shea butter 🙂 Only in soap, though!
Hi Marie, I have been tempted to do the cream soap for so long. It is cooking now …. with some Calendula & I am about to put in honey. Have you tried whipping the soap without gylcerine? For some reason, that is what I want to do.
Hi Gauri! In my experience, the soap doesn’t get all light and fluffy without adding glycerin.
What is the shelf life for your cream soap paste?
Indefinite—the pH is high enough that it self-preserves 🙂
I am cooking the cream soap base right now in a crockpot, but cannot get it past the runny Vaseline stage. Yes, it went there, even though your instructions said it wouldn’t. 🙁 can I still use it? Or what should I do?
Here is my recipe:
500 g olive oil
300 g coconut oil
150 g Shea butter
50g Castor oil
70g sodium hydroxide
105g potassium hydroxide
660 g distiller water
As long as it passes the zap test you should be totally ok to use your paste 🙂
What was the reasoning for not including the stearic in the original cook? It’s extremely difficult to get it all to melt into the diluted soap after the fact.
That said, it did whip up very nicely!
The scientific side of me is sad to report that there is no reason whatsoever. I made the soap paste first and then started playing with lots of different things to figure out how to whip it. This is what I ended up with, haha.
Hi Marie. I also had trouble getting the stearic acid to melt completely when adding it after this initial paste creation. Could you recommend how much stearic acid to add *during* this recipe and when to add it?
Appreciate your time!
I’m afraid I couldn’t—that would require total recipe re-development! Let me know if you try it 🙂
Hi Marie
Amazing totally amazing soaping idea
Thanks much for sharing the secret.
I have few simple questions
Are you cooking it ( both variations cream soap and liquid soap) directly on burner or in crock pot?
Also want to know at which level of heat (high low medium) you are cooking the soap?
Do you whip it after you made?
after how many days we can use this cream soap?
Please please reply soon really need your help
Thanks in advance
Stay blessed
Have a great time.
Hi Katie! I cook this in a large heavy bottomed pot over very low heat on the stove top (electric, not gas). You whip it after the cook (here’s how). The shelf life is basically indefinite as soap has a high pH that bacteria don’t like (I have some that are 1.5+ years old and are fine!).
Thank you for sharing your cream soap recipe! It’s so important to learn from one another–I wish folks would be more open about their process/recipes.
I’m a little worried about running my immersion blender for 30 minutes in order to reach trace. It heats up after about 8 min and might die on my if I push it much further. Any one else have this experience? Maybe I just need a different IB.
I do have a counter top Kitchen Aid with a whisk attachment however…it’s how I make make my whipped butters. Think it will work as well as the immersion blender for this recipe?
Thank you!!
Hi Es! Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me 🙂 You can run your blender in bursts—in fact, you should be. A few bursts, and then stir by hand. Burst, stir, etc. The stirring time should keep your blender from overheating 🙂 I wouldn’t use the KA mixer—it doesn’t focus power like an IB does, which greatly increases the chance of splattering raw soap around. Have fun!
Hello! Can I use other oils for this recipe? I’d like to use almond and jojoba oil plus the Shea butter. What would you suggest? I have no interest in olive, coconut or castor oils. And how would I go about adding essential or fragrance oils? Btw, I’m so glad I found this! You’re awesome! 🙂
Hey Sarah! Have you done much soap making before? I ask because coconut and castor oils are two very important soaping oils that are included in (almost) all soap recipes because they do very important things once saponified 🙂 If you haven’t, I’d recommend starting with a simpler recipe and perhaps doing a bit more reading up on all the different kinds of oils used in soaps because oils often do interesting things once saponified 🙂
All that said, I have not experimented with many different oils in this recipe. I chose some harder oils to give it some structure, and I can’t say how it would perform or whip if you replaced those. As for getting it to be an actual whipped soap with colour and fragrance, here’s a sample recipe 🙂
Hi Marie, is this the same procedure to make Beldi soap? I’ve been looking for an easy recipe to make it and if not do you have a clue about it?
I have no idea what Beldi soap is, so I couldn’t say.
Hi Marie, is this the same procedure to make Beldi soap?
Hmmm. *Goes to Google what Beldi soap is*. Hmm. Pretty much definitely not. Different ingredients, different lyes, different add-ins.
I found this link to a lye calculator that will calculate dual-lye recipes like this in one step, apparently! Wanted to know what you thought of it, and how its calculations compare http://web.archive.org/web/20110716100637/http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/soapcalculator.htm
This is super cool, what a great find! It’s rather tragic to find it only in the Wayback machine, though 🙁 It’s like meeting a super cool person as a ghost, lol. At least it still works! I’ll definitely use this for my next batch.
Hi Marie. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I have only been soaping about six months and your recipe is so easy to follow and the end result is exactly as you describe. Thanks again.
Thanks so much, Cindy! Enjoy 🙂
Hi,
Do I have to leave the whipped soap to cure for 8 weeks before use like normal soap bar?
Thanks
Nope 🙂
HI Marie! I am overjoyed I google searched enough to find this post on cream soap. I have one question. I understand you said that the ph level is so high that it won’t go rancid for awhile. Would you suggest a preservative if giving these away for gifts? Or since the ph level is high is a preservative unneeded? If not, what preservative would you recommend?
Please read this 🙂
Good morning, I think today will be a test. After reading the total two other recipes available, I love your idea of having a base to be used for multiple projects later the best. I do think that since the stearic acid saponifies I’m going to try adding it to the base. If anyone is interested, I’ll let you know how it works, and give you updates on how it holds together, and if it affects the whole “rotting” thing.
Have fun! I look forward to hearing how everything goes 🙂
Hi Marie,
I’m going to be one of those that dives in the deep-end with this being my first soaping project, heaven help me! I just had a quick question on the storing part, as I read through all the comments, it will store for a significant period of time. However, I just wanted to know where the storing of the whipped base would be, pantry or fridge?
Thanks for all the great posts, I have recently tried the midgnight mask and have added argan oil to my life and we are in love! I am excited to try many more after this one.
Nicole
Hi Nicole! Good luck with this as your first soap, though I can’t say I recommend it 😛
Room temperature is totally fine, the pH of the paste is the “preservative”.
Thanks for reading & DIYing with me 🙂 I’m glad you love argan oil!
Ok, made the paste with the stearic acid. It never really “pasted” but came to a thick Vaseline stage and passed the zap test. I’ve put most of it up to see how well it stores. It looks greenish from the pomace.
I took 140 grams and added 100 grams of water. Forgot about it being hot water…. Anyway, it soaked it up within a couple of hours and I started to blend it. I don’t know if it is impatience, cold water, or if I needed to up the water to 50%, but once I started whipping, I noticed a couple of pieces of base still needed to be broken up.
I took half the whip, which was nice and white and fluffy, and set it aside to “rot”. I’m going to take a little every couple of weeks to see how it acts since I’ve read that some people leave it for six months! The other half I used the labdanum and fir recipe . I’m going to let it sit for two weeks and then it’s time to play!
Thank you for doing the legwork! This was fun. Ps: used the crockpot.
If you’d like to see some fuzzy pictures I’m vorpalblad on Tumblr.
Neat, thanks for sharing! And I did go find your photos and it looks so delightfully whippy 😀 Enjoy!
Hi Marie!
I’m making your recipe now and I have a MASSIVE amount of soap fumes and clouding throughout the whole house – did you have this as well? I’m still at the ‘creamed butter’ stage so I have a while more to go. Is this normal? The soap isn’t burning, just lots of fumes. Thanks!
Hmmm… no, I definitely didn’t have clouding fumes! Try turning down the stove/opening a window? Are you certain you calculated your recipe properly?
Well, it had been three weeks or so since I set aside the fir and labdanum and the plain whipped soap. I haven’t done anything with the plain one yet, but the scented one (with green clay) was looking pretty sad and icky. I used a little and it washed up well. So, took it and added a dash of water and tried to brighten it up with some green and blue mica and whipped the heck out of it with the stand mixer. Woo! Perfect. I have everyone in the house trying it out and leaving it open to see how it holds up. Again, I’ll post pics on tumblr under vorpalblad and instagram cfr1110.
Cool, thanks for reporting back 🙂 I’m glad you’re enjoying it! I wonder why your scented one got all sad—mine held up just fine for months and months. Hmm. Interesting.
Soooo happy to have found this blog…u r a great gal for researching and putting up all of these recipes. Thanks!! So, I am in the pricess of making the cream soap base as we speak, err…or I type. I think it is done. I did the zap test. No zap at all. But it has not gotten to a clumpy mashed potatoe stage. It still looks pretty creamy and somewhat translucent, which ai thought It was not suppose to be. It has been stuck at this stage for about an hour. I guess It will be ok since It passed the zap test? One more question….do u have a general recipe percent/ratio rate you follow when mixing the water, steric acid and soap paste together? Like what Is the % of paste to water to steric acid to oils?
Thanks!!
Hollie t
Sorry….just saw your ratio for the liquid soap 1 to .6. Soap to water.
Do you use this for the cream soap too? And then what about the stearic acid and what not?
Thanks again!
Hollie
You’ll definitely want to check out one of my actual whipped soap recipes for this, not liquid soap 🙂 They’re really different! 😉
Hi Hollie! Thanks for reading & DIYing with me! It sounds like your paste should be fine—it seems like there is a bit of variety in how people’s final pastes look, especially if you’ve changed the recipe a bit. Have you checked out any of my whipped soap recipes to see how I do it? That’s a good place to start 🙂
I am having a hard time getting the stearic acid to mix in with the paste/water. I have melted both together but the stearic acid seems to harden first giving a grainy finish to the wonderful fluff. Any advise here? Could I put the stearic acid in with the soap/lye and then just add water and glycerin when using the paste with the acid in it? Any thoughts or advise would be GREATLY appreciated!
Hmm—try melting it in without the water, which will lower the temperature the mixture can reach. I have found you do need to be very thorough and leave it on the heat for quite a while to ensure it melts completely. If you want to include it in the original soaping bit I’m afraid I can’t offer much advice as I haven’t tried it, but I know it’s a method other whipped soap recipes use 🙂
Awesome! Thanks again SO MUCH for all the help/advise. I think I need to leave it on the heat a bit longer instead of just looking to see if it melts and then go. Maybe a few more minutes just to make sure is the right way to go. Thanks again, reading your blog is a highlight in my day!
Yeah, try leaving it for “too long”… and then a bit longer! 😛 That stearic acid is slow to melt and fast to re-solidify. Have fun and thanks for reading!
Hi Marie, thank you so much for your recipes and sharing them with us. You are a star! I really love my masks and been trying to think of ways to make big batches that I can just use whenever I get time, instead of making it fresh every time. So my question is… would the liquid soap paste or whipped soap paste make good bases for me to add my other components like turmeric and colloidal oats? Would it be to drying to use as a mask?
Hey Asha! I really wouldn’t do that :/ Soap has a pretty high pH, so leaving it on your face for 20 minutes will likely be quite irritating. Additionally, soap is not an infallible preservative; you can’t just add a ton of tasty bacteria food to it and expect it to keep everything fresh. Honestly, I’d just mix up your dry base and add water to a spoonful of it as needed 🙂
Hi Marie
I just discovered your page and am hooked. Admire your adventurous spirit and appreciate your selflessness in sharing. The following page can be used to calculate both sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide simultaneously https://www.thesage.com/calcs/LyeCalc.html
Hope useful.
Thanks, Zabeena!
Marie! I’ve been quite a long-time fan of your blog, but haven’t participated until now. Yours is one of very few DIY blogs that I read, because let’s face it: there are some total crackpots out there that have no idea how to properly DIY their soaps & beauty products. LOL I always feel confident about your crafty offerings, though!
Today, (the first nice day in a couple of weeks here), I decided to make this soap paste. (I prefer to be able to mix my water & lye outside so that I don’t have to worry about fumes.)
Every single thing about making this recipe was perfect, from start to finish. I *wish* I could show you a photo of my glorious new 3 pints of soap paste! The ONLY thing that’s different is color; your photo shows a very white end product on the right, while mine is the more yellow, slightly transparent paste, like your jar on the left.
Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe that I’ll be keeping & using again & again!
(And hello! Nice to meet you! LOL)
Hi Maevyn! Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me 😀 I’m so thrilled your soap paste turned out great—woo! Enjoy all the whippy goodness you’ll turn it into 🙂
Finally made this yesterday – hooray! I also made your labdanum-fir-whipped-soap today but it was gritty and it didn’t really give much or any foam/cleansing when I tried it in the shower. I fully melted the stearic then poured into the soap paste/water and heated that too, then whipped it, added 20 drops of melt and pour colorant, added essential oils, whipped some more. Looked great. but the test in the shower was gritty and not really any bubbles… what do you reckon? I’m considering adding a powdered surfectant like SCI, SCS, or SLSa instead of the clay…
Weird! I do find this is relatively low lather, but not no lather, and it shouldn’t be gritty. The grittiness is probably the stearic acid; it is a fairly frustrating thing to melt. I can remember being certain that it must’ve melted after what felt like ages on the stove and then going in for a stir and still seeing wee solid bits 😐 I honestly can’t think of anything else that it would be, so more melting is probably in order on that front, even though I’m sure it seemed like you did far more melting than should be required!
For added bubbles you could add a powdered surfactant, though I’m afraid my experience there is pretty limited, so I can’t really offer much advice. I have been enjoying working with SCI, and if you use that one you’ll likely want to powder it in your DIY coffee grinder first as it’s not terribly inclined to dissolve 🙂
Okey dokey… so I’ve made a few tweaks lol
swapped the 40g stearic acid for 30g of cetostearyl alcohol, reduced the glycerine to 4 tbsp and added 2 tbsp cocoamidapropyl betaine, added 2 teaspoons of SCI. Added pie fragrance. Colorant. I have loads of tiny and big bubbles now and creamy foam. I’ve been clapping all afternoon at my little whipped soap pies haha!! and here you go: http://bit.ly/1Ww1JME
OOoh, so cool! Your pies look like delicious little pudding cups, I love it! Thank you so much for sharing 😀 I just might try adding some SCI next time I’m playing with this recipe (I am loving adding it to pretty much everything these days, haha).
Thanks Marie!
My formula isn’t quite firm enough and I have 2mm of liquid settling in the base of my containers… I’m going to try working with the stearic acid again. I did another batch the other day and used SCS 2 tsp per 100g paste/100g water and the 2 Tbsp glycerine then a good tablespoon of decyl glycoside and it’s awesome bubbles! LOVE the silkiness, will definitely keep adding tussah silk to my lye when making the soap paste. So I just need to sort the – keeping it solid at room temperature… it’s autumn/winter here in NZ too. I have to say this product has me seriously fascinated! with experimenting the ingredients + design ideas. I’m just off to find your vit C serum recipe to try out as I’m almost out of my store brought stuff that costs NZD$60+ for 30ml
So cool! I really appreciate you sharing all your experiments 🙂 I’ve got a couple more surfactants sitting in my shopping cart for my next order—new toys!
If you are looking for a vit C serum that’ll have a decent shelf life (mine oxidizes really quickly), check out this recipe!
Hm – well, me and this recipe had a bit of a spat – after 40 minutes I couldn’t get it past the runny vaseline stage. At 60 minutes I gave up. The paste had spit and spat at me throughout this – quite angry. Scooped it into a jar when cool enough leaving some out to dilute. Which worked fine. The now cooled paste is hard, and I have to dig into it to get any free, but it does seem to be okay when it’s diluted.
I must have over cooked it, losing some of the water content. I double checked my calculations in case I’d made an error (quite likely) but everything seemed as it should be.
But I must have done something wrong along the way. When I made your liquid soap it went perfectly well. I’d made some previously from someone else’s recipe, that took almost 20 hours to cook, so was well pleased with your recipe. It was done in a trice.
Hmm. This one will be (should be!) thicker than the liquid soap paste due to the different lye combination and the fat makeup—something closer to hot process bar soap. If it’s ok when you dilute it, it should be fine to use. From my experience with these pastes, the stages people see and don’t tend to vary, but it’s unheard of to just sit in the same stage for ages :/ Did you change any of the fats up? Are you confident in the purity of your KOH and NaOH? Hmm.
how long do I need to cook the paste?
I can’t give you a specific time frame as that depends hugely on things like batch size on the temperature you’re cooking it at; that’s why the recipe is written out with visual cues 🙂
hello dear,
Can we use a soap base and then add the mentioned oils to it?
Hey Sarah! Definitely no—soap making is a chemical reaction, so adding the oils I have listed here to a finished soap base would be like trying to add eggs and sugar to a finished loaf of bread to turn it into cake 🙂
I have been stirring and wondering….2 250 ml jars? I’m sure I have enough to triple that? Followed exactly your recipe and it took an hour and a half to get there. I really thought I must have miscalculated but its THERE!!! wahooo!
Hmm, interesting! You made a 500g batch? Congrats on the paste either way, though!
I’m confused then…are the directions for a 500 g batch or a 1000g batch? I read them as a 1000g batch. Does that mean my lye amounts are off? uh oh…I calculated for 500g of KOH, 500g of NaOH and for 1000g of the oils,using the volume of water from that calc. Did I screw up?
Ahh, whoops—sorry. It definitely was a 1000g batch, in two 500g halves. My bad! Perhaps I should stop trying to reply to 5 dozen comments all at once LOL. I do wonder if I may’ve made a 500g batch back when I first dev’d the recipe and filled two 250mL jars (that math makes sense), but didn’t remember that I doubled it for the written recipe. That sounds like a thing I may’ve done, but it has been quite a while!
Whew! I thought for a second that I had royally screwed up 😛 Didn’t want to lye burn anyone. It went a funny shade of yellow on me and my kids don’t like it, gonna try to do a lighter shade today and layer it 🙂
Not at all! And hey… more for you if you don’t have to share with kids 😉
Hi SimplyShe,
When you made this, did it become a paste like in the pictures? Like you, I accidentally doubled the recipe. It’s been going for about an hour now and feels like thick pudding – and zappy!!
Hey, this message just showed up for me! How did your soap turn out? Mine settled out like Maries in the end. I had tucked it up on a shelf, I should revive it and see.
Thanks, Connie!
Hi Marie!
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. I am planning on giving it a try. You mentioned to store the soap base in mason jars, so my question is how long I have to wait before I can use the soap base to make whipped soap, I want to make your exfoliating facial whipped soap.
Thank you!
You don’t have to wait 🙂
Thank you for all your recipes and for sharing your work with us.
However, I am confused about how long the soap base need to cure/rott before I can use it? How long would I have to wait after making it to use it? Thank you
It doesn’t need to, you can use it immediately.
Hi Marie,
I just made this whipped soap base. Question though that yours seem to be whitish color and mine turned out with color like your liquid soap base. Calculations were exactly as yours. Could it be that the colors of your oils and shea butter are lighter or could it be something else? Thanks
It could definitely be that, or just the lighting in my photos 🙂 I wouldn’t worry about it too much!
Hi There!
Is it ok to not let soap base cure further? I have seen older You Tube video’s where people create whipped soap but the base needs to cure for months! Is this true?
Thanks, Linda
I do whipped soap completely differently from what I understand; I’ve made whipped soap from aged and non-aged base and really didn’t notice a difference 🙂
I see the above answers to my question, do you know why it doesn’t have to cure? Some other soap makers let it cure for months and then whip it straight out of container without diluting. Also, I tried to add the stearic acid in to melt with diluted soap base, ended up gritty when it cooled down. I definitely melted it completely. Is there a way to add stearic acid and Vegetable glycerin to oils during saponification instead? Would that work to stabilize final whip instead of using both after?
I’m afraid I don’t—I enjoyed my dalliance with whipped soap, but it’s really not something I’ve pursued or continued to experiment with—it’s been nearly four years since I made any. You could definitely work the stearic acid into part of the fat blend for making the soap base, but I can’t comment on how that would impact the process. Happy experimenting!
so in this recipe you didnt include stearic acid? and just re confirming that after it became a paste, you can use it right away become whipped soap and mix with other colorant/fragrances?
how solid is this cream soap if you can tell, is there any way it could melt?
The stearic acid is added later; please refer to the follow-up recipes as this is just the base.
Halp! I followed this recipe (of course with calculating through soap calc on my own) and as soon as I added my lye water to my melted oils it boiled over my pot and smelled like burned melt-and-pour. Not quite sure what I did wrong but I am wondering maybe my lye water was too hot? I had my oils on low on a gad range. Luckily I was able to prevent a fire, but darn was that scary!
I suspect the stove was too hot—in my experience gas ranges kick out a lot more heat than electric ones, which is what I used. I saw your IG post, though—looks like you got it sorted!
I am just wondering: there is no stearic acid in your recipe. I thought that it is impossible to do cream soap without it. Or am I wrong? 🙂
Sorry, I found an answer about stearic acid 😉
Hi i find it a bit hard working out the water as it doesnt say you use the total amount of KOH or NaOH or do you get the 2 numbers and divide by half?
can you do this in the slow cooker?
Can you use liquid base soap recipe instead of the hybrid?
kind regards
Yup, get the two numbers and divide in half, or calculate two half batches and add them together. You could use a slow cooker. You cannot use the liquid soap base—that is for liquid soap, and we don’t want this to be liquid as it won’t whip!
Hi Marie,
I have my batch going right now for this base. After 30 minutes it looks sort of like pudding. I was wondering if you could look at my numbers?
500g olive oil
300g coconut oil
150g shea butter
50g castor oil
77g NaOH
108g KOH
380g water
When I calculated that to 5% I got 70.43g of NaOH and 109.75g KOH, so it looks like you did yours at 0% super fat instead of 5% as directed. How did it end up turning out?
Can I use this soap right away or do I have to let it rot? Thank you so much for this recipe.
I’ve always used it right away 🙂
Thank you for sharing. Some recipes call for the base to rot for 5 weeks. Usually hot process does not need to rot, so I am a little confused. Did you need to let this sit, or did you use it right way?
Thanks again.
I used it straight away 🙂 Also… could they not come up with a better term than “rot”? Ha!
Hey Marie, I have a kg of liquid soap paste I bought from Voyager soap and candle, my question is, can I make cream soap with this, if so what would you recommend, please?
Hey! So sadly you can’t—liquid soap paste is made entirely with KOH and typically liquid oils—we need a blend of KOH and NaOH and soft and hard oils to produce a soap paste with enough structure for this sort of project.
So, I’ve made the whipped soap base twice with similar results…the first time I think I over-cooked it because the “zap” never fully went away. I wound up with clumps in my facial scrub. I cooked the base for a shorter period of time on the second go round and stopped at the “dry clumpy mashed potato” phase (no zap test here). I still have clumps, but fewer. It is far from the delicious “whipped”, creamy feel I was looking for. Additionally, my face feels waxy afterwards…it doesn’t really feel clean. My calculations were as follows: water 12.16 oz, olive oil 16 oz, coconut oil 9.6 oz, Shea butter 4.8 oz, castor oil 1.6 oz, NaOH 2.47 oz, and KOH 3.47 oz. Thoughts? It was my first try at soap making and I’d really like to pursue this interest! Thank you!
Hey! I’m afraid I really can’t offer much in the way of troubleshooting advice for this project as I haven’t made it in well over four years now. Sorry! With over 1k recipes on my website I can’t be continually making everything, and my interests do shift and evolve over time 🙂 Everything I remember about it at this point in time is in this post.
That said, this really isn’t a beginner soap at all! I’d recommend starting with something simpler and more beginner friendly (this recipe is great!) to help you find your soaping feet and build some experience and confidence—after a few dozen batches you may be able to recognize what needs to change on your own 🙂
Happy soaping!
Hi. I don’t need you to troubleshoot this for me but I do have a general question. When I have researched cream soap, everything (which is very little) says to cure for 5 months. (They call it rotting. Idk why because that’s gross sounding) Does this paste need to sit for 5 months? How long before you can use the paste to make a whipped soap? Or does the soap need a cure time AFTER the glycerin and stearic? I would appreciate any information you would share. I absolutely ADORE your site. I’ve learned so much from you. Thank you for sharing so generously.
I’d agree that it sounds gross, ha. I don’t know why it’s recommended, and this one doesn’t need to sit—you can use it pretty much straight away (though the transformation to whipped soap can take a while with soaking and stuff). So, basically, *shrug* ha 😛 Happy making!
Hi Marie – could one substitute BTMS-50 for stearic acid here, with or without glycerin?
Thanks, Maria, a one-year shampoo bar soapmaker
No, those things are really different. Additionally, soap is anionic and BTMS-50 is cationic, meaning their charges oppose one another, which can cause instability. Have you looked up BTMS-50 and stearic acid in the DIY encyclopedia to learn more about them? Happy making!
Thank you, Marie. May I adjust this recipe to a creamed shampoo, i.e. adjust to increase the castor oil?
You can certainly try it, though keep in mind that high pH cleansers for hair don’t work well for everyone 🙂 Give this a read to learn more! Happy making 🙂
Would it be possible to whip the cream soap with a water phase that contains something thick and heavy like black strap molasses?
Possibly? I haven’t tried it—you’d have to do the development and testing yourself 🙂
Would it be a bad idea to customize the cream soap base to include botanicals? If so, would it be safe to assume that I would definitely need to use preservatives given because of the additional water (when whipped and prepared for the final product)?
It depends on a lot of factors—format, usage level, when they’re added, etc. You’d have to do the development and testing yourself 🙂
Hi dear,
I came from your YouTube channel, i am not sure if you will see my comment since this is a very old recipe page, i just have 1 simple question,after i make the whipped soap base, can i use it for making whipped sugar scrubs?
Thank you for all the info you give for us.
I’d start here instead 🙂
dear marie
i love all of ur videos and really appreciate ur effort.
may i ask, do u think we could do the same using our cp soap scraps/vp soap. i have a lot of unsold cp soap. thinking of turning it into whipped soap like this.
btw sorry for my bad english
tq marie !!