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Hi there!
I hope it’s okay if I start a new topic in Hair Care. I made a cold processed liquid soap about 4 days ago. Usually I use the HP method, but thought I’d try something new. My SIL likes the liquid soap as a multipurpose shampoo, hand soap and shower gel. Some is decanted into foamer pumps, while some is added to squeeze bottles. I weighed my soap paste at 32.10 oz. So far, with 8 gradual dilutions, I have added 26.70 oz of water, which isn’t even a 1:1 dilution yet. I also included 4 oz of vegetable glycerin in the dilution water, after reading about this from another blogger. So if I count that, it has been diluted with 30.70 oz, which is pretty close to a 1:1 ratio. It isn’t water thin quite yet, but very nearly. I had hoped to make this batch a little thicker than last time, which is why I used a dual lye solution at 70/30 KOH/NaOH. My recipe contained coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, castor, sunflower, sweet almond and shea, at a 3% superfat. (and coconut milk, honey, rose water and several different herbs and clay for hair nourishment.) So it isn’t completely clear looking, but not bad at all. PH is between 8 and 9. So what I’m wondering is, can I thicken this shampoo with something besides salt? I’d like to keep the PH the same, so that it wards off bacteria naturally (though I’ve read conflicting opinions on PH and the need for a preservative.) It is my understanding that the salt could lower the PH, which would be okay for hair, but would also require a preservative…is this right? I wondered if something like Polysorbate 80, or another emulsifier or wax might help with the viscosity. I know that some EO’s will thin the soap even more, and others could possibly make it thicker. (I don’t have guar gum, but have heard this can work.) If there is something that will thicken the soap, my other question is, should I continue to dilute to a 2:1 ratio of water to soap paste, and then attempt thickening? Or should I keep it at a 1:1.? The things I have on hand that I hoped might work (other than salt) is Polysorbate 80, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, some vegetable waxes like Candelilla, and BTMS (Emulsifying wax NF is what the label says.) If salt is the only option for me at this point, I will use it, but can anyone tell me if it will change the PH? One last question….does the PH of 8-9 ward off microbial growth as it does with bar soap? Do most of you add a preservative to your liquid soaps regardless of the PH level? I know….so many questions! Sorry about that! If anyone has any recommendations, please allow me to send you cyber hugs as a means of a thank you! This process seemed much less complicated before I started reading every opinion out there! LOL Thanks, friends.
Lisa
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