Tuesday 28 July 2015

Simple Liquid Soap

Welcome to Jules via here. Also Annie as I can't remember if I welcomed you!


Now that I have tried and settled on some pure natural shampoo and conditioner. I have turned my attention to liquid soap. I love bar soap but dirt quickly settles in cracks and it just looks horrible.

I already make my own liquid laundry product, so how hard can it be?

I don't make my own soap at the moment, it might be something I get into eventually but for now, I have nearly run out of bathroom liquid soap. You can of course use any soap but I am going for SLS free. I also use separate graters, jugs, spoons and pans for soap, don't fancy any soap tasting meals. Anyhow, here goes.

Make sure you have tested your chosen soap the day before, to check if you are okay to use it on your skin, especially if you are going to use it on your face!

Grate your soap until you have a loose (not packed) amount, measuring1 cup:

Put the soap into a glass jug and top up to 3/4 pint with boiling water. Pour into a small saucepan:
Gently heat, stirring to melt this if you see any:
Not sure what it is, probably glycerine but I prefer to melt and mix it in. Once melted, pour through a sieve into your chosen temporarycontainer and leave to solidify - usually 1 - 2 hours or so:
If it fails to solidify, give it a good stir and leave again. Use a stick blender to turn it into a thick liquid:

A little thick so I added another 1/2 - 3/4 cup of water and blended it in and it felt correct. Don't leave it too thick as it may continue thickening and bung up your pump tube:
It should be the consistency of silky, slightly runny mucus (sorry, no other way to describe it).

It is at this stage that you can add aromatherapy oil should you wish. I prefer not to add it to the soap but rather the container (5 - 10 drops should do).  That way, when you refill, you can add a different oil! AGAIN, TEST YOUR SKIN FOR ANY OILS YOU ARE USING.

Use a funnel to pour it into your chosen pump action container:
You now have liquid soap:
So then, how does it compare to other liquid soap. Not so foamy for a start but then we learnt to wash our hands and faces differently. Try starting dry hands. Pump 2 - 3 squirts onto your hands. Rub around, add a smidgen of water if you need to, put on your face if using for that as well as your hands, then rinse thoroughly. If you wet your hands first, and you have made it too thin, it has a tendency to run off before you can use it:)

However, it does vary from batch to batch. This second lot has not been made so runny and stays on the hands better!

Price difference, well that rather depends on the cost of your soap to begin with. First time making, we used a bar of soap priced at £2.99 and we had enough per 1/2 bar session for 2 x 250 ml bottles, so 1 litre of hand wash from one bar of soap, making it 75p per bottle.

Obviously you can get liquid soap for less than that but what is in it? I am re-using a hand wash that originally retailed at £4.50 (a Christmas gift). These are the ingredients it had in it:
The soap I used had a lot less rubbish but still a few potentially 'harmful' ingredients so I shall not use that brand again. Instead I shall buy from a pure soap company where I know what I am getting!

Ignorance is such bliss until you realise your mistake. You live and learn my friends, you live and learn!

 Don't make up too much at a time as there are no preservatives in it.

14 comments:

  1. It's funny I used to keep separate graters, jugs, wooden spoons etc when I started making homemade soaps and then one day I realised the soap I was making with all these implements was purer and nicer than the washing up liquid I was using to wash them before they got put away and stored until next time .... then I switched to using my normal kitchen things and had less clutter :-)

    This is a really good tutorial for making liquid soap :-)

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    1. Thank you! I originally put aside soap making items when I used to grate soap for making laundry soap, often nowadays, I buy soap flakes. I do find that some scented soaps can leave a smell even after washing but I think if using non scented, then you can just use your ordinary items. I have soapy items so use them.

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  2. Yes a very clear tutorial - thanks. I make my own laundry liquid and gave made handwash in the same way. It's been great so far so I'll certainly do it again. As you say, it's better knowing what's gone in to these things!

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  3. I'm pretty sure that no soap has touched my face since mum stopped using 'Pears' on me when I was about eight years old!
    I use rinse-off soap free cleansers, or cleansing oils as my skin can get very dry otherwise.
    I use liquid soap in the kitchen and bathrooms, and we always have a bar of soap in the bathrooms too, it's always 'Rock Star' from Lush, it has a few synthetic ingredients, but the scent is fabulous, so I can forgive a few 'baddies' in it!

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    1. I have always used soap then I moisturise afterwards. Going to have a go at making my own moisturiser next! Really got the bug now:)

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    2. I've made my own handcream for years, but as far as stuff for my face, it was Pond's for years, and now I'm a Loccitane devotee, it's expensive, but I spread it thinly!!!
      I make my own spray cleaner, laundry soap and washing up liquid, but I think that's as far as I'll be going!

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  4. Thank you so much for this great post, I really appreciate it. Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada!

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  5. Have just seen mention of Connaught Pie. Have taken a browse through my wartime recipe books and cant find it. Looked on Google and it mentions it but my very temperamental lap top wont down load it. Any ideas what Connaught Pie is?

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    1. Put 5oz of jumbo oats into a pan with 1/2 shredded leek, 1 pint water, 1 teaspoon mixed herbs and 1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to the boil and simmer until thick. Turn out onto a greased flat plate or baking tin and let go cold. Cut into squares. Take 2oz sliced cold meat and sandwich one slice of meat between 2 slices of squares. Place these finished squares into another greased dish. Make sauce to go over it, using 3oz plain flour, 1 pint vegetable/meat stock, 2oz cheese. When thickened pour over the slices and either grill or bake until brown.

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