Liquid Soap 101 is made using organic coconut and olive oil. The Liquid Soap 101 provides a simple way of producing a variety of personal care and household cleaning products that can be marketed as USDA Organic, Cosmos, Ecocert, or simply organic.
The use of Liquid Soap 101 allows you to efficiently and cost-effectively manufacture a range of cleansing products, including hand washes, hand foamers, foam baths, cleaning products, and much more. Opaque cleansing products can be produced by the addition of opacifiers, thereby increasing the number of possible variants.
The user can simply dilute the Liquid Soap 101 with softened or deionized water, add further chelate, perfume, color, and preservative of your choice, and proceed to thicken with your selected thickener, such as Cellulose Gum, or Guar Gum (note: salt cannot be used). Surfactants can be added to the Liquid Soap 101 to both lower pH and/or enhance cleansing properties, such as foaming if required. (note: addition of surfactants negates any organic claim you wish to make) the soap base can also be used as a replacement or part replacement of surfactants themselves in organic product formulation.
Like all water-based organic personal care products, LIQUID SOAP 101 is susceptible to microbial contamination. Good hygiene and manufacturing practices must be carried out when using this product at all times.
*Any Organic Claims can only be made if the filler/co-packer conforms to relative Organic Guidelines & Procedures.
Equipment Required
- Aqua
- Potassium Cocoate
- Potassium Olivate
- Glycerin Citric Acid
- Potassium Citrate
Steps to Process Liquid Soap 101
Dilution – Diluting the LIQUID SOAP 101 must be done with Softened Water / Deionised water. ANY FURTHER dilution from the concentrate requires a Chelate and Preservative. Lack of additional Chelate following dilution may cause the liquid to cloud and sediment to form.
Chelating – It is recommended that a Chelate is added to any product derived from LIQUID SOAP 101, particularly those that involve dilutions. This prevents sediments from forming and clouding products. Compatibility of chelates and products should be checked with a supplier – for example, some will be pH dependent. Chelates should be added into the water phase when formulating.
Preserving – In its concentrated form (45% active) LIQUID SOAP 101 does not require a preservative. Once any dilution takes place a suitable preservative must be added to the product. The choice and percentage of preservatives will depend on marketing/certification requirements, pH dependency, and formulation compatibility.
Fragrancing – Synthetic perfumes or essential oils can be added to fragrance a LIQUID SOAP 101 product. These should be added before thickening the product and can require a solubilizer (choice dependent). This prevents the fragrance from dropping out of the formulation and giving a heterogeneous product. The compatibility of fragrances with soap can differ greatly; consulting your fragrance house is advised.
Note: Due to the nature of LIQUID SOAP 101, which is derived from natural ingredients (organic coconut oil & organic olive oil), additives such as some essential oils can turn it cloudy. Over time some of these ingredients may slowly dissolve so that the product looks slightly clearer, but others can agglomerate and make the product look hazy or not homogenous. Although the appearance may not be aesthetically appealing the product can be perfectly functional. Stability testing should be performed.
Colouring – Colours can be added to LIQUID SOAP 101, and these should go into the formulation before any thickening. Depending on the requirements of the formulation (e.g. organic), the choice of colorants is down to the product finisher- compatibility should be checked and tested. Opacifiers can also be used to create an opaque finished product. The levels of opacifier required can vary depending on formulations, dilutions, and the actual chosen pacifier – Opacifiers should be charged pre-thickening.
Thickening – Thickening the diluted LIQUID SOAP 101 can be achieved using thickeners such as cellulose. A Salt solution does not thicken the LIQUID SOAP 101. When formulating ensure the thickener is charged at the last possible point (after fragrance and color) to ensure that components can become homogenous in the solution.
pH Adjustment
The pH of LIQUID SOAP 101 is 10.0 – 10.5. The pH cannot be adjusted using citric acid.
Key Factors
Below are the Key Factors to be aware of when using LIQUID SOAP 101, on any further dilution this soap base will require – CHELATING & PRESERVATION.
To speed up the time it takes to dissolve the essential oils, pre-warm the LIQUID SOAP 101 to 30 – 35°C. With the stirrer on, add the organic essential oils as required (typically add 0.3 – 0.5%). Stir for 10 – 15 minutes, or until the essential oils are fully dispersed and in some cases fully dissolved.