[hkcog]

Hello,

I am a soap maker who would like to formulate a laundry detergent, using my bar soap as the surfactant.  The problem is that soap leaves a scum on the clothes and the washer.  So can my bar soap be made into a better surfactant?


k

[billnotgatez]

Can we assume that you have looked at the large number of web sites on soap making?
I have not had time to look this up, but I think that the old standard of soap making and the new method of detergent making are two different chemical processes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detergents

I can look up more when I get back home.


I can look up more when i get back home.

[Arkcon]

Prior to the popular use of detergents, soap powders for cleaning clothes had added phosphates and borates, to complex the dissolved minerals that cause soap scum.  The phosphates are mostly phased out now, due to environmental concerns.  See what you can find about the history of commercial soap making, the development of the Ivory Snow brand, and what other hobbyists can tell you.

[hkcog]

What's the maximum proportion of potassium that a formula would tolerate and still make soap hard enough to flake?

I would like to make soap bars with mostly potassium hydroxide, along with sodium hydroxide. I need the finished soap hard enough to be flaked. I know that potassium hydroxide is usually used to make a liquid soap. But I also know that when soap is made from wood ashes, the caustic released is mostly potassium with some sodium.

The oils I would like to use will be 100% coconut or
A combination of tallow, lard and coconut.

thanks
K

[hkcog]

Can we assume that you have looked at the large number of web sites on soap making?

AFIRMATIVE, I HAVE BEEN MAKING SOAPS BY HAND FOR OVER 8 YEARS, I LEARNED TO MAKE SOAP FROM THOSE WEB SITES. THEY ARE LIMITED IN THE KIND OF SURFACTANTS THEY MAKE, MOST DO NOT MAKE DETERGENTS.

I have not had time to look this up, but I think that the old standard of soap making and the new method of detergent making are two different chemical processes.

I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING THE INTERNET DAY AND NITE FOR WEEKS, PROBABLY NOT VERY EFFECTIVELY. I HAVE READ AND RE READ THE BEGINNINGS OF SOAP MAKING. 

I HAVE PURCHASED "HOW TO FORMULATE & COMPOUND INDUSTRIAL DETERGENTS", IT IS FULL OF FORMULATIONS, BUT NONE ADDRESS USING OLD FASHIONED SOAP AS THE SURFACTANT. 

I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO FIND A RECIPE OR PROCEEDURE FOR MAKING SOAP, COLD WATER SOLUABLE.  AND IF I AM UN ABLE TO MAKE MY SOAP USEABLE FOR LAUNDRY DETERGENT, IS IT POSSIBLE TO MAKE A SIMPLE ALCOHOL/SUGAR/COCONUT SURFACTANT BY HAND? IS THERE A FORMULA SOME WHERE?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detergents



I can look up more when I get back home.


I can look up more when i get back home.