So many of you asked what to do with the leftover African Black Soap that you bought to make these salt bars… African Black Soap Salt Bars.  Well…you could put it in some liquid soap!  (I’m also working on a scrub…coming soon!)

how to make liquid soap

I didn’t know how well it would incorporate before trying it, but it turned out great!  This is nothing too fancy, just African Black Soap (ABS) Crumbles mixed into liquid soap.  If you want to make just the liquid soap part (no ABS crumbles) then go for it!  With the ABS crumbles, it makes a nice addition to a line of products that contain ABS.

African Black Soap Liquid Soap Recipe

Castor Oil – 6 oz
Coconut Oil – 10 oz
Avocado Oil – 8 oz
Safflower Oil – 8 oz
Olive Oil – 10 oz

Potassium Hydroxide – 9.11 oz
Initial Water for Paste – 27 oz

2 oz African Black Soap (you can get it at soaperschoice.com)

Water for Dilution – 80 oz

Step 1 – Make a solution with the water and potassium hydroxide.  Potassium hydroxide likes to hiss and sizzle when added to water.  Fun!  (Yes, I am a soap dork.)

liquid soap with african black soap

Step 2 – Add all of the oils to the crock pot along with the African Black Soap and melt.  The ABS will not melt.  Stick blend it until it gets as smooth as you can.

african black soap liquid soap

liquid soap

Step 3 – Add the solution and stick blend until you get a THICK trace.  Then stick blend a bit more.

liquid soap

liquid soap trace

Step 4 – Turn the crockpot on to medium and let this puppy cook.  If it separates while cooking, stickblend it back into submission.  I don’t stir mine until the soap turns onto itself and all that is left is a little island of soap.  See below.

liquid soap to cook

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Step 5 – Once only an island is left, stir!  And let it cook some more.

The timing of the soap finishing is going to depend on the heat of your crockpot.  Here is my timeline for this soap just for reference.

2:15 – set soap to cook
3:00 – soap turns – first stir
3:17 – stir again and test
3:30 – call it done and start diluting

To test the clarity of your liquid soap (if you care about clarity) you can take out a bit with a popsickle stick or spoon and put into HOT water to dissolve.  If its not clear – cook a bit more.  You can also tell the clarity a bit by the condensation that falls back on the soap.  Is it clear?

Not clear, so I cooked it a bit more.

testing soap

I cooked it about 15 minutes longer and declared it done!  Time to dilute.  I started by adding 40 oz of water.  You can always add more but you can’t take it away.  Boil the water before you add it so its nice and hot and doesn’t crack your crock.

After having the soap on warm for a couple of hours (and stirring occasionally), that wasn’t enough so I added 20 more and let it sit on warm some more.  That still wasn’t enough, so I added 20 more oz.  80 oz ended up being perfect for this batch.

diluting liquid soap

liquid soap

Ahhhh beautiful liquid soap!

I did strain it just in case it had any sediment from the ABS.  There wasn’t any that I could find.  That sort of surprised me a bit.

I added 2% Lavender Essential oil for scent.  You can add fragrance or essential oil – just be sure you test it in a small amount first!  Lavender EO makes it thick!  Citrus EO’s act as solvents and make it thin.  Be sure to test it first.  You can add 2-5% total.

Happy liquid soapmaking!   -Amanda