Bar Soap to Liquid Soap Blunder

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So here is my saga of trying to make liquid soap from bar soap. It seemed so simple, and of course Pinterest never lies, so what could go wrong? I scowered the internet to compare recipes and most were pretty basic and called for three simple ingredients: bar soap, water, and glycerin. Every place in town was out of glycerin, no joke, and I had to wait almost a month before I could attempt this so my expectations grew and grew as time went on. The time had finally come and it was more trouble than I bargained for.



I started by grating my bar of soap. Mine was only a little over 5 oz's but it really took some elbow grease. I'm not sure why everyone is doing this by hand but its crazy. The little spiral shavings are adorable and I should have just stopped right there!


So I started with 2 cups of water, my soap shavings, and glycerin. Some recipes suggested starting with less water and then thinning it down later. 


I boiled it....and I boiled it but there were this clumps that just wouldn't break down. 


One recipe suggested blending, yes while hot, and this was a huge mistake. I was prepared so the force the blender would exert from the inside. I should have known better....so much better. It exploded all over my kitchen. I caught it in time so you can see I retained most of my soap but there was still soap everywhere. It will not add to my credit that I'm married to a physics major and understand hot liquids, pressure, small space, no no. lol.


So the site that recommended working with a small batch and then adding liquid as you needed also suggested you put it in the fridge to set it up quicker instead of waiting until the next morning. Don't.


I essential creating a much larger bar of soap. So i cut it into chunks and put it in the microwave to soften. Then I put it in the blender with warm water, not hot. 


I got the same consistency I had the first time which was like a very foamy marshmallow. The next morning it was unchanged and I added at least a gallon of water. The soap was so stringy that it was wrapping around my hand blenders beaters. I just kept adding water until it thinned out and stopped attacking my beaters.


You'd think nothing else could possible go wrong. Well I lack the skills to poor liquids properly. It's just not a skill God gave me. In trying to poor, yes even with a funnel, I spilled probably a cup of soap or more. So I thought I mine as well clean with it!


It looks like I got a decent amount out of this bar. Almost a gallon plus the mason jar, so maybe a full gallon but you'd be wrong like I was. After sitting, I checked the other day, they had settled to half that amount. Worst of all it still feels like bar soap. It was good bar soap and feels just like it did as a bar soap. Nice but not that soft feeling you get from liquid soap, even with the glycerin. Luckily this bar was free.

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