Old fashion Dish flakes/Laundry flakes

by Stan Krueckemeier
(Napa CA USA)

Hi. I want to make hard, cleansing, extra sudsing, soap that can be grated/ or flaked, for laundry or dishes, similar to the the old LUX or IVORY soap flakes. Have tried but cant get quite enough suds/ Hope you can help. Thanks Stan

Answer:

Not sure if you will be able to achieve the same effects as the commercial soap flakes but you could try something like 90% coconut oil and 10% castor oil. Coconut oil produces a cleansing full lather and Castor oil produces a full stable lather. Since it isn't for skin use you can lower the lye discount to about 1% or 2% (some people like to omit the discount completely).

This will make an extremely hard soap and you will need to cut it into managable bars while it is very fresh.

You could also try adding a small amount of palmitic or stearic acid into the formula since both of those components are supposed to help to stabalize the lather. I would start experimenting with about 1% or 2% at first to see what results you get.

Good luck,
Cathy