How to make REAL Whipped Soap from scratch - No Base, No surfactants

Watch the demo on YouTube https://youtube.com/watch?v=fmzMr41W9Vw&feature=share

One of the ways that you can make yourself some lovely whipped soap without relying on a base is by using bars of soap you’ve made yourself.  This means it is actually ‘whipped soap’ as opposed to the surfactant-based whips we’ve made before.

Why would you want this hassle? 

Pre-made whipped soap base can be very changeable.  Sometimes you get a sloppy mix, sometimes it’s rock hard, sometimes it’s grainy, and as well as that you are beholden to the base makers formula and any future formula changes which can lead to costly safety report adjustments and sometimes even having to get a new one entirely.

Making your own base can be done in stages. This formula makes use of cold process soap that I made a while back.  All you need to do is make a batch of your favourite formula of cold process soap.  Don’t scent it.

Once it’s fully hardened, you can grate it up and store it in a nice container for whipped soap making.

Now it’s time to get your slow cooker out.  Not the one from your kitchen!  You can get one easily from amazon or any other store and use it only for formulating.  You’ll be able to use it to make dual lye soap paste, Castille soap and this recipe for whipped soap.

So on with the formula and method.  This makes approx. 4 whipped soaps (to fit in usual 200g PET Pots) Measurements are for a 500g Batch – you’ll find that this goes really far because of the whipped texture. 

Note that your results will vary depending on the cold process soap recipe that you start with, how old it is and the superfat percentage.  If your soap is new then it’s water content will be higher and you may not need as much water and glycerine in your recipe.   If you are using a highly cleansing CP soap such as coconut oil soap, you will need a good amount of Glycerine so that it’s not too drying.  It is also possible to add an oil.  Check the notes at the end this formula.

Formula

35% (175g) Soap Shreds – the soap part!
35% (175g) Distilled Water – Solvent and viscosity.
20% (100g) Vegetable Glycerine – A humectant, but also necessary to bind the mix as a solvent.
10% (50g) Stearic Acid – thickener and also stabilizes the whipped texture.  It also helps to moisturize and soften the skin.

Method

Put the soap shreds, distilled water, glycerin and stearic acid in a slow cooker on low to medium heat with the lid on and allow to melt into a paste.  Once melted, transfer into a new bowl and whip it up

To customize: adjust for gram weight you need depending on batch size.

97% Base
1.5% Fragrance – for scent, check IFRA for Guidelines.
1% Phenoxyethanol ehg – not necessary, but I always recommend a preservative in products sold that will be used in the bath or shower. 
0.3% Vitamin e – antioxidant and good for the skin
0.2% Mica or neon pigment for colour

Allow to cool to 40C before adding the above. Colour can be mixed with a tiny bit of glycerine or fragrance oil to pre-disperse.

To make this into a scrub you can add sugar or salt.  Yes, it does contain water, but due to the make-up of a soap scrub and the quantity of sugar or salt used, it is unlikely to dissolve before the entire tub is used up.

You can up the fragrance to 2% if you feel it doesn’t smell enough at 1.5%, just check the IFRA allowed usage.

Once you’ve made your additions, you can scoop or pipe it into your containers.

Notes:

Yes, you can add other things. 

If you want to add an oil, then keep it to between 3% and 5% and deduct from the water or glycerine.

If you want to add Kaolin or similar clays, you can whip this into the base in the customization stage.

If you want to change the thickness, as this will depend a little on the original soap shreds and how much water was in your bars and your superfat, but you can adjust the stearic to your liking.

If your soap recipe doesn’t produce enough foam and bubbles for your whipped version, then you can add in some SLSa to help increase lather.  Around 2.5-3% should be sufficient and you can take from the Glycerine or stearic acid phase, or try something like Cocamidopropyl betaine or both.  But bear in mind this will increase viscosity.

Overall, if you already make cold process soap then you can branch out into these.  This means that you have 100% control over the formula and ingredients, from making a beautiful bar soap to shred, to adding in the additions and whipping to make the whipped soap.

Don’t ask me if you can use melt and pour soap bars for this, as it completely defeats the point and in which case you make as well be buying a whipped a soap base and ignoring this formula altogether.

Disclaimer: These formulas and recipes are experiments created for the purpose of sharing on Patreon and YouTube. Revega does not make any claims as to their qualifications or the efficacy of the formulations which are listed here for entertainment purposes and accepts no responsibility for how you use these. We are self-taught and offer these videos from our years of knowledge and experience in making our own cosmetic products.

Remember that if you intend to use one of these formulations for your own product range, do your own research, experiments, adjustments and tests before using, gifting or selling.