How to Transform Soap Nuts Into Expensive-Looking Beauty Products

taralee
Sep 30
3 min read

How to Make Soap Nut Liquid (Recap)

Recipe I used (in cups)

1 cup Soap Nuts
2 Cups Distilled water

Recipe I used (in grams)

78 g Soap Nuts
474 g Distilled water

Directions;

Place soap nuts in a sieve and rinse with distilled water (I placed the sieve over a bowl to catch the excess water.) Throw out the water. We are rinsing the nuts to remove any dirt or debris that may be on them.
Next place the soap nuts and distilled water in a pot and let it come to a boil, let simmer for 30 - 40 minutes. Keep an eye on the pot so it does not boil over. The soap nuts will create a lot of lather that may spill over while heater.
Let cool before straining.
Strain using a sieve or cheese cloth.
add a preservative to keep the soap from spoiling.

How to Preserve Soap Nut Liquid

Check pH of Soap Nut Liquid. (Mine was 4.18) & find a preservative that is active within that pH level. Cheap ph meter you can use or pH strips
Find the Recommended usage rate of the preservative you use. Geogard 221 (INCI;Dehydroacetic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol, Water) or Geogard ECT (INCI: Benzyl Alcohol & Salicylic Acid & Glycerin & Sorbic Acid) are both good options that are Ecocert Compliant and Natural. Both can be used at 1%. For every 99 grams of soap nut liquid, use 1 gram of Geogard 221 or Geogard ECT or other preservative of choice that is active at 4.18 and is water soluble.

Note; You may notice settlement in your soap nut liquid, this is a natural cause of the soap nut liquid whether there is a preservative or not.

Other preservative options: Liquid Germall Plus, TRIstat ECO (INCI; Benzyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Caprylate, Glyceryl Undecylenate) Iscaguard® PEG (INCI;Phenoxyethanol, Triethylene Glycol), Euxyl PE 9010 / Preservative 12 (INCI: Phenoxyethanol & Ethylhexylglycerin), Euxyl K 900 (INCI; Benzyl Alcohol, Ethylhexylglycerin)

*Preservatives with limited solubility in water may mix in with the soap nuts with no issues due to the surfactants present in the soap nut liquid, but mixing the preservative with Glycerin, Propanediol, or a solublizer may produce better results. If your preservative has limited solubility in water Poly Suga®Mulse D9, TegoSolv 61, Polysorbate 80, Polysorbate 20 may all work as options to keep the preservatives mixed in.

Thickened Soap Nut Body Gel/Wash Formula

5% Glycerin
1% Xanthan Gum
94% Soap Nut Liquid (Preserved)

Thickened Soap Nut Body Gel/Wash Recipe 100 Gram Batch

5 g Glycerin
1 g Xanthan Gum
94 g Soap Nut Liquid (Preserved)

Directions;

In a sanitized container, Mix together Glycerin and Xanthan Gum to make a slurry.
Pour Xanthan Gum/Glycerin slurry into the Soap Nut Liquid while mixing.
There may be chunks, but they should smooth out over time.
Pour into Clean Pump Bottle.

Thickened Conditioning Soap Nut Shampoo Formula

Phase A

5% Glycerin
0.5% GuarCat (INCI: Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride)

Phase B

92.5% Soap Nut Base (Preserved)
1% VegeKeratin (INCI: Water, Wheat Amino Acids, Soy Amino Acids, Arginine HCl, Serine, Threonine)
1% Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein

Thickened Conditioning Soap Nut Shampoo 100 Gram Batch

Phase A

5 g Glycerin
0.5 g GuarCat (INCI: Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride)

Phase B

92.5 g Soap Nut Liquid (Preserved)
1 g VegeKeratin (INCI: Water, Wheat Amino Acids, Soy Amino Acids, Arginine HCl, Serine, Threonine)
1 g Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein

Directions;

In a sanitized container, Mix together Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride and Glycerin to make a slurry.
In another container combine the Soap Nut Liquid, VegeKeratin and Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein.
Pour Glycerin/Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride slurry into the Soap Nut Liquid mixture while mixing.
If shampoo does not thicken immediately keep mixing until thick.
Pour into Clean Pump Bottle.

Foaming Soap Nut Face Scrub Formula

Phase A

5% Glycerin
1% Xanthan Gum

Phase B

74% Soap Nut Base (Preserved)
20% Pumice Powder

Foaming Soap Nut Face Scrub 100 Gram Batch

Phase A

5 g Glycerin
1 g Xanthan Gum

Phase B

74 g Soap Nut Base (Preserved)
20 g Pumice Powder

Directions;

In a sanitized container, Mix together Glycerin and Xanthan Gum to make a slurry.
Pour Xanthan Gum/Glycerin slurry into the Soap Nut Liquid while mixing.
Add in the Pumice Powder and mix.
Pour into a clean Jar.

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