Why Is My Soap Not Sudsing?
Are you making all-natural bars of homemade soap that look and feel amazing but lack a rich lather when you finally put them to use? You’re not alone!
With all the soap making we’ve done, we have some tips to share on how to achieve a creamy, luxurious lather from your handcrafted bars of soap:
consider your soap ingredients
Most commercial soaps are loaded with chemicals and sulfates that make the soap more sudsy. However, if you want to achieve a rich lather with a more natural soap, you’ll want to choose the oils for your recipe carefully because certain oils will change the way your type of soap lathers.
Our go-to oils for a creamy, rich lather include castor oil, coconut oil, kukui nut, palm kernel oil, babassu oil, and murumuru butter. The types of oils that do not lather as much include olive, sweet almond, and avocado.
check your water quality
The natural minerals found in hard water prevent soap from lathering. If you have hard water, you may need to add a chelating agent such as ascorbic acid or emulsifying wax to help your lather along.
balance fat or lye ratios
An improper ratio of fat or lye will produce soap that doesn’t create suds. An excessive amount of fatty acids cannot saponify, which causes your soap not to lather. Make sure your recipe is balanced when it comes to fat or lye to make the most of your suds.
use a melt & pour soap base ready for sudsy action
There are pre-formulated, lab tested, melt & pour soap bases available with all the ingredients needed to achieve a super sudsy bar of soap. Try using one our exclusive melt & pour soap bases that create a rich and natural moisturizing lather:
- Organic clear coco melt & pour soap base
- Olive hemp seed melt & pour soap base
- Black coco charcoal melt & pour soap base
- Honey coco melt & pour soap base
If you’d like to sample them, grab one of our discovery kits that include a few of each:
Whether you’re new to soap making or a seasoned soaper, keep in mind that just a few simple tweaks can help you get the lather you’re looking for.
Show us how your ultra-sudsy natural bars of soap look by posting a photo on Instagram and tagging us @makesy. We love seeing and sharing our makers’ soap success!
Happy making!
