How to Thicken Liquid Soap Base

Making soap requires several stages and one of them is to thicken the soap. Here’s how to do it.

Xanthan Gum

Xanthan gum is a plant-based thickening agent while guar gum is a thickener in cosmetic formulations. Add ½ teaspoon of xanthan gum to ¼ cup of room temperature distilled water. Then, use a mixer or use your hands to mix thoroughly for 5 minutes. It is important that you mix it thoroughly with the water or else it may clump up. We find giving the bottle a good shake will often do the trick.

Guar Gum

Add 3 to 4 teaspoons of guar gum to ¼ cup of distilled water. Then, use a mixer or use your hands to mix them thoroughly for 5 minutes. Some claimed that Xanthan gum is most useful in thickening liquid soap but guar gum does not mess up as easy as compared to Xanthan gum. The different between the two is that Xanthan gum is made by a microorganism and guar gum is made from guar seeds.

Salt

Another way you can also thicken your liquid soap is by using a simple ingredient found in your kitchen – table salt. Add 20g of salt into 80g of warm water and let the soap thicken over an hour. Add this you your liquid soap and give it a good shake.

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