Chemical of the day: Salicylic Acid in CP soap

Have you ever heard of Salicylic Soap? Salicylic Soap is said to be used against wrinkles and acne. Salicylic acid is a type of hydroxy acid that "works mainly as an exfoliant. It causes the cells of the epidermis to become "unglued" allowing the dead skin cells to slough off, making room for regrowth of new skin." -Dermatology.about.com

It also is a great way to improve lightening of scars.

So how do we incorporate this in our soap? 

First of all, you might ask: CP soap has a high ph level, therefore, wouldn't the salycilic lose its power in the saponification process? Well, there are a few things we may add to improve the power of the Salycilic acid in a cold process soap. 

1. Add EDTA (I will talk about this soon)

EDTA is used in soap making to prohibit the formation of DOS or Dreaded orange spots. It also is used to give more power to any chemical additive in soaps. 

2. Add Citric Acid. 

Citric Acid will lower the ph level of the soap and make the CP soap more on a translucent color. (I will experiment on citric acid on cp soap soon)

So now we can add our Salycilic Acid in CP soaps by adding both EDTA and Citric Acid. 

How do we add Salyclic Acid?

Things to remember:

1. Use Salycilic acid not more than 5% in soaps. 

2. Please dissolve it in oil. Never in water. Here's what happened to me:

In the picture above, I attempted to dissolve the acid in water. Salycilic is poorly soluble in water. Salycilic acid can disslove in water if assisted with heat. You can heat your water to reach a high temperature enough to dissolve the Salycilic Acid. But make your life easier and dissolve this on oil instead. Look below: 

See? Its soluble in oil. Its as easy as that.

Where in the process do we put our Salycilic oil? 

Place this on trace. Use 1/2:1. 1/2 part Salycilic to 1 part oil. 

x soap authority