Soapmaking

The olive oil soap I made seemed to take forever. It does seem to be pretty mild, but it also doesn't seem to suds up very well and can get slimy in the shower pretty quick.

I didn't add any scent to it, so I can still smell a bit of oil. I may not have used enough lye in the mix. At least it didn't separate during the curing as the book I have said it might.

I should get some other oils and make a new batch to giveaway as well. I don't know anybody who uses bar soap anymore though.

I've also noticed that the shower has more soap scum than usual. When we only used liquid body soap there wasn't any. Just the usual mineral deposits.

Homercidal said:

I should get some other oils and make a new batch to giveaway as well. I don't know anybody who uses bar soap anymore though.

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I'm planning on picking up soap trays at IKEA and giving people a parchment-wrapped bar of soap on the tray. That way they have no excuse not to set it by their sink or shower. Heh.

Still curing the first batch, but I have leftover ingredients and a friend just texted to say he could get me a few pounds of deer fat this weekend.

Yooper, do you have any particular deer tallow recipes you like? Or simple ones that have worked well? I'm doing some Googling of course, but curious if there's even a rough mix you've had good experiences with (I'm seeing a range of roughly 1/3 to 2/3 tallow, often with coconut and sometimes olive oil).

Thanks!

msabin said:

Bit the bullet and bought some supplies online a few weeks ago, and got up the courage to make Yooper's starter recipe this afternoon.
Wasn't at all clear what "trace" was supposed to look like, until I saw it -- just like she described.
The batch is cooling under towels on the counter now. (keeping themead and the cider company)

I'll let you all know how it turns out.

--Matthew

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Tested a bar today, and it's got good lather and feels great.
Caught my 6-year-old up to his elbows in a sink full of suds, he says "your soap is LOTS of fun, Daddy!!"

msabin said:

Tested a bar today, and it's got good lather and feels great.
Caught my 6-year-old up to his elbows in a sink full of suds, he says "your soap is LOTS of fun, Daddy!!"

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I recently started using my first batch too and it's great. I etched my 5-year-old nephew's name into one, so I hope he has as much fun as your boy!

Also, as I had asked for recommendations for tallow recipes, I thought I'd share what I ended up doing. Got about 2.5 pounds of deer fat from a friend, which I rendered for an hour and a half, ending up with about half a pound of tallow. I've seen better numbers out there online but I was a bit impatient. A longer simmer probably would've improved that by a couple ounces.

In any case, did a batch at 40% olive oil, 30% deer tallow, and 30% coconut oil. I also added some tangerine and cedarwood essential oils. I haven't used a bar yet as it's only been two weeks, but dry, they feel very hard and smell absolutely fantastic -- I have them curing in my bedroom and it's like waking up in a tangerine grove, even after two weeks. I'll report back when putting it to proper use, but I'm very excited about the feel and aroma so far. And the rendering process for the tallow was pretty easy, too, which I figured was worth mentioning.

I had some prime rib scraps and a bunch of other trash from my recently cooked prime rib. I sent it through my meat grinder and when I heated it it separated without any issue or gristle whatsoever. The meat settled to the bottom, or I'm learned you can lift the meat out with a strainer and rinse the fat off. My dogs were more than happy to get that meat slop served atop their food.

I got some Coconut Oil and Palm Oil for Christmas. Also picked up some color and fragrance stuff at a hobby store in GR. I'm all set for the next batch!

I might try and re-batch this first batch for kicks. I have more of it than I'll use in a while.

borden said:

Still curing the first batch, but I have leftover ingredients and a friend just texted to say he could get me a few pounds of deer fat this weekend.

Yooper, do you have any particular deer tallow recipes you like? Or simple ones that have worked well? I'm doing some Googling of course, but curious if there's even a rough mix you've had good experiences with (I'm seeing a range of roughly 1/3 to 2/3 tallow, often with coconut and sometimes olive oil).

Thanks!

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I just saw this- and have only done two deer tallow recipes. My favorite at this point is still curing, but it's: 50% Deer Tallow, 22% coconut oil, 22% olive oil, 6% castor oil, and oatmeal stout instead of the water! I added to scoops of powdered goat milk at trace, but you could leave that out.

I did a lovely beef tallow soap: 52% tallow, 24% olive oil, 24% coconut oil. This is great, and I'm going to do it with deer tallow next!

Homercidal said:

I got some Coconut Oil and Palm Oil for Christmas. Also picked up some color and fragrance stuff at a hobby store in GR. I'm all set for the next batch!

I might try and re-batch this first batch for kicks. I have more of it than I'll use in a while.

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I told Bob you got palm oil for Christmas, and he cracked up! I think he thinks you're too much like me.

I got two oyster knives and a pair of kevlar gloves!

Yooper said:

I just saw this- and have only done two deer tallow recipes. My favorite at this point is still curing, but it's: 50% Deer Tallow, 22% coconut oil, 22% olive oil, 6% castor oil, and oatmeal stout instead of the water! I added to scoops of powdered goat milk at trace, but you could leave that out.

I did a lovely beef tallow soap: 52% tallow, 24% olive oil, 24% coconut oil. This is great, and I'm going to do it with deer tallow next!



I told Bob you got palm oil for Christmas, and he cracked up! I think he thinks you're too much like me.

I got two oyster knives and a pair of kevlar gloves!

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Which oyster knives did you get? I have had several and have yet to find one I like better than the Williams-Sonoma one.

pabloj13 said:

Which oyster knives did you get? I have had several and have yet to find one I like better than the Williams-Sonoma one.

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I got this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0028Z4QT6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 and then a set of two cheaper ones (from Sears). I don't know the brand of the other!

Yooper said:

I got this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0028Z4QT6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 and then a set of two cheaper ones (from Sears). I don't know the brand of the other!

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Nice. Looks sturdy with the rivet through the handle. I wish I could eat them still, developed an allergy, but my wife still loves them. Sorry for the little OT detour...

Yooper said:

I told Bob you got palm oil for Christmas, and he cracked up! I think he thinks you're too much like me.

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More like You are a bad influence on me!

At least that's what Kris says...

Homercidal said:

More like You are a bad influence on me!

At least that's what Kris says...

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OH, a bad influence! Ha! The problem is, you're as geeky as I am and it seems like when you see somebody make something (soap, kimchee, electric brewery, cheese, whatever), I always think, "How cool is that! I can do that!"

So I make laundry soap, dishwasher detergent, wine, beer, cider, mead, cheese, soap, vinegar, and fermented veggies. I wanted to start bee keeping, but Bob is really against that.

One of the bartenders at one of my local's makes all his own soaps, detergent. Even makes his own deodorant!

The only thing I remember him saying is he uses tea tree oil in his stuff. I'm gonna stick to making my own beer!

ScotBrew said:

One of the bartenders at one of my local's makes all his own soaps, detergent. Even makes his own deodorant!

The only thing I remember him saying is he uses tea tree oil in his stuff. I'm gonna stick to making my own beer!

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Oh, I make my own deodorant too! That's easy. I won't buy anything that I can make cheaper, and better- whether it's beer, soap, deodorant, food, etc- so I make much of my own stuff. I see no reason to buy things like mustard, when it's easier (and better, and cheaper) to make your own!

Glad someone updated this thread! I'm still making soap; each batch is just a bit different from the last until we settle on a type that we really like. It's all been good so far, though.

I use micas for dye, and fragrance oil, so I'm not all natural. But I am experimenting with some natural colorants. Cocoa is sitting in olive oil, as is some tumeric. I'll use those later on and see how they affect the coloring of a batch.

This is some of what I've done recently. A few months ago we caught a Halloween clearance at a craft store and bought an adorable bat cupcake pan. Since it's far from Halloween, I couldn't make black and orange soap, but I really really wanted to use the bats! So instead, I made fruitbat soap. The bats are orange with bergamot fragrance, and the soap surrounding them is blue-grey with lavender fragrance. They're absolutely adorable.



The swirl on this is light green and purple, but the pic washed some of the color. Fragrance is rosemary. The small bar is a light green with lemon verbena scent. This is a great scent; we have a bit lemon verbena bush in the back yard that smells amazing every year.



Wish we could make our own deodorant, but we work out way too much and I stink something awful afterwards. :cross:

Something I would like to try is liquid soap, as well as our own shampoo and conditioner. Browsing some shampoo posts in other forums, it looks like a whole lot of different chemicals goes into them, and that's what's keeping me from starting down that road. I bought a small shampoo bar off etsy just to try it out, and we didn't like it at all. That was disappointing, but glad we tried it out.

I definitely want to try making more detergents and things, but I'm not sure the wife would approve. Even though I've been successful at most things I've tried to do, I think she still feels as though only the store brand soap is any good.

I should just make a small batch in secret and do some laundry for a while and see if she notices.

Kittyfeet, those soaps are adorable!

I've used paprika and chocolate and tumeric for color in soap, and used annatto coloring as well. Stout makes a very dark soap, while pale ale makes an orange-y colored soap.

I still make my own dishwasher "detergent" and it works great!

I've been looking for a New Years resolution, and I think I've found it.

I want to make soap in 2013.

Thanks for the awesome thread - keep the pictures coming!

My mother makes soap. So, about 99% of the soap we use is homemade. She also gives it as gifts at Christmas. Maybe I can get her to come on and post some tips. She's been doing for quite a while now.

Just made my third batch. Did a basic 40/30/30 Olive/Coconut/Palm, but used cold press coffee concentrate for 1/3 of my water, and added .5oz/lb peppermint essential oil, a very small touch of tangerine essential oil (the dregs of a bottle), and some shredded homegrown tobacco. Menthol soap!

The coffee really darkened the soap -- right now it's the color of caramel, but I only used a small amount, so it goes a long way. The smell from the lye/water/coffee mixture was decidedly worse than the normal smell, for whatever reason (and for whatever it's worth). I'll report back with more info later, but thanks again to Yooper for initiating this thread. Another addictive hobby! And I'm now a 26 year old dude who makes soap. Own it, right?

What have you done, Yooper.

I just bought:

Olive Oil
Coconut Oil
Palm Oil
Shea Butter
Castor Oil
Lye
Immersion Blender
Safety Goggles

Have fun!

Maybe some day we'll have a Soap Swap instead of beer swaps!

Two batches of soap in the mold! Really easy and really quick. Looking forward to enjoying the finished product. For the 2nd one I added some powdered charcoal to turn it grey, looks awesome.

Also, I added 1/2 oz of powdered hop pellets to half a batch (~12 of oils) and the hop aroma is definitely noticeable...we'll see if it still is after 4 weeks of curing.

Saw this thread, about the same time as I got all upset at P&G for being in bed with Monsanto, so I had to try making soap. I have all the stuff now and I'm going to do the first batch tomorrow. THANKS for posting this!

Questions: do you ever mill soap, and if so, why? What does it get you? Do you have to melt it down after you mill it? I gather that's a more efficient way to add scents?
How do people make transparent or translucent soaps?


I got a book from the library to research this further, and I saw something funny. They are just as adamant as you are about how to mix lye, but they are insistent that you add water to lye, not the other way around. LOL I'm going with your way, since my daughter is a chemist and agreed with you.

Cromwell said:

...They are just as adamant as you are about how to mix lye, but they are insistent that you add water to lye, not the other way around. LOL I'm going with your way, since my daughter is a chemist and agreed with you.

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It's all about concentration.

Add lye to water...you start with a little bit of lye into a lot of water and gradually increase the concentration

Add water to lye...when that first drop of water hits, you have a ridiculously concentrated solution...not good.

Every time I see this thread

Just made a batch today, and it's super easy with your instructions, Yooper! So easy, we just made a second batch immediately.
If it's this easy, I think I'm hooked. Now comes the hard part, just like with beer - waiting!

Relax, don't worry have a hot shower? And a beer?

Cromwell said:

Saw this thread, about the same time as I got all upset at P&G for being in bed with Monsanto, so I had to try making soap. I have all the stuff now and I'm going to do the first batch tomorrow. THANKS for posting this!

Questions: do you ever mill soap, and if so, why? What does it get you? Do you have to melt it down after you mill it? I gather that's a more efficient way to add scents?
How do people make transparent or translucent soaps?


I got a book from the library to research this further, and I saw something funny. They are just as adamant as you are about how to mix lye, but they are insistent that you add water to lye, not the other way around. LOL I'm going with your way, since my daughter is a chemist and agreed with you.

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Just saw your questions, so sorry I didn't answer before.

I don't mill or rebatch, as it's a pain. But yes, that would be one way to add scents that wouldn't survive the saponification process.

I've read more about hot process, basically cooking the soap in a crockpot, and that's another way to add scent (after the cook) but I've never done it.

I'm glad your daughter agreed with me, and you avoided a lye volcano!

Made another batch today. I had a few jars of rendered lamb tallow and bacon grease....boiled w/water, chilled, drained water and made soap with it. Used a homebrewed pale ale as the base. I am still amazed how easy this is. Thanks for the inspiration, Yoop!

TyTanium said:

Made another batch today. I had a few jars of rendered lamb tallow and bacon grease....boiled w/water, chilled, drained water and made soap with it. Used a homebrewed pale ale as the base. I am still amazed how easy this is. Thanks for the inspiration, Yoop!

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I never thought about using rendered lamb tallow for soap! We get a lamb every year, and I never once considered it. Duh, on me!

let me know how it works out!

Yooper said:

I never thought about using rendered lamb tallow for soap! We get a lamb every year, and I never once considered it. Duh, on me!

let me know how it works out!

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Will do. So far so good...going in it smelled like dinner. Now it just smells like soap, so that's good.

How long do you typically cure your soaps? Anything I can do to speed it up? I've read 4 months, but, just like homebrew, 2-3 weeks sounds much better.

Mine cure 4 weeks before I use them.

It depends on the soap.

If you do a "zap test", and you don't get zapped, then it's safe to use. But it'll be better with some curing.

The curing process pretty much just allows excess moisture to evaporate out, leaving a harder more long-lived bar of soap.

Some soaps, like with tallow and shea butter, are pretty darn hard right out of the mold while olive oil soaps can stay soft a lot longer. Even so, with a long cure time, they eventually do get rock hard. Most soaps also get milder with a bit of cure time.

I have a 100% olive oil baby soap that I made in October and I wouldn't use it quite yet, but I have a shea butter/cocoa butter/tallow soap that I made in October that's nearly gone!

A "zap test" is when you touch it to your tongue?

Also, where do you get tallow? From a butcher? How much do you pay?

I got some fat from the butcher. People regularly mix it with deer meat for sausage, since deer tends to be more lean. I put it through my meat grinder and threw it in the crock pot. I then pulled the hamburger off of the bottom.

The result? About 2 lbs of burger and 4 lbs of tallow for 8 dollars.

I just get mine from cooking - I collect and save bacon grease in mason jars. Or if I have a big lamb or beef roast it'll render quite a bit of fat that I'll save (if I don't eat it first...mmmm)

I decided to make nice round bars instead of the oddly shaped ones in the first batch - thanks to the old bread-pan. I decided a nice piece of 2 1/2" PVC would get the right size, and set out...

...it's nearly impossible to find in Boise!

At the Habitat For Humanity second-hand store I found 60" and a pair of end-caps for $3

Cut to 15" and capped it holds a batch as sized in Yooper's starter recipe.

Turns out to be surprisingly hard to get it out -- should have planned a plunger of some sort I suppose.

15 1" bars look amazing!

I've been meaning to try soapmaking since this thread first popped up a while ago. Haven't had the time since. Anybody have a recipe for a really agressive drying soap? I like to use soap that really dries out for my beard. It makes my beard thicker and fuller. Maybe that sounds a bit crazy but it's true. I'm in need of some beard builder soap!