Soapmaking

Thank you! They are selling fast

I can see why! If you don't mind my asking - what is the price for one of those beauties?

Built a small mold. Measured the inside. Calculated a recipe. Discovered I don't have enough oil to make soap with.

Wife and daughter used most of my remainder making some kind of face scrub!

I'm so excited this came out right.

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Melana said:

I'm so excited this came out right.

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LOL! That is so funny!

I remember WAAAAAY back when, before tattoos were on everyone, a gal I knew from working with her pulled up her dress to show me that very tattoo on her upper thigh. Now mind you this was probably late 70s! Makes me wonder what it looks like now! :fro:

Temptd2 said:

Makes me wonder what it looks like now!

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I'd think she went from the Rolling Stones to Kiss.

Temptd2 said:

LOL! That is so funny!

I remember WAAAAAY back when, before tattoos were on everyone, a gal I knew from working with her pulled up her dress to show me that very tattoo on her upper thigh. Now mind you this was probably late 70s! Makes me wonder what it looks like now! :fro:

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It is funny. I was nervous at first because I didn't know if I could do it. It's going home with its new owner tonight

I'm thinking if they actually USE that soap, it may end up looking exactly like my buddy's tattoo probably looks by now - LOL!!

It's a work of art though and should be showcased somewhere and NEVER EVER used.

I made this liquid soap that was a pain to get all the lumps out but it makes a really nice hand soap. I made it pretty watery and when it goes through a foaming hand pump it is thick enough to write your name in.

Ingredients:
(30%) 14.1 oz coconut oil
(30%) 14.1 oz soybean oil (liquid, not shortening)
(40%) 18.8 oz olive oil
32.9 oz distilled water
9.39 oz KOH (Potassium Hydroxide)
This is a 70% water as percent of oil weight, and a 5% superfat discount. technically because this contains more olive than other oils you could call this a liquid castile soap, but in my book castile means 100% olive oil, so it’s really up to you!
from this website: https://silverfirsfarm.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/liquid-castile-soap-tutorial/
I like it to test fragrances too. I'm using a Day of the Dead fragrance that is really nice.
I'm trying to find a good recipe for liquid dishwashing soap. I tested the above recipe and it doesn't seem to have a clean feel and the fragrance last on the dishes.
If you have a good recipe or just tips on how to make a good homemade dishsoap, I would love to make one.

"Dish soap" is a detergent unfortunately - that's why no soap film.

I might be one of the cool kids now! Looks like ketchup and mustard, but I'm hoping it ends up soap.

• 13 oz Crisco
• 12 oz Olive Oil
• 14 oz Coconut Oil
• 14 oz water
• 6 oz lye
• .3 oz "The Body Shop" Exotic Fragrance Oil (smells fruity, had this in the cabinet)
• red/blue coloring added to 1/3 of batch, added on top, stirred.

It's so much fun! I made a charcoal facial soap (from Melana's research), and it's my first charcoal soap. It's super nice soap, but I would caution anyone to not sneeze when opening the powdered charcoal.

Weeks later, and I'm still finding charcoal remnants in kitchen drawers.

Opened my mold, removed the soap brick, and sliced. I kinda expected it to splode or shatter or some other disaster that usually happens on my inaugural attempt at anything. Oddly, everything seemed OK.

I'm gonna let it dry in one of my cheese driers drawers for about a month. Then I'm gonna do a long day of yardwork. I will be nasty. Then we test the soap.

Well you better get started on the second batch. I was shocked how fast my first batch went, and had to wait 2 weeks for the next batch to cure. I found a used crockpot for cheap and made a batch using the hot method to get me through the last time I ran low.

My youngest is leaving for college this weekend. Only about 45 minutes away, but still...

Anyway, she's been bugging me to make more Chapstick for a while, so we finally banged out a few sticks last night so she has a good supply while she's gone. Here's the recipe and process I used:

2 parts Coconut Oil
1 Part Beeswax
Few drops Vitamin E

I got the Coconut Oil warming on the stove. It was solid and I wanted it to be liquid. I put the plastic bottle in a pot of water and turned the heat on medium.

While that was heating, I grated some beeswax sticks. You can use any beeswax. They make it in pellet form, but I happened to buy some sticks of "organic" or whatever. It's very unprocessed and smells strongly of honey.

When the Beeswax was grated and the Coconut Oil was liquified, I put a small glass bowl (like 1 cup size) on my gram scale and poured 10 grams of coconut oil into the dish. Then I added 5 grams of beeswax, and then finally 2 vitamin E capsules pricked and squeezed.

I then placed the glass dish in the pot of water and turned the heat back on. I stirred while the Beeswax melted into the Coconut Oil.

I then took the glass dish out carefully, and holding with a hotpad, I poured the mixture into empty tubes through a small funnel. It filled almost 4 of the 6 tubes I had.

I made a half batch right after that to fill the remaining 2 tubes.

You can also add a few drop of honey directly to the mixture when it's melted, if you want a bit more honey aroma and slight sweetness. I've heard of using Kool-Aid stuff to color and flavor, but when I tried it, I did not get it to stir in well. I used an off brand sports drink, so YMMV. I like the lip balm without the extra flavors, personally.

rhoadsrage said:

Well you better get started on the second batch. I was shocked how fast my first batch went, and had to wait 2 weeks for the next batch to cure. I found a used crockpot for cheap and made a batch using the hot method to get me through the last time I ran low.

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I'm still on the first bar of the soap that I pictured above. It's a nice hard bar, so it doesn't fall apart in the shower at all.

However, I did make several additional batches, so probably have a lifetime supply now

Not enough lye.
I just made a batch of soap that I've made before that was real good. This time I added 4 oz of shea butter with the same lye as before

40 oz olive oil (80%)
10 oz coconut oil (20%)
6.9 lye in 16 oz water.....this is what Ive done before.

I made the same recipe with 4 oz shea butter and upped it 7.1 lye ( no difference really)

Should I scoop it all out of the molds and add more lye with immersion blender....its been about a 1/2 hour in the mold..or is it to late

If yes how much more water and lye?
Longshot as I'll need an answer ASAP

JONNYROTTEN said:

Not enough lye.
I just made a batch of soap that I've made before that was real good. This time I added 4 oz of shea butter with the same lye as before

40 oz olive oil (80%)
10 oz coconut oil (20%)
6.9 lye in 16 oz water.....this is what Ive done before.

I made the same recipe with 4 oz shea butter and upped it 7.1 lye ( no difference really)

Should I scoop it all out of the molds and add more lye with immersion blender....its been about a 1/2 hour in the mold..or is it to late

If yes how much more water and lye?
Longshot as I'll need an answer ASAP

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I think it's possible to "rebatch" soap. I've never done it, but probably just re-heating is OK.

I put your recipe in soapcalc with 5% superfat and I get 7.37 oz of lye (in 20.52 oz of water). Sounds like you're pretty close already.

JONNYROTTEN said:

Not enough lye.
I just made a batch of soap that I've made before that was real good. This time I added 4 oz of shea butter with the same lye as before

40 oz olive oil (80%)
10 oz coconut oil (20%)
6.9 lye in 16 oz water.....this is what Ive done before.

I made the same recipe with 4 oz shea butter and upped it 7.1 lye ( no difference really)

Should I scoop it all out of the molds and add more lye with immersion blender....its been about a 1/2 hour in the mold..or is it to late

If yes how much more water and lye?
Longshot as I'll need an answer ASAP

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I'm guessing that you're concerned that it didn't harden yet? Has it cooled yet? What temperature was it when you started mixing? Is the whole thing still soft, or just parts?

passedpawn said:

I think it's possible to "rebatch" soap. I've never done it, but probably just re-heating is OK.

I put your recipe in soapcalc with 5% superfat and I get 7.37 oz of lye (in 20.52 oz of water). Sounds like you're pretty close already.

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Thanks....I used Brableberry lye Calculator and came up with almost 11 oz....I must have done something wrong. 7.1 to 7.3 seems like I should be alright.

Is the shea butter the superfat?

passedpawn said:

I'm guessing that you're concerned that it didn't harden yet? Has it cooled yet? What temperature was it when you started mixing? Is the whole thing still soft, or just parts?

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I'm concerned its not going to get hard at all. I'm not sure about the temp of the oils, I didn't check it. I nuked the shea butter and coconut oil but the 40 oz of room temp olive oil must have brought down the temp a lot.
The lye was 115 deg when I added it.. Everything seems pretty soft, its only been an hour or less

I'd just let it go. I don't mess with mine until the next day.

If you use exactly the amount of lye to saponify the fats you have, then your "superfat" is zero. Most people, though, want to leave some fat in the soap so that it is not so drying. If you tell the calculator to leave 5% of the fat un-converted, then your superfat is 5%. Doesn't matter what type of fat, just that you have more than the lye can convert. Clear?

I made a soap last week with 8% superfat. It's still sorta soft a week later. Not playdough soft, but if you press it with your finger you can make a dent.

sub

passedpawn said:

I'd just let it go. I don't mess with mine until the next day.

If you use exactly the amount of lye to saponify the fats you have, then your "superfat" is zero. Most people, though, want to leave some fat in the soap so that it is not so drying. If you tell the calculator to leave 5% of the fat un-converted, then your superfat is 5%. Doesn't matter what type of fat, just that you have more than the lye can convert. Clear?

I made a soap last week with 8% superfat. It's still sorta soft a week later. Not playdough soft, but if you press it with your finger you can make a dent.

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AHH HA... So its not any particular ingredient. It just a ratio from lye to ingredients. Lye only converts so much so the difference is the superfat...less lye more superfat....more oils same lye, more superfat..its that right

JONNYROTTEN said:

AHH HA... So its not any particular ingredient. It just a ratio from lye to ingredients. Lye only converts so much so the difference is the superfat...less lye more superfat....more oils same lye, more superfat..its that right

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Yes, or you can do a "lye discount", and superfat that way. Either way it's the same thing.

When oils are soft at room temperature (or liquid), it takes longer for the soap to set up, especially if the temperature is cool enough so the soap doesn't gel. Some olive oil soaps may take days to firm up, but usually 24-48 hours works for most soaps. You can cut when the soap is firm, so give it at least a day or two, or even longer.

Right. Use more "hard" oils to make hard soap. E.g. My hardest soap had a lot of crisco in it. My softest was mostly olive and canola.

Lorena knows everything. Olive oil heavy soap takes a long time to really get hard.



Damn my dirty mind....

Learn something new everyday. I thought super fat was some sort of super fatty ingredient...I was about to make a bacon grease soap for my after work shower before dinner....

Very cool thread, learned a lot. Gonna have to give this soap making a try! Thanks Yooper for posting and all who contributed.

John

I'm curious about the lye calculator.
I went the Brambleberry one and it gave a choice for liquid or solid. I punched in liquid thinking olive oil is a liquid as is coconut and shea butter after heating.
The liquid choice gives lye amount of almost 11 oz. The same recipe with solid gives just over 7 oz. That's a huge difference and potential for a big mistake.

Why is there such a difference and why isn't it figured as a liquid?

I don't see it mentioned much here, but lard is a great fat to use soaping! It makes a nice, long lasting hard bar as well.
Soapmakingforum is excellent, but sometimes when I just want some quick, and usually accurate pointers and information. I hit up the queens site.
Here's a little on temps if anyone is interested.
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-...cs-how-temperature-affects-cold-process-soap/

Also, I didn't see it mentioned, but some fragrance oils can affect set up of soap. Not sure if that applies here or not.

JONNYROTTEN said:

I'm curious about the lye calculator.
I went the Brambleberry one and it gave a choice for liquid or solid. I punched in liquid thinking olive oil is a liquid as is coconut and shea butter after heating.
The liquid choice gives lye amount of almost 11 oz. The same recipe with solid gives just over 7 oz. That's a huge difference and potential for a big mistake.

Why is there such a difference and why isn't it figured as a liquid?

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"Liquid" refers to liquid soap (like hand soap) and uses potassium hydroxide (KOH) not Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH). Making liquid soap is a whole other animal, and you use different amounts of KOH vs NaOH.

LBussy said:

"Liquid" refers to liquid soap (like hand soap) and uses potassium hydroxide (KOH) not Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH). Making liquid soap is a whole other animal, and you use different amounts of KOH vs NaOH.

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There ya go...learned something new again...Thanks

It turned out pretty good. 24 hours later, still soft but that's expected.
I used Grapefruit and orange essential oil. Smells good. I mixed a yellow and red coloring and it turned out better than expected. Looks real "grapefruity"

*Note my artistic sun pic

Can someone point me in the right direction for basic soap making? Need a link or something to get me started

aeviaanah said:

Can someone point me in the right direction for basic soap making? Need a link or something to get me started

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I put all I could in the beginning posts of this thread, particularly posts 8, 9, 10. It's a decent tutorial. Is there something else that you're looking for?

Yooper said:

I put all I could in the beginning posts of this thread, particularly posts 8, 9, 10. It's a decent tutorial. Is there something else that you're looking for?

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No I just started at post 500. I'll go take gander at the posts you mentioned. Thanks!

aeviaanah said:

Can someone point me in the right direction for basic soap making? Need a link or something to get me started

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I'm by no means an expert, but I'll submit my 2¢. I took a bunch of pictures in one of my sessions, so might as well post those too.

Here's a recipe that worked out great for me. Makes a very hard bar that's great for the shower. This is the soap I posted above with the red top.

• Crisco 13 oz
• Olive Oil 12 oz
• Coconut Oil 14 oz
• Lye 5.7 oz
• Water 14.8 oz

1. Add lye to water. Set aside. It will get hot - that's normal
2. Heat oils in pan until they just melt. Let cool to 105F.
3. Add essential oils and/or colors to oils now, if desired.
4. Slowly add lye to oils while blending with an immersion blender. Blend well. Saponification should be immediate - it will turn opaque like vanilla pudding. Blend for about 2 minutes, pulsing throughout the mixture.
5. It will begin to set up like jello pretty quickly, so pour into mold (lined with parchment paper).
6. After 24 hours, remove from mold and slice into cakes. Don't use for at least 1 week. It will continue to harden for a month or two.

For the mold, you can use almost anything that will hold its shape. Regardless, you must line with parchment unless you have a silicone mold. Because the soap will get hard, the ideal mold will have sides that fold down or somehow release - this makes it simple to remove the hard loaf of soap. I made one out of wood with wing nuts that allow me to remove the sides. There are sweet ones that don't cost too much on Amazon. They really don't cost much more than the materials to build one yourself, and they have niceties like silicone interiors and cutting dies. Search soap mold on Amazon.

Here's some pictures of a "orange bar" that I made. I added some annatto to make it orange, and orange essential oil for aroma. For the oils, I just emptied out the crap in the back of the cabinet (that lard was 13 yrs old). I measured the pH of the lye solution - 12.5!

I don't want to take away from the discussion here. I would however not be fair to the place a lot of us got our start in soaping if I did not mention it. SoapMakingForum is a great place to meet soapers and discuss the art. There are some VERY nice people there and I never would have been successful with soap if it were not for them.

If you visit, take a moment to read before you ask. There are some very good beginner articles there.

passedpawn said:

I'm by no means an expert, but I'll submit my 2¢. I took a bunch of pictures in one of my sessions, so might as well post those too.

Here's a recipe that worked out great for me. Makes a very hard bar that's great for the shower. This is the soap I posted above with the red top.

• Crisco 13 oz
• Olive Oil 12 oz
• Coconut Oil 14 oz
• Lye 5.7 oz
• Water 14.8 oz

1. Add lye to water. Set aside. It will get hot - that's normal
2. Heat oils in pan until they just melt. Let cool to 105F.
3. Add essential oils and/or colors to oils now, if desired.
4. Slowly add lye to oils while blending with an immersion blender. Blend well. Saponification should be immediate - it will turn opaque like vanilla pudding. Blend for about 2 minutes, pulsing throughout the mixture.
5. It will begin to set up like jello pretty quickly, so pour into mold (lined with parchment paper).
6. After 24 hours, remove from mold and slice into cakes. Don't use for at least 1 week. It will continue to harden for a month or two.

For the mold, you can use almost anything that will hold its shape. Regardless, you must line with parchment unless you have a silicone mold. Because the soap will get hard, the ideal mold will have sides that fold down or somehow release - this makes it simple to remove the hard loaf of soap. I made one out of wood with wing nuts that allow me to remove the sides. There are sweet ones that don't cost too much on Amazon. They really don't cost much more than the materials to build one yourself, and they have niceties like silicone interiors and cutting dies. Search soap mold on Amazon.

Here's some pictures of a "orange bar" that I made. I added some annatto to make it orange, and orange essential oil for aroma. For the oils, I just emptied out the crap in the back of the cabinet (that lard was 13 yrs old). I measured the pH of the lye solution - 12.5!

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Perfect, this all makes sense and looks like a great start point! I'll be making soap soon