Soapmaking

[CoalCracker]

I have a chocolate mint soap I made for my first batch like that. I'm afraid i'll be sticky from the cocoa. haha

 

[Proboscidea]

That grey/black soap is BITCHEN. :rockin: Like something Saddam Hussein would stock in a gilded marble soapdish in one of his his sci-fi/fantasy art-filled orgy palaces.

 

[Proboscidea]

(in a good way)

(as in, I want to make a batch of it right now)

 

[Pratzie]

"We were selling rich women their own fat asses back to them"

~Tyler Durden

 

[Kittyfeet]

"We were selling rich women their own fat asses back to them"

~Tyler Durden

That's an awesome quote!

Not sure what color lather the grey soap will give. I'll try out a piece in a week or two and report back.

Does anyone know the location of a sci-fi/fantasy art-filled orgy palace? If so, I'll donate a charcoal bar to it... as long as I get a free or reduced rate membership in return.

 

[TowsonTiger22]

Would there be a big difference if you used lard vs. olive oil?

 

[Yooper]

Would there be a big difference if you used lard vs. olive oil?

I just saw this question, so sorry I didn't answer. The answer is "yes. And no". What I mean is, the saponification amounts are different and the lard is harder in soap at least initially. But lard makes a lovely soap, so as long as you adjust the amount of lye (use a soaping calculator!), it should be great.



I made a batch of bastille soap today (bastardized castille). I have a friend in Texas with extremely sensitive skin, so I made up some "baby soap" without color or fragrance, and I will give it to him in February when I see him. I also have a friend with scleroderma, and I'm not sure what she can tolerate so I'll see if this works for her as well.

I'm making soap with different recipes, and finding what I like best. I really like the tallow soaps, it turns out. I only have 6 ounces of rendered tallow left, so I hope I either get a deer soon with my bow, or I get some extra fat when I pick up my side of grass-fed beef in a week or so.

 

[torstensson]

I've made soap a few times and are wondering if there is a good soap for/against psoriasis?

Thanks in advance

 

[Homercidal]

Yooper, I bet you could put the word out to some local hunters, or maybe some deer processors. They might be willing to get you some deer fat for cheap around this time of year.

I think a lot of people don't use much of it in general. Most of the people I know throw out the fat and mix their venison burger up with pork fat for flavor.

 

[TyTanium]

Yooper, I bet you could put the word out to some local hunters, or maybe some deer processors. They might be willing to get you some deer fat for cheap around this time of year.

I think a lot of people don't use much of it in general. Most of the people I know throw out the fat and mix their venison burger up with pork fat for flavor.

What has this world come to.

But a deer-fat soap would be awesome.

 

[Kittyfeet]

I'm making soap with different recipes, and finding what I like best. I really like the tallow soaps, it turns out. I only have 6 ounces of rendered tallow left, so I hope I either get a deer soon with my bow, or I get some extra fat when I pick up my side of grass-fed beef in a week or so.

We bought a grass fed quarter beef a few weeks ago, and I asked the butcher if I could have about 10 pounds of fat for soap. He said ok! A friend is going to drop of the meat and fat in a few weeks. Can't wait for more soap making goodness!

 

[Kittyfeet]

I've made soap a few times and are wondering if there is a good soap for/against psoriasis?

Thanks in advance

Check out this very interesting and informational linky:
http://www.plaqueplucker.com/soaps-for-psoriasis/

Looks like cold processed soaps, dead sea soaps, and charcoal soaps would work wonders for psoriasis. If you don't want to wait the 6 weeks for the soap to cure, hop on etsy and buy a few sample bars to see how your body reacts.

 

[msabin]

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

 

[borden]

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

Awesome. How long did the whole process take you? I keep putting it off but have an evening or two this week and am wondering if I could fit this in. Ordered my supplies some time ago and really need to just bite the bullet and try soapmaking out for the first time.

 

[Homercidal]

Awesome. How long did the whole process take you? I keep putting it off but have an evening or two this week and am wondering if I could fit this in. Ordered my supplies some time ago and really need to just bite the bullet and try soapmaking out for the first time.

My first soap took about 2 hours to cook and pour and put away. And that was carefully gathering and measuring stuff and I used an electric hand mixer.

I'm sure it would only take maybe an hour to do it next time.

If I had the stuff I want to use handy I could probably do it on any given evening.

 

[borden]

My first soap took about 2 hours to cook and pour and put away. And that was carefully gathering and measuring stuff and I used an electric hand mixer.

I'm sure it would only take maybe an hour to do it next time.

If I had the stuff I want to use handy I could probably do it on any given evening.

Great, thanks. May just give it a go one of these evenings. Hopefully the soap will be ready enough by Christmas to serve as a nice stocking stuffer.

 

[msabin]

My coconut and palm oils were solid (heater broke on Thursday, so house was at 58)
Put the bottles of solid oil in pot with hot water to liquify.

Once they were liquid, I measured and combined water and lye, then measures the oils and microwaved them to get them warm.
5 minutes of measuring (and worrying that lye was too hot for jar)
15 minutes waiting for everything to cool to under 120
10 minutes with stick blender (pulse, then stir: repeat)
10 minutes figuring how to support the silicone baking pan, wrapping towels about the pan for insulation and generally worrying some more.

That was Sunday afternoon, cut 15 bars of soap this evening (5-10 minutes)

Now not so much worrying, more planning next batch, and drinking homebrew...

 

[borden]

Well, I took the plunge tonight and did my first soap, using the recipe Yooper provided on the first page of this thread (40/30/30 Olive/Coconut/Palm). It went well, I think! Only hitch was I forgot to stir when mixing the lye into the water -- I was so focused on not spilling that I totally spaced on that. When I looked a few minutes later, the lye had solidified in a ring at the bottom of the pitcher. I managed to stir it enough to get it to dissolve and heat up though, and after a little waiting, everything was ~110F and ready to mix. Got trace after only about 5 minutes of intermittent stirring/blending. The soap's now under a couple towels on my table, and hopefully tomorrow night I'll be cutting it up!

Thanks Yooper (and everyone else). This is definitely the start of something beautiful.

 

[Homercidal]

Great, thanks. May just give it a go one of these evenings. Hopefully the soap will be ready enough by Christmas to serve as a nice stocking stuffer.

Maybe. My batch was a different recipe and it took a long time to cure. I used just olive oil. From what I've read you should be good.

 

[Yooper]

Olive oil soaps take longer to cure and harden, but once they finish curing they get really nice and hard. Other soaps, with less olive oil and more "hard" oils like shea butter and palm oil harden up faster. But once they cure, the olive oil soaps are the mildest.

I just made a "baby" soap for my friend, which is still pretty soft after a couple of weeks. But in 12 weeks, it'll be rock hard and perfect for him (it's 100% olive oil).

 

[Homercidal]

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.

 

[borden]

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'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.

 

[borden]

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]

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

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!!"

 

[borden]

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!!"

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.

 

[cockybitz]

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.

 

[Homercidal]

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.

 

[Yooper]

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!

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 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.

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!

 

[pabloj13]

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!

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

 

[Yooper]

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

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!