Soap Makers Help!

[PineappleMama]

Oh phew. It's always nice when I get something right the first time...

Double Bonus Points for getting it BEFORE I botch something.

Thanks!!

edit, dangit... I have some Euc and Mint oils from previous adventures... wonder if it's still good...
And if that would make a decent soap to try... one of the olive oil, no milk, kind maybe... cold... hmmm....

 

[savingdogs]

Thank you for clarifying the measurement of the weight of water. We did weigh ours, but I was not sure if that was the reason my soap came out a little soft.

I think it was my recipe, now that I hear I measured the water correctly. Thank you. BYC rules!

 

[Morgaine]

Soap made with a high % of soybean I have found is usually soft for longer. Course that was with liquid soybean, not crisco.

Once you get a little more experience, you can try using a water discount. This article tell you what that is.

http://www.rivercitysoaps.com/dwcp/dwcp.pdf

I usually use a 40-45% lye solution, which is quite strong. The default % on soap calc is really weak, like a 26% solution. I would start with a 30-33% lye solution to test with. That will also help your soaps get harder faster.

And yes you should always weight everything, including your fragrance. Colorants or scrubbies like Oatmeal, you can get away with measuring by volume.

Grams are more accurate than oz, so if your scale has it, measure in grams.

 

[cheeptrick]

The best scales for the beginner soaper...is http://www.escali.com//index.php?p=product&id=115&parent=3 While there are other more professional ones on this site...this primo scale is the best. I love them and own 2!! Aruba blue and tarragon green

 

[aussieheelr]

we'll se how this one goes.

1 oz Castor
3 oz coconut
4 oz palm
8 oz olive

2.18 lye
5 oz frozen milk (straight from the ice cube tray)
at trace I added 1 oz cinimon nutmeg FO then devided into two seperate bowls and mixed red color into one. Then tried to swirl them in the bowl... not as much swirl as I really wanted. Poured into a heart shaped silicone muffin pan and covered with saran wrap to prevent ash.

1st good sign I DIDN'T scorch the milk this time! And it's been setting 2 hours now and no seperation... so far so good

****oh does anyone know where to get a "old spice" FO? needing a manly scent and DH's favorite is Old Spice.

edited to add question on FO

 

[aussieheelr]

Here's my soaps described above!!!!

 

[savingdogs]

Beautiful, aussieheeler!

Where should I post that I'd love to see everyone's favorite soap recipe? Is this the right place?

I need to find one with ingredients I can actually find and I'm having trouble with Palm Oil.

I'd love to hear about favorite EASY recipes.......

 

[PineappleMama]

Oh that is lovely!! Lucky friends and family!

So, my sister wanted me to watch my niece overnight... a real hardship since her and my DD are only 8 mos apart and best friends and just the day before DD had asked if she could spend the night... ANYWHO... she insisted that for my 'trouble' I take some grocery money... since I'd already bough groceries for the week I used part of the $50 to get olive oil (love to cook with it, never splurged on the BIG jug), some coconut oil, some soy oil, and some canned goats milk. So, I'm looking for a cold recipe that will use the olive and/or coconut/soy and the Euc and/or Mint EO I have on hand. Yes I still need lye, gloves, goggles, mold, etc. But figure if I ask now by the time I have all the other bases covered that maybe someone might have a good rookie recipe for me to try.

If you've got one I'd be happy to have your input. So far in my reading I've only covered Cold, haven't gotten to the 'fancy' methods OR to the milk ones... just a simple and small recipe that will use what I've got on hand, so I know what ingredients I still need to get. Thanks in advance for any who can offer advice.

 

[TM Chickens]

Quote:
Lard can be substituted for palm oil with no difference in the quality of the soap. Just make sure that you run the recipe though a lye calculator after any substitution.
There's a recipe swap thread somewhere in the Hobbies section, just search for it.

 

[TM Chickens]

Quote:
There's about five of them, not sure if their safe for soap though. http://www.fragranceoilfinder.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=Old+spice&x=0&y=0