Soap Makers Help!

[MaggieRae]

I love making crafts, so I've decided to get into soap making and candle making. I've done both before, but just kits. I bought another soap kit that contains 2/3 lb clear Glycerin Soap, 1/3 lb white Glycerin soap, 2 soap trays, 3 dyes and 1 fragrance (but I bought an extra).
Any hints before I get started playing around? My goal is to make my own goat milk soap (by trading eggs for goat milk from a local supplier), but I was told to get used to soap making in general first... So I went to Hobby Lobby during some free time.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

I think that melt and pour is totally different from CP. CP is really easy and You know you made the soap. I probably just opened a huge can of worms:/ but IMO melt and pour is great if you want a fancy see through soap with more fancy inside it...cool. But if you want a 4 or 8 lb loaf to cut into bars....cp all the way. again...JMO

 

[Sooner]

I have never made melt & pour, I was so taken with cold press that I started there. If you go back a couple of pages you will see some pic's of CP (cold press) and also some links to some neat message board on nothing but soap.

Have fun!!!!

 

[Morgaine]

I think MP (melt and pour) is great for instant statisfaction

And there are so many thing that can be with MP artistic wise that you can't do with CP (cold process)

Soap Queen Blog is a great resource for MP. She does some amazing stuff.

If you want to get started with CP soap, www.millersoap.com is the best place to start. And check out the link in my siggy to a list of soap making resources.

Edited to fix link.

 

[MaggieRae]

I'm about to click through all those links, but I was curious... What exactly is cold press? I've never heard of it. I went through a large crafts encyclopedia at the book store and all I saw on soap making was melt/pour and rolling up some sort of bees wax around a wick.

 

[Morgaine]

Cold Process is old fashion lye soap. You mix oils (fatty acids) with sodium hydroxide (lye) and you get soap

Most MP soap are actually detergent based. Or they start off as CP soap and are made into clear base soap.

Most of the books at the craft store is geared to MP soap because they sell those supplies. See if you can get your hands on Soap Makers Companion my Susan Miller Cavitch or Everything Soapmaking by Alicia Grosso if you want to learn more or the miller site I posted earlier.

 

[Sooner]

My order arrived today at the office, two new EO & two colors!! Only problem is I'm not at work today!!!

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Here's the recipe I use for a moisture bar. You'll need to convert it to weights and run it through a calculator. I used the liquid measurements with no problem.

9 oz castor oil
4 cups lard
2 3/4 cups olive oil
2 3/4 cups coconut oil
1 1/4 cups lye (12oz)
1 cup water
3 cups goats milk

lye mixture 75 degrees
oils 85 degrees

Edit to add...this recipe got really hot. Don't insulate at all.

 

[aussieheelr]

Has anyone ever used Beet juice in their soap before? I was cooking some up the other day and though that it might make a nice natural colorant. Wasn't sure if it would still stain soaped like it does in it's raw form. Just a thought

 

[Morgaine]

It turns brown and I thought left a little bit of an odd smell in the soap.

Yellow Dock Root will give you a pretty marroon color.