Soap Makers Help!

[ParadisePoultry]

Quote:
Thanks BB!. I did find a cute baby goat outline on google somewhere..... maybe I can use that and the pretty paper like you did. Are the paper and label separate, or all in one? Ie, do you stick the label on whatever paper you fancy, or do you print it all together?

 

[buffbeauty]

Quote:
Thanks BB!. I did find a cute baby goat outline on google somewhere..... maybe I can use that and the pretty paper like you did. Are the paper and label separate, or all in one? Ie, do you stick the label on whatever paper you fancy, or do you print it all together?

Your welcome! The toile pattern is actually a patten we scanned from a piece of embroidery paper, then set it up to do a repeat cown a strip of paper and set the label over it, then printed it to sheets of parchement. Mom actually did them for me and used maybe photoshop?? So they all printed together but the "logo" was not just printed on a pretty paper, but that could MUCH more easlily be done.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I cut my goats milk soap today. I added a little red food coloring at trace and it is a pretty dark tan/light brown. I hope it holds as it cures. But this got me thinking about technique and other things. Usually I just run my percentage of superfatting through the soap calc and add it with all the other fats. How many people do it this way? I'm not sure it is right, since some people/books seem to want to add the super fating fats through at trace. What do you experienced soapers think? I also wondered about the FO or EO that I add at trace. I've been adding about an ounce of EO or FO (depending on what it is) at trace. Does this add to the superfatting ratio? It seem to me like it would, but not a huge amount, after all it is one more oil.

Thanks

 

[ChicksterJo]

I want to start making soap, and I've been reading a lot, but I have a question about pH. Can someone clue me in on whether or not a more alkaline soap is actually milder for your skin? I've read in one place where a more alkaline soap is milder, and I've read in another place that it's harsher. (One website, for instance, said that the skin's pH is naturally around 7 and that a soap with a pH closer to that is mild, but as the pH increases it is harsher. And then I read castile soap has a pH around 9, so it is "harsh.")

 

[Morgaine]

Essential oils and Fragrance oils do not have any real oil in them, meaning there are no fatty acid for the lye to bond with so there is no extra super fatting going on when you add your fragrance.

I prefer to just add all my oils at once. Less chance of me forgetting something! I think the only time it makes a difference when you add your superfat is when you are doing hot process soap. You can add the SF oil after most of the lye of been neutralized.

As far as ph of soap, You are not going to be able to bring the ph to neutral. Not without making it into a syndet bar. For my skin, handmade soap has been the best thing I have ever used on it. All the facewashes and body washes with ph like our skin dried me out, broke me out and were just no good. But handmade soap with a good superfat is great. Most handmade soaps have a ph of 9-10. That is just the nature of the soap.

 

[ChicksterJo]

Thank you for the info. It was just confusing to get those opposite bits of information.

 

[ParadisePoultry]

OK friends, here goes.......

Here is my first attempt at making a label for my soaps. Please give me some critique. I don't really like the fonts ( eccept for the one with my name) I'd like to find something softer, but not frilly. Hopefully, I can find some pretty background paper ( like yours BB) to print it on. Not sure if the goat pic will print over the colored paper. I only have my Office Publisher, and am hopeless at PhotoShop. I couldn't understand how to do anything with PhotoShop.The help files talk as if you know what you are doing. Maybe I should get a PhotShop fpr Dummies book. I know the label will need to be longer, but this was the longest my screen would go.
I couldn't even get it to upload on BYC. I had to do a screenshot and upload that. That's why it looks so wierd.


Comments?
Suggestions?

 

[GoldenPuppy]

I think your ingredients listing could use a little work. As it is, it's kind of all over the place and the goats milk is lost in the shuffle. And if one knows nothing about soap oils, it looks like only the first oil, Palm, is saponified, based on the wording.

Here is how I would list it:

Ingredients: Palm Oil, Olive Oil, Goats Milk, Sodium Hydroxide, Coconut Oil, Caster Oil, Fragrance, Honey, Colloidal Oatmeal. (Assuming this is the order by weight.)

See how the goats milk is way up there on the list? That's what you want.
You can drop the "oil" after the word "fragrance", too.

There is nothing wrong with listing sodium hydroxide on your label. You used it to make the soap. If you want, you could do this: "Sodium Hydroxide (a saponification agent)".

If you really don't want to list it, here is an alternative (as a long time soaper, this would not be my first choice, but you will do what you want):

Saponified oils of Palm, Olive, Coconut, and Caster. Goats milk, Fragrance, etc.
But make sure you have the word "of" before the list.



I agree with you on the fonts but really don't know how to help you there. Sorry.

Good luck! Making labels is on ongoing process. So is packaging.

 

[buffbeauty]

Love the little cutie in the pic for sure!!

 

[ChicksterJo]

I ordered a soaping book from Amazon and it should get here today. I started making my own wood mold (I think it can hold up to 10 lbs..yikes!!

). This weekend I will try to find a stick blender and SS bowl from Goodwill or Ross...and I need a thermometer and scale. Then I need to order my lye and get oil and READ! I'm so excited to start soaping though!! (ETA I've read about 200 pages of this thread already

)