Soapmakers Share Your Recipes Please!

[krstms]

Just getting started, havent even made my first batch yet. I own a book or two and have found recipes on the internet but I would love it if some of you who make soap would share your favorite recipes here with me. I would like to try recipes that I know will work because they have worked for you. Pictures of the finished recipe would be great too.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

I have a few of my first recipes on my soapmaking web page. None of these are the recipe I currently use ... I spent too long and hard developing that recipe over a decade ago to give it out.

If you are just learning to make soap, I recommend learning the properties of the various oils and what they do for your soap. A good lye calculator is invaluable when creating your own soap recipes.

Make sure you have the utensils available. At the top of the list is an electronic scale, one that measures in grams if you will be making soaps using less than a pound of oil. Eye protection when working with lye. A stick blender is helpful. Your pots should be stainless steel or plastic.

There is a wonderfulsoap thread on BYC that you will be able to glean a lot of information.

 

[Saltysteele]

like above, most aren't going to give out their recipe to just anyone. i'll send you a link to a bunch of folks i've known for a while, a nice group of peeps

books are nice to look at the pictures, but they're mostly fluff

are you planning cold process (mix it, let it set up overnight, cut, then let sit for at least 6 weeks) or hot process (cook it in a crock pot or oven, let sit till hardened, cut and it's ready in a week or less)? cold process will let you be more creative with colors and IMO, gives a creamier, smoother soap. hot process lets you have it very quickly, but it is usually too thick to make pretty swirls or designs, pretty much glop it in a mold and let sit

do you have any ideas on what you'd like to make it out of? i make lard soaps, some make tallow soaps and some prefer palm based soaps, and even olive oil soaps. all these, except the olive oil, will give you a nice hard bar in 6 weeks or so. however, you are going to want to add some other oils to give other properties, such as coconut oil (adds bubbles and cleaning), olive oil (moisturizing, but too much takes away bubbles and makes the bar softer), castor oil (use a small amount, gives bubbles), etc., and many, many more.

then there are other additives, such as goat milk or goat milk powder (i prefer powder, as i don't have to have a goat, buy goat shares and it's just easier to work with- no browning of soap due to the overheating of the GM. you can add silk (i add raw tussah silk), scrubby stuff, rosemary powder, lemon powder, virtually anything, really.

there are tons and tons of things to do. unfortunately, some forums have the "you can only do it the way we do it" attitude, and "no new ideas allowed," but the group i will give you the link to is open to all ideas and are a helpful group.

as far as scents, you can go unscented, or scented with fragrance oils or essential oils. here is where you can blow through a lot of cash. i use naturesgarden dot com for fragrance oils. they have a great price, don't hide their shipping costs in their product prices, and i'm close enough that i get it the day after they ship it with regular shipping (they're in northern ohio)

and colors- powders, liquids, natural colorants, just as many options as scents, types of oils and additives.

give it a year, and you'll be like the rest of us with several hundred dollars of fragrance oils and their own cabinet

 

[krstms]

I really didnt intend for people to give me recipes of things they are currently selling or anything. I just figured maybe a few of you had recipes you had gotten from a book or website that you might want to share because you thought it was a good one. I honestly don't understand the concept of not wanting to help people out though. Most hobbyists are more than happy to share with others their knowledge to keep the craft going. I figured soapmaking would be the same. I didnt mean to offend anyone by making them think I'm trying to steal their formulas or something.

 

[Saltysteele]

any questions, just pm me. go to the site i recommended, they are great, helpful people

before the ding dong closed down the previous site, we had a ton of recipes built up. there are some beginner soap recipes listed there under the beginners/where to begin section

again, let me know if you need help.

 

[mikensara]

when i made it i used a very basic simple and easy rescipe.

place 6 cups of water in a pot. shave 1 bar of fels naptha into the water using a cheese grater. bring water to a boil and then simmer the fels naptha and water and stir continuously until fels naptha is all disolved. fill your 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water add one cup of washing soda (not baking soda) and one cup of borax keep stiring till the washing soda and borax are disolved next stir in the fels naptha. the mixture should start to thicken (dont despair its not ruined) fill the bucket leaving about 2-3 inches from the top stir slowly to mix it all up. if you happen to think about it as the mixture cools stir it a bit mine was more of gelatin like on the surface and liquidity towards the bottom.

 

[krstms]

Quote:
Thanks for your recipe! Is this formula used for laundry or bath? I have a recipe for mixing laundry detergent that I got from the naturally clean home book (I'll add the author when I think of it) it calls for fels naptha shredded, borax, washing soda, and EO of your choice but the mix is dry. I would love to try a recipe like yours that is liquid. It seems like it would dissolve better and therefore clean better. That book is neat it also has recipes for other cleaning products such as herbal degreaser which has murphy's oil soap, water, and rosemary EO in it. It is by far the best degreaser I've ever used!!! I spray it on and the built up grease just wipes away. I could share the exact recipes if anyone is interested. It's a great book. I would recommend it for anyone wanting to make their own cleaning products.

 

[saddina]

A good place to try out a variety of recipies and types is here: http://millersoap.com/

Like many who make thier living off handmade soap, my precise recipie is kept under wraps, but there's several good basic recipies there. Soapmaking is like canning, don't get creative and start substuiting untill you know your basics, otherwise people can be hurt.

 

[krstms]

Thanks Saddina! I wasnt expecting those secret recipes.

Though I may have to get some of your finished product on the swap.

I was just wanting some general recipes for me to start with since I'm a beginner. I wouldnt even wanna try your recipes. I'm too much of a novice. I appreciate the link. I think it will help me a lot. I'd also be way too scared to try to make up my own. That's why I was hoping to get an idea from you guys on a safe recipe to begin with. Knowing me I'd blow myself up.

I am trying to come up with a safe one to try for my first go at it. I think I may have one it's just olive oil, coconut oil and castor oil I think. Or someone gave me one that has lard, olive oil, cocunut oil, and castor oil. Not sure which I'll go with. I'm trying to keep it VERY simple until I can make a basic plain recipe several times without disaster.

 

[Saltysteele]

lard, tallow and palm oils all give a hard bar.

bars mostly made of olive oil take forever to fully cure (essentially, you're waiting for them to dry out, the centers will still be soft). however, they are incredibly gentle.

you'll want to find a hard oil that will give a hard bar, otherwise, if you make it out of shea butter (or something like that), that is somewhat soft when at room temperature, your bar will be too soft and will melt away to nothing in no time

also, keep coconut somewhat low, i try to keep it under 30% (i usually do 25%). it gives great bubbles, but it cleans very well, too well. too much can make a bar that pulls too much oil out of the skin.

remember - LYE to water, NOT water to lye.

just remember you want to increase the amount of lye in the water. also, if you get any dry lye on your skin, brush it off - DO NOT WASH IT OFF WITH WATER. if you brush it off quickly, no harm. if you add water to it, it goes to town!