Bunny

How to build a soap recipe - Part Uno

Please note, this is only a general get started guideline. Some awfully strange recipes make fantastic bars of soap, and you’ll never know unless you try it!

For soapmaking instructions and precautions, please see Robin’s CP tutorial. I’m going to assume you’ve printed it out, and read it forward, backwards, and can recite it in your sleep.

Ok, many bars are comprised of 50% hard oils and 50% soft oils. There are many variations, but we’re keeping around here for simplicities sake in teaching. Yes, I know if you soap with 20% hard oils you can still get a good bar and vice versa.How to build a soap recipe - Part Uno

Please note, this is only a general get started guideline. Some awfully strange recipes make fantastic bars of soap, and you’ll never know unless you try it!

For soapmaking instructions and precautions, please see Robin’s CP tutorial. I’m going to assume you’ve printed it out, and read it forward, backwards, and can recite it in your sleep.

Ok, many bars are comprised of 50% hard oils and 50% soft oils. There are many variations, but we’re keeping around here for simplicities sake in teaching. Yes, I know if you soap with 20% hard oils you can still get a good bar and vice versa.

Cleansing: Coconut Oil, Palm Kernal Oil, Babassu Oil

Soft Oils: Sweet Almond, Apricot Kernal, Avocado, Castor, Hazelnut, Hemp, Meadowfoam, Olive, Passion Fruit, Rice Bran, Soybean, Walnut, Wheat Germ

Hard Oils: Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Kokum Butter, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Palm Kernal Oil, Lard, Tallow

We’ll start out with the hard oils. You know you want a cleansing bar, and the cleansing oils just happen to be hard oils. More than 15% coconut may dry your skin and be itchy, and more than 20% palm kernel oil may do the same. (I’m not to familiar with the babassu) Now, these are very inexpensive oils, so you want to use the max possible without getting dry skin, and for maximum bubbleage. (I like that word, bubbleage.)

Once you have your cleansing percentages figured out, add them up and see how much you have left out of the 50%.

Like this:

15% Palm Kernal

+15% Coconut

-----

30 % So, I have 20% more to fill in hard oils.

Please note that most butters don’t need to be used at more than 5%, more is usually a waste.

We’re going to throw in some palm as it makes a nice hard bar, resists melting in the tub, and can take the soap into trace sooner. Lets say 15%, as it’s an inexpensive oil too. If you don’t have any palm, or prefer it, use lard.. It makes an awesome bar of soap! It also slows tracing time if you feel you may want extra time for that swirl!

So, we have the 30% from above, plus the 15%, which totals 45%. Time to pick a butter for some label appeal! This one is personal preference. I’ll say cocoa for this one.

Here’s the total breakdown we have so far:

15% Palm Kernal

15% Coconut

15% Palm or Lard

+5% Cocoa Butter

-------

50% total hard oils

Ok, now to the soft oils. What oil tickles your fancy? You know as well as cleansing bar, you want to feel soft once you're out of the tub. Anything that just sounds like it feels good? I think avocado sounds good, and apricot kernel sounds pretty cool too. So, we’ll use 10% of each of those to keep the expense down, while imparting wonderful conditioning. You can use more as your wallet allows and as you experiment. Feel free to plug in any of the above oils in the soft oils category, as all the ones I choose to list are highly conditioning.

Here’s where we are with the soft oils:

10% Avacado

10% Apricot Kernal

+10% Sweet Almond

--------

30% total soft oils

Now, we’re going to add the rest in olive or rice bran oil, as then are nice and inexpensive, but don’t let the price fool you, these are wonderful oils!

10% Avacado

10% Apricot Kernal

10% Sweet Almond

+ 20% Olive

---------

50% total soft oils

Now, we add this to the above hard oils and it’s going to look like this:

15% Palm Kernal

15% Coconut

15% Palm or Lard

5% Cocoa Butter

10% Avacado

10% Apricot Kernal

10% Sweet Almond

+ 20% Olive

------------

100% and a kick bootie bar of soap.

Next lesson, how to use sooz! (Ok Robin, feel free to take over anytime here..lol)

Please note, I didn’t list all the available oils or butters, I just choose the most common ones I have seen used in soaping. This is just a very basic instruction, none of this is set in stone. Be creative, play with percentages, and have fun! Please ask questions if you have them! And get the soaping pot out!

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I posted a review for NG's pearberry that discolors to white.. My recipe is a bit on the yellow side, and this FO makes it white white white beautiful!

Caution! Caution! This one will grow mold if you push the 1 tablespoon ppo thing.. Keep it there. I'm telling you, it was gross, and I even went to a 3% lye discount instead of the usual 5 to account for the extra goodies and stuff. Have fun, and happy soaping!

Ah Soy - I didn't mean to call any members out on this, only to discuss my feelings and if I was right or wrong. Seems to me from the general opinion here, I'm wrong. Yours is a tag line, mine is a business name. If you love it, please put it back.. ((hugs))

Oxide doesn't color things, it just disburses throughout the product. I'd recommend using FDC's or other colorants for M&P.

Ok.. Now check this one out.. Someone just PM'd me with lotions and potions oh my! It's not a business name, where you click to get to the lotions and potions. Now, that one is too close for comfort.. I can't believe! Now I'm getting pissed... But it's still not a company name, or a tagline like the above. Guess it's time to get some paperwork in order.

Ya'll are right, the products are not the same. And I'm not freaking out over here, just a little miffed. I'm glad to hear two things:

1. That ya'll are honest with me. I appreciate that greatly!

2. That my name has a better flow! LOL! Ok, I know it was wrong, but I loved seeing that!

I'm headed to bed, ya'll have a great night!

Ok, I'm Lotions and Potions and Soaps Oh My, and was fiddling around the net like I always to, and came across a company with the name "Butters, Bubbles, and Bombs Oh My" and it's kinda perturbing me. I know the first three are different, but everything for me is Oh My bath bombs or Oh My blah blah.. I mean, everyone here helped create it, and it has a very special meaning to me.

Would you be miffed? Just curious as to opinions here.. No flaming or hollering, just opinions from all sides please!

It's probably a stock picture they both purchased..

Placed an order 3 days ago, aluminum bottles, sprayers, and fo.. They held my order for 2 days because I wasn't an idiot and didn't check my email, but I had ordered the wrong sprayer sizes for these bottles, and the warehouse manager caught it and wanted to verify the order before they shipped it out! WOW! Most companies would just say thanks for the order and ship it out, but Scent Works had my back! WOOOHOOO!!!

I'm loving the orange!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's fantastic!

Just noticed something else.. On your multi freshener, in your drops downs, one is click above, one is click below. They both come up below.. Just trying to help, don't throw anything! :-)

I tried that same spray originally, but found I got the same results with the$1.26/can clear spray paint from WalMart -- so I switched.

If you do lots of labels, you may want to experiment with the cheaper stuff, too.

Yup, even the cheapo dollar store stuff works.. Don't wast 7 bucks a can on that expensive stuff!

I love love love the flower at the top! It's beautiful! But think that a light orange, peach, or reddish background might be cleaner looking.

My main thing is the scrolling l to r, and the pictures. A lot of the background stuff is beautiful, but it's in focus, while the products aren't. How to fix it? No clue..lol I suck at picture taking!

You're off to a great start!

75% mango butter

10% Jojoba

10% FCO

5% squalene

I did this today and used 4% extra virgin olive oil instead of squalene and 1% vitamin e. I whipped and whipped this following the instructions. It says it is supposed to be like a light silky cream but I have a harder butter lol

It feels pretty greasy too. Once it absorbs the skin feels great though. I just can't imagine using this on my face like they are.

At least it worked great on my feet

Umm.. That's all oils, it's going to be oily!

If there are other oils in it, and it's too hard, replace that .8 with .8 of water.. Would you happen to know the percentages and we can help tweak it for ya?

For goofin off and learning I'd use olive oil.. Without a doubt!

After having my candle and soap shop open for 2 months, I couldn't smell anything in my shop at all.. Don't let her jerk you around!

Just because it's organic doesn't mean it can't grow mold, yeast, or fungus. The tree things broad spectrum preservatives protect against. Scary stuff.

There's 2 different versions of the scrub. Bohunks #14 is not whipped at all. Cookiebugs version of bohunks is whipped. So following the original recipe you're just fine.. No worries!

I've done the same for the same reasons.. Now I use a pyrex measuring glass thing.. No more plastic!!!

It's getting down to the wire.. 12 more days to register at the discounted price! WOOHOO!

Is your packaging cost included in your wholesale prices?

The worst I've seen in mugs is a slime mess at the bottom because of people using too much water.

Here's another time saver...

Don't buy white butters with blobs of white packing foam in them. I was kinda puzzled about why some chunks were melting and others just weren't getting any smaller.

Oh Top! I'm trying my best not to laugh.. But I the water coming out of my nose isn't pretty!