Bunny
-
Posts
1,789 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Articles
Media Demo
Forums
Gallery
Events
Store
Blogs
Downloads
Posts posted by 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.
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.
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 an 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!
-
Hey, I'm a work in progress too! I don't think you can ever stop learning when it comes to this stuff!
Do you have another container of palm? If so, mix it in with the old stuff and stir it up well. If not, well, go order some!! lol
What fo was it that you soaped? Enquiring minds want to know!
-
Connie, in your spare time, grate or cut that soap into small chunks, then you're going to stir it into a new batch of soap - your first confetti soap! I wouldn't rebatch it by itself, as you'd have to add more lye and more coconut/palm kernal, and too much added in rebatch can cause problems with math calculations. Just don't toss it!
The walnut is highly moisturizing, we'll keep it in there, but as a small part. Just let me know when you're ready, will get on the phone with you if needed! Can't wait!
-
That's going to be a super lathering bar with the high palm kernal, but palm kernal doesn't seem to dry like the coconut does. I use both of these too for bubblage! I've soaped a recipe that I could swear is this to a tee, and I think you'll be pleased! Just be sure to stir that palm everytime before you soap, as there's stearic in the palm, and when it melts the stearic sinks to the bottom and messes up the end batches of soap.
:) :) -
Fairy Light, all the ricing I've run into so far has been due to the fo's, not the recipe. Get you soap pot ready girl!
Start another thread, tell me what oils you have on hand, what size batch you want to do, and I'll teach you how to build a recipe!
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
-
Yup, you're crazy...
Just kidding, I'm getting the same message!
-
Great job there! Glad you found the answers that worked for you!
-
Ok, I'm off to bed for the night.. But please don't make this recipe yet..lol
Since we're not on at the same time, have a couple of questions for you that I normally wouldn't have asked til later...
Is there a reason you want to use the walnut oil? It's awful expensive... I would personally if I wanted it just for label appeal drop it down to 3%.
Do you have oily skin? Dry skin? This recipe is super high in cleansing oils, coconut and palm kernal, and will probably suck the life from your skin if it's any kind of dry or even normal. (who knows though, everyone is different).
How big of a batch do you want to make? This recipe is 70 ounces, and that's kinda big for such an expensive batch. (2 pringles cans can hold 3 lbs of soap if that helps..lol)
As soon as I get these answers, we're gonna teach you sooz.. It's intimadating, but once you learn it, it's a snap! To see what a recipe will do (most of the time, it can fool you, but that's in lesson 2) you really really really need to learn sooz...
-
Ok, first of all, sodium lactate makes a much harder far, and imparts a smoother feel to many soap recipies. It's commenly used in HP to keep the batch more fluid toward the end of the process, and used in milky way type molds or pvc molds as it gets hard and pulls away from the mold better than without. You don't have to add it, but you just may like it! I prefer to save mine for my lotion.
Ok, the recipe.. First, I'm going to head to www.thesage.com and go to their lye calculator since this is listed in ounces, since I want to see this recipe in percentages. I took out the meadowfoam and soybean, and added the difference to the olive oil. This of course changes the lye value. Are you familiar with any of the lye calculators?
Almond Oil, Sweet 2 2.86
Castor Oil 4 5.71
Cocoa Butter 9 12.86
Coconut Oil 14.4 20.57
Grapeseed Oil 6 8.57
Olive Oil 15.5 22.14
Palm Kernel Oil 10 14.29
Palm Oil 4.1 5.86
Walnut Oil 5 7.14
Total Weight70
First value is the ounces, second is the percentage this is used.. Are you with me so far?
-
Wow.. Eo's are not "all about the scent" as that can oh so totally hurt someone. I mean, there are a few oils that can be used neat (directly on the skin) but eo's are generally not for smell, they are for function, with smell being secondary. (IMO)
-
I don't know man.. I'm just lovin my forcrafts sake cutter.. Made 12 batches of soap since I got it two weeks ago, and am dreaming of my next batches! Mmmmmm....
-
I second godaddy.com... Cheap and so easy to buy!
-
I got that when I used metal molds, since I switched to the aluminum, I haven't had any problems. I know, I know, you can't get all the cool shapes in the aluminum, don't shoot!
-
I think I got mine from bubblesnlights...
So glad ya'll are happy with them!
-
Little colored foils.. Makes them look like mini-reeses pb cups! 6 to a cello bag with a fold over paper top to hang..
-
Please don't use more than one! I only fill my tins half full at that, as too much of this stuff is NOT a good thing! Even if you have a garden or other huge tub.. Just one!
-
Maryann, no preservatives are needed in this one, only because there in no water in the actual product, and they are one use items. You would use a preservative only if there was a chance of introducing water to the product that would be used more than once. HTH!
I've never done the shea or other butters.. Give it a shot!
-
Need some more info, can you give me a link to what specific colors you are using so I can help you better??
-
I get mine from www.thesage.com
-
It doesn't really make sense.. I tell my customers when the ask if I carry the glycerine soap that my homemade soap retains the natural glycerine that occurs during the soapmaking process, making a highly moisturizing bar.
But retained glycerine? Just sounds weird..
-
Yup yup, and even better news, it's super cheap, and you only use 1 ounce to every lb of salts. Or one 1b to 10 lbs, if that's easier.. Mix your fo directly to these salts, then mix in with the rest of your salts. HTH!
-
Ok, boric acid isn't the same as borax is it.. Educate me ol girl!
-
I've got 3 molds from them, and just love them! Julie is awesome! They do take a few days to ship, as they are made to order, but it's worth the wait with the awesome pricing! And don't get the stained ones, the soap doesn't care what color the wood is!
-
Two birds with one stone! WOOHOO! So happy I could help you too Meridith!
:) 
How to build a soap recipe!!!
in General Soap Making
Posted
I would up the soft oils very much, as cocoa butter in soap can make it brittle at these percentages. Give it a shot, it may be your best bar yet!
And as to the soybean, I was referring to regular soybean oil, not the hydrogonated. Not sure where the hydrognated would come in, maybe in place or with the palm oil?
I know I kept it super simple, please remember, it's a starting point, not an ending point. HTH!