Craftedinthewoods

I have used foamer bottles with the liquid soap I make no problem. I don't add water. They do last forever.

I was just playing with this with some liquid soap I made. When adding water, the foam seems to disipate quickly when washing hands. If you don't add water in the bottle (just put straight soap into the foamer) does the foam on your hands last longer?

If I were in your shoes, I'd try adding the castor in place of some olive oil instead of decreasing the lard. Some of the advice you get from people and lye calculators encourages the use of lot of liquid oil (for instance, so-called 50/50 rule of thumb).

I'll take your advise on this. I kind of debated with myself if I should put castor in place of the lard or olive. I guess I just chose... But I'll do it in place of the olive oil.

Beyond that, you can choose the level of trace based on what works for you. Colors will swirl differently depending on the level of trace. The texture of the soap will come out differently on top, as you noticed, and some people leave that part for the homemade look. With a light trace, the soap will probably take longer to firm up in the mold and some recipes might benefit from a little more heat applied after pouring.[/

I think I like the lighter trace better. I like the smooth tops of my bars and it poured so smooth and easy into the molds.

One of my batches is still stuck. Well, I forced one bar out just to see... it is noticably softer. It came out all right though. I'll check them again tomorrow to see if I can get the rest out.

I ended up not making any more soap today. I'll have to bide my time...

Thanks, guys! I'm pretty proud of my new soap.

So the recipe I used was one I made up using info from Top and much reading:

20% coconut oil

35% lard

40% olive

5% cocoa butter

These are what I had on hand. I actually made 2 small batches of the same thing. But in the second I added 1 tblsp. of sugar and 1/2 teasp. of salt. (I read in another post / tutorial that the sugar can add lather and the salt will add hardness.) I also added 1/2 teasp. of paprika to color this second batch so I could easily tell them apart. (I read about several natural coloring spices that can be added.)

So this morning when I couldn't wait to look any more, both batches were solid and so I tipped my mold over just to see if they would come out. The batch I used the salt & sugar in slipped out of the mold without any effort! The batch that had no salt is still stuck in the mold. I'll give it a bit more time before I work at it again, but could that be the salt that made the second batch come out so easily so soon? It seems likely to me since that is the only difference between them.

Another question that came up form e while making the soap... once the soap reaches trace should I keep mixing to reach a thick trace or does a thin trace acheive the same results?

That might be the other difference between my 2 batches as well. The first batch (no salt & sugar) I mixed to a pudding thick trace and I can even see the 'dollops' on the tops of the bars in the mold. The second batch (with salt / sugar) I stopped when I saw trace so when I poured into molds the tops leveled themselves out quite smooth.

Is on better than the other? Would a thick trace stick in the molds more than a thin traced soap?

Sorry for all the questions I threw in here.

Today I would like to try the same recipe, but add in 5% castor oil in place of some of the lard. I'd like to see the difference castor adds. I'll also try using a pvc pipe for a mold. Maybe using the salt it will come out fairly easliy.

And tomorrow or Tues. I'll be getting palm kernel flakes in the mail. What soaps to try then???!!! (definitely addicted already!)

I made my first batch of soap on my own today! (I helped make one before with my mother-in-law but I'm not counting that today. This time I did it myself.)

After a ton of reading on line and on this forum and after several questions were answered and confusions cleared up (again, on this forum... ) I made up a recipe and got busy.

I made 2 small batches, both traced and both are solid even as we speak, or type. I'm dying to touch it and look at it closely. But I'm waiting until tomorrow. This takes supreme patience.

Yay! I'm a soaper!!!

I haven't looked at racks for years. I didn't even know they made plastic ones. I have a couple shiney bright silver ones. Can I assume those are chrome?

Until I find plastic trays can I line them with white paper towel, wax paper or parchment paper? Will that allow enough air flow?

Actually, cooling racks are kind of a good choice if you can find a place for them to live for a while; the all-around airflow helps the bars dry properly. I'd leave them on a rack for a bare minimum of a month and preferably at least two.

2 months!!!??? I better get crackin' if I ever want to use soap. I think I'll do it tomorrow. Yup, that's right. Enough reading & sitting here at the computer... I'm gonna do it... I mean it...

But first I'm going to bed. I stayed up way too late last night reading about soaping!

Good night, fellow cult members.

OK - I think I'm on my way. I'm getting some palm kernel flakes shipped to me early next week. Until then, I think I'll try a small batch of somthing based on your info with oils I have. I can't wait!!!

Then I suppose I can try the same thing but substitue some palm kernel in to see what the difference will be.

I know it will have to cure, but I'll come back and report my success (How's that for possative thinking?).

That reminds me... Where and how do you store curing soap bars? Do they have to be open to air flow during the entire cure time? Right now I have some of my milled castile soap on cookie racks in my living room. But I'm not very excited about soap racks sitting around for weeks and weeks. Besides, they'll get dusty!

Any tips on that would be welcome.

THANKS!! What great info, Top. I've printed it out and added it to my collection of vital info.

As a very basic guideline to help get you started, you'll want to leave the lye calculator settings at their standard values and use the following categories and amounts of oil:

I'm not sure what you mean by leaving the lye calc settings at their standard values and use these categories... I've been playing with the mountain sage calc. Am I missing something?

Lauric oil (up to 30%)

Oleic oil (20-40%)

Palmitic oil (all the rest)

You don't need someone else's recipe. Just make up your own thing based on that guideline, and I promise you'll make great soap. Then experiment with the amounts and you'll learn a lot more than following recipes.

Great! I do like the idea of understaning the process. I love your explaination of oil categories. It will really give me somthing to study and apply.

Now it's time to get personal - so in the shower this morning... I used my first bar I milled from a 100% olive oil base. (That was my first ever cp soap - I used olive oil because that is the only oil I had...and I just HAD to try to make soap) I had added powdered milk & honey to that batch. So after using it in the shower my skin felt kind of sticky. That's not quite the best way to describe it, but I don't know how else to say it. When running my hand down my arm my hand kind of stuck, or 'stuttered' across my skin. Does that make sense?

Is that maybe because there was only the oleic oil and nothing else to offer balance to the soap? And just like you said for oleics, I had to rub the dickens out of that bar to get lather... it did lather, it just didn't last very long and I had to keep working it.

My hope is to create a recipe that wont leave that 'sticky' feel behind... and of course not to feel tight & dry after soaping up... and lots of lather of course. I suppose that's everybody's holy grail, isn't it? (The soaps I've used from the store are Dove and Oil of Olay. They have never left me feeling anything negative. )

I really appreciate your time, Top, in answering my questions so thoroughly. I'm dying to try out my own recipe this weekend - but I'm also wanting to read more. Just when I think I've got what I need to try it again, more info comes along to add to the mix!

I feel like I'm getting sucked into a soaping cult... and I love it!!!

In that case you could use 30% of either one. PKO might be a little gentler, but it isn't night and day. The bottom line is that you have 30% lauric oil in the soap. That's the category of oils that CO and PKO belong to. You always substitute oils in the same category.

quote]

So I copied this from a site I found after trying to find info on oil categories. Is this what you mean? The oil within each category can replace each other without too much trouble? Can you have too much of any of the oils in soap? (My guess is that it seems up to personal preference?)

1. Hard, stable, long lasting - (palm oil, beef tallow, lard)
   
2. Lathering - (coconut, castor, palm kernel)
   
3. Moisturizing/Conditioning - (olive oil, canola, sunflower, soybean)
   
4. Luxury/Super Moisturizing - (cocoa butter, shea butter, almond oil, hemp oil, jojoba)
   

I also printed out the tutorial about how to build a soap recipe. There is a similar listing of oils in that post but using the headings of cleansing, soft oils and hard oils.

If I am way off base here let me know.

As a beginner, use the high number. The soap will saponify and trace more slowly, and you're less likely to run into problems.

In soaping, the oil and lye have to be as accurate as possible, but the water is flexible. That's just the medium in which all the chemistry takes place. More water in your soap means more time to cure and dry out, so experienced soapers may use less.

Thanks, Top. I can't wait to try this!

So if a recipe calls for 15% coconut oil and 15 % Palm kernel what should I do? My understanding from another thread is that more than 15% coconut oil will make a drying soap.

Also, any suggestions as to where I can find palm kernel oil?

I've just played around a bit with a lye calculator from majestic mountain sage and after studying it I think I understand the lye amount chart. Depending on how much superfatting I want, I then chose which lye amount to use.

But how much water? The top line says for my recipe I should use 12 to 19 oz. of water. That seems like a pretty big range. Any thoughts on what I'm missing?

What is a good substitute for palm kernel oil flakes. Will lard work?

I don't add glycerin to my CP soap, with the right recipe and superfat, you get a nicer soap than adding glycerin, imho. You don't need a shwack of oils to make a great soap. 3 or 4 oils make a very nice soap. Playing with soapcalc with the oils you have on hand is fun and you can come up with some great recipes.

So do you add extra oil after you reach trace to superfat a recipe? Does it matter which oil you add extra of?

I would suggest playing with Soap Calc. Add, take away... move things around... see what numbers you can come up with. My best recipes have always come from just messing with percentages to see what I get. And read this old post by Bunny, its really helpful! http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3164

This tutorial is helpful. Bunny's 50/50 idea is interesting. But a couple of things... I don't seem to find palm oil anywhere. But I've found coconut oil and lard. And what is palm kernal? Is there a substitute? Can you just increase the lard amount? (I like the idea of keeping the coconut oil down if it is too drying in larger amounts.)

And for the sof oils, can you just use olive oil for the entire 50%? or add a small amount of castor like you suggested - although I haven't gotten any of that yet.

And lastly, when you plug things into a lye calculator how much soap do you want to make for a sample batch? Can you make just a few bars? Would that be like making just 1 pound of soap or do you not make batches that small?

Thanks for your help! This is great fun! (I feel like a kid in a candy shop!)

Ahh I see.. ok so I only rebatch when I have to. I dont think it "improves" the bar really, but everyone has different opinions on soap! Its like the great "luxury oils versus cheap oils" debate-- some soapers SWEAR you cant have a nice bar without adding tons of butters and avocado and so on... where others (like me) insist you can get a perfect bar without loading with luxury oils. truth is, nothing in soaping is right- its all about finding what you enjoy and what your niche is!

So is there an additive that you personally swear by in your soaps? Some things I've read about and have purchased are cocoa butter and glycerin so far. Do think thoses things make a noticable difference in soap?

I ask because I'm newly turned on to soaping - like I even have been dreaming about it at night! Anyway, I have this book that has several CP 'basic soap' recipes that can be cut into bars and used or shredded / milled and then melted into new recipes.

The book describes hand milled soaps as the way to get a better bar of soap - better texture and longer lasting.

But I've been reading on line and on these forums and it sounds like mostly people simply make a batch of soap and do not mill it.

One nice thing I can see is that out of my first batch of basic soap that I've milled (ok- my only batch so far) I made 4 different kinds of soaps with it and still haven't used it all.

I'm interested in thoughts other's have on why or why not they hand mill basic soap recipes.

Can any cold process soap recipe be milled and then remade into other recipes?

Over a month ago I had posted that my 100% olive oil soap was not reaching trace. Well, the next day I took some of your advice and put the batch in a crock pot then went at it with a hand held mixer. I mixed for an hour and poof! Trace occured!!! I was thrilled to see it. I mixed it until it was nice and thick, then put it in a first mold. In one day it was hard enough to cut into bars and in a few more days I milled it.

I just now - over the last couple days - began to use the milled castile soap and I've been having fun. I've made a few batches of different scented bars.

But I'm most interested in trying a recipe I've found to make liquid soap with my hand milled soap. I've tried it and it seems to be turning out. As it is cooling now this evening it is very thick, almost like honey. But the color is a lovely brownish - again, like honey. I may have to add more water to thin it out a bit more.

Anyone have experience with using hand milled soap bases in liquid soap recipes?

Thanks for your replies. I offer 20 - 22 scents in 2 sizes... An 8 oz. mason jar & a 4 oz. travel tin. I've been thinking about adding another jar type, but I think I'll stick with what I have. They sell well and there's no reason for me to get into more, more more when I'm seeing you all seem to say " less is more" .

Whew! That takes the pressure off. I'll give myself permission to not work as hard as I did last year developing all my candles! Now I can enjoy the repeat sales! :smiley2:

How many Fragrances do you have for sale at any given time?

How many different styles or sizes of candles do you offer?

I'm thinking about adding primitive / rusty tin can candles to my line. I have just begun looking into how you make a tin can old looking and where you might get cans in large quantities. I haven't found where to get cans yet.

We don't use canned food that much at all so I'm wondering where you find cans in the quantities you need to keep up with orders?

Do you think that heating this batch up again to 100 degrees and mixing it for a couple hours will work? The tempurature will drop quickly with the mixing.

The more I'm reading about this the more I think that the hot process may be the only way to go with this batch?

I'm feeling pretty dumb for making my mother in law jump into this olive oil soap. But this afternoon it looked like a great recipe to try! :lipsrseal

Don't add more lye!! You can not add soap flakes to it either. You have a lot of water in the mixture. Also there is no superfat in that recipe. Just keep stirring maybe 5 or 6 hours.. It will take a long time with out a dtick blender. Do you have a crock pot? You can toss it in there and do a hp with it also it will speed it up. Is this your first batch of soap?

5 or 6 hours???!!!! Yikes. Thanks for your info. We really appreciate your help with this.

Can you explain the hp method? What does that mean? Is it something we can do overnight or does it have to be watched closely?

My Mother in law has made soap for years with tallow in the mixture and has always been sucessful with it. I think she uses what is called the cold process method. She combines the lye mixture and oils when they are 95 to 100 degrees. And for her, the soap has traced in just minutes.

Today we dicided to try something new with only olive oil as we didn't have any tallow on hand. After we combined the oil & lye at 100 degrees, we hand stirred the lye, oil mixture for 1 hour then poured it into a mold. We thing we missed the trailings point (trace?). And now it seems to separate in our mold.

We don't have a stick blender, can we use a hand mixer?

Take it out of the mold and stir more. Did you use a water discount. I always do Olive Oil at 40%. It is separating because it has not reached trace yet. Trace will be like a creamy thickened pudding that will leave trailings that will not sink into the soap. Olive Oil soap takes a long long time to trace if you are doing it by hand a few hours sometimes. A stick blender will help it move quicker if you have one. If no stick blender try a whisk that may help make it go quicker.

The recipe called for 20 oz. water, 7 oz. lye and 52 oz. of olive oil. That is what I did. I didn't know about a water discount. Will adding soap flakes of another base soap help speed up tracing in my olive oil soap?

Or can I add more lye? If so how much do I add?