SimplyBea Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Hi everyoneI have thoroughly enjoyed my first few nights of reading the forum posts - there are lots of talented people on this forum!!I have been reading (here and elsewhere) .... and reading some more....... and I think I am almost ready to try my first batch of CP soap.I finally managed to get in to town today and got myself a whole lot of oils (whatever I could find basically) and now I need to find the courage to put the first batch together (probably on Saturday).I prefer not to include Palm Oil in my batches (and it is not available locally) so I have looked all over and it seems that Coconut Oil can be used as a substitute? I was lucky enough to find ONE tub (440ml) and I do not know how much THAT will render in weight??? so hopefully I won't come unstuck when I finally get all the stuff out to start.I plan to make a simple soap with Olive Oil andCoconut Oil as the main onesI also have small quantities ofRice BranJojobaApricot KernelAvocadoMacadamiaI have looked at LOTS of recipes and don't know which ones I should include in my FIRST soap and not sure how to work out the quantities for a smallish batch!!!! I tried to find some way of estimating - but I must have missed it.....BTW - I am also having problems trying to edit my profile and preferences - I didn't do it the night I subscribed because it was so late and my eyes were waaay too tired to stay up the extra few minutes....Any ideas from you would be very much appreciated!!!Thanks b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beau's mama Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Ahhhh...the wonderfully addictive world of soaping! If you haven't already, take a look-see at this thread. Very helpful info from the soapers here. http://craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63074Do you have your lye? Measuring & mixing equipment? Mask? Gloves? Eye protection? Have you familarized yourself with the various soaping calculators and decided which one you feel most comfy with? I've only been cp soaping a little over a year so I'm in no way an expert, but the above are some of the things I make sure of before I start. And of course, a recipe is always helpful LOLThere maybe some simple (beginner) soap recipes in the recipe section if you're unsure about what you want to do. But whether you go with your own or someone else's recipe, run it through a soap calculator.Good luck w/ your first batch. I guarantee you, when you cut that first bar you will be hooked for life!ETA: Oh yes, this is VERY helpful http://craftserver.com/forums/showpost.php?p=600226&postcount=11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Plug your recipe into a calculator either at www.soapcalc.com or MMS. You should be able to adjust the recipe to make a small batch of say 1.5 pounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridith Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Make sure you have a good scale too. In soaping, we don't measure in volumes but in weights - you don't want a lye heavy soap that will burn so a good scale is a must to maintain consistency. I don't have the web addy on me at the moment but you can find it through Google or a search of old threads but do some reading on Millers soap site there is some good info there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimplyBea Posted April 24, 2009 Author Share Posted April 24, 2009 Ahhhh...the wonderfully addictive world of soaping! If you haven't already' date=' take a look-see at this thread. Very helpful info from the soapers here. http://craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63074 YES - I certainly did and there were LOTS of great hints there.... !!Do you have your lye? Measuring & mixing equipment? Mask? Gloves? Eye protection? Got all of those on my last trip into town on Wednesday (that was just supposed to have been a 'look see what I can find trip!!!.......' )Have you familarized yourself with the various soaping calculators and decided which one you feel most comfy with? I have tried to download soapcalc but can't open it up in any browser (FF/Camino/Safari....I am on a mac) so I will have to try working on it online...... I've only been cp soaping a little over a year so I'm in no way an expert' date=' but the above are some of the things I make sure of before I start. And of course, a recipe is always helpful LOLThere maybe some simple (beginner) soap recipes in the recipe section if you're unsure about what you want to do. But whether you go with your own or someone else's recipe, run it through a soap calculator.Good luck w/ your first batch. I guarantee you, when you cut that first bar you will be hooked for life![/quote']Thank you - I was hooked on the first bar of soap I bought and am only trying to make my own because I would like to be able to make some for my family and friends......... plus buy nice ones as well..... ETA: Oh yes, this is VERY helpful http://craftserver.com/forums/showpost.php?p=600226&postcount=11Yes -will definitely try for a SMALL BATCH first time round, plain - no fragrance added......Make sure you have a good scale too. In soaping, we don't measure in volumes but in weights - you don't want a lye heavy soap that will burn so a good scale is a must to maintain consistency. I don't have the web addy on me at the moment but you can find it through Google or a search of old threads but do some reading on Millers soap site there is some good info there.Got the scales - not what I was hoping to get but they seem okay, not cheapos - and they measure imperial and metric with 1gm increments up to 5kg........ !Yes - Millers soap site is great for recipes and lots of good hints (saved and printed off for tonight's reading and another squiz before I start tomorrow......)~~~~~ very nervous and excited.......... ~~~~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridith Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Good luck Bea. Have fun and let us know how your soapies turn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitn Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Olive oil and coconut oil is called bastille , it is a very nice soap.:smiley2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimplyBea Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 Well - as luck woud have had it, we have had heavy rain and strong winds here since Thursday- the internet was down this morning just when I wanted to have a last 'look around' here for more hints/tips..... so I just had to take the plunge this afternoon and hope fr the best.......I had a couple of hiccups....my formula asked for 100gm of castor oil - my bottle of 100ml only rendered 94gm!!...... so I topped up my Rice Bran Oil from 100ml to 106gmI 'overpoured' my Olive Oil - instead of 450gm - I got 453gm !!I did my lye solution AFTER I did the oils...... now I know why I should do it FIRST!! ...... I was just leaving the 'scariest part' for the last... it wasn't that scary in the end !!I decided to use a metal whisk instead of the stick blender - good experience, I could feel the mixture at every stage...... but I will use the stick blender the next time....... it took me 40 minutes to reach tracethe mixture is now in plastic takeaway tubs with lids on and in the esky to 'keep them insulated and warmer'.... so I have the next 24 anxious hours to wait and see what will be the result....I decided to keep it simple and plain without any fragrance or colour, just to see what this 1st batch will turn out to be....uckily I managed to load soapcalc in safari today and put in a few combinations to see what would 'look' better and I think (hope) I made a good batch........*phew* my tummy and heart were all in the same place all through the 2 hours I as making this batch !!!!!But....... I have made ONE batch now........ and am impatient to open up the esky tomorrow at 4pm (24 hrs from when I put it in).........:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 I prefer not to include Palm Oil in my batches (and it is not available locally) so I have looked all over and it seems that Coconut Oil can be used as a substitute?Coconut is not a sub for palm, but lard is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimplyBea Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 Is there a vegetable sub for Palm?????;0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Nope, Bookmark this link....http://millersoap.com/PDF/OilProperties.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimplyBea Posted April 26, 2009 Author Share Posted April 26, 2009 Thanks - I already have that site as one of my main references but it still doesn't answer my question as there are recipes which have BOTH Palm and Coconut and THAT is my quandary.In my searches - I have found references which state that CO and PO are interchangeable as they both have same/similar enough qualities - but surely I can't just add the PO qty to the CO qty especially when it might take it over the 30% volume???My questions arewhen both PO and CO are in the formula - what is the best course of action to replace POif PO is the sub for Lard and vice versa - how do I get around replacing either in a formula which already has CO?Am I making sense???? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Is there a vegetable sub for Palm?????;0No oil is completely interchangeable with another oil. You can sub any oil into the recipe and try it, but you must run it through a soap calculator first to make sure you are getting the right formulation of lye for the recipe. You did things I did when I made my first batch and got yelled at for doing. You don't just add any oil to make up for what you're short by (case being the castor oil) ... my case it was butters and my teachers went ballistic when I did it ... (though it worked fine, don't count on it always to work.) As for adding a little more oil than you should have ... try to weigh out the ingredients and add them to your mix instead of throwing everything into one pot. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. You'll know when it doesn't. Soap recipes aren't like baking cookies in that you can't just toss a pinch of this or that in there ... at least that was the end result from my teachers, so I didn't listen to them and the end result was a very harsh soap and another batch that I just threw away and then I started to listen. As for palm oil -- it is referred to as a vegan sub for tallow/lard. Several people might sub some palm for coconut to try to balance the harshness that coconut can create (rather counter some of the harshness). If you're opposed to lard, then you are to tallow, so maybe look at adding in olive oil or some unsaturated vegetable oils (which means those oils could be more prone to spoiling.)You might look at using safflower, peanut, sunflower oils too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smittenheart Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 heres an reference for some of the soaping oils that you can use in soaping..http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapmakingoils/tp/qualitiesofsoapmakingoils.htmI am thinking that when you are talking about palm oil you are talking about palm kernal oil??if an oil has a quality that you like in a soap and you 'replace' it with an oil that has similar qualities doesnt mean that they have the same SAP value..so you will still need run it through the lye calc.the BEST thing that you can do is learn about what each oil does in a soap..everyone likes something different in a soap and finding some oils locally will help with your experiments..good luck.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimplyBea Posted April 28, 2009 Author Share Posted April 28, 2009 SmittenI think it is just Palm Oil in the recipes.....I have also been to that site and saved lots of info to the computer.I will be reading lots of notes which I have printed out and the 2 soapbooks I have on the way to the mainland tomorrow..... and when we get to the shops I will be LOOKING HARD to see what I can find!!!! Can't wait!~ b ~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 B,Here is the simplest way that I can explain it.....Coconut, palm kernel and babassu are your cleansing oils, they make the soap bubble but can be harsh in large percentages.Palm and lard are hardening, filler oils; what they bring to the soap is firmness and long lasting qualities. Some may use crisco as a sub for lard or palm.HTH,e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 I know you don't want to use palm or lard. Which is fine. but while there are no direct subs for the two, you can craft a recipe that uses neither. You just need to play with soapcalc (don't download it, use it directly on the web site) or another soap calc until you get something that looks good on paper. How do you know what looks good? Well soapcalc has some recommendations, millersoap.com has some ideas, and you can also plug in recipes that people recommend and see how they lok and try to replicate the qualities with other oils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimplyBea Posted May 7, 2009 Author Share Posted May 7, 2009 Thank you everybody for all the input and comments.As I am playing around with different combinations on soapcalc - I am getting an idea of how the different oilscan affect the final result.I guess my main concern was what oils I would be able to find locally and whenever I trawl through all those wonderful soap sites - I see all these really terrific recipes which incorporate Palm or lard and then I get stumped..... but I am sure I will be able to work something out as a basic concept and grow from there.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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