Finding your "main" recipe.....?

[Dana Mae]

For all you veteran soapers out there....how did you know, or decide on, your "main" recipe?

I have tried some fabulous soaps....I've found some good recipes...experimented a little.....but my testers just don't give me feedback as liking one better than another.

After 2 years of soaping I'm ready to "settle down" and experiment more with colors, EO's etc....but I don't know how to choose which recipe that I have is the "best"....know what I mean? :rolleyes2 I want to stick to one base recipe and develop around it...as opposed to being the soaping maniac that I have been, trying this, that and the other. I have no consistency to judge my results! Thanks to all the great advice shared here, I've had few disasters and many good bars of soap.

It's probably a stupid question....but maybe those of you who have had that "aha" moment can share how you got there...or when you knew you where there!

I'm sure the experiments and tweaks never end.....it's so addicting making soap....but I gotta narrow it down a bit!

Thanks!

Dana

[smittenheart]

I think everyone has different idea of a good soap..I know I have 2 or 3 solid recipes but I still like to dabble and tweak my recipes..

my testers(outside my house) never say anything bad about what I give them..I am open to criticism but they never seem to give me negative stuff..maybe they dont know what I am asking,maybe they fear giving me something negative will get me mad,maybe they arent critical of soap..who knows..

I just go with a soap that I like..just when I have a 'great' bar moment..I come across an oil or butter I havent used then I experiment more..

I guess I am of NO help but..just know I share in your thoughts..

[NewOrleansLady]

I narrowed mine down to basically 3 solid recipes. One I use 80% of the time when I just want soap and know this is a very trusted recipe. But the one main reason I use this one over the others is the ingredients. They make an awesome soap...it moisturizes the skin, has the scent last a good long time but most of all the ingredients are very easy to get. Has about (don't have the actual recipe right in front of me) 6 ingredients but only 1 has to be purchased online so as long as I keep a supply of that one ingredient I can always run out to get the rest of the ingredients.

[Scented]

Well here's how I found mine.

I had a bar of homemade soap. It didn't do what I wanted out of a bar of soap. I gained the courage to try not to nuke the middle part of the US and eventually made my first bar, from a recipe that was handed down so to speak. Now I had tried soap from that recipe and it was great. The only thing I wanted was a little more bubble and I spent countless batches trying to learn to formulate and finally landed on something.

In that time frame, I joined all of the blind soap swaps I could get into, because I wasn't getting the type of feedback that I wanted either. Those helped me the absolute most. I entered swaps and didn't really get a lot of feedback and that gets discouraging, but the blind soap swaps were the absolute best. No one knows who you are, various ages and skin types are trying the soap and different water conditions.

Sooooooooooo ... that's what I did.

Now I take my main recipe and will play around with it to see what other oils, butters and combinations do when I feel like it.

[Dana Mae]

I think since my OWN soap was the first I ever tried....I've had nothing to compare it with.

I've never entered a swap...sounds like fun

And smittenheart I do understand about the testers....mine are the same way and they don't understand why I keep making more and more soap, or different kinds of soap.:rolleyes2

thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and experiences I really appreciate it!

dana

[Lorrie]

Just remember if you get into swaps they can get expensive. Or you could send a bar to a couple of other soap makers and get their opinions of your bars. I have found this to be less expensive and a lot better for me because I can talk to them one on one.

But I have two main recipes that I use. One vegan and one that I make with lard. I really like lard in soap but some people are funny about it so I have an alternative for those people.

[Kaylors Kreations]

I have a single recipe I use, but with 2 versions like Lorrie, one veggie and the other lard.

Although I do like to play with other recipes, I usually do them on a small and special basis.

Once I found a recipe I liked, I shared bars with my family and got plenty of feedback, since noone in my fam is shy about giving an opinion, asked for or not. I teaked and messed with the recipe until pretty much most of my fam agreed that it was a good bar and had no real complaints. I love my fam as a test bed because of the variety of ages and types of skin, from older sun damaged to older and ethnic skin to even some of the youngest and most sensitive in my group, including my super sensitive eczemic skin.

[Meridith]

I just played around and made sure to keep very good notes so I could remember until I finally developed a recipe I liked. I now have several recipes (salt bar, castile, shampoo, pine tar, etc) but one main recipe that, like Scented, I tend to tweak from time to time when I'm in the mood to experiment and play.

[Jewel531]

I don't think I have found that 1 yet. I have liked to many, but have always wanted to tweak them with different scents. I did however have the "aha" moment with my lotion. After finishing the lotion and letting it cool and all, I opened it - I immediately loved the smell - you can say I am a little addicted to it at this point. And when I rubbed it in it just seemed more perfect. When I dug into it again, I just knew I still loved it as much. I wasn't sure if I could recreate the recipe - I had written it down, but was still uneasy because I hadn't recreated any other product - none I liked wholly and fully enough not to tweak the second time around. But I did recreate it - a little thicker - but that was alright. Since then I have made tons more - given it away, offered it to co-workers - all kinds of things. And no one had anything bad to say about it, and they all wanted more of it - so it became my "signature" lotion. And I still love it - everytime I open it, its like relaxation in a bottle.

I think that when you found your "signature" product - you know... you have no qualms with it, and you want to recreate it exactly how it is. If you want to tweak it - it probably isn't going to be your "signature" anything.

Thats just my two cents - hopefully it helps.

[Dana Mae]

Or you could send a bar to a couple of other soap makers and get their opinions of your bars.

Since there isn't a blind swap going on right now, I think this is a really good idea!

Maybe I can recruit a few veteran soapers to evaluate a couple of bars.

Thanks!

[Lorrie]

Since there isn't a blind swap going on right now, I think this is a really good idea!

Maybe I can recruit a few veteran soapers to evaluate a couple of bars.

Thanks!

\

No problem. And like I said this can be cheaper for you:) And just ask am I am sure anyone of us would be happy to give you feedback.

[Dana Mae]

Yeah! I am excited about that. I am going to do a few with no scent, color, and no specials (milk, silk, etc) and then as soon as they are about ready.

That way I can have my base bar recipe(s) evaluated!

Thanks again for the awesome idea...

dana