Mitch23 Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 I've been trying to work up some nerve to try some soap. I think I've decided to try cp first. Got my lye, but am trying to decide on which oils to try out. I've been reading up on the MillerSoap site, but it seems to confuse me.To make this short, how do you all decide which oils to use? Is there somewhere I'm not looking?Thanks...Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
younggrasshper Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 since I JUST started a few days ago......I found the cheapest stuff I could find (shortening and lard) to find out if I even liked making soap. I didn't want to invest a lot of money and find out I hated it! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cindym Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 All the info seems so overwhelming when you first start. As long as you are positive you understand the process , and have all the safety rules in place, gloves, googles,etc.... just pick a recipe and go for it. Run it through one of the calculators to make sure it is correct and go. If you need help pm me. You could do a simple recipe with lard, olive, coconut, canola. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 This will help, but there are still too many choices...LOLhttp://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3164 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasBrat Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 I've been reading up on the MillerSoap site, but it seems to confuse me. That is exactly how I felt reading that site. I finally decided to buy oils I could get at Walmart to ensure I would actually like making soap before ordering tons of oils. You can get coconut and olive oil and if you want buy some cocoa butter and throw that in. Run it through the lye calculator and there you go. If you don't have any fragrance oil you can use essential oils found at natural food stores or don't scent it at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SatinDucky Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 Yup, I started with only oils I could buy locally, olive, coconut, lard, castor, etc... easiest way, IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glowlite Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 Yup, I started with only oils I could buy locally, olive, coconut, lard, castor, etc... easiest way, IMOYep, same here. It made for an expensive log of soap but it gave me basics of what I needed to do to turn all that stuff into soap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch23 Posted December 9, 2005 Author Share Posted December 9, 2005 I've decided to go with the Sudsy All-Vegetable recipe. For some reason I don't remember seeing that one before. It calls for Palm oil, but from what I remember, I think I can sub Crisco for that (heh, now that I think more about it, that's what yall advise everyone to start with... ahh the joys of the late night brain!)It is a big one, though. When I ran it through the calc, it seemed to be close (only the few numbers after the decimal point off). It's supposed to be 8.25 lbs! Is anyone going to want some soap when it's finished!! Or does that not make as much as it seems?And just to be sure, I can use my candle scents, right? I'd use maybe 1.5- 2 ozs?Thanks again... gotta go make kids some breakfast...Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 You can use your candle scents IF they are bath and body safe, AND since you are starting out, you will probably want to make sure it's not a f/o that will accelerate trace.. That can throw a wrench in the batch even for seasoned soapers. Most soapers use f/o at 1 oz per pound of oils.You can always half the recipe oils and run that through a calc again to get your water/lye solution so you don't have so much soap.. 8 lbs is a LOT of soap for just starting (IMO). That would mean that you would probably end up using about 8 ounces of f/o for this batch. Good luck, and have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch23 Posted December 9, 2005 Author Share Posted December 9, 2005 or so I hope.I took the recipe I had written down with me to the store, where I was able to find all of it, except for the Palm Oil. I got extra virgin olive, canola, coconut, and Crisco.I ran it through each of the calcs, but I noticed something. In the newbies links, there is a post that says more than 15% coconut can dry your skin, but the recipe I have shows it's at 29.27%. Should I drop that down some, and add more Crisco?Oh, I feel so aggravating... sorry about this.Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyalc Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 Your not aggravating! I'd drop the oconut down a bit and add more olive or some Lard. Maybe a little shea? I don't know.I just jumped right into the CP method and bought oils locally. Mostly consisted of Olive oil, Soybean, Sunflower and Lard. Come to find out it was a very soft soap and I had to wait and wait and wait before I could use it. Boy was it white in color though. Good luck and have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melly Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 You can edit it, thats half the fun of soap making, playing with recipies. I noticed alot of the miller recipies do use high coconut. Just remember to recalculate the lye when you are done. Dont bother using extra virgin olive oil in soap, it is way more expensive and it will turn your soap green, I always use the lightest cheapest olive oil I can find.Good luck with your first batch of soap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairieannie Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 That is a huge batch of soap to start with LOL...What are you using for a mold? Got a big enough one? Mel is right..it's so cool that you can experiment and play with your recipes a bit, and with each batch you can investigate the things that you didn't care for, and change them to try new things..it's like trying to create the perfect bar. And you might think that once you get that perfect bar you're done and the challenge is over...but it's not LOL, because there are at least 47 bazillion soap recipes out there to try! And you'll be very very old before you get that many made Have fun and don't ruin it by being nervous or scared~ just jump right into it...ya gotta start somewhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch23 Posted December 9, 2005 Author Share Posted December 9, 2005 ok, I figured out which box I'm going to use for my mold. I'll need 4.25 lbs to fill it. When I ran my numbers through the soap calc, this is basically what it says...Olive 17.01 (I put this at 25%)Canola 17.01 (the same 25%)Coconut 10.21 (put this at 15)Crisco 23.81 (35%)Water 25.86Lye 9.2 Quick question... could I round? Maybe have it as 17, 17, 10.25, 23.75, 25.75 & 9.25 ozs? Will them couple little points hurt terribly? Just kinda scared I'll burn our skin off or something along the lines...Thanks for being so patient with me...Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 Rounding really isn't a good idea. yes, it can be done, but you could end up with a highly superfatted bar that could go rancid, or end up with a lye heavy bar.. Neither of which is something you want. lolOn the coconut oil question earlier about the high percentage, some people get dry skin from using a high percentage, and that is one of CO's atributes, but some peope, (like myself for instance) it doesn't bother them at all. I can use a Mariner's bar (100% coconut oil) and my skin is still just as silky smooth as if I use a 100% Olive oil bar..I know it's confusing, but once you get a few batches under your belt, things will start to make sense.. And PS you are not aggravating anybody.. Well, maybe yourself, but that's what we're here for!! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueH Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 I tried the Canolive oil recipe from the Miller website and loved it.It's a good beginner soap recipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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