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Miller's Homemade Soap Pages |
this is what i have found and it seems to happen with green colors, regardless of their source. so far, batches i have made using green crayons will eventually develop brown spots, but so far no rancidity; batches i have made using chlorophyll have turned rancid in about 2 months. why, i do not know. incidentally, these were all-veggie soaps. this seems to happen with cold-processed soaps. have not had any problems with the rebatches-but not being a fan of that i must say that i have done more than 25-30 batches of those, and only a couple of those were "green soap" colored with organic materials like parsley.
by the way virus, is gone and i apologize for sending it your way...it took me a couple of days to realize i had it and by that time had e-mailed several people.(oops! did a lot of notifying and confessing my "crime".)
thanks, again
-sarah-
Kathy--
I just made my first batch of soap using the Basic Soap Recipe night before last. Everything eventually turned out fine (with the caveats below), but I have a couple of comments that others might be able to use.
First, I came nearer than I'd like to a catastrophe with the lye (Red Devil). I feel sorta stupid because I've been around dangerous chemicals quite a bit in my work life, but I didn't know that sodium hydroxide plus water equals HEAT. I didn't see it mentioned anywhere in the instructions (or in any other recipe) that the water gets really hot, due apparently to an exothermic reaction with the lye when they're mixed together.
In any case, I guess this isn't too big a problem, usually. In my case, I heeded the warning not to use aluminum utensils, opting instead (MISTAKE #1) to mix the water/lye in a large, heavy glass bowl of adequate capacity.
PLEASE TELL YOUR ACOLYTES (especially newbies) TO BE SURE THEY DON'T EVER USE GLASS FOR THIS PURPOSE!!!!!
As you can guess, when the brew started heating up, I became alarmed and (MISTAKE #2) made matters worse by lowering the bowl into the sink, which contained about four inches of water, which comes out of my well at about 38 degrees. Naturally, the bowl emitted a loud crack, announcing a circumferential split in the bowl right at the surface level of the lye mix. Although it was a stupid mistake to put the bowl into the cold water, I think it might have broken anyway, which would have dumped the caustic all over the world.
OK, now that the near-disaster is out of the way, I've got soap!!! And I've got a few questions:
1. The soap is creamy and beautiful, but smells more "lotiony" than soapy. Will this change as it ages?
2. I used about 1/4 oz. of LorAnn Tangerine essential oil for the scent. Any recommendations on which brands of oil to use, and how much? The scent seems really weak on this batch, and leaves no smell at all on your hands.
3. I know it hasn't aged yet, but we tried one bar anyway. It seems to work, and will even produce lather, but doesn't seem very strong. Don't get me wrong, I don't want something that rips your skin off (in fact, mildness was the main reason for trying this experiment to begin with), but I'm wondering if I did something wrong, or if it will get stronger as it ages.
BTW, the exact recipe was:
I also added one small square of yellow Walnut Hill Candle color, melted in about 3 tbsp lard, and the aforementioned scent at trace. I think it was "late" trace; when we poured it, we had to spread it like pudding. BTW, I used two casserole dishes (lined with Saran Wrap) for molds. Worked perfect--popped right out next day!
Thanks for your help. Home made soap it a cool thing, despite my little faux pas with the lye.
-Tim Jones-
I didn't bonk you over the head with it, I suppose, but it said to use COLD water and then let the lye solution cool down. The insinuation is that it gets hot in between. I think it was also mentioned to use stainless steel or heat resistant glass to dissolve in (I mentioned my use of a quart pyrex container below where I post my "routine with the stick blender". Anyway... I made it more obvious (just did some editing) in case there are others like yourself that miss that point. I think your bowl might have survived if you had not plunged it into the cold water, but don't know for sure... if it was Pyrex, it should have been fine.
I have posted in a couple of places some suggested addition rates for fragrances (essential oils). I think it might be mentioned on the main page, but know it is on the "Where to Find Ingredients" page and also on the "Design Your Own Recipe" page. You ought to check out that last one because there's a lot of helpful information there for picking oils to give you the kind of soap you want in the end product (properties of oils, etc.). Also has some interesting ideas for coloring the soap. You used a very small amount of oil for fragrance for such a large batch and I don't know if you'll smell it after cure or not. Once your bars are cured fully (about one month to six weeks), you can always store the bars in an open ziploc bag and put a couple of cotton balls in with it that have a bit of essential oil on them. The soap will absorb some of the fragrance by being in close proximity to it. That's why you don't store different scented soaps together if you want them to retain their integrity.
Just let your soap age now and try not to use it until it's done with that process. It will lather MUCH better after curing than the day after it's cut... it's still a bit on the greasy side right now because saponification is not fully completed. An all lard soap will not be as sudsy as if you'd used some coconut oil in it, but it will be soap and should be mild.
Good luck... it's a lot of fun making this stuff. I hope you enjoy the fruits of your labors!
hello again, fellow soapers:
looking for molds as i always do? ( i see molds everywhere!) go to your local bakery or to your supermarket that has a bakery, and ask if you can buy some of their plastic pastry/cake containers. these are pretty cheap- about 25 cents to $1.00, depending how big the containers are. however, regardless of how large these containers are, don't pour your soap more than one inch deep or you will end up with a very warped soap and a container that you will have to discard. i usually spray these well with a non-stick cooking spray for easy release of the soap. also, freezing doesn't hurt this process a bit. if you are reasonably careful with these "molds", they will last through several batches and give the edges of your soap a nice look.
by the way, as the "continuous experimenter" i have found that you can rebatch certain veggie soap recipes without ending up with the mashed potato glop. nothing against those of you who work with animal products,i just prefer to work with veggie fats, but sure don't mind using milk or honey in my soaps!
oh, one more thing about the bakery containers..they usually come with lids, which the use of can help control/eliminate that pesky "ash" problem. incidentally, this is more of a blemish, than an actual health hazard, and can usually just be wiped off with a soft cloth. for my own personal use soaps, i don't even bother and none of my family (which is quite numerous and many with sensitive skin) have suffered any ill effects from it.
well, enough of my blatherings....
thanks,
-sarah-
You show some wonderful labels on the soaps. They go all the way around your soaps. I was wondering if you'd share how you buy them or how they're made. I have been playing with my computer to see if I could make them but I'm stumped. I started making soap about six months ago and love it. I would like to go to some craft shows but I'm having a problem with packaging my soaps.
My son laid those out in a page layout program, but they could be done in a word processing program as well, like Word or Word Perfect, etc. You just put the document in landscape format (on its side) and make the labels from left to right (we do four per sheet). You'll want to cut a strip of the paper ahead and wrap it around your soap to note where the text should fall... everyone's bars of soap can be a bit different in how the label will line up...then when you have your text boxes laid out, you can always go back and move them up or down until you like where they fall on the bar of soap. Anyway... the main part of the label is toward the middle of the four and you will use a text box to put your text for the front of the bar. A small text box is put toward the top of each of the labels that has your name or company name, contact information,etc. This is smaller and after you type in the text you will need to flip it upside down (so it will be the right orientation after it is wrapped around the bar of soap). This sounds confusing, doesn't it? When you are looking at a sheet of labels printed, you will see four main areas of text running across the center from left to right, with the contact info toward the top part of the page (four of them) going from left to right but upside down. It's nice if when laying it out you put some lines somewhere to use when cutting the labels apart... small lines toward the top and bottom and between the labels will do for sighting on when you cut the labels apart. I usually use pretty preprinted paper I've gotten at Office Depot to print on, but on some of the labels, we have a simple piece of clip art background that is floral.
Once you work the bugs out of your basic label, you should save it as a "template" or "stationery." Then when you want a new set of labels, you open up your template, type in the new info, save it and it will never save over your basic template. When I did the template, I had things like "Soap Name Here" , etc. on the label and I would just highlight over it and type in the name. That way, the text formatting like font and size, are kept intact. By the way... once you get one of your text boxes done, you can copy and paste the whole box with text inside to get your other three boxes. You just have to move them to the right spot on the page after pasting. Aren't computers great?
I hope this is not totally confusing... good luck!
Hello and thank you for all your wonderful information about soap making. I am just getting into this hobby and have two questions:
1.. Can I make one large batch then after it has traced, divide it into small batches and scent each one differently? I'm not sure how much time I have to work with the mixture before it sets.
2.. I live in New Zealand and have hunted high & low for Palm oil (vegetable ghee). It seems we don't have it and no-one has heard of it. Can you suggest some suitable substitutes as most of the recipes I have obtained from the Internet contain Palm oil.
Thank you so very much. I can appreciate that you are a busy person but I do look forward to hearing from you.
-Sarita-
>Hello and thank you for all your wonderful information about soap making. I am just getting into this hobby and have two questions:
You're welcome! :-)
I have people tell me they do this, but you will want to separate it at a light trace and keep the containers a bit warm while scenting the batches. Having an extra person on hand would help! I don't know how much time you'd have either... some soaps get thick faster than others, depending on the base oils used. I've found that recipes with an appreciable amount of soybean oil added are workable longer.
If you are using animal fats, tallow would be good. Otherwise, just use some coconut oil and other stuff for your recipes. I've posted a fair amount of recipes that use no palm oil because I hadn't ordered any when I first got started. You should be able to find some suitable recipes on the all-vegetable and castile soaps pages.
Good luck! There seems to be a fair amount of interest in soapmaking in Australia and New Zealand, but probably not as many clear sources for stuff. In Australia there was a shortening packaged at the supermarket that I think was mainly coconut oil and rather inexpensive... now I can't remember the name. Sure wish we had that here!
Dear Kathy: I have a question regarding lye. Which is the most effective way of "recrumbling" the lye that has become rock hard in its container? I have always used Red Devil and when it is stored for a long time (several months) it becomes hard as a rock. I have used a hammer on the unopened plastic container and that action has broken it into pieces, small enough, to fit through the opening. This time I have a split container and a hammer will enlarge the brake and send the little bits all over. Would cutting away the plastic container and soaking the lye in the 2 1/2 pints of water do the trick? I have several rock hard containers. I buy the lye by the case and it seems to have a very short shelf life in its pourable crystal form.
I love your page! I did not know there were so many soapers out there. Had never looked-up soap making before. What a treat to have access to so much information. I have been making soap for family and friends for almost twenty years. I have never used any scents or colorings. I have made a couple of olive oil batches and some other coconut oil recipes. My all-time favorite is still the tallow (lye) recipe, it never dries our skin, it works to remove poison ivy (when used shortly after contact). It stops the mosquito and no-see-ums bites when rubbing the bar directly onto the dampened, itching area, to form a film, and letting it dry. We have two children with sensitive skin and they only use my tallow (lye) soap. My husband uses it for shaving since it greatly reduces razor burn. There are many other benefits to tallow soap, and you probably know them already. There is also the lard recipe (a little drying). The coconut oil/olive oil recipe, when superfatted, is as softening as the tallow recipe.
In this next batch, which I am about to make, I will use scented oils for the first time.
Have to run, I still have ten more pounds of fat to render. Would appreciate any information about my question. Thank you for your help.
Your fellow soaper, Nora Clements
I hate hardened cans of lye. I've done something like you did... but use the side of a wooden mallet (for pounding meat... but I use the flat side) so that it won't be as inclined to break the plastic can. Something you might try before cutting this, is to put it into a plastic closed ziploc bag, wrap it in a towel and then whack away. You might break it up enough to pour the rest out after you're done pounding on it!
Thanks for your nice comments about the page. When I update the soapy success page again, I'll add your letter extolling the virtues of tallow soap. It is nice. Nowadays, I would be inclined to add some coconut to it for lather and some olive for added emollient. Tallow is very nice though.
Hi,
We visited your website, great job!
If you have any ideas on this, please help.
We make vegetable based glycerin soap. We have problems with exfoliating ingredients sinking to the bottom of the mold before it hardens.
Do you know of any way to thicken/harden the mixture quicker before the exfoliators have a chance to sink? This is a big problem for us right now. Is it a temperature thing? Will the stick blender help with this?
We also use benzoin solution as a preservative of the herbs/botanicals we add to the soap? Any info on this? Is it natural? Do you know of something better?
Thanks,
My response to this email bounced, so I hope Jessica reads it here.
Is this cold process or are you using a melt and pour base? I'm going to assume cold process in my answer. If it's cold process, you need your soap to be a bit thicker before you add the exfoliants... the degree of thickness depending on how heavy they are. Light herbs will usually suspend with a medium trace. The stick blender will bring your soap to trace in a hurry, so if you're not using one you might try that and see if it helps. You don't use it when mixing in your fragrance oils, but to get it to the thin trace stage, it's wonderful! Toward the end, I turn it off and just use it like a regular spoon to mix in fragrance. Blending in essential oils is usually fine, but FOs can be unpredictable at times!
I think the benzoin solution is probably okay in small quantities. Melinda Coss used it in her recipes. It's a natural solution if it is based on benzoin gum, which I think it is. There's a bit of alcohol in it as well, but used in low doses, this doesn't seem to mess up the quality of the soap. I don't know of anything better... some people use grapefruit seed extract but I have no experience with it. It does accelerate trace so that needs to be noted. Sorry I've not used these things that much!
Good luck! Try a stick blender. It will revolutionize your soapmaking! :-)
All of the information I have read on your page is wonderful...very informative. I have been crafting soap for just a short while, am working on some of my own recipes etc. and am ready to start trying to move some of it out of the house. Do you have any information on business licensing or business startup ideas to share??
Thanks for any help you can give me.
-Dru-
I'm probably not the person to ask. I'm in business denial! I don't want to sell enough that I have to declare myself as a business (and basically sell wholesale), but plan to pay Income Tax on whatever income comes in from my sales. [This has changed as of May of '99...I finally applied for a business license.] You can get information like this through some of the soaplists/digests. Rainbow Meadow hosts one, as does Majestic Mountain Sage and the Soap Newbies Page. You can go to their sites (I have links for them on my soapmaking links page) and sign up. Also... check out the Latherings Forum and you can ask some questions there and get answers from the REAL professionals! :-)
Also... go to the website for the Department of Revenue for your state (you can do a search for that) and look up info on getting a business license/tax number, etc. You can do some research there on what is required in your state.
Hope this helps a little. Thanks for your compliments on the page and good luck with your soap sales!
Dear Kathy
I have just started making soap (i.e. I made my first batch yesterday) and I have 2 questions to ask you.
I made the cocolive soap and I used coconut oil that I bought from a health food store. The only product available is a 200ml jar that costs Aus$7.00 - to make half a batch of soap I used 2 jars. This is quite expensive but at the supermarket they have a (cheap) cooking product in the dairy case called Copha - its made from 100% solidified coconut oil - is this product acceptable to use??
Secondly, if all soap is made out of lye why do some soaps not have this listed in the ingredients? For example a soap that I buy from the health food store uses various oils, essential oil and a product called pentassodium pentate (salt) - is this just another version of caustic soda?
thanks for your help
-Eva-
Hello (or should I say, "Gooday?") :-)...
Hope that first batch turned out well!
Sounds like "Copha" would be just fine. Anything else in it? Probably just as pure as the vegetable shortenings we have here... and they work in soap. You are very fortunate to have such a thing in your supermarket there!
I've never heard of pentassodium pentate... interesting and contrived sounding name. Most soapmakers don't want to list lye on their labels (I don't either). It will usually say "saponified" ... oils or "sodium... tallowate, cocoate, palmate", or whatever depending on what kind of oil was combined with sodium hydroxide to make a soap compound. The other rationale is that after the ingredients are combined, there is no longer lye present in the end product. Most labels don't list water, and I'm sure some was probably used when the soap was processed. That's my explanation, anyway! In order for soap to happen, the fat has to be exposed to a caustic chemical of some sort (alkali) and the most common one is sodium hydroxide/lye.
Good luck with this batch. I hope it turns out the way you wanted! Nice to hear from another soapmaker from "down under." I have a dear email pal from near Ballarat. I've grown rather fond of your country by osmosis. :-)
I want to use wood soap molds, but curious of how well they will hold up, as lye eventually eats away the wood spoon, how does it affect the wood soap mold, and what about the mold warping due to the moisture content in the soap.
What type of wood is used to make a wood mold.
and do you use tallow, shortening etc to coat the mold before putting in soap to harden or line it with plastic?
As you can tell I am new to this, I do use plastic soap molds now, but I want my husband to make me wood molds
Please respond, btw I liked your web page, and marked it as a fav. :)
-Marti Smith-
I think you would be wise to line a wooden mold. You can do this with freezer paper or saran wrap, etc. Some people recommend smearing vaseline on the wood before lining, but that sounds pretty messy to me. If freezer paper is mitered at the corners, it should do very well with little leaking.
I would consider having him build a mold out of the wood you buy for making shelving (book). It is coated with melamine and would make for a slick, easy to wipe surface. The edges could absorb oils if there was leaking, but not the flat surfaces. I have never heard anyone specifically talk about what kind of wood to use, but frankly, I wouldn't spend tons of money on quality woods for something like a soap mold. It needs to be straight and hold up over time and much of that will have to do with protecting it from direct contact with the soap.
Good luck and thanks for the nice comments about the page! Glad it has been helpful!
Kathy,
I can't tell you what a wonderful resource you've been in helping me learn more about soap making. I tried the tip about putting the soaps in the oven with the light on and no ash formed at all. For some reason I seem to get a lot of ash, I'm not sure if it's where I locate the soaps when they are in the molds or what.
Just got a stick blender. Can you say AMAZING? This works significantly better than a regular mixer. What a great thing to have.
I'm working on putting drieds herbs flowers into soaps and was wondering if you knew of any that kept their color during the whole process? I know chamomile, calendula, and dill weed do. Is dill weed green and is the scent strong?
Thanks so much,
-Leslie-
Thank you for your nice email. I'm glad the page has been helpful to you! It's gotten so big that I worry that people will have trouble extracting the information they need, but most seem to do okay. It's the people who want immediate answers without reading any copy that have more difficulty.
I've read that parsley is not too bad for this. I think the mints usually go brown. The dill weed didn't seem particularly smelly to me... although my daughter thought she got a hint of it. I only used about a T. for a 6# batch (fats/oils) of soap. It was plenty. I have a picture of the bar I used it in on the page somewhere and also on the soap sale page... it's the lemon verbena batch. The green color of the dill is fairly light and kind of yellow-green.
There's some other flower petal I read about someone using and it held its color also... now I can't remember, but it was one of those saturated hot orange types kind of like the calendula, only a darker shade. Rose petals go brown. I've wondered what would happen if you put crumbled statice blossoms (everlasting flowers) in a batch of soap and I need to try that and check it out. They come in so many colors. I suppose, they'll go brown, but it would be interesting to try out sometime. Parts of the statice bloom could be kind of scratchy, so it might be worth picking out only the petals part before crushing them up some more.
Have fun with your soaps! I like pulverized rosemary in soap also, even if it does go blackish brown!
yeah, i got one for you because i confess, i am one!! the "continuous experimenter"-they can't stop creating new soap recipes and seldom use the same recipe more than 2-3 times. this person is always searching for the ultimate soap recipe and hasn't found it yet!! by the way, you have a great site and it's wonderful the way you share your ideas. have one myself. if you are in a hurry for your lye solution to cool down have some ice cubes made from distilled water handy and add them gradually to your solution until the desired temp is reached. just make sure you mix with a little less water-usually 2-4 oz. less is more than adequate.
thanks,
-Sarah-
I truly appreciate your site. It has been extremely helpful to me so far! I have no problem getting my soaps to lather or to clean. My last hurdle to making that perfect bar of soap is finding a recipe that will leave an emollient layer on my skin. It's a phrase I see a lot, but after making about nine batches so far, I'm still not able to say that my soaps will leave an emolliant layer on my skin. I have superfatted my soap with one tablespoon of castor oil/16 oz. of oils with no luck (was that enough?) and have tried cutting back on the lye, only to result in a sweet smelling pile of mush. Is there a recipe from your all vege collection that you could recommend? Any suggestions you have will be so appreciated.
Thank you so much.
-Kathy-
Hi! Glad you've enjoyed the site and that it's been helpful to you.
I don't know that any soap will leave your skin so soft that you won't need to moisturize a bit after (unless you have oily skin), but some do better in this than others. For gentle moisturizing soap, I would use one with a high percentage of olive oil for starters. These soaps are really gentle, but they do have a way of turning into ooze if you let them sit in a puddled soap dish for too long! Also, adding a little bit of glycerin at trace is nice on the skin. I don't think it takes much... maybe one or two ounces?
The other thing that can make a difference is the age of the soap. I've used some recently when they were about one month old, but they continued to get milder with a few more weeks of aging. You really need an adequate amount of lye to fully saponify the fats, so going overboard with superfatting can be counterproductive, as you've seen! Have you looked at the properties of oils chart on the "Design Your Own Recipes" page? The oils that are high in oleic and linoleic acids will probably be easier on the skin. Of the recipes I've been posting and using, I think the "Favorite Castile" and the "Favorite Castile II" (harder bar...doesn't mush as easily in the dish) are probably my favorites for using on the face. Again... you could add a bit more glycerin at trace. You want some percentage of oils with hard bar qualities, but keep those on the low end and the conditioning type oils high.
By the way... some people think soap made with beef tallow is milder on their skin than the all vegetable ones. A mixture of beef tallow, olive oil and about 15% coconut would make a very mild soap. Don't know if you have feelings for or against tallow, but thought I'd mention it.
I hope this helps a little.
Follow-up by Kathy:
Thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly!!!! You helped me realize that I have been frustrating myself for nothing because it is necessary to use some type of moisturizer after cleansing with any soap. As a matter of fact, after using a nice Sweetgrass soap sample from Sunfeather a few months ago, I remember I did have to use some moisturizer.
So far, the soap that I used from your list which is the least drying is the "Rachael's Tried and True Recipe #1." I made a third of the recipe and changed it a little by cutting back on the coconut and adding some palm because I like it's effect in soaps (16 vege shortening, 5 soybean oil, 6 coconut oil, 2 palm 4 lye and 9 water - at trace I added 2 T. castor oil and l 1/2 T. jojoba oil. I then mixed at 100) Next time I'll just add some castor and glycerin and see what happens. I also made the "Purely Herbal" soap, which is still curing and still pretty soft after about two weeks. Another soap that I've made is the oatmeal soap from Sandy Maine's book which was pretty drying. One of the first soaps that I made was a pure castile soap. It finally became hard, but it melts pretty easily and is not as moisturizing as I'd hoped.
After writing you last night I did go to the "Design Your Own Recipe" page. I'm going to take some time to look that over more closely. I feel that now, I have a little more confidence as far as making my own recipes are concerned.
Anyway, I will not give up hope!!!!! I love soapmaking and plan to eventually sell my soaps. I just want to know that what I'm selling is the best product I can make.
Thank you so much for helping me get closer to my goal.
You're very welcome!
Kathy,
Making soap is one of those truly magical things, not unlike boiling maple sap and getting syrup or "mashing" barley malt to gain the sweet liquid that will eventually become beer.
These are things our ancestors knew how to do but many of us have forgotten. Two days ago I wasn't sure how soap was made. Today I cut thirteen bars from my first batch. I can't wait until it has cured!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me.
Sincerely,
-Brian Hren-
Nice to hear from you! I hope you enjoy using your soap as much as making it. The hardest part if waiting for it to age! :-)
Thanks for writing. It's nice to hear from the men... usually have more women soapers, but there are plenty of men who enjoy the process as well.
Best wishes!
Hello I just thought I would let you know that I have been making successful soap since I last emailed you. I have found that the tallow is a very hard soap no mater what I do to it. I made my first batch of wood ash lye last nite and it seems to be alot softer than the commercial lye sets up I am hoping that it will be ok. It is still to soft to unmold and cut but it won't be 24 hrs until 8:30 tonight. Is there anything I can do if it is still to soft tonight? It looks ok so far. Making the lye was easier than I figured. I took a large plastic planter with holes in the bottom and put a layer of straw in the bottom then I wet the ashes and put them in the planter on top of the straw and then I poured water in it to the top of the planter and let it drain thru. The first bucket of liquid was not at all strong enough so I drained it thru again and the second time when I put the egg in the bucket of lye water it floated right to the top. That was pretty neat to see that process. I forgot to mention that the planter was setting inside an old 5 gallon drywall compound bucket to catch the lye..
The lye looks like iced tea when it is done. I got a gallon of lye water that time and then I drained another bucket of water thru and got an other gallon of lye water, the third time I tried it, it was to weak. So out of that little effort I got 2 gallons of free lye water ready to use. I just thought you might like this information for future reference. You should try it some time. I think I would have a harder soap to start but I used rendered beef scrapes instead of tallow and it seems to be a softer fat. I will let you know how it comes out in the end.
-Sharon in N.Y.-
12 May '99 - Since I first posted this, a few of you have suggested that the result of leaching wood ash is potassium hydroxide instead of sodium hydroxide... thus, making a softer soap. Thanks! She has added salt to compensate for that fact and we are still waiting to see what the results will be after cure.
I think I'll leave these experiments to adventurous souls like yourself! I probably would have loved to try what you're doing when I was in my twenties and first trying to make soap. Now, I'm kind of hooked on the nice pure lye you can buy and my stick blender! :-)
If it doesn't firm up and stays like Crisco after sitting some more, you probably need more lye in the recipe (or possibly you could find a separation underneath). You can always remelt it and add some more at that time if it's short on lye, but I would be clueless as to how much to tell you. How do you know how much of this solution to add to your fats... do you have a recipe that details that for you? I hope it's well balanced and you'll be pleased with the end product. Greasy soap that is way too superfatted will go rancid in storage, so you want it to only be moderately superfatted in the end.
Good luck! Let me know how it turns out after cutting, etc.
Your never to old to try new things I just had my 49 birthday on March 5 and started my first soap on March 6. I have a recipe from a book written in the context of back in the early 1800's and it says to use 1 cup of lye water to 1# tallow or lard. I just cut it in the mold and it is about like cutting real firm jello I could probably get it out but it might make a mess so I am going to leave it a couple of days. One of the articles I read on the internet said to cut in 8 hr and leave in mold 24-48 hr. so I am going to try that.
-Sharon - (my new nickname by my friends is the soap lady)
If the lye ratio is okay, it might be softer because it has more water in the recipe than the one I'm used to using (ratio of water to fats/oils). More time should dry it out and firm it up. Bars might warp a bit in curing... so turning them every so often would be helpful.
I'll be 47 in May. I guess I just don't want to mess around with that method and think I'd like the purity of lye that is processed without some of the ash color leaching in. Since this is more of a connecting to the past/almost spiritual activity for you, I can appreciate why you want to do it. I just don't have that motivation! I guess I've tried a few new things in my old age. A few years ago I was basically computer illiterate. Last year I knew nothing about doing a web page and dove in and got one up in two weeks. It was a great feeling to realize that although it takes longer to get into the groove, I can still learn new things! (Even through the midlife mind fog!) :-)
Either way.... soapmaking is a real kick, isn't it? Our grandmothers must all be smiling.
I live in Huntington Beach CA. I am thinking of starting a soap making business (my soaps are very popular among friends and family; and 2 woman asked if they could carry it in their small shops! Therefore, I have many questions. I am not sure if I am going about it the correct way.
One quick question on pricing: With soap, I am not sure what to charge wholesale. It takes approx. 2.00 to make each bar (with packaging etc.). We've been selling them for $6.00 retail. I was told that we must sell them for 50% less wholesale. That would mean that we only profit $1.00 per bar. Is this the norm?! PLEASE HELP!!!!! Your prompt reply would be appreciated! If you have any other advice or even books to read on the subject please let me know. And last, but not least; thank you so very much for such an informative website...I love it! I've shared it with all of my friends!
Thank you!
I'm not really a business and am somewhat ignorant on these things (by choice, I suppose!). I did capture a post from a digest awhile back that discussed this. I'll pass it along (below) as another soapmaker's opinion and practice. If you aren't already, you ought to subscribe to some of the soap lists/digests that are available. I think the one I'm still getting is hosted by Rainbow Meadows. You can also ask a question like yours on the Latherings Forum and will probably get some response. There are lots of business soapers that post there as well as newbies. You don't have to join anything. I have a link for them toward the top of my soapmaking links page.
Thanks for the nice comments about the site! I hope this has helped a little.
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Thank you for all your help and advice - what a great web site!!
I have enjoyed making soaps for the last several months and have loved sharing my soaps with anyone willing to try them. My favorite recipe calls for peanut oil. Recently, a friend reminded me of her peanut allergy!! Have you ever heard of people having reactions to soap made with the oils of foods they are allergic to?
-Thanks, Sandra-
Not really, but peanut allergy is so dramatic and life threatening, that I wouldn't let anyone use it without knowing what's in the soap. I made a batch with peanut also, but listed that in the ingredients so an unsuspecting person would not be exposed without their knowledge. I guess you wouldn't want peanut soap out in your house for just anyone to use in case they had a problem. We had a 12 year old girl in Seattle recently die of a minute amount of peanut that was in some cookies that were supposed to be free of nuts. They just didn't get the antidote to her in time. Very sad. (I don't live in Seattle, BTW, but get the news from there.)
My husband and I are buckskinners by secondary trade (we own a tannery!) and were curious about something. There are many times that we receive the hide of an elk or deer which still has an exceptional amount of fat remaining that has to be removed before we can take the hair off and tan the skin. Our question is this --- can the fat from these animals be used instead of beef kidney fat or other fats?
Also, if I were living out in the middle of nowhere (a sort of self- sufficiency question) and needed to get lye for soapmaking, where would I get it? And what of plants that are naturally fragrant. Have you any idea where I could find the information for rendering the essential oils from them?
Have you written a book by chance?
Regards,
-Jana Gregory-
Yes... you could render that fat and make soap with it. There might be a bit of gamy odor or different smell (elk would probably not be so much that way as deer). All fats have a tiny bit of their own smell when soaped, but if the fat is fresh and cleaned after rendering, it might be okay. Depending on the animal, I'm guessing that the SAP value would be similar to beef tallow (elk?) or sheep tallow (which is harder). There might even be SAP values for these fats listed on the table I posted...will have to check later. If not, Elaine White's original site might have them.
You should be able to find lye in the grocery store near the drain openers, but more and more some stores are not carrying it. If that doesn't work, mail order might be necessary, but it's cheaper if you find a source where you can pick it up to avoid the hazardous materials charge tacked on top of the regular shipping charges. Another option is to make your own by leaching wood ashes. There is a link for a site on my soapmaking links page that gives detailed instructions for that procedure.
I can't guide you in distilling or extracting fragrant oils, but if you search out sites on herbs and aromatherapy on the Internet, you'll probably find some helpful sites. The Toiletries page probably tells you how to do infusions and I have a link for them toward the bottom of the main soap page where it says, "Do You Still Have Questions?" The usual herbs used for this are things like the mints, rosemary, etc.
>Have you written a book by chance?
Wanted to a long time ago, but never did. It just feels like that when I look at how large the soapmaking site has gotten! For soapmaking, I really like "The Soapmaker's Companion" by Susan Miller Cavitch and "The Handmade Soap Book" by Melinda Coss. You can easily order those from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.
Good luck... soapmaking can really be a lot of fun!
Hi there!
i was wondering if there is a recipe to make black tar soap, if so do you have it and could i get it? it is the only kind of soap that my boyfriend can use, and if there was a recipe for it we would try to start making it ourselves! it would be very much appreciated!!
thanx!
-Dawne :)
Are you talking about soap using pine tar? I just captured something on that from a digest I get and will paste it below. I've not made it myself to give you any personal recommendations.
Good luck!
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I have used benzoin resin in both a soap and a body cream to scent and preserve the other EOs in the formula. So far I think it works (6-8 weeks past soap cure) , but I have to say that at the time I ordered it I didn't know about powdered form. I diluted the resin in a little 100 proof vodka and added it to the other EOs before adding it to the soap and cream, with complete success. It didn't seize the soap or ruin the smooth texture of the cream. It is hard to work with but adds a nice mellow balsam or unusual vanilla essence to the scents.
-Cindy B.-
I wanted you to know how great your soap page really is. I have read a great deal of info on the net but never found anything close to your page. THANK YOU.
After reading all the letters in both forums, I feel very lucky to have most ingredients available to me here in Southern California. Most of the oils are easy to find in just about any quantity up to 55 gallon drums if you have the cash. Most EOs and FOs we buy from internet sources or a local soap making supply store.
I have made about 15 batches of soap to date and I am hooked. I have learned something new every time and can't wait to try again. I have made my own molds using interlocking pieces of polyethylene plastic. These molds lock together as they were cut with grooves on the edges. I sized them to hold an 8 pound loaf. When they are solid enough (2 days), I take the mold apart and the loaf is ready to be wire cut into bars.
I love it when men get involved with soapmaking! Sounds like a neat system.
To date the soaps we have made are all vegetable oil soaps (coconut, palm kernel, olive oil, etc.). I have not tried using a stick blender, but look forward to trying.
You'll never be the same! I need to put better instructions for using it on the page (and might do that tonight) but it certainly speeds up the process and I think the soap has better texture when finished.
I am interested in trying to press soft soap (perhaps 2 day old) into molds for a few seconds, then release. Has anyone ever done this? Does the mold stick to the soap? Is there perhaps some bond breaking spray or ? I thought I would cast soap into long cylinders (PVC pipe ?), then force out the soft soap, wire cut it into discs, then mold as I described. Any thoughts?
I've not tried that...some people press designs into soap after the bars are cut so it would be similar. The quality of the finished product would depend on the texture of the soap to start. If it's too hard and brittle, or crumbly it won't work. Sometimes you get batches that are sort of flexible but firm...you can mess with them without them cracking and coming apart. That might work better. I wonder if using a small portion of beeswax in a recipe would make the soap more amenable to this kind of treatment. Also I'd use a recipe with a water ratio closer to 1 part water to 4 parts fats/oils... unlike the 1:3 ratio that Majestic Mountain Sage uses.
Thank you very much.
(If any of you have helpful feedback, please email Gene)
It's me again! I'm sorry to keep bugging you, but there isn't anyone else I can ask these questions!! I think maybe I'm "over-researching" my soap project. I am confused on essential oils versus fragrance oils. I know that essentials are therapeutic (dry skin, etc.) and that fragrance oils are not. If you do not add fragrance oils and just use essentials, will the soap smell like anything? There are web sites that use (for instance) sweet almond oil at trace for fragrance. If this is true, why the need for fragrance oil?
Another site sells lavender and patchouli oils as essential oils...aren't these fragrance oils? I'm so lost on "oils," ha ha! From Nature With Love has Lavender and Patchouli herbs. Can these herbs be used for fragrance? Will the herbs compound the oil effect...meaning I'll need to cut back on the amount of lavender or patchouli oil...or are they just for a cosmetic effect?
I hope I am making sense ha ha! I really appreciate your help...sorry for being a pest.
-Brenda-
I like both, but some things come out better one way over another. Sweet almond oil doesn't have much fragrance when you use it...but bitter almond does. You don't want the actual essential oil of bitter almond for cold process soap though. It mutates after a couple of days and smells rancid or something awful! I learned this the hard way. Sweet Cakes and other places like Majestic Mountain Sage sell Bitter Almond (maybe not with the name bitter on it) FO that is wonderful and very strong. It doesn't take a bunch to scent a whole batch and it stays nice after cure in cold processed soap.
I'm inclined to think that the fragrance oils often hold up better than the essential oils, but this probably depends on which type. I mix them together sometimes also...like rose FO with some lavender EO is nice. As essential oils go...I really like the mints, lavender, eucalyptus for mixing, cinnamon, etc. A Garden Eastward has good prices on essential oils. Mint Meadows Country Oils have wonderful mint oils and blends that they do themselves...VERY nice! I also LOVE fragrance oils and have used a few from Sweet Cakes that have all been very convincing in the finished soap. (I have links for all these places on the soapmaking links page.)
The term "fragrance" oil means that it can have synthetic elements in it. Often they do have some true essential oils as well. Essential oils are supposed to be the true essence of the plant, but they often have some carrier oils in them to cut the original essences if they are particularly strong or need to be drawn out by infusion, etc.
If you put some herbs in your soap, it can boost the fragrance or help to hold some kinds (like orange peel), but I don't know how strong they would be on their own. I would probably think of them as more for looks or texture and still use the same amount of fragrance as originally intended.
I hope this helps a bit.
Dear Mrs. Miller,
I finally made my first batch of soap. Of course I could not follow a recipe.What would you expect from someone who wants to combine sand and hot spring water (He wanted to make a special and significant soap for a group at Vacation Bible School). Ha! I think it turned out ok. Not too pretty but ok nonetheless. I am writing you because who else really cares?? (I'll wager that lots of you are interested. :-)
I used six pounds of pure lard from the grocery store, and one can of lye and tap water from our well. I read where you said that it always has a little bit of a lardish smell (my words not yours), so I added several tablespoons of Pickling spices to it. I crushed them up in the blender the best I could. It was still a little coarse. I also added some cloves and cinnamon powder and cinnamon oil. What a mess! And it stunk too!
Anyhow, I about never got it to trace but your article said be patient. I stirred while I watched 3 hours of T.V. They are drying now. They are a little dark and still a little greasy.
Question: Is there something better than pure lard? Will the soap remain soft and greasy?
It was fun. I plan to start making my soap for vbs soon. I have to get the right ingredients down. I think I am going to abandon the sand idea for something milder like oatmeal.
Have a great week. I had to tell someone who did not think this was the stupidest thing they ever heard.
-Greg-
p.s. My mother-in -law was raised on a farm on the prairies of Oklahoma. Her parents were in the land rush. She found great humor in my making soap. She hated making it and said that it would eat our skin right off of us! When they visit I may make her stir some!
Hopefully your soap will not stay soft and greasy...it should harden up more in the next week. If it's still kind of greasy and soft after that...you may want to melt it in the oven (reclaiming) with a tiny bit of water and repour it. Don't do that yet, though! Pickling spices sound different...trying to remember what they smell like..might be nice after curing. Cinnamon goes through a stinky stage for a couple of weeks before it gets better. Don't despair just yet.
For your next attempt, you might want to try the "Rachael's Tried and True" recipe on the all-vegetable page. It's a pretty good basic soap using shortening, coconut and olive oil. If you are hand stirring, that one should trace in 20 minutes or thereabouts, I'm told. I use the stick blender and it sets up really fast that way (too).
I don't know if you remember me or not, but I just had to email you again and tell you about my first batch of soap again because I remilled it today!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it was ready to go, but the book I am using said that it wouldn't remill if it was dry.
It wouldn't come out of the container, but I used a knife and a wooden spoon and a lot of other stuff. Some was left in the bottom from the corner I was working on. I put 1 pound of my grated soap in my pot with 9 oz of water. It got kinda clear looking, not melting, and was sizzling on the bottom of my pan. I didn't think that was right, so I added my 1 cup of honey to it and it almost immediately melted the soap. I then added 3/4 cup dried milk and, as per the book, scorched the honey some for color.
Oh by the way I made what the book referred to as "19th Century Soap." It had 14 oz of lye, 41 oz of water, 44 oz of tallow, 30 oz of olive oil, and 28 oz of lard.
Anyway, once it had fully melted and turned the color of burnt honey (almost this color in fact, just a little browner. Kinda like honey candy) I poured it into, of all things, Handy Snack containers. They weighed exactly 4 oz after they were full and they have a really neat shape to them.
Well the main reason I was sending you this was about the Handy Snack things as molds. They are working really well for me and the soap comes out easily.
Well that's all. Thanks for your web page :)
-Elizabeth-
I really had a ball making soap this weekend. I have soo many questions and in addition all these different oils are getting to me. (I purchased a book on hand made soap written by Melinda Coss).
In Trinidad we have COOKEEN (a bit like Crisco), COCONUT OIL, and MARGARINE. I used cookeen all the way. I think it came out pretty good. But i will have to wait and see.
Anyways here's questions no: 1
In the absence of soap moulds, how do you make SOAP BALLS. This would suit me better as there's no need to get all the edges perfect.
Question no: 2
Ingredients are rather expensive down at this end. Could I halve the recipes? (Some of them call for 16 plus ozs of olive oil. That's expensive $$$$$ down here approx. US$8.00 or more and 32 oz lard (heaven knows what's that)
Hope you have time to respond to me. Thanks
-Gillian-
P.S. I think your web site is the HOTTEST thing around. I have been surfing for weeks now for information on soap making and quite by accident I came across your site. It was great, excellent, informative friendly.
Thank you very much. Your comments make my day! :-) Glad you enjoyed the soapmaking process, and I hope you'll like the finished product!
I wouldn't use the margarine for soap, but the other two sound good. What kinds of oils are in the COOKEEN? Does the label say what it contains? Just wondering what saponification value would be the best for it. If you use the Majestic Mountain Lye Calculator (online), you could probably use the "lard" field for the COOKEEN, but not sure.
Were you not sure what lard was or how much it would cost you there? I would not worry about all the oils used in my recipes, but would tailor some recipes for yourself based on what oils are available to you there. If you have coconut that's good because it's very good for lathering. Better to mix with other oils though, so the COOKEEN and maybe another oil if desired can be added. If you use olive, it sounds like you'd want to go light on that because of cost. Have you read the information on the "Design Your Own Recipe Page"? This page discusses the qualities of oils and what kind of soap they will produce. Can you get palm oil there? That's a great soapmaking ingredient also.
Maybe I should put the directions for making soap balls on the page... I just do this with my scraps and trimmings, but you could do the whole thing that way if you prefer. You grate up the soap you want to make soap balls from, either by hand with a cheese grater or you can use an electric device used for making salads (in the U.S. there's something called a "Salad Shooter"). Put your grated soap in a bowl, with some room to spare and sprinkle with just enough water to help you mix it all together and have the shavings stick when you press them into a ball. If your soap is fresh, just wetting your hands might be enough. I mix with my fingers until all the shavings are slightly moistened and then pick some up and start squeezing it with my hands and turning it around until it's as round as I can get it. Slightly moistening my palms at the end and smoothing the ball will give it a nice finish. Then I set them on racks or on a table top to dry and turn them in a day or two to expose the down side to more air. If you want them to all be the same size, you might want to measure your shavings with something while they are still loose and moistened and after squeezing they should be fairly uniform.
Cutting the recipes in half is fine. The only concern with this is measuring out half the lye ACCURATELY. The smaller the batch, the less room you have for error in your lye measurements. Do you have a postal scale or some other scale that is accurate enough to trust when measuring and weighing the lye? The other thing with the expense, is to make up some recipes for you to use that use your local ingredients and not worry about using all the ones you've seen me use on the page. There's a gal from Mexico who posts on the soaplist I am getting and she cannot get certain things there and has access to other oils we've never heard of! She's experimenting with things to find something that works well for her and is more affordable.
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