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Miller's Homemade Soap Pages |
So glad you are enjoying the soapmaking so much and that the site has been helpful to you! :-)
Sure... you can double them just fine. Just to make sure the lye amount is accurate, run the recipe through a calculator such as the one at Majestic Mountain Sage (online) and double check your numbers before doing the recipe. You can even print the finished recipe out from the site and keep that in a notebook... I use that all the time.
You know... I'm not sure, but why not try asking at a hardware store? This is the sort of question you should post at a forum like Latherings... there are lots of helpful folks there and a large group from which to pull information and experience. I have a link for them on my soapmaking links page. Great forum!
You mean ingredients? You need to list the ingredients, your name and a contact piece of information like your city and a phone number, and you should have the weight on the label. I usually put the name of the soap, ingredients and weight on the front of the label and my name and contact information on the back. You'll probably find helpful information on this sort of thing on the Toiletries Page website. I have them linked on the soapmaking links page and toward the bottom of the main index page (index.html) where it says, "Do You Still Have Questions?"
This is why you can only run it for a minute or so and then turn it off for a bit and hand stir before using it again. It's particularly hard on it when the soap starts to get thick and at that point you should not need to use it any longer. When it's getting hot, that's a good time to take the hint and turn it off. No... so far mine has hung in there for a lot of batches. If you get a better brand it will last longer than the cheaper ones... Braun is highly thought of in that regard (not what I have, but mine has been good).
Sounds very pretty. Only possible problem is if you color too much, it could stain things. I guess you are diluting it in a lot of bath water so maybe not an issue at all.
Thanks for writing and happy soaping! :-)
Subject: Ammonia Smell
I have been reading information on your site and I seem to have a problem I didn't see an answer to. We made a couple batches of soap and waited three weeks to use them before we gave them out to family and friends. Everything seemed to go right during the soap making process, but I just used one of the bars to wash my hands and there is an ammonia smell to it. What could this be? I used a fragrance oil to scent it and did not add any other herbs, spices, etc... Please help!
Three weeks is not really long enough... it should have at least four and six is even better. Was there any milk in it? That can leave a bit of ammonia odor for awhile. I don't know what you used as your base oils, but if you did your own rendering and used animal fats, sometimes if there are some impurities still in the drippings, those can put off a bit of ammonia in the soap until cure is finished. At any rate... I'd leave this out to open air for a couple more weeks and see if it improves. Doesn't sound quite ready yet.
Hope this helps... not knowing what you made the soap out of I'm kind of guessing.
Subject: Greetings from Bonnie Scotland
Dear Kathy
Hello from Scotland, about 25 miles east of Edinburgh to be precise. I have been making soap for around 1 year now and am completely addicted. I started as a re-miller and was quite happy with this until I found your web site, this gave me the confidence to try CP soap making with the dreaded lye ( I actually hadn't realised that this was only caustic soda!). The result perfect tallow soap, well not bad for a first attempt which I then remilled with the additives I desired, don't old habits die hard. Nowadays the only soap that goes near the double boiler is one that I am not happy with. The reason for this Email other than to thank you for such a wonderful site is the recipe for All vegetable no coconut or palm (both can be difficult and expensive to buy here). You know the one 56 oz olive oil, 30 oz vegetable shortening, 9 oz castor oil, 12 oz lye, 28 oz water & 2 tbsp salt. You mentioned that you hadn't tried it yet (probably have by now) and would appreciate feedback. Well I have tried it and loved it, I made it with apple FO at your recommended rate for strong FO's and a little green candle dye, the only problem with the soap is that it melts away too quickly if not placed in a soap dish where it can dry (all husbands please take note).
I am just about to experiment with olive oil only Castile, my last attempt had beeswax and palm oil in it and although it made a lovely soap with rosewood EO (hope your not an environmentalists) it is taking forever to dry. The only reason I know its good is cause I cut one tiny little bar (guest soap size as I do with all new soaps so I can try them quicker) the rest is still drying. I made it in November to hopefully be ready for Christmas pressies, well perhaps Christmas 2000. I noticed on your site an Email from someone regarding powdered benzoin and its use as a preservative, I have just bought some benzoin EO and it has a wonderful vanilla smell, do you know if this will this also act as a preservative and will I have the same problem with seizing as vanilla FO's. I have just discovered a great shop for really good value EO's in Edinburgh it is called ISO in South Clerk Street, well worth a visit for anyone in the Edinburgh area. Talking of good value I have also recently purchased a 10 litre stainless steel stock pot from Ikea for around £17 which is about half the price of similar pots elsewhere.
I don't suppose you know of any British soap making sites, I haven't had any luck finding any and I would love to hear from other British soapers to swap recipes with etc. Don't get me wrong your recipes are great its just that I cant get things like Crisco and Canola over here.
Sorry this Email is a bit garbled but it is 3am over here (I spent too long on your site looking for inspiration) and I am getting tired, guess the Castile soap should wait till after a good nights sleep.
Thanks for putting up with my ramblings...
Leslie
I thought I was the only crazy person who stayed up until 3:00 a.m.! Nice to hear from you. I've put your email into the "pending" folder and will post your message next time I update. I hope I can get to this by March sometime... hard to tell!
I have never tried olive oil only and although it will make a really mild soap, it is like to melt in the dish even worse than the other one you made (or at least as much). It is rather slimy feeling when used... a tradeoff for its mildness. It will also take quite a bit of time to trace unless you're using a stick blender... so be prepared for a long period of checking and stirring... maybe even in the mold. This is what I've heard from others, at least. When you are doing these olive oils soaps, you can get away with cutting the water back a bit... they will harden up more quickly. The lowest I go with water for the recipe sizes I make is 24 oz. This works fine if you are scenting with essential oils, which mostly behave themselves. Some fragrance oils work better with a higher water addition rate. I'm wondering if using less water in your slow to harden recipe would have helped.
The benzoin you have... I believe is probably a tincture, not an actual essential oil. That's the way I've seen it here... it's a resin or gum that has been dissolved in alcohol. Used in small quantities, it will work in soaps. I think that's the kind the Melinda Coss recommended in her "Handmade Soap Book". She's from the U.K. Did you have trouble with a vanilla fragrance oil? Hmm... they are not all like that. I've never had trouble, but I suppose it depends on the particular formulation of the one you got. That's where it helps to have a supplier that has tested the oils in cold process soap. What will work fine in remelt can be really problematic in cold process.
Don't despair at not having Crisco or canola oil. It's not that they have superior qualities when it comes to making soap... they are just inexpensive and readily available here. I'm sure there are oils in Great Britain that would be considered in a similar vein. [Jules reminded me that the British still refer to this as "Rapeseed Oil" so you might look for that... the Canadians decided to rename it "canola" and that's how it's marketed in the U.S..] Most of our "shortenings" are a hydrogenated soybean or soybean/cottonseed blend. Once in awhile they have a touch of palm oil in them, but usually not very much. Do they have vegetable based hydrogenated products over there (designed to replace lard in old recipes... that kind of texture)? Would probably be similar and could be substituted for "Crisco" (a name brand of shortening) if the base oils are similar. Olive oil is wonderful in soap and you can use that in place of canola... with only slight adjustments to the recipe for difference in sap value.
Thank you for sharing your sources of ingredients in your area. There may just be a soaper or two from your country that will find that helpful (when I finally get it posted!). I will have your email address linked when I post the message, so if British soapers read it and want to get in touch, they can do it that way. There have been a couple of Brits that have posted on the Latherings Forum in the past, but not sure if they still do. You could always go there and post a question and see if anyone bites. (I have them on my soapmaking links page.)
Good luck on that next batch of soap and thank you for writing! :-)
I love your website. It is the most informative, entertaining, supportive, clear site I have found. (believe me, I have viewed many) I have been having a hard time finding recipes for a smaller batch. I am new & until I get a handle on what I am doing, I prefer to make small batches. On larger batches, can you cut them in half? or could you separate it to make a couple different types of soap out of the same batch? What size mold do I use? and my final question ..... Can you substitute different oils( say if I wanted to use coconut, olive, & canola) as long as I keep it to the same amount of ounces? Thanks for your time. ~~Lisa
Hi! Thanks for the nice comments about the website... I do appreciate the feedback!
You can cut your batches in half very easily. I probably wouldn't go smaller than that unless you have a really accurate postal scale to weigh the lye on. You can also do the other, with dividing your soap (when at light trace) into portions for different scenting and coloring. Coloring is a bit tricky that way if you are using wax colorants, but if using herbs or oxides, it would be easy. Fragrance oils can accelerate trace, but essential oils usually behave themselves. Might be nice to have another person stir the original pot while you color and scent the divided out portions.
On the size of the molds... you'll have to kind of figure that out. I would imagine the finished sizes of the bars from the original batch and how they would look laying in your mold... either standing up or on their sides or backs... then go from there (I think my bars are roughly 3 inches X 2 inches X 1 inch thick and a batch makes about 28 of those). Not very scientific! If you used molds for individual soaps... it's just a matter of filling cavities until you run out of soap!
You can substitute oils but not always ounce for ounce unless the SAP values are the same. Coconut has a much higher number than most of the others. If you change the recipe, run it through the lye calculator (Majestic Mountain Sage's online is good) and tweak the recipe until it uses the amount of lye you want, or the same amount as in the original recipe. You can change the oil amounts until it comes out to your liking, print out the recipe and go!
Thought I get back in touch and let you know what I learned about liability insurance. I contacted RLI who referred me to their local underwriter for my state. They in turn, told me to contact my local independent agent with the name of the underwriter who would get the policy from RLI. Does this sound like going around in a circle?
Anyway, it is $150/year for 250,000, $175/year for $500,000, and $210/year for $1,000,000. This worked out much better than going straight to a local agent first. They had no idea where to begin and gave estimates in the $700 - $1500 range!
Mable
Dear Kathy:
What a delight to find your site - I put it on my Bookmarks so I won't lose you. My problem - I make small batches and when living at 500 feet had no trouble with them. Now at 7,500 feet I find some good old recipes are giving me either too caustic soaps or too runny. What's the secret about adjusting recipes to high altitudes - or do I just throw out the thermometer and go by feel? Please help - thanks alot, Tennie Bottomly
Boy... I live just about as close to sea level as one can get so this is totally out of my experience. I pulled out a cake mix and also read a bit in "The Joy of Cooking" about how high levels affect cooking and will toss out some ideas that I hope are on track and might help.
First... not sure if the altitude affects your weights or not, but I think you might want to steer away from small recipes and go with larger ones that give you a wider margin for error. Have you been weighing your lye and ingredients or doing your recipes by volume? I think weight is always safer and an accurate postal scale (digital is good) is nice for weighing the lye. I don't know how small your batches are, but cutting mine in half is probably about as small as I would go (using 6 oz. of lye and making about 3.5 pounds of finished soap... roughly 14 4-oz. bars).
I see that procedures involving water take longer to complete at higher altitude, water boils at lower temperatures and less fluid is needed in a recipe. Just going by this, you might try mixing your recipe about 10 - 15 degrees cooler than you did at lower elevations, cut back to a lesser water addition rate (for my recipe sizes, I still wouldn't go under about 24 ounces I think) and you'll need to stir longer before pouring. If you haven't been using a stick blender, you might want to invest in one now. It speeds the saponification process and gives you a really good strong trace before pour. The end result is usually soap with better texture and less tendency to want to crumble when cut.
If you try some of these ideas and they make a difference, please let me know and I'll post this for others who might have the same problem. I have no way of really knowing if they will be effective since I can't test them out here. :-)
[This seemed to work okay, by the way... but I can't find her followup message any longer.]
I was wondering how long my home made soap will last? I make soaps with milk and oats, and sometimes fruit and vege juice. I was reading some soap pages on the net and it said that a lot of vege made soaps (olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, etc) don't last as long (a few weeks or so). I wanted to make some soaps as gifts for the family and I want them to be able to last at least a year or more, how would I accomplish this???
Thx for your time, I would really appreciate it if you could e-mail me with any of your suggestions.Thx again,
Biderman
You're talking about how long they will stay good in storage? At first I thought you meant in use... but I think you mean how long before they might go bad when stored. If you are making gifts, I would not make them way in advance because the fragrances will fade over time. It's better to time your soapmaking so that the soap is well cured but not old when you give it if possible... maybe make it two months in advance of giving it (you could do six weeks, I'm just tossing out a number there). If you want soap that will keep longer in storage, the following will help that to happen:
Don't go overboard with lye discounting/superfatting... Personally, I would not go higher than 5% lye discount. Accurate measuring is important here.
Don't fill your soap with too many unsaponifiable ingredients... like plant or vegetable fiber, fruits, etc. Those can go bad in storage and sometimes even mold if the chunks are very large. Small bits of dried herb should be okay if you don't overload the soap with it.
It would appear that you should avoid superfatting at trace. If fats added then don't get well blended before the soap is poured, they may be more inclined to go bad during storage. I prefer to put all my oils in at the beginning and only add fragrances and additives (like color, herbs) if needed at the end.
Don't store your soaps in airtight conditions. A semi-closed environment that gets a bit of air is good. That way they will be less inclined to sweat in storage but won't lose so much fragrance as they can if given total open air. I would not wrap them until it is close to the time you are going to give them as gifts. They continue to lose moisture for a long time and will keep shrinking (less and less but enough for labels to loosen, for example).
Soap that was made with no lye discount (and we are assuming is still balanced and not lye heavy) will keep for a LONG time without any rancidity. It might lose its smell over time and get hard as a rock, but will still be good soap. Whenever you add extra fat for mildness, you are lessening the longevity of your bars. If you plan to use them in short order, this is not a problem and most people use their soap within a year or two. I've heard of boxed up soap being found in old houses and still being good after who knows how long! Amazing.
Good luck! I hope this helps and if I answered the wrong way, let me know and I'll correct it!
...It's possible that thing you read was in reference to how long the soap lasts when being used. Some all vegetable soaps will soften and melt down quicker in the dish than soaps made with beef tallow, for instance. Palm oil helps all-vegetable soaps to be hard and longer lasting. That in addition to coconut are good to blend with a conditioning oil such as olive.
What is superfatting and how much oil do you use ?
All superfatting really means is using more fat than the lye can fully saponify... thus leaving some unsaponified material in the soap. Lye discounting amounts to the same thing. I don't like to go over more than 5% extra fat in the soap as a cushion. I also prefer to put all my oils in at the beginning and not add any at trace. Some people like to add one to a few ounces of a special oil at trace... but it's appearing that this practice may contribute to some soaps becoming rancid more quickly than if you do the oils at the beginning. In either case... calculate the sap values for all the oils used when you figure out your recipe and go for whatever % lye discount you like (like I said, I like 5%).
Hope this helps!
I have a question after reading through your soapmaking recipes. I thought all ingredients were weighed on a scale and not volume (liquid measure). It appears to me, that the water to be mixed with the lye calls for liquid measure when you refer to 32 oz. as 4 cups. Do I use volume or weight for the water? Please let me know as I am new to soapmaking and would like to try some of your recipes.
Thanks.
Allison Jasmin
You do need to weigh your oils and lye on a scale, but our liquid measuring cups are based on the weight/volume of water, so they are fine for measuring it. If we had special cups based on certain oils, we could do them that way too, but we only have the water based measures as our standard.
You're not the first one to be confused by this. Hope that clears it up.
Hello Kathy,
Let me start by saying "excellent site!". My wife and I have been making soap for a little while now. Our first batch (which we doubled because we were going to make "lots of soap") did not turn out well. We attempted to make a soap using only olive oil. Well we stirred and stirred and stirred and reheated and stirred some more. Then we just left it and next day there was a layer of oil on top which I stirred back in. This was apparently normal sometimes when making soap using only olive oil, so I ignored it. Well it didn't turn out well. I don't really even know what it was at this point.
However, after using the blender , viola, no more separation. My problem now is that we are pouring our soap into bar size moulds. We have insulated them very well. We made a batch using Sweet birch oil just after it begins to trace. It immediately causes the batch to thicken rather quickly and we have to be quick at this point. Well after about an hour we peeked and all had gone "translucent" or gel-like. So far so good. We then attempted just a plain batch using only olive oil and no EO`s at all. We poured into the moulds ok but they never did go into the gel stage. I`m sure our temps were ok for the lye the oil and even during the mixing stage.
Does this mean they are not saponifying properly?
Does all soap have to go through this gel stage in order to properly cure?
If it doesn't gel, it it still usable soap?
In fact we seem to have made soap successfully without it ever going through the gel stage and the first time I saw it gel, I thought we did something wrong.
Can you please help? :)
Thank you in advance for your time and expertise.
Jason Drosi
I know what you mean. The first time I saw gel I thought my soap was going to explode or something! Now I realize it's a desirable thing. Your soap will probably be just fine without gel, but might take a little longer to cure than if it had heated up to gel stage. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Some people like to put their molded soaps into the oven after they pour them. The oven is gently prewarmed and then turned off and they set a pan of water in there for humidity. This keeps them nice and toasty (but not hot) and hopefully the smaller molded soaps will stay warm enough to go through gel. I think gel is normal harder to attain in small molds unless you use a fragrance that tends to superheat your soap and give it a boost.
If you do the oven technique, be sure to hang A BIG SIGN on the door so no one turns it on for something else! =:o
Glad you are having fun with this. Isn't the blender great?
Followup:
Wow, thanks for the fast response. I`m used to waiting 4-5 days for return e-mails.
On another note, you mention putting the small moulds into the oven. What I have done is this:
Using a piece of 3 inch styrofoam(insulation), we trace the outline of the mould on the styrofoam then cut out this piece of styrofoam. After pouring we place the mould into the styrofoam and set them flush with the styrofoam. When all the moulds are in, we put another piece if styrofoam over the moulds. Also when mixing in our large pot, it is sitting on a piece of styrofoam so as not to lose any heat. It seems to work good so far.
I am also experimenting with a way to imprint our logo into the soap without having to custom order moulds. I will let you now if I am successful.
Now if I may trouble you for a few more questions, I would be very grateful.
I have some trouble removing the soap from the moulds at times(especially soap with sweet birch oil). I have tried the freezer technique after 48-72 hrs(1-2 hrs in freezer) and it works great. However in reading some feedback, I read that the freezing may not be good for the soap. My moulds are oval and I think if I use cling wrap I wont get the nice smooth finish I like so much. I would also rather not use petroleum jelly but will if I have too. Any other tips?
Is there any possibility that the soap will get too hot during the gel stage?
At what temperature is soap no longer considered cold-processed?
By the way, the blender just RULES as my wife would say. Thanks so much. : )
Your stacking method with styrofoam sounds very creative and probably works great. Thanks for sharing. I'll probably post that (whenever I get around to updating next time) unless you'd rather I not.
Not really... except for waiting a few days longer to unmold. Some molded soaps could be in the molds as long as 5 to 7 days... BUT it's sooooo hard to wait that long! :-) If you have to resort to the freezer, I'd let the soap get at least a few days under its belt before freezing it.
> Is there any possibility that the soap will get too hot during the gel stage?
You can get some soaps too hot and cause problems... mainly soap with milk and/or honey. They get hotter by nature and insulating them as much as regular batches can sometimes cause some weird separation problems. Other than that... I wouldn't worry about it unless you are using some really flimsy molds that might warp with gelled soap over time. I measured the temp of my gelled soap once and it was around 150 degrees. Don't know how hot it can get... but somewhere in that ballpark is probably how hot it normally gets (maybe a bit higher... I measured a corner... didn't want a big hold in the center of my molded soap).
Hope this helps!
> At what temperature is soap no longer considered cold-processed?
To my understanding, "hot process" actually indicates that you've boiled the soap. Just warming your cold process to smooth it out is not the same as out and out boiling.
I wanted to add my voice to all who appreciate your website and the wealth of knowledge from all soapmakers that you share there. I have started making soap in the past six months and have enjoyed it as a hobby. After reading "Soapy Success" I was anxious to pick up a stick blender and make some soap, which I did the next day. It was wonderful! I made a lovely batch of cucumber soap with Sweet Cakes Econocuke and colored it pale green with candle dye. The best part was the quick trace time (about 3-4 minutes). An added bonus is the almost total lack of "ash" on the top of my soaps.
Now for my question. I found some great cylindrical containers that make great "hockey puck" sized soaps, but how do I wrap or label them? I purchased some home made soap in a gift shop that were nicely wrapped with grease proof sandwich paper and a round label stuck on to hold it all together but this seems like alot of trouble. I'd love to get some ideas.
thanks again for all the time you spend to help so many.
Leah Balise
Thank YOU for such a nice letter! Isn't the stick blender great? I've had very little ash problems since I switched also and try to let people know how helpful it is to the finished texture of their soap.
I've never made the round soaps so only had the same idea as what you'd already seen. Wrapping them with a soft paper (tissue would be pretty) and gathering it on the front or back and sticking down with some kind of sticker probably works as well as anything (you could print your soap info on the stickers ahead of time with the computer if you have programs for that sort of thing). The other option would be shrink-wrapping, but that is an investment of money just to get set up to do it. If you wanted to keep it really simple, you could order some small resealable plastic bags (they come in various sizes) and slip the round soap into one of those and put a label on the outside of the bag. You can order small bags like that over the Internet (companies like ULINE, Nashville Wraps, I think, Fetpack, Inc.), but I've only seen them offered by the thousand (you would get ten bags of 100 each in whatever size you specified).
Sorry I don't have more ideas. You know what you ought to do?... go to the Latherings Forum and ask if anyone has thought up any other way of wrapping those round soaps other than what you mentioned. They are really a helpful and creative bunch! I have a link for that forum on my soapmaking links page toward the top.
Glad you're having so much fun soaping! :-) Thanks again for the nice email...
hello i really enjoy your site and it has been really helpful to a beginning soap maker like myself. i was really excited to try the lye calculator to design my own recipe. The recipe was a citrus creation made with;
i wanted something that would lather up really rich and i was curious as to how this might do? i am waiting for them to cure now. but the main question is i asked a fellow soap maker to help me make it at her house because i am not sure how the lye fumes will affect a pregnant woman and when i left her house i left the soap in my car overnight . it got really cold last night and I'm thinking it may have gotten too cold to fast. the soap also has pockets of air and I'm wondering could it be pockets of lye crystals. how would i know any of these things? thanks.
That sounds like an EXPENSIVE recipe (I'm cheap!) but should be okay. My only reservation about your expensive ingredients is the amount of shea butter used. I know people do this (I've seen other recipes) but in my limited experience with it, a little bit really goes a long way. It makes the soap kind of sticky if used in very high amounts. I am more prone to use one special oil in a batch and not so many in one (although it makes you feel luxurious to use it!), but that's just me. I probably would have used only about 1 T. (rounded ) of shea for a batch this size.
Lots of people (not me) actually FREEZE their new soap on purpose to get it out of small molds, so I'm sure your soap will be okay with some time [I don't personally subscribe to that technique]. Let it get nice and toasty in your house and it will probably do its thing over time. If you had a thick trace when you poured, you might have some little air pockets because of that. Was there liquid on your cutting knife when you cut the soap? That could mean some small lye pockets, but if they are tiny, they will cure out with time and the soap will be fine. Might just need an extra week or two to finish curing.
Hope it comes out fine... you'll have trouble waiting to try it out, but you should see it hardening up and changing during this first week of cure. Good luck! Let me know later on how it turned out for you. I'll bet it smelled yummy!
DEAR KATHY,
THANKS FOR REPLYING SO SOON TO MY ? I GUESS I SHOULD MIX THE OILS TOGETHER B-4 I PUT THEM IN THE SOAP TO GET A BETTER IDEA OF THE FINAL SCENT. JUST MADE ROSEMARY/LAVENDER. NEVER LIKED ROSEMARY IN FOOD BUT LOVE IT IN SOAP. A FRIEND GAVE ME SOME ROSEMARY FROM HER GARDEN SO I FIGURED I'D TRY IT. FIRST WANTED TO MAKE SOME QUICK CHRISTMAS GIFTS SO I USED MELT AND POUR. MADE A BEAUTIFUL LAVENDER COLOR BLENDING COLOR CHIPS FROM SUNFEATHER. WHEN I USED THE SAME COLOR FORMULA WITH WHAT I CALL "FROM SCRATCH SOAP" OR "LYE SOAP" IT TURNED GREY. FIRST I ADDED IT TO THE FATS AND IT WAS A REDDISH PURPLE COLOR WHICH I THOUGHT WOULD BE O.K. BUT THAN WHEN THE LYE WAS ADDED IT TURNED A YUCKY GREY. AT THE LAST SECOND(AND I MEAN LAST SECOND SINCE I USED A STICK BLENDER) I SAVED IT BY ADDING A FEW GREEN COLOR CHIPS. SO IT CAME OUT A BEAUTIFUL MINT GREEN AND I MARBLED IN SOME DARKER GREEN TO ONE MOLD. SO IT CAME OUT MORE THE COLOR OF ROSEMARY THAN LAVENDER . THE STICK BLENDER IS TOO FAST. WISH I HAD ONE WITH A SLOWER SPEED. I HAVE A REALLY GOOD TIP FOR PULVERIZING HERBS AND SPICES LIKE CINNAMON STICKS. I USED MY COFFEE GRINDER. THEY CAME OUT POWDERY SOFT. I STARTED MAKING SOAP LAST FALL AND REALLY LOVE IT. I WORK AT A HOSPITAL AND GOT SOME PH PAPER SO I TEST IT B-4 GIVING IT OUT. I AM THINKING OF SELLING IT AT $1 AN OUNCE. DO U THINK THAT IS TOO MUCH? MY 11 Y.O. SON DOES. ALSO ANY TIPS ON MAKING THE BARS LAST LONGER?
THANKS AGAIN!
ROSANNE
If your soap is good quality, $1 an ounce is kind of a standard. Some sell it a bit cheaper and some even more, but I would not go any higher than that. I sell for less when it's people I know probably.
Soap will last longer the longer it gets to cure out before using. Also, having things in it like palm, coconut, tallow or lard will help it last better (a touch of beeswax might help as well). I think tallow soaps probably last as long as any. I like the Sudsy All-Vegetable recipe... it's not bad for lasting awhile as far as all veggie soaps go.
Your experience with the purple color sounds familiar. Probably made for melt and pour. Read a bit on the "Design Your Own Recipe" page where it talks about coloring with crayons and how certain colors work and others do not (in cold process). Sounds similar. Smart of you to think fast and get that green in there! :-)
I just made honey and oatmeal soap and for molds used the plastic container that I confiscated from someone who brought store bought cupcakes to a school function. They popped out nicely and look adorable. Char
Hi. You have a FANTASTIC site filled with lots of awesome information. =) I haven't yet made soap but have definitely thought about it. I've ordered a couple of books just today off of amazon.com and have surfed the web for recipes, how-tos and other information. I'm a stay at home mom that would like to turn some spare time into some extra vacation money through something I love to use...great smelling soap!! Before I begin my adventure, however, can I ask you a question concerning lye??
I've been reading the dangers about lye, how I should wear safety goggles and gloves. Quite frankly it's scaring the snot out of me...LOL. If all precautions are taken is it relatively safe to work with...meaning should I set most of my fears aside and just do it and have fun with it?? Or are there other ways of getting around the lye while making great looking and smelling soaps??
Thanks for taking time out of your day to answer my question.
Gigsea =)
You're not alone in getting paranoid about lye after reading all the precautions. You can't make soap without it so put that one aside. Yes... you need to handle it with care and respect... especially not spilling the undissolved crystals around where some child or pet could ingest them and you need to avoid breathing the fumes that first come off when you dissolve it. Be assured, your body will NOT let them in without a fight. You will start coughing almost instantly if you start to breathe them in. I usually mix the lye in my kitchen (since I mostly make soap at night)... crack the kitchen window slightly and mix the lye under the fan. I avert my face and hold my breath while doing the first mixing and once it's mixed enough for the crystals to be dispersed, I walk to the other room and get a nice big breath of clean air (just in case I would get a little drift in the kitchen). Then I go back and stir some more. Usually, the fumes dissipate within two minutes. You can mix this outdoors if you like, but the same care in staying away from drifting fumes should be taken... and GREAT care when you carry your open vessel of lye solution back into the house! I've heard stories of people tripping over the porch step, etc. and then having a real mess on their hands. =:o
Most of the books recommend you don all kinds of protective gear, etc. I'm going to risk attack from certain camps and go on record here (I'm posting this) that I have NEVER worn any protective clothing when making soap. I wear OLD clothes, but no gloves, goggles, aprons, etc. I doubt any of our grandmothers ever wore that kind of thing either. They did use good sense when working with corrosive chemicals I'm sure. If a person feels better wearing protective clothing, I would not discourage them from doing that, but none of the few soapmakers I know personally do this. There are pros and cons. I guess if I'd ever had something blow up in my face in all the years I've done this, I would change my tune, but I have not. Only an occasional splatter when mixing, which I wipe off immediately when I can feel the slight burn of its presence. If I ever get the slightest bit of lye on my hands, or raw soap, I can feel that it's there (it's slippery feeling) and clean it off (a bit of vinegar close by is good for this while you wash your hands). When you are wearing gloves, you could have free lye on your fingers and not even think about it... possibly wiping your face with those fingers or touching some other surface in the kitchen. While my exposed arms might get an occasional splatter (rarely), I've also heard of people getting raw soap between their protective clothes and their skin and not noticing right away and getting a burn. I'm NOT trying to talk people out of taking precautions if it makes them less nervous and more steady during their soapmaking, but I just gotta' tell you that I don't.
There... I feel better. Let the chips fall where they may! ;-)
One last thing... one of the worst hazards of lye in solution is to have it sitting around and not identified as being something other than water. One of the worst things I heard was of a man coming into the kitchen and swigging down some water from a glass on the counter... turned out to be his wife's lye solution and he suffered severe damage to his esophagus. If you are going to leave your solution unattended, cover it or label it or put it in something a person would never think to drink out of, by all means!
Also... I am meticulous about taking care to clean up any tiny spilled granules when I'm measuring lye. On a good day, you can weigh the lye and have it all stay where it belongs, but sometimes those little grains respond to static... so always check around for little specks, wipe down your work area a couple of times with a damp cloth... or lay down newspaper if that suits you and toss it afterward. My children are grown now, but I'd not want a chunk of that laying on the floor or where a small child or animal might pick it up.
Hope that answers your question. Yes... make soap and have FUN with it! It really is a lot of fun and very practical to learn (also yields a milder product for your family's enjoyment and gives you a bit more self-sufficiency in your life).
Hi Kathy!
I recently became interested in making my own soap. A book that I borrowed from the library advocated milling/grating and then remelting and adding scent before pouring into molds. It seemed quite a long and somewhat risky process. So I was happy to find your web site, and it seems you quite successfully make soap without this handmilling etc.
I tried a small bath using what I could find in the local supermarket (50% tallow, 25% lard and 25% olive oil and checked the lye/water with the MMS calculator, allowing 5% excess fat), and it seems to have come out quite well, although I'll have to wait 3 weeks to try it. (terrible to have to wait!) I think I should just have poured it a bit sooner, because one can see pourmarks/tracing on the top (open part of molds) surfaces.
I hope you do not mind, but I have a few questions:
1) Straight after pouring, the mixture did not smell very nice - more like fat than soap, and I thought perhaps I added too little fragrance, but a day later it smelled better and the scent seems a lot better too. Is this normal? Does the smell get better in the days and weeks after pouring?
2) I added cayenne pepper at light trace, and although I used a stick blender and the colour is nice, one can still see small powder spots in the soap - should I have added it sooner, or should I have dissolved it in something before adding it to get more complete dissolution?
3) Can oil pastiles be used as colouring agent, in the same way as wax crayons?
4) Does hand-milling and remelting really improve texture, quality and fragrance?
5) I quite like musk fragrance, yet did not see you mention it anywhere. Do you just not like or use it, or is it not a good choice for some reason?
6) The olive oil and fragrance were quite expensive. Can I replace the olive oil with vegetable, peanut or canola oil and still retain good properties? (I could not find any coconut or palm oil, or cocoa butter in our supermarket or oriental market.
7) Is "dripping" (pure white fat in similar packaging as lard) the same as "tallow"?
I will really appreciate some advice. I'd really like to get this right.
Regards,
Martina Louw.
Hi! It was nice to hear from you. I'm glad your first batch turned out well. Yes... you could probably pour a little bit sooner, but on those first soap batches one is still learning how to recognize stages of trace. Better a little thick than too thin and not saponified to the point of having good texture. Sounds like you are doing the right things and your homework so you should have successful batches most of the time (everyone has some stinkers once in awhile!).
Lots of books extol the virtues of rebatching because you can make more varieties from the base and you don't need as much fragrance in rebatch as cold process. The advantages stop there in my opinion and I do not prefer the end product over the nice smooth hardness of cold process the first time around. It's also hard to work with many rebatches and get them anywhere NEAR pouring consistency and they often shrink more and tend to warp somewhat after remolding if you have to add much extra moisture. Tallow soaps work better than olive oil based ones. I just don't prefer it.
I'll try my best to answer your questions... some things have different names there than here so I hope I understand what those are.
This is often the case... the early soap has a raw and sometimes slightly "off" odor that fades in a few days. Also, if you've added any kind of protein to your soap like milk, there will be an ammonia odor that comes off for a few days that will dissipate. Don't panic. One other thing I've heard is that cinnamon EO will smell bad in fresh soap but cure out well after a couple of weeks.
I don't think you CAN get this to dissolve since it's just little pulverized pieces of hot pepper. You will always have some flecks when using it... paprika is the same. I like it and haven't tried cayenne... always wondered if it would be slightly irritating to the skin, but if the quantities are small, that may not be a problem. The flecks actually add kind of a nice natural texture... once you accept that they are going to be there. :-)
>3) Can oil pastiles be used as colouring agent, in the same way as wax crayons?
You'll have to explain to me what these are. Is this some kind of art supply? If so, I would shy away from that. Many paints used by artists have components that are highly toxic when absorbed into the skin. I don't worry about crayons or candle wax dyes so much. Let me know what an "oil pastile" is and I'll try to answer this better.
>4) Does hand-milling and remelting really improve texture, quality and fragrance?
In my opinion... absolutely not and I think the opposite. It doesn't use as much scent and some scents might work better in remelt since there is not the free lye situation, but the quality and texture of the soap to me is inferior. Some folks like it, but I avoid it unless I have to reclaim the batch to save it.
It's not my favorite, but I have a vanilla/musk fragrance here that is quite nice... waiting to be soaped. Musk works fine in soap and you can buy musk fragrance oils that would work fine in your soap (find oil based ones).
You will not have all the same properties that olive has, but you can make fine soap with those oils as part of your total recipe... especially if you have some harder fats as a good percentage of the base recipe (such as coconut, tallow, lard, etc.) Just use the lye calculator to figure out the right amounts for your lye addition. Some folks are allergic to peanut, but I don't know if the oil used on the skin poses much hazard even to them... mainly the proteins in the peanut that cause the problem.
>7) Is "dripping" (pure white fat in similar packaging as lard) the same as "tallow"?
Maybe if it's from beef fat. Does the label indicate what kind of fat it is? I thought "dripping" simply meant "shortening" there but maybe I haven't understood this correctly. Read the fine print on the label and see what the components of the tallow are. Then do your best to figure out which field on the calculator you should use. The Lard field might be a safe one.
Good luck! I hope this helps a little. Let me know how the next batch goes for you and what those "pastiles" are!
Happy Soaping!
Followup:
Thank you very much for the reply. I realise you must get enquiries from all over the world, so I much appreciate the time taken.
Yes, oil pastiles are very soft 'crayons' used in art - I guess with an oil base instead of a wax one. They are freely available at stationary shops, perhaps in the USA they are called another name. they come in many lovely coulours - hence the temptation...
I also saw a vanilla-must fragrance oil and decided I will try that next. I am dying to mix another batch, but I think it'll be better if I just wait 3 weeks and see how this one feels and soaps, in case I want to change ingredients a bit.
What are the properties that vegetable oil impart compared to olive oil? Is the soap likely to be softer or perhaps not lather as well? I have phoned the company who markets the lard and 'dripping' regarding the latter's origin. I presumed it must be beef, since it's much harder than the lard, like the lard is marketed by the "meat" division of this company, and was sold in the cold section and not on the shelf with the shortening. The person I spoke to said he thought it was of beef origin, but is going to find out the exact composition and get back to me. I'll let you know the result. (Mind you, with the amount of sheep in NZ, it may be from mutton or perhaps even a mix of beef and mutton fat - do you know of anyone using mutton fat? Well I used it as 'tallow' and the soap looks ok, so I'm not too fussed. It would just be nice to know though)
I've used a bit of mutton tallow in the past and it makes really hard soap. If there is a lot of it there it imparts its own little odor to the soap, but a good fragrance would probably mask that. I would blend it with some coconut and a percentage of oils for a nicer texture. I'll bet straight mutton tallow could tend to make a brittle bar.
For the qualities that various oils impart to soap, go to the "Design Your Own Recipe" link below and study the Properties of Oils section on that page. I think that will help you a lot in making up a recipe to your liking.
Not knowing what is in those pastiles, I think I would avoid them for coloring.
Good luck! If that dripping is mostly tallow, then you can use that sap value. It would be great for soap and just think... NO rendering! :-)
Just thought I'd let you know I had a call back from the lard/dripping company, and "dripping" is 100% pure beef fat. Since it's white and hard, I guess it must be similar enough to 'tallow' - don't you think? This is great, since it's cheap and available. I gathered you moved away from the animal fats. Can you reproduce the same hardness and lathering qualities with shortening and oil? In fact, if you have a recipe using shortening and olive/canola/vegetable oil which you can recommend, I'd like to try it.
That will make wonderful soap! You could use it in combination with coconut and an oil (whatever is easier for you) for a nice soap. Kind of like that Beef Shortening with Coconut recipe I posted, only you might need one or two more ounces of beef tallow since I used a lard SAP value for that recipe (it was beef mixed with cottonseed oil).
I love soap made with beef tallow... it's just not "politically" correct in this country these days and not as many folks buy it or want to make it. Still some that do though and tallow makes fine soap that lasts long in the dish and is mild. Funny thing is... most commercial soaps sold in this country (REAL soap) are a combination of beef tallow, coconut and some palm oil. Folks just don't read the labels very well. :-)
I don't think you get quite the same hardness with shortening... palm oil comes close as a substitution for tallow. The sap value is a bit different, but they both make hard soap.
If you want a vegetable shortening recipe, use the "Rachael's Tried and True." If you want one with beef tallow (dripping), work off that one I mentioned previously that is on the animal fats recipe pages.
I love your site! I have been experimenting and have made about 15 different (1 or 2 lb.) batches since Sept. I have to change something about every batch! I am kind of rebellious that way... anyway, I have had no problems and want to look into marketing some soap but I have not had great success in finding sites that help with that end of things. Perhaps that's where our own creativity need to come into play. Anyway, I have toyed with different packaging ideas, but am wondering if there are good sites with basic suggestions that I could embellish... I figured you would know if anyone would! My husband is going to make me your boxmolds and I love the idea of using that miterbox for cutting!
How smart you are! Keep up the good work. Teresa
Also- do you have favorite fragrance suppliers???
Hi! I think you would find some helpful information on the Toiletries Page. I have that linked toward the bottom of my main soapmaking page (index) where it says in large letters, "Do You Still Have Questions?". They have all kinds of helpful information posted with an index. Also... lurk on some of the forums like Latherings. Lots of great ideas get posted there.
I didn't think up that miterbox idea... just posted it after hearing about it. I like it too! Glad it's helped you also. A man thought that one up, but I can't remember his name.
Favorite suppliers? I get most of my FOs from Sweet Cakes (kind of pricey, but can only get some scents there) and Lebermuth. Have gotten quite a few EOs from A Garden Eastward. They have some FOs also (same as some of what Sweet Cakes carries). There are others out there, but those are the ones I use the most at this point. Have tried a few from Brambleberry and they have some nice selections also. They are fairly new.
Thanks for having what i think is the best web site on soaps = your instructions along with your ideas are wonderful. We had always made soap at home as a child - using all leftover fats, lye and heat/ Last Spring, i tried your First ALL Veg. attempt and it was a success. I used a stick blender and the oils and right now, the soap is being used as part of a science project to compare homemade soap vs. commercial soap in various solutions. I am presently printing out the entire web page and hope to try my hand at a few more soaps this year. I bought a stick blender and used it from the start - the soap was fine. I also like your idea for using a cheap miter box - I think i will adapt your mold so it is the width of the miter box and I will only have to cut one time. Again, thanks for a wonderfully informative site.
Thank YOU for such a nice letter! The *entire* page?... how many reams of paper is that going to take (not to mention, ink cartridges!)? I'm flattered.
I didn't think of that miter box idea myself... read it somewhere else and thought it sounded like a solution. It's helpful and didn't cost all that much. Having a single long row of soap wouldn't be bad, or maybe two molds with a single row... I've seen people do that before. Will save you trying to get the sides of the "towers" straight when you separate rows... some days I do that better than others.
Happy soaping! Nice to hear it's gone well for you.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE HAVE SOAP!
BEAUTIFUL, WHITE, PERFECTLY SHAPED, WONDERFULLY SMELLING SOAP.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
ONE MORE QUESTION. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO THE ICKY BATCHES OF SOAP TO TURN THEM INTO LAUNDRY SOAP? I DON'T WANT TO THROW ANYTHING ELSE AWAY.
Congrats! You can either grate up bad batches so that they'll dissolve better (and use hot water for washing) or melt the stuff into water and make a sort of gel to use. How much? Not sure... you'll have to figure out what works best for you.
Have fun soaping!
I have been searching, with no success, for a soap cutting knife with a curvy edge (i.e.. a blade that makes ridges on the edge of the soap when you cut it). I make my soaps in large boxes and have been cutting with a friend's flat blade. I like the look of the ridged edge, any suggestions as to where to find one? Thanks!
- Elizabeth
Hi! I have something like that laying around here but have not used it for soap. Think it was just in a housewares section of a store somewhere. You might check out housewares (utensils) in places like Walmart, Fred Meyer's or larger chain stores like 'Linens 'n' Things' or 'Lechter's' if you have them there. Maybe even at a nice grocery store. Mine just has a blue handle and that blade on it... shaped like a small version of a cleaver. Suspect they figured you would cut cheese or chop veggies with it.
Good luck!
do you also make lotions and bath salts and things? i just started. i was having fun, but running into problems and questions. Where can i find answers? Need to know about oils used in lotions. Do they spoil? Do I need a preservative and which one? Also, does it make a big difference which kind of salts I use in my bath salts, sea, epsom, rock, and baking soda(not a salt)? Also what do I add for sun protection in my chapsticks? I read that sesame oil is good for that. is that true? Also zinc oxide?
Thanks
Vicki
Sorry... but I'm of no help to you. Just do soap. There are a couple of URLs that I know of that you can check out. Go to the Toiletries Page. They have all kinds of info and recipes posted that will be of great help to you.
Here's another URL I saw on the Latherings Forum this morning... it's an online lotion making thing at Soapnuts... has color photos to illustrate lotion making, I guess. Haven't actually looked myself yet!
<http://www.angelfire.com/mi/soapnutshome/>
Good luck!
>Can the potassium hydroxide be substituted in your soap recipes to make them liquid?
Probably not because the sap numbers for potassium hydroxide are different than for sodium hydroxide so the quantities would be different. There are recipes out there for liquid soap though and they probably use the potassium hydroxide. Take a visit to the Toiletries Page and look through their recipes archive. I have a link for them toward the bottom of my main soapmaking page (index.html)... where it says, "Do You Still Have Questions?".
Good luck!
Hi,
Do you know how much GSE to use as a preservative per one pound of soap??
Thanks,
*mely*
Typing is limited right now... hand in a bandage from a minor surgery... [it's only a distant memory now!]
I have never used this stuff, but the Cavitch book recommends .5% (that is HALF a percent) of the total mixture is all that's needed. You'll need to do the math with a calculator.
Good luck!
Less than 6 months ago, I had been asked if I would take the adventure of trying my hand at making a batch of all vegetable oil soap. I had always wanted to make soap but was petrified of it. Before I was pregnant with my first child (back in 1970) I had seen a demonstration of making soap in a cauldron, with the fire underneath, using ashes and fats from around the house. The cautions were spelled out pretty plain, and I was afraid that my animals might become harmed. Then we learned I was pregnant, and I was afraid the fumes would harm the developing baby, then him, and on and on until I found myself in 1999, never having taken the adventure to try my hand at soapmaking.
Faced with a new challenge, my youngest was now 8, and not the type to get into everything she could, and no pets in the home, I took up the challenge. I got the supplies, and sat and stared at them. Then I hit the Internet and read everything I could find. It seemed as if it was a common practice for the first even 8-10 batches not to turn out. With that knowledge in mind and what was said to be a good, solid recipe, I took on the great challenge!
Lye was purchased at Wall-Mart, and since everything I read said it comes in 12 ounce cans, and the recipe called for 12 ounces, I dumped the whole can in without looking at the weight! Bad thing to do! Always check the weight, in fact if I buy in cans now, I weigh each batch as there are little differences in each can!
Needless to say, it looked great, and seemed to work just fine. However, when two weeks passed, and I tried to cut the soap, it crumbled! It was brittle as all get out! I was shocked! Then after hitting the Internet again, I learned if you have too much lye in a recipe, this is the common reaction. I grated that first batch into laundry detergent, and set out to make the next batch. This time I had purchased good grade coconut oil, fragrances, and lye from a soapmaking shop. The lye was different, but I do not think that made any difference at all in the outcome of the soaps I made.
The second batch turned out wonderful! It set up nicely, did not become brittle, felt good to use, and even produced good bubbles! I was not only pleased, I was HOOKED! Over the next few months I made many batches as I was so intrigued with the outcome. Friends and family loved it as I was able to supply them with hand made soaps they all said they really enjoyed!
Now it is in my blood, I am obsessed with soapmaking, and hope in the future to open up a shop where I can sell my goods. What a difference in my attitude from that petrified moment to now. I show the steps to others who are interested but frightened of soapmaking. They too, are discovering the glory of hand made soaps.
Have a good day-
Vicki
good afternoon to you.
you are a life saver. i have written to you before (about the stick blender burning up...well it was a defective one and not something i did thank goodness. seems there was a loose wire inside and would have burnt up anyway) and decided to write again on a couple of subjects and also to ask for your help.
* i have had my first seizure...i think. but by following the suggestions on your web page i avoided any major disasters. i made a batch of my favorite recipe and added .5 oz of patchouli and 2 oz of rain (sweetcakes) at very light trace as i did not know the reaction i would get and it began to set up almost immediately i had a few tiny clumps but managed to mix them out before i had to pour (or should i say scoop it out into the mold) then i used a small cement trough to smooth out the top it worked wonderfully. i used a box (lined with freezer paper) that i got from mcdonalds that the nugget sauces come in. i just checked on that batch and it is very firm already i made it just under 2 hours ago. smells good think i will call it wild rain.
* i found a very inexpensive source for my coconut oil and thought maybe you could pass this information along. It seems concession supplies carry alot of the oils that can be used in soap. so anyone that has a concession supply store would be in heaven. Also my supplier doesn't carry palm or palm kernel as the cooking properties are so similar to coconut but i did find Columbus Foods (from your link page) that will be able to ship 50# to me for under 1.25 per pound. i had just paid almost 2.00 per pound.
* here is a neat way to get the sticky ingredients into that batch quickly. i put my honey in a ziplock baggie in the corner then when i am ready to add it, i quickly cut a hole in that corner and squeeze out the contents i don't have to wait. i think this would also work for vitamin e and anything else that is too thick to pour quickly.
* how do you keep up with your soap? i mean i started out just making for my family, then my sister in law begged me to make more so i did i made peach, almond oatmeal, spiced milk and honey, and applejack. she then convinced me to let her take some to work and "show" her friends that was 3 weeks ago and i have not had any until this weekend when i got my shipment of palm. she sold all 4 batches in three days. which was great, but now what. i absolutely am in love with making soap i have ordered more eo and fo and even some colorants this weekend but am kinda dumbfounded. do you only make 8# batches or do you double or even triple to keep up with demand. i sent one of each of my bars to my mother in arizona and she wants me bring all i can when i visit her in june for her friends.
* i used 3/4 of a granny smith green crayola brand crayon to color the applejack with and it came out a dull muted strained pea color. i added 1 tsp of nutmeg to the batch for a little speckled effect.
* i made small tags on my computer punched a hole in it and used a single piece of raffia and tied it around the soap looks kinda country which is good considering i live in rural indiana.
* i bought a gray silverware tray the kind they use in buffet style restaurants lined it with freezer paper and poured about 2 inches deep i cut them 1 inch wide and i made pretty half-circle bars. the tray is good because it has 4 compartments.
* tried the cat food container washed them up really well they didn't have any smell but when i unmolded the soap it had cat food smell made really neat looking soap but guess i need to let the containers soak for a day or so in some bleach water.
thank you so very much for all you have given to me and everyone else.
your web page is so informative and so fun to visit i find new stuff all the time. ( i visit at least 3 times a week and have yet to see it all.)
take care and God Bless.
theresa
first let me thank you from the bottom of my heart for you web site i am a beginning soaper and refer to your printed site as my soap bible. i made my first batch with a kit i bought in a science store and was hooked. i was just dying to start but was getting ready to move so had to wait until now. i have ordered all my supplies and made spiced milk and honey two days ago it looks beautiful!!! i used to canolive II recipe. but now i have a few questions.
1. the recipe i started with from the science store made a small batch around 15 4oz bars i want to double this as my husband and daughter as well as everyone i gave it too have hounded my for more i want to double this will it work. or is there some special secret i need to know to double soap recipes.
2. to make an abrasive soap which my brother (who is a welder) wants me to make calls for pumice or tripoli powder. i have no clue to the source of these ingredients. i know what pumice is not tripoli but have not the slightest clue where to buy.
3. i want to be able to sell on a small scale my soap creations...enough to let me continue trying new fragrances without breaking my wallet but i don't know what to put on the label.
again let me tell you i love your sight and i think i finally found a craft my whole family loves to watch me do. they cant wait to see the finished product and try it out. i like the spiced milk and honey scent but just a little "girly" :) for my husband cant wait to see if it lathers good.
i used a stick blender but it burnt up have you ever had that happen... it just got hot and quit on me.
please email me soon i want to make more soap and share with you and everyone else the joy i have found in soap making.
one last note i made some bath bombs but didn't have powdered dye so i used food coloring and colored the witch hazel before i misted the ingredients. i made the color extremely dark in the bottle and when i was finished i got a beautiful pastel purple gorgeous! i plan to have a bottle for each color i want to use i just rinse the sprayer off and recap the witch hazel till next time
thank you again theresa simpson
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