Post by benshelpmeet on May 14, 2009 16:42:14 GMT -5
This is a thorogh post sister Penny made on soap making, a friend PMed it to me a long time ago, I knew I had some Pm's on Soap Making somewhere. Sister Penny is a great Soap Maker, she sent me some of her soap years ago.
Soapmaking
I find some sites offer very difficult recipes and they are usually for items that are costly..So, I am here to help you learn to make soap with some easy to follow instructions.
I have been a soaper for over 20 years, I forget but its been a long time..and I find that a simple recipe produces a good bar of soap, you can add all the goodies to it, it will cost you more, (and I do add them) but if you just want it simple and to get you clean..then pass on the high priced butters and oils.
www.soapnuts.com has a HUGE library of soap recipes and also www.thesage.com (majestic mountain sage) has a great site for you to learn about the techniques.
I just made about 16 lbs of soap on Monday, yes, you heard it right..I made Orange, Orange w/baby oats, and also an unscented goatsmilk soap...All have turned out great..the Orange I processed in my "soap crockpot" and it's ready to use..you basically speed up the saponification process, it's called CPHP = crockpot hot process, you will find the terms on Soapnuts...
One sentence of advice.."Snow on the Water" never EVER forget that when soapmaking..why? Well, the snow represents the "lye" sodium hydroxide, which will burn you, and it stings..when you add the lye, you always add it to the liquid, this prevents the lye from bubbling up...
I tell new soapers to always wear gloves, old clothes, long sleeves and eye protection, you can find goggles at the dollar stores, rubber gloves too. Never use your soapmaking pots or sthingys or containers for anything other than soapmaking. I use plastic containers to measure my lye in, and it is easily tossed out, or just rinsed out and reused, but it's marked LYE ONLY. I just use a big plastic container to measure my oils...I have a digital scale so I "tare" weight the container, then add the oils to this, tare means to knock off the weight of the container so it zeros out the weight. You can use most any scales, that show ounces, I like the digital, but when I began I used a food scale w/a little bowl that was part of it.
Some GOOD soapsuppliers I use are www.soaperschoice.com(Mike Lawson) at Columbus Foods, he's honest, his products are fresh, and you can purchase in larger quantities. I get Palm Oil, Pomace Olive, and Coconut oil from him, as well as my cocoa butter, shea butters. Check around the soapnuts site, they have lots of suppliers, and I have worked in the soapmaking industry in the past, I was one of those suppliers, and I know pretty much which ones I like to use.. If you just want a good 3 oil soap..then go with a pail each of Mike's products, I get my Olive oil in the 1 gallon bottles, you generally use 50% Olive, 25% Palm, and 25% coconut oil, gives you a nice hard bar of soap...
Lye, well, you can purchase this in 2 ways..bulk, (which I do, in a 50 lb bag) or go with Red Devil Lye, Lye when purchased over the mail system has to be marked HAZMAT, so it's costly...most grocery and hardware stores sell Red Devil Lye..do not use Draino..it's not pure sodium hydroxide.
I wish you all lived closer, I would set you all right up with some soap and give you the personal lessons!!
For molds, you can just use 1/2 of a cardboard box, just line it with a couple of white trash bags and smooth out the crinkles as best you can...also, rubbermaid drawer liners are good, you either have to grease them with nonstick spray or line..
........................................................................................................
........................................................................................................
I totally did NOT see the
recipe was for liquid soap...you use Potassium Hydroxide for that..it makes the shampoos, etc..I gave notes on making a bar of soap...
You can add Castor Oil to a bar soap recipe for the "body shampoo" bars...
Sorry for the confusion...
........................................................................................................
........................................................................................................
Sisters, thank you for trusting my wisdom here..I can only teach you what I know and what works and what is safe in soapmaking. You must have separate utensils and pots, measure containers, pitcher, scale, etc. This is because you are working with an active and very dangerous chemical, lye, sodium hydroxide, which will burn, it unclogs drains, so be careful.
Soapmaking is not difficult, if it were there would be a lot fewer folks making it right? So here is my personal list of must have's...for soaping.
1. Stainless Steel pot, (dollar general even sells these) but make sure it is free from any cracks and problems, get a big enough one to make a whopper batch of soap..mine will hold quite a lot of soap mixture..
2. Stir utensils, I use stainless steel as well, I purchased mine from a kitchen supply type store, Gordon Food Service type..but you can find the LONG handled ones about anywhere, I have a sthingy that has holes in it, so the soap squishes through the holes as I stir..I mainly use that to incorporate the fragrace and colorant, IF I choose to color the soap.
3. Scale, I use a digital one, but you can get good results with a $10 one, you can find some with bowls that sit on top, they run about $5.00 or so..just remember, you must "tare" off the weight of the bowl, then add the oils.
4. Stick blender, yes, a $10 one works fine, I am real big on saving money...but you can find em at a garage sale, grab them up and growl..these not only save your arm muscles, (some castille soaps take forever to trace) but it truly brings the soap to "trace" a lot faster.
5. Molds, well, www.chestnuthillsfarms.com has directions to make a wooden mold, or you can fashion your own..I can post my mold dimensions, it's about a 4 lb mold, but then I have the biggie that holds about 8 lbs of soap...You can use rubbermaid drawer liners, the white ones, just be sure and coat the mold with nonstick spray first or use a plastic bag to line it..some soapers just use pyrex cake pans, again, I like to use the plastic trash bag as my liner, rather than a greased pan..Cardboard boxes work, the kind you see soda in the 2 case packs, the 2 inch cut down box bottoms...or cut down your own box..if you use a traditional cardboard box..make sure you smooth out the bottom with some newspapers to cover the fold and make a smoother surface, and you line it with the trash bags.
6. Thermometer, one that you find at the dollar store is fine, this is totally optional, I just use my own judgement, if I can touch the outside of my stainless steel pot without it burning..the oils are ready for the lye and water mix.
7. Pitcher, for the lye water, again, mine's a dollar store one..with lid, and LABELED IN BIG LETTERS, LYE ONLY.
8. Long rubber spatula, this helps with sgarbageing out the last remains of soap from the pot..I use one from the kitchen supply store..You will find that if you use the better quality ones, they last you pretty much a long time..years.
9. Protective gear, long sleeved old clothing, apron, goggles. You literally suit up before soaping. ( Even though I have been doing this a LONG time, I still get the lye splashes and trust me they hurt) I always keep a bottle of white vinegar out and open on the counter and it helps defuse the sting of a lye splash, and truly you don't want to splash this stuff in your eyes or on your face..so always pour the lye water slowly and carefully, same for the soap mixture as it contains active lye, still burns.
10. Before you begin, I recommend you have at least 2 hours of time without a lot of distraction, keep your little ones out of the room, soapmaking doesn't take that long, but you can judge the time once you get skilled at it..
11. I like to have plenty of rags on the counter, and a sink with soapy water in it..I use dawn detergent, as dish soap is not soap, it's detergent..I have none of my daily dishes around, and it's strictly a soap area..all food, and spices, etc should be put up and out of the way.
12. Ventilation, you can have a window cracked, just don't breathe in any of the lye fumes, they are quite nasty...a little fan helps...or you can do the lye and water outside...then your problem of dealing with the fumes is solved.
13. Countertop protection, some use newspaper, but I just keep the old towels on the counters, soap did not hurt mine, some of the slop over actually brightened up the dingy spots...but I don't recommend it
That is lesson #1 on Soap Must Have's...I will post next on the oils and where to get them, amounts of use, and a basic recipe.
I wish I could teach you all personally to make soap..as it is so rewarding, I learned via snail mail letters and a phone call from my friend Lynne...She taught me a basic soap recipe, using lard, lye and water, that soap was my first, it was not so pretty as the soap I make now, but it was great for washing clothes, diapers, and bodies...we didn't lose any skin either...how about that? I do love making soap and teaching others..
................................................................................................................................................................................................................
#9 Continued!! I did forget to mention, GOOD quality rubber gloves, and the containers for measuring, I just reused clean butter or cottage cheese containers, bigger is better, or you can use large measuring type containers, but be sure to label them for soapmaking only
................................................................................................................................................................................................................
I use a lot of different butters in my soaps..but a good basic soap recipe is:
24 oz Olive oil (I use Pomace not extra virgin)
24 oz coconut oil (Walmart carries this in the cooking sections)
38 oz Vegetable shortening (Crisco)
12 oz lye
32 oz COLD distilled water
4 oz fragrance oil ** if desired
This makes a good base soap..YOU CAN ALSO 1/2 THE AMOUNTS AND USE 1/2 THE LYE, WATER, FRAGRANCE..
Follow the soapmaking directions..REMEMBER "SNOW ON THE WATER" Lye is poured into the water in your pitcher..not the other way around..
*do not use your lye stirring spatula or wooden sthingy in your soap oils..that is just for the lye, be sure to mark it as such.
* Variations..I like to add baby oatmeal after the trace, right before I pour it..you can grind up regular oats as well, just be sure they are ground very well as they get a bit of an exfoliating effect if you don't.
*For color, that is entirely optional, my theory, if it doesn't need it why bother adding it..
*Cocoa Powder a couple of Tb can be added for a swirl effect, just take about 1/2 cup of raw soap and put that into a cottage cheese container..add the cocoa, stir well...after you have poured the soap into the mold..just run a line of the cocoa soap and take a chopstick or something similar and just lightly do a squiggle throughout the soap..
*I do add herbs to my soap as well, you can use chamomile, but be sure to grind it into a fine flour, peppermint, spearmint, lavendar..
For more BULK oil purchases I highly recommend Mike Lawson at Columbus Foods www.soaperschoice.com HE sells fresh oils and the service is FAST!!
Soapmaking
I find some sites offer very difficult recipes and they are usually for items that are costly..So, I am here to help you learn to make soap with some easy to follow instructions.
I have been a soaper for over 20 years, I forget but its been a long time..and I find that a simple recipe produces a good bar of soap, you can add all the goodies to it, it will cost you more, (and I do add them) but if you just want it simple and to get you clean..then pass on the high priced butters and oils.
www.soapnuts.com has a HUGE library of soap recipes and also www.thesage.com (majestic mountain sage) has a great site for you to learn about the techniques.
I just made about 16 lbs of soap on Monday, yes, you heard it right..I made Orange, Orange w/baby oats, and also an unscented goatsmilk soap...All have turned out great..the Orange I processed in my "soap crockpot" and it's ready to use..you basically speed up the saponification process, it's called CPHP = crockpot hot process, you will find the terms on Soapnuts...
One sentence of advice.."Snow on the Water" never EVER forget that when soapmaking..why? Well, the snow represents the "lye" sodium hydroxide, which will burn you, and it stings..when you add the lye, you always add it to the liquid, this prevents the lye from bubbling up...
I tell new soapers to always wear gloves, old clothes, long sleeves and eye protection, you can find goggles at the dollar stores, rubber gloves too. Never use your soapmaking pots or sthingys or containers for anything other than soapmaking. I use plastic containers to measure my lye in, and it is easily tossed out, or just rinsed out and reused, but it's marked LYE ONLY. I just use a big plastic container to measure my oils...I have a digital scale so I "tare" weight the container, then add the oils to this, tare means to knock off the weight of the container so it zeros out the weight. You can use most any scales, that show ounces, I like the digital, but when I began I used a food scale w/a little bowl that was part of it.
Some GOOD soapsuppliers I use are www.soaperschoice.com(Mike Lawson) at Columbus Foods, he's honest, his products are fresh, and you can purchase in larger quantities. I get Palm Oil, Pomace Olive, and Coconut oil from him, as well as my cocoa butter, shea butters. Check around the soapnuts site, they have lots of suppliers, and I have worked in the soapmaking industry in the past, I was one of those suppliers, and I know pretty much which ones I like to use.. If you just want a good 3 oil soap..then go with a pail each of Mike's products, I get my Olive oil in the 1 gallon bottles, you generally use 50% Olive, 25% Palm, and 25% coconut oil, gives you a nice hard bar of soap...
Lye, well, you can purchase this in 2 ways..bulk, (which I do, in a 50 lb bag) or go with Red Devil Lye, Lye when purchased over the mail system has to be marked HAZMAT, so it's costly...most grocery and hardware stores sell Red Devil Lye..do not use Draino..it's not pure sodium hydroxide.
I wish you all lived closer, I would set you all right up with some soap and give you the personal lessons!!
For molds, you can just use 1/2 of a cardboard box, just line it with a couple of white trash bags and smooth out the crinkles as best you can...also, rubbermaid drawer liners are good, you either have to grease them with nonstick spray or line..
........................................................................................................
........................................................................................................
I totally did NOT see the
recipe was for liquid soap...you use Potassium Hydroxide for that..it makes the shampoos, etc..I gave notes on making a bar of soap...
You can add Castor Oil to a bar soap recipe for the "body shampoo" bars...
Sorry for the confusion...
........................................................................................................
........................................................................................................
Sisters, thank you for trusting my wisdom here..I can only teach you what I know and what works and what is safe in soapmaking. You must have separate utensils and pots, measure containers, pitcher, scale, etc. This is because you are working with an active and very dangerous chemical, lye, sodium hydroxide, which will burn, it unclogs drains, so be careful.
Soapmaking is not difficult, if it were there would be a lot fewer folks making it right? So here is my personal list of must have's...for soaping.
1. Stainless Steel pot, (dollar general even sells these) but make sure it is free from any cracks and problems, get a big enough one to make a whopper batch of soap..mine will hold quite a lot of soap mixture..
2. Stir utensils, I use stainless steel as well, I purchased mine from a kitchen supply type store, Gordon Food Service type..but you can find the LONG handled ones about anywhere, I have a sthingy that has holes in it, so the soap squishes through the holes as I stir..I mainly use that to incorporate the fragrace and colorant, IF I choose to color the soap.
3. Scale, I use a digital one, but you can get good results with a $10 one, you can find some with bowls that sit on top, they run about $5.00 or so..just remember, you must "tare" off the weight of the bowl, then add the oils.
4. Stick blender, yes, a $10 one works fine, I am real big on saving money...but you can find em at a garage sale, grab them up and growl..these not only save your arm muscles, (some castille soaps take forever to trace) but it truly brings the soap to "trace" a lot faster.
5. Molds, well, www.chestnuthillsfarms.com has directions to make a wooden mold, or you can fashion your own..I can post my mold dimensions, it's about a 4 lb mold, but then I have the biggie that holds about 8 lbs of soap...You can use rubbermaid drawer liners, the white ones, just be sure and coat the mold with nonstick spray first or use a plastic bag to line it..some soapers just use pyrex cake pans, again, I like to use the plastic trash bag as my liner, rather than a greased pan..Cardboard boxes work, the kind you see soda in the 2 case packs, the 2 inch cut down box bottoms...or cut down your own box..if you use a traditional cardboard box..make sure you smooth out the bottom with some newspapers to cover the fold and make a smoother surface, and you line it with the trash bags.
6. Thermometer, one that you find at the dollar store is fine, this is totally optional, I just use my own judgement, if I can touch the outside of my stainless steel pot without it burning..the oils are ready for the lye and water mix.
7. Pitcher, for the lye water, again, mine's a dollar store one..with lid, and LABELED IN BIG LETTERS, LYE ONLY.
8. Long rubber spatula, this helps with sgarbageing out the last remains of soap from the pot..I use one from the kitchen supply store..You will find that if you use the better quality ones, they last you pretty much a long time..years.
9. Protective gear, long sleeved old clothing, apron, goggles. You literally suit up before soaping. ( Even though I have been doing this a LONG time, I still get the lye splashes and trust me they hurt) I always keep a bottle of white vinegar out and open on the counter and it helps defuse the sting of a lye splash, and truly you don't want to splash this stuff in your eyes or on your face..so always pour the lye water slowly and carefully, same for the soap mixture as it contains active lye, still burns.
10. Before you begin, I recommend you have at least 2 hours of time without a lot of distraction, keep your little ones out of the room, soapmaking doesn't take that long, but you can judge the time once you get skilled at it..
11. I like to have plenty of rags on the counter, and a sink with soapy water in it..I use dawn detergent, as dish soap is not soap, it's detergent..I have none of my daily dishes around, and it's strictly a soap area..all food, and spices, etc should be put up and out of the way.
12. Ventilation, you can have a window cracked, just don't breathe in any of the lye fumes, they are quite nasty...a little fan helps...or you can do the lye and water outside...then your problem of dealing with the fumes is solved.
13. Countertop protection, some use newspaper, but I just keep the old towels on the counters, soap did not hurt mine, some of the slop over actually brightened up the dingy spots...but I don't recommend it
That is lesson #1 on Soap Must Have's...I will post next on the oils and where to get them, amounts of use, and a basic recipe.
I wish I could teach you all personally to make soap..as it is so rewarding, I learned via snail mail letters and a phone call from my friend Lynne...She taught me a basic soap recipe, using lard, lye and water, that soap was my first, it was not so pretty as the soap I make now, but it was great for washing clothes, diapers, and bodies...we didn't lose any skin either...how about that? I do love making soap and teaching others..
................................................................................................................................................................................................................
#9 Continued!! I did forget to mention, GOOD quality rubber gloves, and the containers for measuring, I just reused clean butter or cottage cheese containers, bigger is better, or you can use large measuring type containers, but be sure to label them for soapmaking only
................................................................................................................................................................................................................
I use a lot of different butters in my soaps..but a good basic soap recipe is:
24 oz Olive oil (I use Pomace not extra virgin)
24 oz coconut oil (Walmart carries this in the cooking sections)
38 oz Vegetable shortening (Crisco)
12 oz lye
32 oz COLD distilled water
4 oz fragrance oil ** if desired
This makes a good base soap..YOU CAN ALSO 1/2 THE AMOUNTS AND USE 1/2 THE LYE, WATER, FRAGRANCE..
Follow the soapmaking directions..REMEMBER "SNOW ON THE WATER" Lye is poured into the water in your pitcher..not the other way around..
*do not use your lye stirring spatula or wooden sthingy in your soap oils..that is just for the lye, be sure to mark it as such.
* Variations..I like to add baby oatmeal after the trace, right before I pour it..you can grind up regular oats as well, just be sure they are ground very well as they get a bit of an exfoliating effect if you don't.
*For color, that is entirely optional, my theory, if it doesn't need it why bother adding it..
*Cocoa Powder a couple of Tb can be added for a swirl effect, just take about 1/2 cup of raw soap and put that into a cottage cheese container..add the cocoa, stir well...after you have poured the soap into the mold..just run a line of the cocoa soap and take a chopstick or something similar and just lightly do a squiggle throughout the soap..
*I do add herbs to my soap as well, you can use chamomile, but be sure to grind it into a fine flour, peppermint, spearmint, lavendar..
For more BULK oil purchases I highly recommend Mike Lawson at Columbus Foods www.soaperschoice.com HE sells fresh oils and the service is FAST!!