# Total newbie - help



## holistichonnies (Aug 31, 2014)

Hi every1, iv been making cosmetics for a while now such as body butters, lotion bars etc ... All the easy stuff 

I would really like to try cold process soap making. Iv watch many vids on you tube but soon get sucked in by all the beautiful advanced techniques lol

Does anyone have a very simple basic recipe I could start with? 
Measurements would be good as well please. I only want to make a very small batch, just to try.

Thank you 
Iv failed so many times I'm becoming an expert


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## CaraBou (Aug 31, 2014)

Here's a thread with some great places to start: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=24199 

Also, if you could list the oils and fats you already have on hand, that could help us help you save a little money.  Have you already purchased lye?


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## holistichonnies (Aug 31, 2014)

That's fab thank you. Not got any lye yet.

This is what I have a stock of at the mo, 

Shea butter
Cocoa butter
Extra virgin coconut oil
Olive oil
Sweet almond oil
Jojoba oil
Aloe Vera butter (not much left)
Think that's it on butters and oils 


Iv failed so many times I'm becoming an expert


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## Susie (Aug 31, 2014)

Any possibility you could lay your hands on some palm oil(not palm kernel oil), tallow, or lard?

Also, you need to get lots of practice on a good lye calculator as you never, ever fail to run every recipe through a lye calculator for yourself.  Here is my favorite:

http://soapcalc.net/

Just hover your mouse over each colored number for an explanation on how to do that step.  Leave the water amount alone until you get more experience.


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## holistichonnies (Aug 31, 2014)

Yes I can get palm oil, lye etc. that's not a problem.

I have already downloaded a soap calculator onto my iPad  super keen to give soap making a try haha


Iv failed so many times I'm becoming an expert


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## Susie (Aug 31, 2014)

This is my(current) favorite proportion for CP bar soap, so you can increase or decrease the size according to your needs.  I would not make smaller than a 16 oz oil recipe as errors are magnified in smaller batches.  I generally stay between 5-8% superfat.

Coconut Oil 76 degree- 20%
Castor Oil- 5%
Lard/Tallow/Palm oil- 50%
Olive or Sweet Almond Oil- 25%

If you want to substitute out a liquid oil, just subtract some from the Olive or Sweet Almond Oil.  If you want to add some butters, just substitute for Coconut Oil or Palm Oil.  Be absolutely sure to run any modified recipe through the lye calculator for each and every change.  

There are two things that remain the same no matter what soap I am making.  They are castor oil- 5%, and no more than 20% coconut oil.  I am interested to see what other people consider absolute "rules" for their soap.


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## holistichonnies (Aug 31, 2014)

That's fab info  thank u
Iv failed so many times I'm becoming an expert


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## Earthen_Step (Aug 31, 2014)

Soap Queen guide with recipe

I think a safe bet is starting with large amounts of olive, coconut, and palm or tallow.  Start playing with other oils in smaller amounts 5-15% and go from there.  4-7% superfat and make sure you use a soap calculator, at first I punched my recipes in 2 or 3 to be overly cautious. 

Good luck, and have fun!


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## Seawolfe (Aug 31, 2014)

This will probably make everyone crazy - but this was my first soap recipe ever, and you know what? It actually turned out pretty decent - and still held some cocoa butter scent. I still have a bar of it and its very white and hard. I wouldn't make it this way again, its a bit waxy - but it does match what the OP has in their oils collection 

coconut Oil 5 oz - 31%
almond, sweet 5oz. - 31%
cocoa butter 6oz. - 38%

My other beginner soaps were 70% Olive oil and 30% coconut oil - I need those at about 8-10% superfat


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## holistichonnies (Aug 31, 2014)

I really wish I could understand %  my maths dyslexia won't let me lol
Iv failed so many times I'm becoming an expert


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## cerelife (Sep 1, 2014)

Susie said:


> There are two things that remain the same no matter what soap I am making. They are castor oil- 5%, and no more than 20% coconut oil. I am interested to see what other people consider absolute "rules" for their soap.


Hey Susie! How are you? 
I don't have any absolute rules, but 99% of the time I add silk and sugar to my lye water, and use castor oil at 10% and coconut oil at just under 30% with an average SF of 8.
I made a test batch of the 'Villa Convento' soap we were talking about last month with some cute molds I found...my first time using plastic molds. OMG, what a pain!! It took me forever to get the colored batter into the fleur de lis design, so I had air bubbles in the rest of it! And since I didn't have the knowledge/foresight to coat the plastic molds with mineral oil before I poured the soap, they were impossible to unmold without creating a hot mess!! I tried freezing them and then running hot water over the molds...nope, LOL! I'll do better this week. They could have been really cute (adding a pic of the soap in the mold...gotta work faster to avoid those ugly air bubbles)


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## Earthen_Step (Sep 2, 2014)

Susie said:


> There are two things that remain the same no matter what soap I am making.  They are castor oil- 5%, and no more than 20% coconut oil.  I am interested to see what other people consider absolute "rules" for their soap.



I have no rules!  But,  I micro batch anything too crazy i'm trying.  I have only thrown away a few bars. I have a bunch of horrible bars curing in hopes that maybe, just maybe, after a million cure hours they will be awesome!  I have tried some pretty crazy combinations and I plan to try many more in the future.

*Edit: I guess I do have one rule, it's never going to be lye heavy!
*I just thought of another rule.  If it's something I hope to sell it will be natural derived ingredients (no synthetics).
*I probably have tons of rules,  my no rules statement just seemed cool at the time.


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## Susie (Sep 2, 2014)

holistichonnies said:


> I really wish I could understand %  my maths dyslexia won't let me lol
> Iv failed so many times I'm becoming an expert



I used the % on purpose.  If you go to soapcalc.net, you can simply choose the oil, and type in the percentage you like.  When you put in all the oils, hit calculate recipe, then view or print recipe. On the graph it gives you, you will see the % in one column.  It will then tell you in the next columns how many pounds, ounces, or grams you need.  Draw a black box around the measurements(ounces or grams)you are using so you don't accidentally swap them, and highlight each oil in a separate color with the color carried over to the amounts to prevent mixing them up.(my mother, brother, ex-husband, and son are dyslexic)Then, if you like that soap, you can just change the number of ounces or grams you want at the top, and put the same percentage of each, and then it will do all the math for you to make a larger batch.


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## Susie (Sep 2, 2014)

cerelife said:


> Hey Susie! How are you?
> I don't have any absolute rules, but 99% of the time I add silk and sugar to my lye water, and use castor oil at 10% and coconut oil at just under 30% with an average SF of 8.
> I made a test batch of the 'Villa Convento' soap we were talking about last month with some cute molds I found...my first time using plastic molds. OMG, what a pain!! It took me forever to get the colored batter into the fleur de lis design, so I had air bubbles in the rest of it! And since I didn't have the knowledge/foresight to coat the plastic molds with mineral oil before I poured the soap, they were impossible to unmold without creating a hot mess!! I tried freezing them and then running hot water over the molds...nope, LOL! I'll do better this week. They could have been really cute (adding a pic of the soap in the mold...gotta work faster to avoid those ugly air bubbles)



AWESOME soap!  Love me some fleur-di-lis!  Geaux Saints!


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## dixiedragon (Sep 2, 2014)

If you tell us how big a batch you want to make, I'm sure somebody would be glad to post a recipe using ounces, instead of percentages.

I think there are very few absolute rules:
1) run your recipe through a lye calculator
2) Mix your lye and water in a safe container

I am somewhat concerned about your math dyslexia. An mis-read soap recipe could end up in soap that could be lye heavy and burn you.


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## Seawolfe (Sep 2, 2014)

People who give you a soap recipe in percentages are doing you a favor - because that lets you make any size batch you wish. Plus it ensures that you run it yourself through a lye calculator, which is much safer for you.


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## Susie (Sep 2, 2014)

dixiedragon said:


> If you tell us how big a batch you want to make, I'm sure somebody would be glad to post a recipe using ounces, instead of percentages.
> 
> I think there are very few absolute rules:
> 1) run your recipe through a lye calculator
> ...



Yep, when my son was here, and volunteered to help me make soap(me with broken hand in cast and running low on both bar and liquid soaps), I had much the same concern.  I worked with him to modify the printed recipe to prevent mis-reading amounts.  He came up with the black box outline, and said we needed to color code the oils.  He used a ruler to be sure the lines went straight across and not diagonally.  He read the oil and amount to me, and I verified on the computer.(he wanted to do these alone, but he is new to soaping, so...)  This worked out fine.

Dyslexia is not the curse it used to be.  I was my brother's primary tutor at home, so I know how difficult it was in the "good old days" with no modifications to help.  With the help of resource teachers over the years with my son, I have now learned that often you just have to modify how information is viewed to prevent errors.  Double spacing text information, black boxes to keep vertical information straight, highlighting to help with horizontal tracking...


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## holistichonnies (Sep 2, 2014)

dixiedragon said:


> If you tell us how big a batch you want to make, I'm sure somebody would be glad to post a recipe using ounces, instead of percentages.
> 
> I think there are very few absolute rules:
> 1) run your recipe through a lye calculator
> ...



i'd say a 500g batch is quite big enough to start with????

i would never not use a soap calculator. i can add up and 'read' numbers fine, its just things like working out %.

today I had to Google what 3% of 100ml was :crazy: omg i was very embarrassed with myself when the answer came up - felt so stupid


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## dixiedragon (Sep 2, 2014)

Do you have a good quality, accurate scale? 500 grams is pretty small, so there is much less room for error.


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## dixiedragon (Sep 2, 2014)

I mentioned using a lye calculator as a rule, not just on recipes you create, but on recipes you find online or in books. Sometimes there are errors.


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## holistichonnies (Sep 2, 2014)

Yes I have a great set of scales I use for small amounts. It's very accurate and measures tiny amounts 


Iv failed so many times I'm becoming an expert


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## Susie (Sep 2, 2014)

Before you do anything else, go to soapcalc.net.  It is a free online lye calculator.  Click on each number to learn how to use each section.  You MUST learn to use a soap(lye) calculator before making any soap.  It is NOT optional.  I will not give you a recipe with actual weights.  You must learn this for your own safety, and the safety of everyone that uses your soap.  Never, ever, ever take anyone's recipes and make without running it through a calculator for yourself.  Typos happen.  People are human, and prone to errors.


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## dixiedragon (Sep 2, 2014)

It might be helpful to post a topic titled something like "Dyslexic soaper needs a good lye calculator" or something. I am not familiar with dyslexia at all, but I wonder if maybe Soapcalc has so much going on that it is more difficult?


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## Susie (Sep 2, 2014)

Hmm...you may have a valid point.  Let me send my son some links to lye calculators to see what he thinks is easier.  I just never gave him a choice when he was here, as soapcalc is what I use 90% of the time.


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## Meganmischke (Sep 2, 2014)

I think the brambleberry calculator may be less confusing for some. Less options seems to flow a bit nicer for new soapers.  Worth a try and soap cal  is better than going off recipes.


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## dixiedragon (Sep 2, 2014)

Also, try this one:
https://www.thesage.com/calcs/LyeCalc.html


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## holistichonnies (Sep 2, 2014)

Susie said:


> Before you do anything else, go to soapcalc.net.  It is a free online lye calculator.  Click on each number to learn how to use each section.  You MUST learn to use a soap(lye) calculator before making any soap.  It is NOT optional.  I will not give you a recipe with actual weights.  You must learn this for your own safety, and the safety of everyone that uses your soap.  Never, ever, ever take anyone's recipes and make without running it through a calculator for yourself.  Typos happen.  People are human, and prone to errors.




I have a lye calculator which iv been playing with 



Iv failed so many times I'm becoming an expert


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## holistichonnies (Sep 2, 2014)

dixiedragon said:


> It might be helpful to post a topic titled something like "Dyslexic soaper needs a good lye calculator" or something. I am not familiar with dyslexia at all, but I wonder if maybe Soapcalc has so much going on that it is more difficult?




Please don't focus on my dyslexia. It's not an issue. Like iv said I have a lye calculator which I will always use and I can work out measurements just fine, it's % I can't work out in my head. 

My dyslexia has never caused me any issues in work or play before so please don't focus on it.


Iv failed so many times I'm becoming an expert


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Sep 2, 2014)

Then I would stick to Soap Calc - it looks worse than it is and you can slowly start to explore the "less important" bits as you develop, but at least you'll be familiar with the calc in general from the beginning.

I used the " there because some would argue all the parts are important, but for a beginner with the starting recipes I think you can focus on the total batch size and the oils used, leaving all other things at the default for a normal batch of CP or HP bar soap.

As the OP says, maths dyslexia (I think it's called dyscalclia (sp)) is more to do with understanding the mathematical processes rather than mixing up numbers in the way that a dyslexic will potentially mix letters up.  With care and double-checking, something we ALL should do as a matter of course, I don't think think that it will be a major issue in day-to-day soaping.


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## holistichonnies (Sep 2, 2014)

Thank you. Yes I don't mix numbers up or have problems 'reading' numbers. It's the mathematical process used sometimes. Like percentage. But usually once it see the process and answer it makes perfect sense to me. Like this morning not being able to work out 3% of 100 (embarrassed face) but once I saw the answer I knew it and felt really bloody silly that my brain didn't work that simple maths out lol


Iv failed so many times I'm becoming an expert


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## Susie (Sep 2, 2014)

The beauty of soapcalc is that you put in the percentage, and it does the math for you.  I am math challenged in the worst way, and could not function if I had to convert numbers to percentages or vice versa.


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## dixiedragon (Sep 2, 2014)

Soapcalc will do all of the math for you. You can plug in the amount you want to make (500 grams) and the percentages of oils you want to use, and does the math for you.


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## holistichonnies (Sep 2, 2014)

Thank you everyone 


Iv failed so many times I'm becoming an expert


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