About to make my first soap!

[susies1955]

Hi KIKAJESS.

Starbrown,
Thanks for the tips. I have the stick blender on my christmas list along with a book an done oval shaped molds.
I'm thinking of just doing cold process but I don't know enough about anything to decide for sure. I was looking
at boxes today.
Thanks,
Susie

 

[DottieF.]

found a recipe in "The Soapmaker's Companion" that makes one 5 oz. bar, a 'trial bar'. I'm thinking about doing it next so I don't waste so much stuff. Here it is:

While, it's a great idea to start with small batches, 5 oz. is a bit too small. I'd try a 2 or 3 pound batch. Also, while a laser thermometer is great, it's not necessary. If you feel the need to use a thermometer, just pick up an instant read thermometer. I've seen them at GFC and Walmart for 6 or 7 bucks.

 

[kikajess]

Hi, again, Susie! I just saw this article and thought of you:

Getting Started in Soapmaking Without Spending a Ton of Money by Amanda Griffin of the Lovin' Soap blog. She lays it out how to get started for less than 60 bucks. Pretty good! But still quite a lot when times are hard. I'm hoping the best for you and your family!

 

[Skatergirl46]

I found a recipe in "The Soapmaker's Companion" that makes one 5 oz. bar, a 'trial bar'. I'm thinking about doing it next so I don't waste so much stuff. Here it is:

16.8g lye
45.4g distilled water
42.2g olive oil
36.2g coconut oil
42.2g palm oil

Criticisms or suggestions for that are welcome! Thanks again everyone for taking time to help and support me :mrgreen:

I ran that recipe through Soap Calc. and the cleansing value is really high (20). That is much too high for my skin. I would decrease some of the CO and Palm and add some Castor. If you go to Soap Calc. and enter your amounts and then click "calculate recipe" you can see the numbers for your batch listed. They can give you a ballpark idea of your recipes values. It also shows a number range of where your soap should be with regard to the values. I'll mess around with recipes on Soap Calc. a few times before deciding on my next one.

 

[susies1955]

Thanks a bunch.
My husband is making me a wooden soap mold. It is going to be 3 1/2 by 18 and I will be able to put pieces of wood inside to make smaller batches.
Susie

Hi, again, Susie! I just saw this article and thought of you:

Getting Started in Soapmaking Without Spending a Ton of Money by Amanda Griffin of the Lovin' Soap blog. She lays it out how to get started for less than 60 bucks. Pretty good! But still quite a lot when times are hard. I'm hoping the best for you and your family!

 

[AlabamaBelle]

Trying again

I got a stick blender and KD-8000 scale over the last few months and done some more reading on here and in my books. I found a post on here that recommended using 60% olive oil, 20% palm oil, 10% coconut oil, and 10% avocado oil. I ran it thru soapcalc using a 500g total oil weight and this is what it threw out:

300g olive oil, 100g palm oil, 50g coconut oil, and 50g avocado oil; 67.093g lye, 190g water.

I tried this recipe tonight and the stick blender REALLY sped up trace! It seemed to be at a good thickness and at trace about 20 min in, so I poured it in a plastic mold, put the lid on & wrapped in a thick towel to insulate.

And now I'm angry... I JUST realized I overlooked the avocado oil on the printout and didn't add it to the recipe! AGHH! I'm sure this is going to be my 2nd failed batch now....

 

[Lin]

How long ago was that? I'd see if you can go ahead and still add the avocado oil in now. If the soap is gelling you could add it in. Not with the stickblender, just with a large hard spoon. If the soap is set up, you can either switch to hot process now and dump it into a crock pot with the avocado oil, or wait and rebatch it later by dumping it in a crock with the added avocado oil and maybe some extra liquid.

Good luck. Just a bit of advice. Don't use that Norma Coney book. It's full of misinformation and downright bad advice (adding water to lye, etc.) Any other book is better than that one.

That must be the book my roommate bought... When I started soaping she mentioned purchasing a book to start soaping, and luckily she didn't JUST read that book because she found out it had a very serious error in it after reading online. I asked her what, and she said it says to always add the water to the lye. My jaw dropped!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

One thing that find helpful is getting all of the oils out, measured and in the pot before I even think about lye. That way I know that I have my oils all sorted and don't have to worry on that front again. I can then work on the lye and the process.

Agree with Lin - put it all in a slow cooker.

 

[AlabamaBelle]

It had already started setting up before I realized the mistake. I looked at it when I got up this morning and it is hardening, which is an improvement over my first batch! I'm thinking I'll try the same recipe today but remember the avocado oil... lol

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Watch out - it is most likely lye-heavy!

You have 10% less oil than you were aiming for, so if you had a 5% superfat, you are now in a 5% superlye!

 

[AlabamaBelle]

And I'm definitely getting rid of the Norma Coney book. The more I read it in comparison with advice on here and my other books, the less I like it.

 

[Susie]

Hi! And welcome to the addiction!

A few suggestions from one newbie to another:

1. Never throw out any batch before consulting here. You can salvage almost anything with a rebatch and some wise help from these experts. And we all learn from one another's mistakes. If you have a problem batch, go ahead and post your recipe in your first post. Saves a bunch of time.

2. Never spend another cent on equipment or books until you talk to these folks.(I actually think you have already learned this, but I spent some money I did not need to, so I learned the hard way.)

3. Goodwill and the Dollar Stores are your friends. You would be surprised how cheap you can get brand new stickblenders and crockpots. And you need at least 2 stickblenders(get the second at the thrift store). It is not pretty when yours decides to stop in the middle of a batch. Stirring for hours is not my idea of fun.

 

[AlabamaBelle]

A few suggestions from one newbie to another:

1. Never throw out any batch before consulting here. You can salvage almost anything with a rebatch and some wise help from these experts. And we all learn from one another's mistakes. If you have a problem batch, go ahead and post your recipe in your first post. Saves a bunch of time.

2. Never spend another cent on equipment or books until you talk to these folks.(I actually think you have already learned this, but I spent some money I did not need to, so I learned the hard way.)

3. Goodwill and the Dollar Stores are your friends. You would be surprised how cheap you can get brand new stickblenders and crockpots. And you need at least 2 stickblenders(get the second at the thrift store). It is not pretty when yours decides to stop in the middle of a batch. Stirring for hours is not my idea of fun.

Thanks for the advice! I think I'm going to love soapmaking as soon as I get it down

 

[AlabamaBelle]

I unmolded my soap after about 32 hrs in the mold wrapped up in a towel. It came out easily but when I cut it, it was somewhat flaky, like when you cut a big block of fudge sometimes.

I would like to re-batch it and add the avocado oil that I forgot when I made it... could I melt it and do that now, while it's still soft, or do I need to let it cure and harden first?

Pictures attached....

 

[Lin]

You want to rebatch it now. The reason to wait would be to see if it wasn't zappy/Lye heavy after a few days to a week, but you know you forgot the Avocado oil and it will be Lye heavy. Water evaporates during cure, so it will be easier to melt and require less additional liquids to do it now.