Allergies—Learning to Make Soap

[TurtleK]

Hello everyone,

This is my first time posting on this website. I’m pretty new here; I have been lurking for a few weeks and I’m still learning how to get around the site.

I’m wanting to learn to make my own soap. I’m really creative and love making things and I think I could have fun with it, but the main reason I have started looking into this is because my family has a lot of allergies. It has been quite difficult finding soap that we are all totally okay with. It was also kind of scary during the initial lockdowns when some of the products went out of stock... We’re so limited in what we can use, it was not a fun thing to go through...

Anyway, I have been searching the web for beginner soap making recipes and there are quite a few that use ingredients we can’t have. I’m also not sure which recipes make “good” soaps and I would like to not have to experiment a lot right out of the gate... so I was wondering if you guys could help me figure out something that could work? I have not purchased supplies yet because I would like to have a plan, so options are open.

My family’s allergies include peanuts/tree nuts (including almond and coconut), corn, soy, gluten, fish, latex (including cross reactivity to banana, mango, papaya, and shea; Avocado is fine), argan oil, apricot kernel oil, and synthetic fragrances are really hit or miss so I’d rather not use those. We also cannot use lard, as one side of our family is kosher.

I know that we are all okay with olive oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, palm oil, cocoa butter, avocado oil, beeswax. We haven’t tested tallow or castor oil. Not sure if there is anything else we could test but we are open to suggestions.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I really look forward to a response. Take care

 

[KimW]

The same thing happened to us with body care products. The happy outcome is that now everyone uses and loves my soap so much that I even get asked how much longer it will be to try a new batch. LOL
Something I did when I first discovered this forum was search for posts about the oils I'd been using, and I learned a lot about my soaps.

Soap properties are subjective and I'm sure others will chime in with some very good recipe suggestions given the oils you can use, but is your family OK with Rice Bran Oil? I ask because it's fairly inexpensive per gallon (Riceland is a USA brand) and I find it makes a very nice bar when rice water is used (again search forum for rice oil - look for user @Dawni initially).

 

[AliOop]

Welcome! I also started making soaps, almost a decade ago now, due to lots of family allergies and reactivity to many artificial fragrances. It's such a gratifying process, and since you are a creative person, I'm sure you will love it!

Since you can use both tallow and palm, those can be your primary hard soaping oils, along with some palm kernel oil to add some bubbles and a bit of cleansing power. Then add olive, high-oleic sunflower, or high-oleic safflower oil, and a small amount of castor oil for your liquid oils. Another good choice might be rice bran oil (RBO), assuming rice is on the go-list.

Start plugging these in to the soap calculator to get an idea of what properties the different oils bring to the soap. Those often are quite different than the properties for which the unsaponified oils are known.

One thing to watch is the cleansing number. Contrary to what one would think, keeping this number as low as possible is best for most people. Even a soap with a 0 cleansing number will clean your body, since the term "cleansing" in the soap calculator really refers to how much oil is stripped off your skin.

Well, that's enough for a welcome message, so I'll stop there. Hope you jump in, have fun, and show us some pictures of your soap!

 

[TurtleK]

The same thing happened to us with body care products. The happy outcome is that now everyone uses and loves my soap so much that I even get asked how much longer it will be to try a new batch. LOL
Something I did when I first discovered this forum was search for posts about the oils I'd been using, and I learned a lot about my soaps.

Soap properties are subjective and I'm sure others will chime in with some very good recipe suggestions given the oils you can use, but is your family OK with Rice Bran Oil? I ask because it's fairly inexpensive per gallon (Riceland is a USA brand) and I find it makes a very nice bar when rice water is used (again search forum for rice oil - look for user @Dawni initially).

Thank you so much for the suggestion! We have not tested Rice Bran Oil. I will look into sourcing some to see if we can tolerate it. We do have rice in our diet so hopefully it will be okay!
And thank you for linking me to Dawni’s posts. I’m reading through them, there’s quite a lot!

 

[Zing]

Welcome, welcome to the addiction adventure! I try to keep my solids to liquid oils 60:40. Olive oil is weird because while it is liquid, it makes for a hard bar. Many beginner recipes are variations on 1/3 each of olive, palm, and coconut. You can't use coconut so you'll have to substitute cocoa butter and/or tallow. I have no personal experience with animal products. Search this forum for beginner recipes.

Castor oil was a game changer for me because it supports lather, and it's unique so that there's no substitute for it. I use 4-6%, higher amounts can make for a soft bar. I do not have experience with beeswax but many here use it or soy wax but I'd keep that super low in the one digits.

I have had great results with olive oil, sunflower oil, palm oil, cocoa butter, and avocado oil.

Whatever recipe you find/use, you must run it through a lye calculator to double check your lye amount -- so you don't end up lye-heavy soap.

For your first few recipes I recommend you do not use a colorant or scent. At least for me, it was easier. There's so much to remember and it's easier to get familiar with the process without those extras.

As for supplies, thrift stores, dollar stores, and Craigslist are your friends. My main expense was the stick blender.

My rashy skin and the skin of my family has never been healthier since I started making cold process soap. I wish I'd had started decades ago and you will not look back! Keep us posted!

 

[Raeyin]

The same thing happened to us with body care products. The happy outcome is that now everyone uses and loves my soap so much that I even get asked how much longer it will be to try a new batch. LOL
Something I did when I first discovered this forum was search for posts about the oils I'd been using, and I learned a lot about my soaps.

Soap properties are subjective and I'm sure others will chime in with some very good recipe suggestions given the oils you can use, but is your family OK with Rice Bran Oil? I ask because it's fairly inexpensive per gallon (Riceland is a USA brand) and I find it makes a very nice bar when rice water is used (again search forum for rice oil - look for user @Dawni initially).

I use rice bran oil. I thought I was the weird one! It's only inexpensive if you buy it in reasonably large quantities. A gallon costs about the same as 16 ounces, if I remember correctly. Of course, the 16 ounce bottle came with a lovely label. I'm sure that explains the extra cost.

Essential oils are priced on a size basis, too. I get 4 oz bottles, and they cost a smidge more than the 1/2 oz bottles. The label looks the same, though, so I can't explain this one.

The equipment is spendy, no matter what you do. But the ingredients don't have to be. Good luck!

 

[TurtleK]

QUOTE="AliOop, post: 874056, member: 29618"]
Welcome! I also started making soaps, almost a decade ago now, due to lots of family allergies and reactivity to many artificial fragrances. It's such a gratifying process, and since you are a creative person, I'm sure you will love it!

Since you can use both tallow and palm, those can be your primary hard soaping oils, along with some palm kernel oil to add some bubbles and a bit of cleansing power. Then add olive, high-oleic sunflower, or high-oleic safflower oil, and a small amount of castor oil for your liquid oils. Another good choice might be rice bran oil (RBO), assuming rice is on the go-list.

Start plugging these in to the soap calculator to get an idea of what properties the different oils bring to the soap. Those often are quite different than the properties for which the unsaponified oils are known.

One thing to watch is the cleansing number. Contrary to what one would think, keeping this number as low as possible is best for most people. Even a soap with a 0 cleansing number will clean your body, since the term "cleansing" in the soap calculator really refers to how much oil is stripped off your skin.

Well, that's enough for a welcome message, so I'll stop there. Hope you jump in, have fun, and show us some pictures of your soap!
[/QUOTE]

Thank you so much for the feedback and for the link to the lye calculator! I have been roaming around the forums reading everything I can and playing with it. When I am plugging in different combinations of palm oil, castor oil, palm kernel oil, cocoa butter, and either olive or rice bran oil, I have been ending up with a Cleansing number between 4 and 10. Does that sound about right? The calculator’s recommendation is between 12-22, so I’m not sure if I’m doing it right.

 

[AliOop]

Yes, that sounds good. Unless you have very oily skin, keeping that cleansing number lower will feel better for your skin.

 

[TurtleK]

Welcome, welcome to the addiction adventure! I try to keep my solids to liquid oils 60:40. Olive oil is weird because while it is liquid, it makes for a hard bar. Many beginner recipes are variations on 1/3 each of olive, palm, and coconut. You can't use coconut so you'll have to substitute cocoa butter and/or tallow. I have no personal experience with animal products. Search this forum for beginner recipes.

Castor oil was a game changer for me because it supports lather, and it's unique so that there's no substitute for it. I use 4-6%, higher amounts can make for a soft bar. I do not have experience with beeswax but many here use it or soy wax but I'd keep that super low in the one digits.

I have had great results with olive oil, sunflower oil, palm oil, cocoa butter, and avocado oil.

Whatever recipe you find/use, you must run it through a lye calculator to double check your lye amount -- so you don't end up lye-heavy soap.

For your first few recipes I recommend you do not use a colorant or scent. At least for me, it was easier. There's so much to remember and it's easier to get familiar with the process without those extras.

As for supplies, thrift stores, dollar stores, and Craigslist are your friends. My main expense was the stick blender.

My rashy skin and the skin of my family has never been healthier since I started making cold process soap. I wish I'd had started decades ago and you will not look back! Keep us posted!

Haha, thank you. Though one might argue I have enough hobbies, there’s always a little space left in my craft room to try one new thing! I’m really excited, there are so many talented makers on here!

Thanks for the tip of using cocoa butter instead of coconut. Since I have no experience with tallow either, can I ask how much cocoa butter you like to add to your soaps?

After playing around with the lye calculator and reading a bunch of different posts, I’m wondering if something like this could work...
~40% Palm
~15% Cocoa Butter
~5% Castor
~40% of either olive, rice, sunflower, or a blend of two of those.

If you (or anyone else who reads this) has any feedback on that, I would really appreciate it! I don’t know what I’m doing yet.

Also, I have been reading mixed opinions of DOS with rice bran and sunflower oils. If I used them, do I need a preservative?

 

[KimW]

Isn't this place a wealth of information?! Love it.
I know some folks have, but I've never had a problem with rancidity (DOS) in my RiceBranOil soaps, even those made with 100% RBO, though I do always use the same brand. I have had rancidity with regular sunflower oil, but I think high oleic sunflower oil has a pretty good reputation in soap. I think @DeeAnna uses it with success...(?)

I'll let others chime in on the recipe percentages, because I only know about the few oils I've used the many years before finding SMF.

 

[DeeAnna]

Yep, I use HO sunflower as my main high oleic oil for making soap -- been using it for, oh, maybe 3 years now. I also use it for cooking. It seems to have a fairly long shelf life, although I also add ROE (rosemary oleoresin) to the fat right when I buy it as extra insurance.

 

[Zing]

You are getting close but not quite there yet -- cocoa butter and castor levels are fine, reduce palm to 33 or below. These are 2 helpful links. This one is about recommended amounts of various oils -- scroll to the bottom for a handy chart:
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...s-guide-to-soapmaking-common-soapmaking-oils/This one has advice on tweaking a beginner's recipe:
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/formulating-cold-process-recipes/

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Lots of good advice so far. I would suggest high oleic safflower oil or high oleic sunflower oil, instead of rice bran oil. Just because they are less prone to rancidity and DOS (dark orange spots) and the safflower oil is not expensive, you can get 32ozs on Amazon for $9. I personally don't like olive oil but if you use be sure to remember that the more olive oil you use, the longer it takes to cure.

 

[cmzaha]

I will also add there is no way around testing. You have to keep in mind the properties of oils change in soap especially if you keep the superfat low, your are washing with soap not the oil itself. I have severe latex allergies to many "natural" items such as EO's and find most synthetic FO's work fine in soap for me. I do have issues with a few Fragrances in my deodorant sticks so do not use fo's in them. I can use high Shea Butter soap but cannot use shea butter straight on my skin and absolutely cannot use a shea butter lip balm, which will send me straight to emergency. You simply cannot take someone else's recipe and depend on it working for you or your family members with allergies. Test Test Test.

 

[TurtleK]

Lots of good advice so far. I would suggest high oleic safflower oil or high oleic sunflower oil, instead of rice bran oil. Just because they are less prone to rancidity and DOS (dark orange spots) and the safflower oil is not expensive, you can get 32ozs on Amazon for $9. I personally don't like olive oil but if you use be sure to remember that the more olive oil you use, the longer it takes to cure.

Thank you for chiming in! I have to test if rice bran oil will be okay for us or not, but I know we have used some sunflower and safflower oil soaps that we liked. I have been on the fence about olive oil because we tried a commercial 100% olive oil soap before and the texture was...interesting. There were mixed feelings about it in our household. But I’m not sure how it would feel as a percentage of total oils so...we shall see!

 

[TurtleK]

You are getting close but not quite there yet -- cocoa butter and castor levels are fine, reduce palm to 33 or below. These are 2 helpful links. This one is about recommended amounts of various oils -- scroll to the bottom for a handy chart:
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...s-guide-to-soapmaking-common-soapmaking-oils/This one has advice on tweaking a beginner's recipe:
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/formulating-cold-process-recipes/

Thank you for these links—they have been bookmarked!
I took some time reading those pages and using the calculator again and I’m wondering what you would try.
You mentioned in your last post that you aim for about a 60/40 split between hard and liquid oils. If I reduce the palm to 33% and keep the cocoa butter and castor at 15% and 5% respectively, would you try to make up for the difference by adding another hard oil to the recipe or by increasing the liquid oils from 40% to 47%? I’m not sure if that’s close enough or if that might be too much.

 

[Zing]

While olive oil is liquid, it makes for a hard bar. You could try it at 33%.

 

[cmzaha]

Haha, thank you. Though one might argue I have enough hobbies, there’s always a little space left in my craft room to try one new thing! I’m really excited, there are so many talented makers on here!

Thanks for the tip of using cocoa butter instead of coconut. Since I have no experience with tallow either, can I ask how much cocoa butter you like to add to your soaps?

After playing around with the lye calculator and reading a bunch of different posts, I’m wondering if something like this could work...
~40% Palm
~15% Cocoa Butter
~5% Castor
~40% of either olive, rice, sunflower, or a blend of two of those.

If you (or anyone else who reads this) has any feedback on that, I would really appreciate it! I don’t know what I’m doing yet.

Also, I have been reading mixed opinions of DOS with rice bran and sunflower oils. If I used them, do I need a preservative?

With 40% palm be aware it will be a fast-moving recipe.

Can you use Palm Kernel Oil? You have nothing to add any lather to this recipe. Castor will support lather/bubbles but does not lather on its own. If you cannot use PKO I would lower nix the Cocoa Butter, lower the Palm to 35, and add in 20% Tallow or another would be to try this although your bubbly factor is still really low at 8. You do not need the Cocoa Butter because the recipe is hard enough without it.

Tallow 35%
Palm 30%
Liquid Oil 30%
Castor 5%
superfat 3%

 

[TurtleK]

With 40% palm be aware it will be a fast-moving recipe.

Can you use Palm Kernel Oil? You have nothing to add any lather to this recipe. Castor will support lather/bubbles but does not lather on its own. If you cannot use PKO I would lower nix the Cocoa Butter, lower the Palm to 35, and add in 20% Tallow or another would be to try this although your bubbly factor is still really low at 8. You do not need the Cocoa Butter because the recipe is hard enough without it.

Tallow 35%
Palm 30%
Liquid Oil 30%
Castor 5%
superfat 3%

We can use Palm Kernel. Thanks for the tallow recommendation. I may or may not have access to some local tallow in the next month or so—we shall see. Taking note of your recipe for then In the mean time I’d be open to buying some Palm and Palm Kernel oil. How much of it would you recommend for lather?

 

[AliOop]

Palm kernel oil (PKO) will give you bubbles, whereas palm oil (PO) makes for a harder bar.

Most people like to keep PKO at 20% or less, since it is very "cleansing" in soap. That refers to how much oil it strips off your skin. So, contrary to the soap calculator, most people want their cleaning number to be 15 or lower. Even if the soap has a cleansing number of 0 it will clean your body.

Carolyn (cmzaha) gave you a nice recipe above. I did read your other thread where you are hoping to use all hard fats and butters, no liquid oils, and no animal fats. That's a pretty tall order. If you are willing to use a little rice bran oil, refined olive oil, or HO sunflower, that will help a lot. Bars with just a little bit of liquid oil in them feel nothing like a 100% olive oil bar, I promise!

You could try a high-butter bar, something like:

30% palm
25% shea butter
20% PKO
10% cocoa butter
10% rice bran oil /refined olive oil / HO sunflower oil
5% castor oil

I would also add 1 T sugar PPO to increase the bubbles. Dissolve it in your water before adding the lye.

This recipe will move fast due to the ingredients and the fact that you will need them a little hotter than most liquid oils, in order to keep them melted. So, you will melt everything together, stir in the sugar-lye solution, give a few very short bursts (3-5 seconds) with the stick blender, then pour into your mold.

I'd suggest plain cavity molds if you have them, since this will also harden fast. If you do use a loaf mold, you will have to keep an eye on it to make sure you cut it before it is too hard. That may be in just a few hours, unlike many soaps that need 12-48 hours to harden.

ETA: this will need a good long cure - 4 weeks will probably not be enough to get a nice lather. You can certainly begin testing them sooner, but I'd be willing to bet that this bar would feel much nicer at 8-10 weeks.