Complete beginner

[SoapNoobs]

I saw a ad on instagram called Dr. Squatch and i think it’s cool getting to make your own soap and wanted to give it a try.
i’m about to buy the lye, silicone mold, and some oils, but one thing that completely confuses me is how do i get exact measurements to fill my silicone container? I’m going with 42 OZ mold, olive oil, jojoba oil, castor oil and shea butter but how do i find perfect percentage of each without making soap too hard or soft? Because I don’t want my bar gone in 3 uses or hard with no lather.
If anyone could help me with this i would greatly appreciate it.

I use bramble berry soap calculator which helps but i have no clue how many oz of each to put in each box. They say you can use 100% olive oil but would be too slippery and soft so whats good ratio for each?

 

[AliOop]

Hi SoapNoobs,

I love jojoba oil, but I don't recommend using it for soap. It's expensive, and best saved for lotions that absorb into your skin, rather than a soap that is quickly washed off. You'd be better off starting with something like:

35% Olive oil
30% palm oil or lard
20% coconut oil
10% shea butter
5% castor oil

I'd recommend setting your Superfat to 3%. Then select "Lye Concentration" and set it to 33%.

That is a decent basic soap recipe for beginners. Enter the percentages for each oil into the SoapMakingFriend lye calculator. Then enter the dimensions of your mold, and select "Resize recipe to fit mold."

The calculator will provide you with the amounts for each oil, as well as the correct amount of water and lye.

HTH, and happy soaping!

 

[cmzaha]

While I would like AliOops recipe above other than the 20% CO I would use a 30% "Lye Concentration" just to give you a little more working time. With 30% Palm and 10% Shea Butter the batter could move a titch fast. If you use lard or replace the Shea with lard you will slow down the tracing time giving you lots of working time and have a very nice bar of soap that will last well.

Just a little note about Jojoba oil, it is really a wax, not an oil, and I fully agree do not waste it in soap it will really not bring anything to your soap.

 

[AliOop]

Good point, @cmzaha I am so used to soaping at 40% (and with lard instead of palm) that 33% water seems high to me, but it really isn't.

I know you know that my personal recipes are different than what I'm suggesting here, but for beginners these are easy oils to find, easy percentages, and will still make decent soap. Once the soap bug bites, then it's game on.

 

[SoapNoobs]

Hi SoapNoobs,

I love jojoba oil, but I don't recommend using it for soap. It's expensive, and best saved for lotions that absorb into your skin, rather than a soap that is quickly washed off. You'd be better off starting with something like:

35% Olive oil
30% palm oil or lard
20% coconut oil
10% shea butter
5% castor oil

I'd recommend setting your Superfat to 3%. Then select "Lye Concentration" and set it to 33%.

That is a decent basic soap recipe for beginners. Enter the percentages for each oil into the SoapMakingFriend lye calculator. Then enter the dimensions of your mold, and select "Resize recipe to fit mold."

The calculator will provide you with the amounts for each oil, as well as the correct amount of water and lye.

HTH, and happy soaping!

Thank you for the help, and i like that calculator better as it’s easier for me to use. The ingredients in percentage you put only came up to 90% so i added on a little. I took screenshots of my results which i hope everything is good to go.

 

[SoapNoobs]

I’m making this for my mom, she wants a lavender and eucalyptus oil. Total recipe calls for 24.43 grams of total fragrance oil
What ratio would be best with lavender and eucalyptus?

 

[TheGecko]

I’m going with 42 OZ mold.....

Welcome to the rabbit hole and NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

As a beginner soap maker, I HIGHLY recommend you starting with a 4" Silicone Loaf Mold (currently on sale). That's 396.89 g of oils and 12.3 g of scent; 578.55 g total batch weight, it will give you four-144.63 g bars to start with. My recommendation is based on starting with a mold that held 50 oz total and the many times I wasted ingredients because of failures. I then got smart and bought a couple 4" molds and always use them when testing new colorants, new scents, new recipes.

As noted by others, Jojoba Oil (wax) is a waste of money in soap as are other expensive oils and butters for three good reason:. 1) Soap is a wash on/wash off product and isn't on your skin for more than five or ten minutes...not nearly enough time to gain any benefit from those ingredients. 2) Sodium Hydroxide is a caustic substance and will destroy the majority of any 'benefit' a particular oil or butter. 3) Saponification...it's the process that turns fats (oils and butters) and lye into soap. So while say...Argan Oil may be silky and moisturizing and packed with Vitamins E and A, once it goes through the saponification process, it's not not Argan Oil any more, it's soap.

@AliOop recipe is good though (similar ingredients to mine), but if you are going to use Palm Oil, I would drop it to 20% and go with 45% Olive Oil to give you a high percentage of Soft Oils to work with starting out. If you use Lard, the recipe is fine as Lard doesn't trace as fast.

Again, start with a smaller mold to see if you even like soap making.

 

[SoapNoobs]

Welcome to the rabbit hole and NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

As a beginner soap maker, I HIGHLY recommend you starting with a 4" Silicone Loaf Mold (currently on sale). That's 396.89 g of oils and 12.3 g of scent; 578.55 g total batch weight, it will give you four-144.63 g bars to start with. My recommendation is based on starting with a mold that held 50 oz total and the many times I wasted ingredients because of failures. I then got smart and bought a couple 4" molds and always use them when testing new colorants, new scents, new recipes.

As noted by others, Jojoba Oil (wax) is a waste of money in soap as are other expensive oils and butters for three good reason:. 1) Soap is a wash on/wash off product and isn't on your skin for more than five or ten minutes...not nearly enough time to gain any benefit from those ingredients. 2) Sodium Hydroxide is a caustic substance and will destroy the majority of any 'benefit' a particular oil or butter. 3) Saponification...it's the process that turns fats (oils and butters) and lye into soap. So while say...Argan Oil may be silky and moisturizing and packed with Vitamins E and A, once it goes through the saponification process, it's not not Argan Oil any more, it's soap.

@AliOop recipe is good though (similar ingredients to mine), but if you are going to use Palm Oil, I would drop it to 20% and go with 45% Olive Oil to give you a high percentage of Soft Oils to work with starting out. If you use Lard, the recipe is fine as Lard doesn't trace as fast.

Again, start with a smaller mold to see if you even like soap making.

Soap supplies are going great, found absolutely no palm oil

 

[Babyshoes]

To add to what's already been said, you don't need to buy another mould if you've already got a large one - you can improvise with either a study cardboard box or a plastic tub like a margarine tub etc. Line it with freezer or baking paper.

 

[SoapNoobs]

To add to what's already been said, you don't need to buy another mould if you've already got a large one - you can improvise with either a study cardboard box or a plastic tub like a margarine tub etc. Line it with freezer or baking paper.

I haven’t bought that yet, just trying to get oils first and i just ordered lye half hour ago.

 

[SoapNoobs]

I haven’t bought that yet, just trying to get oils first and i just ordered lye half hour ago.

I can’t find any palm oil anywhere not even amazon

 

[AliOop]

I can’t find any palm oil anywhere not even amazon

Since you are in Canada, try Windy Point Soap Supplies. They show palm in stock here: Palm Oil - No Stir, Sustainable

They also have the smaller silicone loaf molds, which might make the shipping more palatable. Otherwise, if you can get this on Amazon.CA, this mold is a great one since it comes with dividers:

https://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Div...soap+mold+with+dividers&qid=1625952439&sr=8-4

 

[SoapNoobs]

Since you are in Canada, try Windy Point Soap Supplies. They show palm in stock here: Palm Oil - No Stir, Sustainable

They also have the smaller silicone loaf molds, which might make the shipping more palatable. Otherwise, if you can get this on Amazon.CA, this mold is a great one since it comes with dividers:

https://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Div...soap+mold+with+dividers&qid=1625952439&sr=8-4

So i went to website and added palm oil (thank you by the way) and 39 total oz rectangle molds which holds 6 bars. But i ran into problem, the total batch says 56 Oz but mold only 39 so that’s too much and won’t fit.

 

[KiwiMoose]

So i went to website and added palm oil (thank you by the way) and 39 total oz rectangle molds which holds 6 bars. But i ran into problem, the total batch says 56 Oz but mold only 39 so that’s too much and won’t fit.

Change your recipe in the soap calculator
Oh and EOcalc is a good resource for working out percentages of Eos

 

[AliOop]

Yes, what @KiwiMoose said... you can change your batch size. Or you can buy more molds, or use common household items (Tupperware, etc.) for molds.

Edited: here is a pic of the spot in the calculator where you can change the amount of your oils total. Just double-check that the mold size is referring to the total batch, and not just the oils. Many soap supply places refer to oil weight in their mold descriptions.

 

[SoapNoobs]

Yes, what @KiwiMoose said... you can change your batch size. Or you can buy more molds, or use common household items (Tupperware, etc.) for molds.

Edited: here is a pic of the spot in the calculator where you can change the amount of your oils total. Just double-check that the mold size is referring to the total batch, and not just the oils. Many soap supply places refer to oil weight in their mold descriptions.

View attachment 59280

I think i got it!

 

[SoapNoobs]

Did my first batch today, messed up first time matching lye water and oil temperature which took little bit to fix but then when they both hit 120 F i mixed them. I was using whisk which took forever so i pulled out electric mixer and it thin traced in 10 seconds. I added it to the molds and i had recipe set for 4 bars but ended up getting 3 and 1/3 of a bar so not sure I screwed measurements up or mold bigger than I thought.

 

[SoapNoobs]

Did my first batch today, messed up first time matching lye water and oil temperature which took little bit to fix but then when they both hit 120 F i mixed them. I was using whisk which took forever so i pulled out electric mixer and it thin traced in 10 seconds. I added it to the molds and i had recipe set for 4 bars but ended up getting 3 and 1/3 of a bar so not sure I screwed measurements up or mold bigger than I thought.

I should’ve done plastic wrap better but not home so can’t fix it

 

[AliOop]

Good job, they look nice! What probably happened is that your molds may have been listed by oil weight, not total batch weight. Also, most of us lose at least some batter to the bowl, the spatula, the stick-blender, etc. You don't notice it much for bigger batches, but for small ones, it can make a difference. Anyway, you can bump up the batch size next time and see how it goes.

For future, you don't need to worry about matching the lye temp exactly to the oil temp. If your lye is a lot cooler than your oils, it can sometimes cause false trace; that where it looks like the batter has emulsified or traced, but it is really just the fats clumping up because they got cold. But other than that, no need to be too concerned about matching temps.

I also have a hard time with plastic wrap making wrinkles on the top of my soap. Plus, I hate things that cost me money over and over again. I've started using the thin cutting mats from the Dollar Store to cover my soap molds. They don't make wrinkles; I can turn the molds over on the mats to take the soaps out; and then I can wash the mats and put them away for next time.

 

[SoapNoobs]

Good job, they look nice! What probably happened is that your molds may have been listed by oil weight, not total batch weight. Also, most of us lose at least some batter to the bowl, the spatula, the stick-blender, etc. You don't notice it much for bigger batches, but for small ones, it can make a difference. Anyway, you can bump up the batch size next time and see how it goes.

For future, you don't need to worry about matching the lye temp exactly to the oil temp. If your lye is a lot cooler than your oils, it can sometimes cause false trace; that where it looks like the batter has emulsified or traced, but it is really just the fats clumping up because they got cold. But other than that, no need to be too concerned about matching temps.

I also have a hard time with plastic wrap making wrinkles on the top of my soap. Plus, I hate things that cost me money over and over again. I've started using the thin cutting mats from the Dollar Store to cover my soap molds. They don't make wrinkles; I can turn the molds over on the mats to take the soaps out; and then I can wash the mats and put them away for next time.

I’m gonna check on sizing for molds, not a big deal but I’m just working on tracing and making sure bars come out normal And not messed up. Also not to worried with plastic wrap it just would of made it alot better looking. Definitely will look at those mats for the future. And i just got home and took a peak at them and they are harding not oily.