Different recipe

[Kittish]

To my mind at least, these experimental batches should be about more than just using up what you have on hand -- it's a learning opportunity -- the challenge is to formulate the best soap possible given the oils you have on hand. Yes?

It is more than just 'using up'. My goal is to make good soap. Currently, that goal is modified by the clause 'that uses oils I have that I won't otherwise use, so that they don't just sit in the cabinet until they're rancid and I throw them away.'

I learn from every batch I make. Currently, about half the soap I've got won't ever even be seen by anyone but you guys, and won't ever be used by anyone but me because it's only 'meh'. So, I'm also trying out different recipes and proportions trying to find combinations I like while I try out various techniques and discover where I need lots and lots more practice.

I post my potential recipes here, looking for exactly the kind of feedback I'm getting, and also getting ideas for other recipes to try. My 'to make' list is longer than my 'made' list. By a long shot, and it gets worse with every new recipe.

 

[BattleGnome]

Uh oh... if all you're looking at is the Cleansing Value then you may be missing out on all that SoapCalc provides.

I know I'm missing a lot but I go mostly by skin feel for my end product. Attached is a recipe with the oils I use, but I am playing with the coconut and Shea proportions so the numbers do change. I think averaging around 50% olive is what helps manage the DOS for me.

I have played with lard and some other oils, they're good but this is better for me.

 

[earlene]

Kittish, I am suddenly envisioning you living in a tiny house.

Bear with me. I live in a large house by many people's standards, though surely not huge. There have been times I have thought I'd really like to go back to living small again, and maybe even try a tiny house. But since I started making soap, I have found myself wondering 'How would I manage in a tiny house if I wanted to maintain this hobby?'

 

[Kittish]

Kittish, I am suddenly envisioning you living in a tiny house.

Bear with me. I live in a large house by many people's standards, though surely not huge. There have been times I have thought I'd really like to go back to living small again, and maybe even try a tiny house. But since I started making soap, I have found myself wondering 'How would I manage in a tiny house if I wanted to maintain this hobby?'

Our house isn't tiny, by any means. But I have several crafts and hobbies, and each of those claims a chunk of the space available. I do leather working, lots of baking and cooking (with the gadgetry that goes with it), making soap, indoor gardening, tabletop gaming, and of course the bookshelves crammed along any otherwise empty section of wall.

I've got acres of counter top in my kitchen, but I'd trade half of it for a walk in pantry in a heartbeat. Food storage eats up about half of my cabinets. I managed to clear out most of one cabinet to use for soap ingredients (it's lockable, and since I have smallish people here regularly, I really want to keep the lye locked up).

 

[cmzaha]

Have you tried almond oil? I know some people might have allergies to it but I've had fantastic feedback that it is better than Avocado oil.

I also like Almond Oil. Even though almonds are not nuts people with nut allergies seem to think they are, of course peanuts are not nuts either

Uh oh... if all you're looking at is the Cleansing Value then you may be missing out on all that SoapCalc provides. My memory fails me... I'm not sure if you've had problems with DOS or not, but a low cleansing value can also create problems with the final soap if you're not taking into account the rest of the Soap Qualities and Fatty Acid profiles as well. JMHO :smile: Please read on...

Now I am confused, why would a low cleansing number be a problem? The only issue I find is the supperfatting of the low cleansing soap. I find superfat at 2%, in soapcalc, works well in a low cleansing soap. Many of my soaps are a low cleansing soap, changing cleansing numbers on soaps aimed to men. What happens with a higher superfat is it can be a little harder to rinse off in the low cleansing number, but that is just me. I am talking a number from 8-10. I always add sugar to help bubbles

 

[Kittish]

Tonight I made a double batch of the first recipe in this thread. I mixed in shavings from excess soap from another batch with a similar recipe. About half the shavings were mostly white, with touches of other colors, the other half were mostly colored, with small amounts of white. One batch was left uncolored, and got the colored shavings mixed in. The other batch I colored with pink ultramarine (then decided to use orange in the fragrance and instead of leaving the pink out, kind of went on autopilot following the recipe...I really hope the color mellows to a nice melon or peach) and mixed the mostly white shavings into.

I'm going to try Obsidian's suggestion next, unscented and colored with indigo. I'll steep indigo powder in boiling distilled water the day before, then use that water to make my lye solution, see what color I wind up with. (Measure out water for soap, strain what's left to get the powder, add 1/4 teaspoon of the powder to the water for the soap, add lye.)

Edit: changed my mind about color...