Easy recipe with farm ingredients

[tatumhills]

I have made a few batches of soap so far and loving it. Now I have agreed to do a demo at a small community event and would like to show a recipe that can be made from mostly ingredients one may already have or can find locally. I tried olive oil, honey, beeswax, milk, coconut oil castor oil. Went to hard trace really fast... We'll see how it is when I use it. Any other ideas? Thanks!

 

[girlishcharm2004]

What percentage of beeswax did you use? It sounds like a disaster if you used too much. I would stick to something simple and "tried and true" for a demonstration. You will want to be able to answer the questions your audience will have.

 

[Obsidian]

Here is a nice basic slow tracing recipe.

50% lard
25% olive oil
20% coconut
5% castor

 

[dixiedragon]

I wouldn't consider beeswax a "farm ingredient" unless you are demonstrating for a lot of beekeepers. The easy farm ingredients I can think of are milk, honey, lard and tallow.

 

[tatumhills]

Well maybe I should have said garden ingredients rather than farm as many farms and gardens have bees around here, few have pigs. Pls I am vegetarian so would rather not use lard. The beeswax experiment wasn't a disaster as I was able to still pour it, I just won't mix it as much next time I used 8% which i know is quite high.

Any other recipes without lard would be greatly appreciated, thanks

 

[Susie]

Overlooking the fact that you agreed to do a demonstration without having a good, reliable recipe first, you can substitute palm oil for lard or tallow. Palm needs to have the entire container completely melted and stirred thoroughly before any is measured out as it can have settling during hardening. My strong suggestion if you do this is to pour pre-weighed amounts into smaller containers once you have it melted and stirred to avoid having to do it again each time.

I am not saying that you have to jump on the lard bandwagon, but other people who will not eat meat do use lard and tallow in soap because no animal is being killed to provide the fats. The lard and tallow are by-products of the meat industry, and would otherwise be discarded into a landfill. You have to decide what your conscience can live with, though.

 

[Dahila]

Have you checked the commercial soaps for lard or tallow? A lot of them are containing it.

 

[tatumhills]

Overlooking the fact that the demo is in September and I have plenty of time to find a suitable recipe AND that sadly this does not seem as friendly an online community are most others are, I am just looking for a lard/tallow-free recipe which features easy to find ingredients. I realise lard is a byproduct, I still choose not to use it. Thank you!

So if there is anyone friendly on here who would like to provide such a recipe, I'd like to hear from you please. Everyone else, please abstain.

 

[kchaystack]

So if there is anyone friendly on here who would like to provide such a recipe, I'd like to hear from you please. Everyone else, please abstain.

Try this:

Avocado Oil Soap - Palm Free

Another basic soap recipe that is palm free. This one contains Avocado oil and Shea Butter instead of Palm oil. I've also put in a bit of Castor oil for those bubble again...can you tell that I like bubbly soap?

Base Ingredients Grams Ounces Percentage
Avocado Oil 180 gr. 6.35 oz. 20%
Coconut Oil270 gr. 9.524 oz. 30%
Shea Butter 135 gr. 4.76 oz. 15%
Olive Oil 270 gr. 9.524 oz. 30%
Castor Oil 45 gr. 1.59 oz. 5%
Distilled Water 326.07 gr. 11.502 oz.
Lye 126.28 gr. 4.5 oz.
Water as % of Oils = 36.23; Super Fat/Discount = 5%

So if there is anyone friendly on here who would like to provide such a recipe, I'd like to hear from you please. Everyone else, please abstain.

Try this:

Avocado Oil Soap - Palm Free

Base Ingredients Grams Ounces Percentage
Avocado Oil 180 gr. 6.35 oz. 20%
Coconut Oil 270 gr. 9.524 oz. 30%
Shea Butter 135 gr. 4.76 oz. 15%
Olive Oil 270 gr. 9.524 oz. 30%
Castor Oil 45 gr. 1.59 oz. 5%


It is from this site. http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/basic-soap-recipe.html#.VXi_fPlVhBc

I would ignore the lye and water amounts and run them thru Soapcalc yourself.

If you can't find avocado oil, just increase your olive. That will increase the cure time more than likely, but I have used this recipe before and it is nice.

 

[tatumhills]

Thank you! That's lovely. I will try it out ahead of time to see how it works for me

 

[lsg]

If you are claiming the use of farm products, lard, milk, beeswax and sunflower oil come to my mind.

 

[tatumhills]

Yes, that's a good list, but I am not claiming anything. The audience are home gardeners and farmers market costumers so I was just thinking of recipes that they can make with what's on hand either in their backyard or at the local market.

 

[shunt2011]

Also, beeswax at that percentage will likely affect lather greatly and not feel that great on the skin. Will feel waxy. As others have suggested you can replace lard with palm.

People here are extremely helpful. Unfortunately, most are very protective of their recipes as we have spent a lot of hours and materials to create our recipes. And for someone to come into the forum and ask for a recipe they get their hackles up a bit.

Now, if you have a recipe and would like help tweaking it, post it and many will help out.

Also, if you do a search there are quite a few recipes that have been shared by the wonderful folks here.

Welcome to the forum. Getting an attitude off the bat isn't a good first impression nor does it make people want to help.

 

[tatumhills]

Right, not sure who's attitude we are talking about here. Anyway, I didn't realise people were protective of their recipes... Thanks for clarifying. Maybe they should have just said
I added castor oil to improve the bubbles but we'll see how it comes out.
All the recipes I have used so far are with my own goat's milk but I'd like to try other liquids such as maybe camomile tea. I'm also keen to add eggs from my birds as you can see below.
This is the recipe I tried the other day.
Beeswax 100g
Castor oil 200g
Coconut oil 900g
Olive oil 800g
Goat's milk 760g
Lye 290.39g
2 duck eggs
1 TBS honey
I only added the eggs to a small portion for color. That portion didn't trace quite so quickly, which was nice. It is curing well but still a while to go before I can try it. Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

She was referring to your attitude, in relation to Susie's comment. Which, seeing as you are demonstrating to farmers and you want them to use things that they have on hand, animal fats are perfect and Susie (a fan of lard soaps) would of course mention it. YOU are vegetarian - are THEY? You are demonstrating a recipe for THEM to use, not YOU. I would think that a group of farmers would have fairly easy access to animal fats - easier access than to palm oil and avocado oil.

People here are friendly, but are also direct. It might not be "wrap you up in a cuddle blanket", but do you want good soaping advice or a pat on the head and a kind word?

My favourite example is this - I ask on mums net for advice on which brand of chewing tobacco to give to my newborn boy. I would not actually get an answer I was looking for, but I would get very good advice - it's not what I want to hear, but people will give it regardless. Case in point:

You are still learning how to soap. If you were still learning how to drive, would you agree to teach other people how to drive, even if that course was in a few months? There will be a lot of things that you just can't answer yet, such as why certain oils work together or not in order to formulate a recipe. If someone on the course gets in to a situation that you haven't seen, can you explain what happened and how to fix it? For an instructor, a very good knowledge of the subject is vital, otherwise they are better off watching a few YouTube videos on a big screen together.

 

[Logansama]

Remember, if you're doing a demo, you want to keep it simple, not only for yourself, but for those watching. So I'd stick with a basic 4 ingredient like the one that was posted earlier.

I used to make beeswax soap all the time, the wax melts at a VERY high temperature and really amps up trace. Anything with sugars will heat your batter. Like many soapmakers, I've gone the environmental route and switched from palm to tallow and lard, I'm a farm girl and grew up that way, but I understand your avoidance of animal products. You can find palm that is supposedly ethical, just do a google search. (Brambleberry is a good source)

The Modern Soapmaking blog has quiet a few vegetarian and vegan recipes, so head over there and see if you find anything you like.

Have fun! I don't know if I'd be so brave; the last time I tried to teach someone I got so nervous I dumped the whole batch on the counter. LOL!

http://www.modernsoapmaking.com/in-the-workshop/

 

[tatumhills]

First of all, I never said I was demonstrating to farmers and in fact I am demonstrating to a group of city people with an interest in sustainability, who would likely be vegetarian or inclined that way anyway. I am actually the farmer here and I don't believe I started the attitude but I am certainly building one up now... Let's see how this goes. Don't want your blankets, thanks, just polite respectful comments.

Thank you Logansmana, for your support and kind words

[For an instructor, a very good knowledge of the subject is vital, otherwise they are better off watching a few YouTube videos on a big screen together.[/QUOTE]


I am not sure why you are so threatened by me doing a demo. I don't present myself as a soaping guru but I offer a few tips for people to get started. Then we can learn together. Also all I was hoping for was for people to respect my choice about avoiding lard, don't have to agree, just respect it. Was also hoping for respect of my choice to run a demo. I am in Australia so no completion to any of you ladies, just helping out a community centre put up an event!

Not sure why some are finding it so threatening that I have agreed to run a demo. I have just agreed to do it to help a community centre run a fun event. I am not the TEACHER, just someone to get people started then we can learn together. I was just hoping for polite responses which would respect (not agree with!) my views, being it not to use lard or to run a demo. I think I best take Loagansmama's advice and find a friendlier forum and leave you guys to your DIRECT opinion and ATTiTUDE. Thanks to the kind ones amonst you!

 

[Relle]

I don't think anyone is threatened by you for doing a demo, they have been polite, given of their time and have been helping you whether you realise it or not. You can take their valuable knowledge and use what they have given you or not - your choice. That simple. Stay and get advice or go. It would also have been nice for you to have introduced yourself when joining, instead of starting a thread straight off asking for ideas.

I'm an Australian and there are lots here, I certainly don't feel any competition from you. If you feel uncomfortable being here just go, you don't have to post you are going.

Message board Rule NO.10 that you agreed to when you signed up to be a member.

10 - "I'm leaving" posts are not allowed. Should you wish to leave the forum simply go. Go now. Leave already... just leave and don't look back.

 

[dillsandwitch]

Hi Relle Great to see another Aussie here also Where about are you located just for curiosity sakes? I'm in Newcastle

Anyway to Op if you are still here. I think the main point the others were trying to get across to you was that without a whole lot of experience in soapmaking things can go wrong and we have all seen so many inexperienced soapers jump on the bandwagon and want to make a quick buck. Now I'm not saying you fit this category at all. We have just seen people asking for recipes to whiten skin, soap that burns people being sold and just some other crazy stuff going on. Its more of a lookout for you than anyone trying to tell you off.

A good recipe to begin with is the basic 3/4 oil one:
Palm/tallow/lard (whichever you want)
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Castor (again if you want)

 

[kisha]

The Internet is a funny thing, you really can't tell the tone of the conversation until something goes south. For the record, there was nothing offensive in any of the beginning posts offering help and knowledge gathered over YEARS of experience. Yes, introducing yourself would help, but this forum is such a wealth of information that there was nothing in your question that a thorough search couldn't have answered. Also, the protectiveness of the recipes is understandable, given the time and effort of researching and experimenting that takes years to attain, and giving it away willy nilly would be a waste of that time and effort. Stating that you've chosen to host a demo at such an early stage of soap making would, undoubtedly, sound the alarms to an experienced soap maker. All it takes is one bar of poorly made soap to ruin ones perception of what real homemade soap should be, and that can damage business owners in the area. Being in Australia does not negate that effect, this is an international forum. I do applaud your desire to want a good recipe and your willingness to explore the knowledge soaping forums can give. With enough experimentation and research, you should be alright by the time you do your demo. Not nearly ready enough to teach it, IMHO, but certainly knowledgable enough to guide through the beginning stages of soap making. Good luck!
(None of this post should be taken as snark, merely information that I have garnered over the past couple of years of creating awesome shtuff!)