First practice soap recipe

[kniquy]

I have been gathering the essential tools to get started with soaping. I would like my first batch to be with using products that i have in my house (so when i screw it up i don't get too upset).

What i have so far is pure olive oil, crisco (new version) and coconut oil. I have a variety of floral essential oils (rose, freesia, gardenia) and lavender and rosemary.

Does anyone have a recipe to share using these oils?
Is there one oil that you would purchase to add to this?
is it worth adding a butter like shea to it?

I tried playing around with a calculator but i think at this point i want to experiment with the process from a basic recipe and hopefully make a successful bar of soap.

I have the soap queens book -pure soapmaking, but I don't have all the ingredients needed are probably best left to attempting after a little practice.

 

[amd]

I started with similar oils - although I had shea butter and castor oil on hand so I did use that from the start. I think it's okay for a first small batch (500g) to try equal parts of all three oils, or even something like 40% OO / 35% crisco / 20% CO and add 5% castor oil (you can get castor oil in the digestive aids section of the pharmacy). You'll find most of us recommend a low CO % because it can be drying in soap. I started with equal parts of the main three oils and small percentages of shea and castor, it was a good starting point for me to learn about oil properties and how to tweak a recipe to get what I wanted.

 

[Dennis]

30% Crisco
30% Coconut
20% Olive Oil
20% Lard
I like lard. This will give you a little harder bar and the lard will slow things a bit or just use the first three. I would play around with any recipe on soapcalc just to become familiar with soapcalc and compare with previous batches. I was not good at doing this when I started and later regretted not having that info. Now I print out soapcalc pages, including the graph, and keep it with one bar from the batch. I didn't use castor until later and now don't bother. This is all just a starting point and what is good for me or someone else may not be good for you. Have fun, your first batch will be great however you decide to use the 3 or 4 oils. I like your idea of using what is on hand. Quick and easy.
I, Dennis, keep a 4lb bucket of lard on hand at all times. I might even sneak some in the kitchen and cook a burger with it. Yum!
Just for giggles you might want to compare Crisco and WalMart Great Value Shortening on soapcalc. I like the WM GV and it saves a few pennies.

 

[Dean]

I haven't used Crisco but it is very high in linoleic acid. To use enough Crisco to provide desired hardness and insolubility, the percentage of combined lins in the soap will be over the recommended max of 15%, which has been stated to contribute to rancidity. I prefer soy wax (100% hydrogenated soy bean oil) to Crisco because its palm-free. If you want to use what you have and include a butter, I'd go with cocoa because it has higher strearic and palmitic that will provide the hardness and insolubility that your recipe needs. The recipe below will get you near the recommended fatty acid ranges with the oils that you are considering to use.

 

[lsg]

Recipe
Oil %
Crisco, new w/palm 30%
Coconut Oil, 27%
Olive Oil 20%
Shea Butter 15%
Castor Oil 8%

 

[dixiedragon]

I think the sample recipes look good. Here's my question:

"I have a variety of floral essential oils (rose, freesia, gardenia) and lavender and rosemary. "​

I don't think freesia and gardenia are available as essential oils, and rose absolute is extremely expensive, so I kind of doubt you have that. You most likely have fragrance oils (FOs), which have artificial components vs essential oils (EOs), which are all plant derived. Please read your bottles to be sure. If your bottle says 100% lavender essential oil (NOT lavender oil or lavender fragrance), I suggest you use the lavender. It is a very well behaved essential oil. You can use 2-3 tablespoons per pound of oils.

 

[dibbles]

You've had recipe suggestions, so I just want to add that your essential and/or fragrance oils are all florals, which are known for causing problems such as acceleration. I'd make your first batch unscented, or if your lavender is essential oil use that one as it is well behaved. Also, it is really important to understand how to use a lye calculator. Every recipe should be checked before using. Here's a link to a sticky in the beginners forum:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-use-soap-calc-tutorial.49627/

 

[amd]

tacking onto @dibbles advice: use a scale for accuracy! Volume measurements (tsp/tbsp) are ok for things such as salts, sugars, colors or fragrances with small batches, but for oils, water and lye you will need the accuracy of weights.