First time making soap -- help with recipe?

[emilyprezzie]

So I am interested in making soap. I've been reading up on it a lot and came up with a recipe (below). I want to know if these percentages are valid, and if anyone would evaluate the recipe and fix any problems with it, that would be great.

24% coconut oil
24% palm oil
24% olive oil
5% castor oil
9% canola oil
10% sunflower seed oil
1.6% peppermint essential oil
2.4% laveder essential oil


I'm confused on these percentages -- do you add in essential oils as percentages? That's the way I did them, but I wasn't sure. Also, when doing cold processed soap in bulk (I'm doing 6 pounds), how would you color them, and how much would you use? I've looked into red mica, but I'm unsure how much to use.

For this amount of soap (96 oz), the lye calculator says to use 13.7 oz of lye and 27.4 oz of water. Is this correct or did I do something wrong?

 

[emilyprezzie]

Thank you so much! That part really confused me. I'll fix it now.

 

[heartsong]

this looks like a very nice recipe, but are you sure you want to make that much soap at one time? this makes about 8.5 pounds of soap, or approx. 25+ bars of soap...perhaps reduce the size of the recipe by 50%? do you have a mold that size?

:razz: and good luck on your first batch! let us know how it turns out!

 

[emilyprezzie]

I'm making 6lbs of soap, and it's for a shop I'm setting up.

new recipe is

25% palm oil
25% olive oil
25% coconut oil
5% castor oil
10% sunflower seed oil
10% canola oil
1.2 oz of peppermint essential oil
1.8 oz of lavender essential oil
1 oz red mica

Is this ok?

 

[sistrum]

No it's not ok. Did I read this right? You don't even know how to formulate soap much less make it and this soap is for sale?

Someone with a better PC should jump in here now while I take a time out!!!!

 

[HorseCreek]

Before you even think about selling your soap, you need to make test batches, have friends and family and yourself test them out and see which ones you like, which ones last in the shower, etc. You also need to just LEARN to make it first. You might not get all the lye dissolved in your first batch. Then you sell it, and someone gets burned by the lye. That would be really really bad. I could give you a hundred more reasons to not sell your first batch, but I don't see it helping much. Just take the advice given to you and learn to make soap and test out your recipe before you even THINK about selling it. After you get recipe that you like and behaves consistently, then you can start thinking about the other things you need to do in order to sell.
As a side note, I'm pretty sure 1 oz of mica would be an awful lot for that size of batch. Mica is very lightweight and a little goes a long ways. Do you know when to add the mica? Or how to add it?

 

[Obsidian]

Personally I think your recipe its a bit too cleansing. Its cleaning number is 17 and while thats not too high, people with dry or sensitive skin might find yours too drying. I try to keep mine cleansing number at 15 max.
If you haven't yet, learn to use soapcalc http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp I also agree with learning by making smaller batches. I'm new to soaping and while mt first batch is ok and probably sellable, its not great. My other batches have had some issues, they are good soaps but nothing I could sell. It really does take practice.

 

[pamielynn]

I don't think the second one is too bad - 17 is not really a high cleansing number. But you do have two oils in there that are prone to DOS, especially for your first go-round. They are giving you a high conditioning number, but they also make for a more "fragile" soap in terms of rancidity. But you won't know until you try it.

 

[emilyprezzie]

I'm sorry, maybe I wasn't clear enough -- I don't plan on selling this particular batch! I plan on selling soap as soon as I figure out the right recipe, try out different batches, etc. I hope to have fun with making soap and hopefully in the future make a small profit. I'm sorry to have frustrated people... I'm really worthless and I was hoping to find a hobby to keep me busy and give me a purpose. I'm sorry. I won't bother you guys again.

 

[roseb]

Sorry that we got off to a bad start. Please stick around there are very knowledgeable and giving people here. Soaping is a great hobby. I'm on my 5th batch and feel that I have found a good recipe for myself. Not everyone is going to like your soap it is a very personal thing. I do agree with pamielynn about two of your oils. This first batch I made was with 30% canola and it got DOS right away. So I would recommend using either the canola or sunflower and in a lower percent. I also made the mistake of making a large 6 lb batch my first time. I'm making laundry soap with it. LOL I now test my recipes using 2 lb and am thinking about making a 1 lb mold. Good luck and please stick around. I promise you will like it here.

 

[Skatergirl46]

I'm sorry, maybe I wasn't clear enough -- I don't plan on selling this particular batch! I plan on selling soap as soon as I figure out the right recipe, try out different batches, etc. I hope to have fun with making soap and hopefully in the future make a small profit. I'm sorry to have frustrated people... I'm really worthless and I was hoping to find a hobby to keep me busy and give me a purpose. I'm sorry. I won't bother you guys again.

Please don't be discouraged by the responses about selling. Soap making is something that requires experience to do it well. The people who warned you just want to see you learn to do it correctly and safely before you sell.

Please stay and ask questions and learn. I have learned so much here and have gotten lots of tips. There are some good ones in this thread. I assure you that this is a friendly place that will help you make great soap.

It's important that we (soap makers) try to educate future soap makers so that they make a good and safe product.

I am fairly new at this myself, but feel free to ask me anything. If I know the answer I will gladly tell you.

 

[jenneelk]

Wow Sistrum - I think it's good to relax and realize some on here are new with just 4 posts (if that were me a few weeks ago I'd likely have not come back and this forum has been so helpful). Maybe try explaining things instead of being so harsh and brusque with the way you jumped on her. I feel bad for her now.. not her fault others rush to make and sell soap and now shes getting labeled as the same.

Emily this is a wonderful forum.. tool around.. search for things.. ask questions.. watch 'you tube'.. then after rearching plenty, make your first small batch. Buy a small mold somewhere play around before going big.