Grocery store soap challenge

[Zany_in_CO]

After posting this I heard from someone else that using real butter in soap is a bad idea and that the soap will stink.

True. Here are a couple of threads that discuss the subject:

Used Dairy Butter - Soap Stinks!
Dairy Butter & Odor

 

[KimW]

So, an average day then, eh?

The only thing I use a lot that I have to order in is mica. I'm in a similar situation to Kim in that shopping locally involves going to multiple shops, but assuming I can use our little town as my supermarket it would be:

Tallow from the butcher.
Essential oils from the chemist.
Olive oil, coconut oil both to be had in the convenience store.
Goats milk also from the convenience store, in the batter and use the container as the mould for my bonus points I guess I'll have to make a bunch of custard and bread-and-butter pudding to use up the rest of it...
I have rhubarb, weld and meadowsweet in the garden and parsley, paprika and turmeric in the spice rack so I guess I could assemble some colours from those if it's allowed!

hmmmmmm Bread and Butter Pudding... YUUUUUMMMMMMMMMM One of my favs.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

SERIOUSLY, have you used almond butter before? That's so cool! I would never think of that. I've made it many time, but to use in soap?!?!?! AWESOME!

There are two kinds of almond butter -- the one BB sells is for cosmetic use.
The one I eat lists a single ingredient: Almonds.
Here's a thread on the subject:

ALMOND BUTTER

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I’m going to make a small batch of goat milk soap with a high linoleic speciality oil like macadamia or walnut oil if my grocery store has one of them, which I think it will. It’s not cheap, but I can enjoy what I don’t use for the soap in a salad dressing. I hope to be able to find the cocoa butter in a tube in the personal care section and possibly some shea as well, but I’m not planning to make a high longevity soap, so I won’t need much. The coconut and olive oils will be easy to find, and if I’m lucky, I may find castor in the pharmacy section. I’ll adjust the recipe to have the linoleic and linolenic fatty acids at 20% of the total, which is above the 15% “safe” limit I usually aim for to avoid the risk of DOS, but I’m thinking of this as an opportunity to experiment a little. Heck, I might even try a 5% superfat, which I haven’t done since my first months of soap making. If the rules allow, I might pick up citric acid and baking soda to make some sodium citrate, which will help to protect the fragile oils in the soap. The milk container will be perfect as a mold and, unless my mood changes, I’ll add just a touch of a plant infused olive oil to a small portion of the batter to get a delicate colored swirl through the soap. I’ll be happy with whatever scent the natural soap has on it’s own. Any predictions on the scent? A little earthy/nutty?

 

[KimW]

I’m going to make a small batch of goat milk soap with a high linoleic speciality oil like macadamia or walnut oil if my grocery store has one of them, which I think it will. It’s not cheap, but I can enjoy what I don’t use for the soap in a salad dressing. I hope to be able to find the cocoa butter in a tube in the personal care section and possibly some shea as well, but I’m not planning to make a high longevity soap, so I won’t need much. The coconut and olive oils will be easy to find, and if I’m lucky, I may find castor in the pharmacy section. I’ll adjust the recipe to have the linoleic and linolenic fatty acids at 20% of the total, which is above the 15% “safe” limit I usually aim for to avoid the risk of DOS, but I’m thinking of this as an opportunity to experiment a little. Heck, I might even try a 5% superfat, which I haven’t done since my first months of soap making. If the rules allow, I might pick up citric acid and baking soda to make some sodium citrate, which will help to protect the fragile oils in the soap. The milk container will be perfect as a mold and, unless my mood changes, I’ll add just a touch of a plant infused olive oil to a small portion of the batter to get a delicate colored swirl through the soap. I’ll be happy with whatever scent the natural soap has on it’s own. Any predictions on the scent? A little earthy/nutty?

My unscented soaps made with shea and cocoa butter have a lovely nutty smell. Shea alone also has a nutty smell, but it's less pronounced. The cocoa butter seems to enhance the nutty smell to me, which has always been a surprise.

 

[VikingChick]

One of many grocery store cavity silicone molds I have is the state of Texas I got at HEB (my favorite grocery store in Texas). It has 6 individual cavities shaped like the state with a center hole to fill in later with a contrasting soap. It is a fun mold.

I have the Texas mold from H‑E‑B too! My son goes to A&M and he thinks I should make a maroon & white soap.

One of my favorite soaps that I make is a pretty simple goat milk, oatmeal, and honey soap. Oils are lard, olive, coconut. I shop at one of those big one-stop type grocery stores, so in the beauty section I can also get sweet almond oil, and in the pharmacy section I can get my beloved castor oil. I can get EOs there too, but I don’t scent this soap. As others have said, I could use the goat milk container.....or I could use the Pringles can that I washed out and stashed away “just in case“ a while back.

 

[KimW]

I have the Texas mold from H‑E‑B too! My son goes to A&M and he thinks I should make a maroon & white soap.

Those are also the colors of OU...just sayin'!

 

[linne1gi]

Is there a sign up thread for this month's challenge?

 

[dibbles]

Is there a sign up thread for this month's challenge?

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/smf-april-2021-challenge-lollipop-swirl.83525/

 

[linne1gi]

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/smf-april-2021-challenge-lollipop-swirl.83525/

Thank you!

 

[earlene]

Is there a sign up thread for this month's challenge?

For future reference, look at the top of the page for the monthly SMF Challenge links.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

For future reference, look at the top of the page for the monthly SMF Challenge links.

View attachment 55809

I don’t see that on my iPad using the Chrome or Safari browsers.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I think I'll do 20% cocoa butter, 20%CO, 10% avocado oil, 20% RBO and 30% OO all from our local supermarket. Can't do castor as my local does not have a pharmacy in it.
The water will be 50% aloe juice from my garden and 50% carrot juice ( which will add a bit of colour)
Fragrance will be either lavender or Tea Tree oils which I can get at the supermarket.
Mold: Pringles can.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Sorry and thank you.

@Tammyfarms The following posts are a fine example of a Hijack where an innocent OT (Off Topic) query can develop into a discussion -- to which I have now added my comment -- with apologies to the OP (Original Poster).

Is there a sign up thread for this month's challenge?

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/smf-april-2021-challenge-lollipop-swirl.83525/

Thank you!

For future reference, look at the top of the page for the monthly SMF Challenge links.

View attachment 55809

I don’t see that on my iPad using the Chrome or Safari browsers.

@linne1gi, No offense intended, but with OT questions it's best to start a new thread. You not only reach a larger audience, but other members may benefit from the answer as well. As it is, this query will get buried in this thread.

I think I'll do 20% cocoa butter, 20%CO, 10% avocado oil, 20% RBO and 30% OO all from our local supermarket.

If you're in, I'm in too! I found the perfect mold at breakfast this morning. I happened to have Kodiac Frozen Waffles.

The box is 3.5" W X 2.5" D X 8.5"L = Perfect for a loaf mold. I'm heading over to
SBM Calculator and Recipe Resizer
to figure the amount of oils needed for this "mold". I'll use good ole Duck Tape to reinforce it and line it with the wax paper that comes with the lard I'll be using. I'm excited! I haven't done anything like this in ages!

@FragranceGuy

for this challege! It certainly gets this old lady's juices flowing!!!

ETA: How could I forget?! When I first made soap I used Crayola Crayons to color my mostly animal fat soaps. Both our Safeway and King Soopers carry Crayolas in the kids stuff Dept.

 

[ImpKit]

So I don't have the time or the space to actually DO this challenge... but as a thought exercise it's fun!

To that end, I submit the following idea:
Liquid oils: Olive oil, peanut oil, castor oil
Hard oils: Coconut oil, cocoa butter

I'm lucky; I live in a suburb of Seattle. I have PLENTY of different grocery stores, small, large, specialty, etc., around me. But to try to stay true to the intent of the challenge, I've picked oils I can get from at least two different stores (confirmed with their online order click & pick systems).

For this challenge I think I would also pick up coffee beans and brew some cold brew from them using distilled water to use for a lye solution. My area has a lot of stores that carry essential oils so I would pick up some peppermint essential oil for fragrance. Maybe a bit of orange if they have it (I love the combination of orange and peppermint... I wonder how well peppermint, orange, and chocolate would work. Any two of those is good together...). Maybe do two batches of soap, so that one batch isn't made with coffee water and go for a white foam on top; perhaps split this and color a portion of it with cocoa powder to swirl with the coffee-lye batter for visual effect. And now I have a peppermint mocha soap!

For my mold, just plan to use a LOT of peanut oil in the future and buy the kind that comes in a giant box. Decant the rest into other containers so I can use the box as the mold.

 

[FragranceGuy]

I’m glad you all are enjoying this challenge, whether as a thought experiment or as a hands on project. I’ve learned SO much about soap from reading your posts and getting insight into how your creative minds think. I’m planning to make my grocery store batch this weekend. I know my challenge is to make the “best” soap you can from items purchased only from the grocery store, however, as a newb I think I’m going to try using some less popular oils so I can see how they behave. Maybe incorporate some canola and sunflower oils and just try to keep my linoleic below 20. Also, even though my name is FragranceGuy, I’m going to make an unscented batch because I’ve never made unscented soap and I’m curious what it will smell like. I suppose soap smell is a fragrance too Happy soaping!!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I’m planning to make my grocery store batch this weekend.

You might want to start a new thread in the Photo Gallery with your results. Then the those who want to participate in the GROCERY STORE SOAP CHALLENGE can add our efforts as time allows. It's a good thing!

 

[earlene]

I’m glad you all are enjoying this challenge, whether as a thought experiment or as a hands on project. I’ve learned SO much about soap from reading your posts and getting insight into how your creative minds think. I’m planning to make my grocery store batch this weekend. I know my challenge is to make the “best” soap you can from items purchased only from the grocery store, however, as a newb I think I’m going to try using some less popular oils so I can see how they behave. Maybe incorporate some canola and sunflower oils and just try to keep my linoleic below 20. Also, even though my name is FragranceGuy, I’m going to make an unscented batch because I’ve never made unscented soap and I’m curious what it will smell like. I suppose soap smell is a fragrance too Happy soaping!!

If you shop at a store that also sells stuff for horses, you could get some neem oil and pine tar and really experiment with some soap smell variants. Of course those aren't your traditional grocers, but we have such a store nearby where I could get all I need to make soap & a non-traditional meal for myself. (No fresh produce, though.)

 

[Zany_in_CO]

you could get some neem oil and pine tar...

Haha. Earlene, dear heart, I give you credit for creative thinking but you get a DQ for stretching the concept... as @FragranceGuy stated the challenge in Post #1:

Attention shoppers! You’ve got lye waiting for you at home, but you have no oils, additives or molds. The challenge is to make an excellent soap using at least 3 oils that can be found in virtually any grocery store. As far as additives go, none or many. You MUST pick a mold from products or containers found in the store. Bonus points if you use the contents of said container in your soap

Please give it another go. I'm certain with all your experience of soaping while being on the road you can come up with a doozie!

 

[FragranceGuy]

@Zany_in_CO Good idea, that way we won’t have to scroll through this thread to see results. I’m learning soaps and I’m learning forums

@earlene I’m not familiar with neem oil but I am familiar with pine tar because I live in the Tar Heel State (NC) When I was in elementary school we took a field trip to a location where pine tar is extracted. The fellow giving us a tour asked if anyone wanted to taste it so I volunteered WOW!! It was DISGUSTING!!! And I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth for the rest of the day So eating pine tar = bad, pine tar in soap = good. I’ll definitely check out neem and look into pine tar. So much to learn, I hope I live a long life