Help me figure out Christmas gifts, please?

[Catastrophe]

Hi all,

Been a member for years, but haven't been in a position to make soap, so I just lurk now and then and live vicariously through the forums. I last made soap about 10 years ago :cry:

Finally settled and would like to make some things for Christmas. I'm looking to make:

30-40 lip balms (I'm thinking some kind of winter flavor or unflavored)
30-40 lip scrubs (one flavor for all)
15 lotion bars (one scent, or unscented)
60-100 bars of CP soap (2-3 scents for all of these)
1 salve for someone who has to wash their hands a lot

We are in upstate NY, about 2 hours from Ottawa, ON and Syracuse, NY, but our area is pretty rural.

I am not at all opposed to lard in CP but I'm having a hard time finding it locally. Sam's doesn't have it, haven't checked Aldi or Save a Lot yet.

Could anyone suggest what butters and oils I should get to make these items without going broke? I cannot locate my old recipes right now, they're still packed somewhere, but I remember my main oil was RBO back then.

I'm looking to make a decent bar of soap and lip scrub, and I'm looking for the lip balm, lotion bars, and salve to be awesome in a long, cold winter.

I'd appreciate any advice or guidance. I used to know all the fabulous oil and butter properties, but I seem to have forgotten them. Also would like a recommendation on a good site to get the FOs/flavor oils in one shot. I would *really* like a recommendation of a good wine scent for one of the soap fragrances.

Sorry this is a bit disjointed, I've been Googl'ing for hours and it's all running together now :shock:

 

[Susie]

Sam's does not carry lard, but Walmart does.

Here is where I buy my oils:

Sam's- Olive Oil (the yellow Daily Chef one so it does not discolor my soaps) I have bought my coconut oil there until just recently when I bought Amazon Prime, so I will be buying mine from Amazon (MUCH cheaper this way):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A2A88ZW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Walmart-Lard and Castor Oil. I now see that castor oil is much cheaper on Amazon, also. So that is another thing I can order.

I would be guilty of pricing all other oils on Amazon, also, before buying locally if I were you. I bought beeswax and soy wax from Amazon when I was making lip balms (buy the pastilles, save yourself the time).

Hope that helps!

 

[Guspuppy]

If you have a Big Lots near you, check there for oils. Sometimes they have gallons of coconut oil for $12!

 

[lsg]

Soap Queen, Swiftcraftymonkey and Nature's Garden all are good places to find recipes.

 

[dixiedragon]

Here's my fav lip balm recipe:
60 grams of beeswax
75 grams Shea butter
45 grams Cocoa Butter, White Odorless
120 grams Avocado Oil
0.5 grams Peppermint Essential Oil
0.5 grams Spearmint Essential Oil

https://www.thesage.com/recipes/recipe-exec/.State/Display/id/200

It's from Majestic Mountain Sage. They have lots of other recipes as well.

I can occasionally find beeswax at farmer's markets.

You may also consider ordering a kit:
https://www.brambleberry.com/Kits-and-Samplers-C203.aspx

It will have everything you need.

ETA: If you don't want to order online, I've seen sticks of cocoa butter - usually Queen Helene brand - at Publix and at Fred's Discount in the skincare section.

 

[Susie]

ETA: If you don't want to order online, I've seen sticks of cocoa butter - usually Queen Helene brand - at Publix and at Fred's Discount in the skincare section.

Also at Family Dollar and Dollar General Stores.

 

[BattleGnome]

I second the kit idea. You'll know that you're starting with recipes that work and can adjust as much as you want for customization. The right kit will also have a "free" mold or a general discount over purchasing the ingredients separately.

Wholesale Supplies Plus has some great recipes. I tend to get my lip balm flavors at Elements Bath and Body, no particular reason it's just where I end up.

 

[dixiedragon]

BB has a kit that includes a scale and a mold - the Beginner's natural soap kit. All you provide - literally - is some bowls, water, a spoon and the stick blender.

 

[lenarenee]

If Wal mart ships, and it's usually inexpensive or free.

 

[Catastrophe]

Thank you for the all the suggestions, I'm reading on my phone and will reply when I have time to sit longer at the computer this afternoon. Thank you!!

 

[Susie]

There is a Walmart in Syracuse, I checked. One big shopping trip, and he/she can get their oils, stickblender, bowls, spatula, spoons, and a halfway decent scale. One big order from Brambleberry or one of the other suppliers, they can get molds, lip balm tubes, a lip balm filling tray, flavors, etc. And it is already the third week of October. They have no time to spare. Make the soap first, so it can be curing.

 

[dixiedragon]

I agree with Susie.

But just FYI,
https://www.brambleberry.com/Natural-Soap-Kit-for-Beginners-P6607.aspx

This kit includes a mold (their 10 inch silicone mold, I love it) and a good scale.

 

[Susie]

Do that ^, also order a second mold, scents (you will need about 0.5 oz PPO), sodium hydroxide.

Then go buy lard, olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil, distilled water, gloves, goggles, stick blender (get one with a stainless steel bell and shaft that can be detached from the motor-you will thank me later) from Sam's/Walmart. Go to the dollar store (Dollar Tree if you have one), get plastic long handled spoons, spatulas. Go to the local hardware store and buy those plastic paint cups with a 5 on the bottom in the 32 and 64 oz sizes. You may want to get some of the 8 oz ones for colors.

After you get that kit and supplies on the way, you will need to price some kits for the other products you want to make with some spare supplies.

Then make the soap first. Cure can't be rushed.

 

[Catastrophe]

I apologize in advance for the long post!

I have a scale, my stick blenders, and most of my pots/utensils from when I made soap before. I can't find my molds :-( Worst case, I could use PVC, but I really hate round soaps. I was looking at these molds on Amazon, anyone have experience with them?

I absolutely don't mind ordering online (I actually prefer it, until I see shipping costs on oils lol) I used to get my RBO locally from an Asian restaurant, I would buy about 10-15 5-ish gallon jugs at a time and I would buy my lye locally in 50lb bags. Anyway, just trying to find local supplies of some stuff to avoid shipping if I can. I'll check lard at Walmart! I have a few jugs of Sam's yellow OO I accidentally bought, so I should be covered for the OO at least. I did get a lot of my other oils and butters from Soaper's Choice before, but just the minimum there is about $200, so I was hoping to source some locally and not have to buy quite so much. (I was thinking coconut oil, lard, cocoa butter, shea butter, RBO, and palm oil from them, but I guess if I use lard I won't need the palm, I'd forgotten it was the hard oil.)

I have looked at BB's kits, but I'm just not sure how to tell how good the recipe is or how much some of them will make. (I guess I could add up the oils and figure it out, but I can't remember how much weight the soap loses as it cures lol)

So now I'm thinking:

Soap
Lard - Walmart
Coconut - Amazon
Avocado - SC
Almond - SC
Castor - Amazon

Balm/lotion bar/lip scrub/salve
Cocoa Butter - SC
Shea Butter - SC
Beeswax - Amazon
Sunflower - local, if I use it

Does anyone use emu oil anymore? I used to make a healing salve with emu from a recipe I got on soap forums that was amazing. I don't have the recipe right now, but I was thinking for the one salve maybe some emu in it would be good?

How is the BB lip balm base? (Either/both) Is it a good moisturizing one for winter?

(It dawned on me earlier I can figure out the other stuff while the soap stuff is on the way, I see a few of you had the same thought LOL. I've got until about mid-December for curing, and the humidity is fairly low in my house, so hopefully it will be ready)

I'm planning to use the recipe in this thread, any reason I *shouldn't* use it? Or a decent recipe with lard/coconut/olive/castor to share? I will order sodium lactate with my FOs.
50% lard
20% coconut
15% avocado
10% almond
5% castor

I think I want an OMH (possibly with oatmeal in it), a lavender ??? type (I hate lavender, but I know at least 2 of the people like it), and I would love a good wine (mulled wine, maybe?) FO for the 3rd set. Any tried and true FOs to recommend?

And, last but not least, I can't remember exactly how much weight soap loses in curing. I roughly calculated 400oz of oils for 100 3.5oz bars, is that even close or do I need to plan more oil? (Plus some for a test batch or screw up) Need to figure out how much of the oils I can't get locally to order and also how much FOs to order.

Thanks so much for the assistance, I'm so excited at the thought of making soap again!!! *eta* I suck horribly at lining molds, but I still have my miter box and such for cutting loaves. When I had to give up soapmaking before, I was using some fabulous slab molds with blue silicone liners that had "ridges" for each bar...made cutting so easy and NO LINING LOL.

 

[mx5inpenn]

I'm planning to use the recipe in this thread, any reason I *shouldn't* use it? Or a decent recipe with lard/coconut/olive/castor to share? I will order sodium lactate with my FOs.
50% lard
20% coconut
15% avocado
10% almond
5% castor

I think I want an OMH (possibly with oatmeal in it), a lavender ??? type (I hate lavender, but I know at least 2 of the people like it), and I would love a good wine (mulled wine, maybe?) FO for the 3rd set. Any tried and true FOs to recommend?

That recipe will be great! My go-to is very close to that.

I really like NG's OMH. I use it with actual oatmeal, milk and honey.

For some cheap molds that you don't have to order, you might want to look at dollar tree. I bought a few drawer organizers there a few months ago that hold about 3 lbs. They do have to be lined, but for $1 each I figured that wasn't too bad. They also are not quite vertical on the sides, but i just trim a tiny bit when I cut the bars.

 

[doriettefarm]

If you're undecided about ordering from Brambleberry, I would suggest checking out Nurture Soap. They have awesome molds with silicone liners that come in pretty much any size you could want. I love mine and wouldn't trade them for anything! Also love their micas and FOs . . . shipping is fast and customer service is top notch. Many of their FOs are Lush dupes and my latest fave is the Yuzu & Cocoa . . . it really smells edible and does not discolor your soap. They also have an OMH but I haven't tried it.

If you decide to go with BB, I love the Chipotle Caramel FO. If you're looking for a Lavender blend, their Lavender & Cedar is a really nice unisex scent and so is Tobacco & Bay Leaf. Neither of those will discolor and seem to stick well in CP soap. I'm also a huge lard fan so your proposed recipe gets a big thumbs up from me!

 

[BattleGnome]

I look at mold size before oil weight for my bar size.

For example: I usually use an 8" long mold that holds 2# of batter. 1" bars fit nicely in my hands and I don't really care about all my bars looking "perfect." If you want "perfect" bars you might want to plan cutting off the ends for your use and get 7 pretty bars from a batch. Then mathing it out 2# = 32oz. 32/8 = 4oz bars before cure. Depending on lye concentration that can easily be 25oz of oils for me. I tend to overestimate my oils when I can and always have a spare cavity mold on hand for overflow.

 

[lenarenee]

Yes, I have 3 of those molds, box and silicone liner and I absolutely love them!!! Love the size of bar it makes too. Makes 9 1 to 1.25 is bars of soap after trimming the edges.

 

[Dahila]

Sam's does not carry lard, but Walmart does.

Here is where I buy my oils:

Sam's- Olive Oil (the yellow Daily Chef one so it does not discolor my soaps) I have bought my coconut oil there until just recently when I bought Amazon Prime, so I will be buying mine from Amazon (MUCH cheaper this way):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A2A88ZW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Walmart-Lard and Castor Oil. I now see that castor oil is much cheaper on Amazon, also. So that is another thing I can order.

I would be guilty of pricing all other oils on Amazon, also, before buying locally if I were you. I bought beeswax and soy wax from Amazon when I was making lip balms (buy the pastilles, save yourself the time).

Hope that helps!

Susie today I got a gallon of Nutiva organic CO for $ 25.99 and just remember it must be in States like 20 dollars. The one on amazon seems high price

 

[Kamahido]

I buy all my base oils from soaperschoice.com.