I'm a noob.

[BadPanda74]

I am completely new to the whole soap making shindig. Not here to make a career out of anything. I'm just tired of watching my husband spend hundreds on Dr. Squatch. Don't get me wrong, I love their stuff, but I am a much bigger cheapskate than that. I'm more than happy to spend that money on their shampoo and toothpaste and make the soap myself. Enter new era of devastatingly gross soap. Anyhoo... I'm a screen printer by trade and I am constantly getting ink all over myself and my hands and fingernails especially get so dried out that everything cracks. I have recently made a batch of coconut oil soap and I LOVE IT! It cleans all the ink off and I haven't had one bleeding fissure in my finger since. Sorry. That's kind of graphic, huh? Well, I hope to learn a lot from this wonderful forum. I'm grateful I found it.

 

[dibbles]

Welcome! As far as saving money by making your own soap, I just have to take a second and . But I suppose it could be done with a lot more willpower than I have.

 

[AliOop]

Welcome! My husband was convinced for quite some time that I saved us money by making our soap.

And that was actually true until I, um, expanded my soapy horizons, if you will. He caught on once the supplies expanded into a second large cabinet. Now I have a soap room so there is no shred of pretense any longer.

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum. I don't know if you can save money making your own soap. I guess if you use your own rendered lard or tallow, it is possible. The old timers saved and cleaned the grease from frying bacon. But making your own beauty products and soap is very satisfying.

 

[BadPanda74]

Welcome! As far as saving money by making your own soap, I just have to take a second and . But I suppose it could be done with a lot more willpower than I have.

Not willpower. It’s lack of knowledge. Hubby has a machine shop, so I already had access to caustic soda. The rest is already in my kitchen. Well, except the EO. That’s a little trickier. I could go to Walmart, but I hate them so I likely won’t go there. I have a friend that sells EO, but I want to get an idea of what I want to buy before I drop some bank. And then I will be right there with ya no longer saving any money. On the bright side, all my family are getting soap for every holiday and birthday for the foreseeable future.

 

[AliOop]

Here's a tip: don't buy EOs from your friend. It will be way too costly for the amount you need to be smellable in your soap.

Instead, start mainlining saving money from the start and buy your EOs from a proper soap supplier like New Directions Aromatics, or Camden Grey. Contrary to what the MLMs like to bleat, real EOs all come from the same few producers around the globe anyway.

 

[dibbles]

@AliOop is right about the EOs. Buy them from a soap supplier. There are lots of discussions on here about suppliers if you search. I've never ordered from NDA, but I do like Camden Grey and have been happy with EOs I've ordered from other soap suppliers as well.

 

[BadPanda74]

Here's a tip: don't buy EOs from your friend. It will be way too costly for the amount you need to be smellable in your soap.

Instead, start mainlining saving money from the start and buy your EOs from a proper soap supplier like New Directions Aromatics, or Camden Grey. Contrary to what the MLMs like to bleat, real EOs all come from the same few producers around the globe anyway.

“Mainlining” Hahahahahaha!!!! You, my friend, are hilarious! Sounds like sound advice. Same thing with most consumables, few that come up with the raw materials or manufacturing but lots and lots of middle men and distributors. Hubby has a machine shop and I own a screen print shop, so I am oddly well versed in economics. However, I hadn’t considered the process of EO’s. Their so much like spices and come drone literally every corner of the planet… Anyhoo, I falling down a rabbit hole now. I will definitely check out your suggested sources. BTW, I had no idea that EO’s had their own pyramid scheme. You literally saved me hours of my life that could have been wasted. Thank you!

 

[Relle]

Welcome .

 

[KiwiMoose]

Welcome. I agree with the EO comments. The amount you are using for each batch will soon show that you need to keep these prices as low as possible. Go for the cheaper fragrances when starting out - lemongrass, patchouli, litsea cubeba, cedar wood, lavandin and try some combinations of each. Citrus EOs do not ‘stick’ in CP so give them a miss.
A lot of us start out using only EOs but many go on to use FOs due to price (and fragrance variety).

 

[Picklekin]

I thought I'd save money too...

Hey ho, at least this way my slightly compulsive shopping habit results in a lovely smelling house and a lot of soap..

 

[earlene]

Welcome, @BadPanda74.

 

[BadPanda74]

Welcome. I agree with the EO comments. The amount you are using for each batch will soon show that you need to keep these prices as low as possible. Go for the cheaper fragrances when starting out - lemongrass, patchouli, litsea cubeba, cedar wood, lavandin and try some combinations of each. Citrus EOs do not ‘stick’ in CP so give them a miss.
A lot of us start out using only EOs but many go on to use FOs due to price (and fragrance variety).

I do love lemongrass. However, I am drawn more to the more masculine scents and I know my hubby will actually use it if he likes it. So, where can I find scent blends like that? I have scoured the web and found some EO calculators with some recipes, but I don't know if we all are just too creative or what, but scents named "dreamy" or "cloudy day" doesn't exactly tell me what to expect. I'm sure some earthy tones like cedar and pine will be what I want. I recently got some cheap FO off Amazon and used "leather" and "sweet tobacco" and I love that smell, but I added it to the trace and I'm pretty sure it did exactly what I hate fancy soap to do. It is sweating all the FO out of it. It's greasy and disgusting. Smells good though. Anyway, any direction on finding blends that are a little less... umm... fru-fru, would certainly rock my world. Oh, and any advice on Patchouli? That stuff is rough on my sinuses. Like, allergic reaction kind of rough. I love it in microscopic amounts blended with other stuff to tone it down, but by itself, it's lethal.

 

[Quilter99755]

Welcome. I'm retired and my other hobby is quilting. Hobbies do not save money. But in my case soaping has given my old skin a new life where I don't have to slather on tons of lotion or conditioners or other things. And it all sits in a corner of my quilting room so I get to enjoy both hobbies at the same time.

I am currently going down the rabbit hole of syndets for my daughter due to shampoos irritating her cochlear implant. I'm not enough of a chemist to strike out on my own in this rabbit hole so am depending on other people's formulas. It's fun and frustrating at the same time.

I hope your journey is as pleasant as mine. You have come to the right place for help, advice and even sympathy! Love this forum!

 

[earlene]

I am currently going down the rabbit hole of syndets for my daughter due to shampoos irritating her cochlear implant. I'm not enough of a chemist to strike out on my own in this rabbit hole so am depending on other people's formulas. It's fun and frustrating at the same time.

Quilter, maybe you might be interested in this thread as related to syndet bar base. That base may or may not work for your daughter, but it might be worth considering & trying out (lot's less work and expense than the route you may be considering.)

ETA: Oops, I left out the link! Here it is: Adding colorants to shampoo bars, also MP shampoo base by Stephenson

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I'm just tired of watching my husband spend hundreds on Dr. Squatch.

Good news! You can learn to make Dr. Squatch Soap!

Ingredients: Saponified Oils of (Olive, Sustainable Palm, Coconut), Aloe Fragrance, Shea Butter, Kaolin Clay, Sea Salt, Colorant.

Like so many popular artisan soaps you can buy on line, those 3 oils comprise the Basic Trinity of Oils starter formula. Skip the fragrance & colorant for now. Make a small (16 oz/500 gram) batch with just those 3 oils to get the hang of it.

If you haven't already done so, the first order of business is getting familiar with using a calculator like SoapCalc.

Using the "default setting" you can create a recipe printout that looks like this.

For your second small batch, add 5% shea butter; deduct 5% from the palm amount. Add 1 tsp - 1 Tbls White Kaolin clay to the warmed oils before adding the lye solution. Add 1 tsp. sea salt to the lye water.

VOILA! Dr. Squatch Soap Bad Panda style!

 

[Quilter99755]

Quilter, maybe you might be interested in this thread as related to syndet bar base. That base may or may not work for your daughter, but it might be worth considering & trying out (lot's less work and expense than the route you may be considering.)

ETA: Oops, I left out the link! Here it is: Adding colorants to shampoo bars, also MP shampoo base by Stephenson

I used to buy Stephenson's melt and pour before I learn how to make my own soap! Never thought of them going to syndapour. I will check them out. Especially since I haven't ordered the new ingredients yet. As you can tell, I am way behind a lot of the forum's threads, as I missed this totally.
Thanks ever so much for the link.

 

[AliOop]

@Quilter99755 here are two YT videos that talk about the M&P shampoo bar base:

 

[KiwiMoose]

I do love lemongrass. However, I am drawn more to the more masculine scents and I know my hubby will actually use it if he likes it. So, where can I find scent blends like that? I have scoured the web and found some EO calculators with some recipes, but I don't know if we all are just too creative or what, but scents named "dreamy" or "cloudy day" doesn't exactly tell me what to expect. I'm sure some earthy tones like cedar and pine will be what I want. I recently got some cheap FO off Amazon and used "leather" and "sweet tobacco" and I love that smell, but I added it to the trace and I'm pretty sure it did exactly what I hate fancy soap to do. It is sweating all the FO out of it. It's greasy and disgusting. Smells good though. Anyway, any direction on finding blends that are a little less... umm... fru-fru, would certainly rock my world. Oh, and any advice on Patchouli? That stuff is rough on my sinuses. Like, allergic reaction kind of rough. I love it in microscopic amounts blended with other stuff to tone it down, but by itself, it's lethal.

Here's a good site: Find Free Essential Oil Blends - Essential Oil Calculator
Patchouli is a love/hate scent. I'm in the love camp. I get severe hayfever/seasonal allergies and yet I'm fine with patchouli. Neroli sets me off though.
Pretty much all those oils I mentioned blend well together. I've done lemongrass and litsea, patchouli and lavender, lemongrass and lavender, cedarwood and lemongrass, patchouli/pine/lemongrass/lavender. Just use that site to guide you.

 

[BadPanda74]

Welcome. I'm retired and my other hobby is quilting. Hobbies do not save money. But in my case soaping has given my old skin a new life where I don't have to slather on tons of lotion or conditioners or other things. And it all sits in a corner of my quilting room so I get to enjoy both hobbies at the same time.

I am currently going down the rabbit hole of syndets for my daughter due to shampoos irritating her cochlear implant. I'm not enough of a chemist to strike out on my own in this rabbit hole so am depending on other people's formulas. It's fun and frustrating at the same time.

I hope your journey is as pleasant as mine. You have come to the right place for help, advice and even sympathy! Love this forum!

I also love quilting! I used to buy lotion bars to keep my hands moisturized when handling a lot of quilting cotton. I wonder if I can eventually make that too. Hmmm…