I'm wanting to go for it

[tailwhipn68]

Hey all! Well I think I've read up enough to try my first batch of soap. I just wondered if anyone had some insight on a recipe or type of ingredients to use for my first try. I will say I'm a little intimidated but I'm so curious about the whole thing I really want to try. Any advice is much appreciated!
Thanks!!

 

[Val]

First try.......thats a biggie. LOL I would not recommend doing a Castile soap. :shock: My first one took forever to come to trace as I was hand stirring it with a spoon. I had made my own recipe and it had quiet a bit of Olive oil. You might want to use a wire wisk to help speed things up a bit.

Have you played with the soap calc any yet?

Val

 

[Lindy]

Okay try this - 75% Olive Oil 25% Coconut Oil - 5% Superfat & 35% Lye Concentration.

DO NOT hand stir - use a stickblender and you'll get to trace fairly quickly. Use Soapcalc to get your exact measurements. I would recommend that you go plain the first time so you can see what it looks like before playing with colour and scents or other additives. I also recommend playing with the same recipe a few times using other additives, scents, colours before you get too daring. But that's just me....

Val if you use a Stick Blender instead of hand stirring you'll find you're at trace within 10 or 15 minutes even with Castille......

 

[Val]

Yes I have a stick blender now. I did not have one then. I really like that I did it that way to begin with tho as I learned from it more than I would have using a stick blender right off.

Val

 

[artisan soaps]

..

 

[kaseencook]

My first batch was an olive oil and canola blend with eucalyptus oil, dried rosemary, and turmeric (because I though that would colour it nicely). It turned into a really stinky yellowy-brown soap because of the way the turmeric and eucalyptus interacted and I still can't stand eucalyptus in soap - it was really an eyebrow singe type of stench, very fumey! But it was really good to see what the soap would do, and I did a plain batch after that that ended up being lye heavy and oozing lye solution (because I had a crap scale at the time and put too much lye in), and the switched to HP and tried different stuff and learned a lot. I think for the first batch it doesn't matter what you make, because taking risks is part of learning, and mistakes are apart of that learning. It is good to try plain soaps and complex soaps in due course, and you've got all the time in the world to do that, so I don't really think it matters what order you do them because you learn from every experience. I say, make a stinky mess to remember!

Just have fun!

 

[kaseencook]

I also think that HP is really good to try, because you can see the stages the soap goes through, and you can use the resulting soap right away as I'm sure you will be excited to use your first soap. I was, I didn't want to make my first soap and have to wait to use it! I found I had issues with CP in the being not hardening and being gloop (which now I know was because I used TOO much water and unsaturated oils like canola and olive oil, and also being measured on a crap scale) - the HP clarified a lot for me and I could know right away if I was doing things right depending on how the soap turned out. It's preaty easy, just make your soap in a stainless pot, get the soap to trace, and chuck in an oven at (100C, 212F) for one hour, checking along the way to see the stages.

Good luck!

 

[topcat]

After much research, here and elsewhere, I ended up making my first soap out of the oils I had in my pantry :wink: I used coconut oil, olive, rice bran and mango butter (that was on hand for something else) and it was gorgeous! Have fun....it really is addictive.

Tanya

 

[Guest]

Hp was a good start for me, since it immediately satisfies your curiousity about soap

 

[Rauland04]

Go for it! I just did my third batch. It is lots of fun. My first recipe was equal parts coconut, olive and palm (which I ordered with my lye). Just know that with a stick blender you will get to trace quick. It is no big deal to add color and FO on your first try, but my suggestion is to do something simple.

 

[Val]

Hmm .. I don't want to disagree with Val, but I was going to recommend a Castile (100% Olive Oil) ..

That was the first soap I made and is still my very favourite soap .. Plus it gave me a great understanding of how oils work with each other and what properties they bring once I did start mixing blends :wink:

I don't mind if you disagree with me I just wouldn't recommend one for the first is all. Could take too long unless using a stick blender and I would hate for her to get a false trace or something on the first try. Others have also stated not to start discounting water too early so you can get used to watching for trace and the different levels of it. That is only reasons I can think of for not doing an 100% OO recipe and water discounts etc on the first batch. So how about a Lard OO CO recipe like 40% 40% 20% full water or maybe 35% shouldn't take long by hand.


Val

 

[honor435]

brand new, yeah! you will be addicted. I tried hp in crock first, did that for awhile then went to cp, i still enjoy both. Try a simple recipe with olive, coconut, palm( which is disguised at shortening in health food store), it is a nice soap. Watch a utube, or you may have already?good luck ,tell us how it went.

 

[tailwhipn68]

Thanks for everyone's input. It's helped me focus hah. The combinations are endless and like everyone has said a simple one to start to see the process makes sense. That's all I really wanted too was to see the basic and go from there! I have played with the calculator some and that seems pretty helpful. I did have a question about the scales you are all using.. any recommendations? Oh and I've been all over the place looking for supplies but I don't know what really is a good price on things. Is there somewhere online that is a one stop shop when I decide to get a little more creative?
Thanks again!!

 

[Val]

A digital scale is best. If you can get one that goes to 2 decimals that would be great (Ex: 1.02) but not easy to find. It must go to one decimal for sure. I have a small postal scale I got from Stamps.com when I tried them. I thought it would be cheaper but with labels etc it wasn't.... sorry off topic. I got most of my first supplies at the grocery store. Lard, Olive oil, veg shortening, etc. I even found Coconut oil just the other day in a small quantity (14 oz) at walmart in the vitamin/supplement area.

Not sure where you are or if you have a Walmart but one other place I went I found coconut oil in a very strange place..... it was in the isle with imported olives and stuff like that.

There are many places online to get supplies.... I got most of mine from WSP WholesaleSuppliesPlus.com Not sure if it is cheapest but have lots of stuff there. Google soaping supplies and you might find better.

HTH

Val

 

[Lindy]

Tailwhipn68,

I strongly recommend a digital scale which you can get from Walmart for around $20 and it does have the double digits (1.02). Unless you want to wear out your arm get a stickblender - I don't know any experienced soaper that would recommend that you start out stirring by hand unless they want to make sure you never get addicted because it would be just way too much work. Since I'm not sure where you are I can't recommend somewhere to get your lye - let us know and then I'm sure someone can direct you. Oils can be bought right at your grocery store if you are just going to play with Olive, Grapeseed, Corn, Sunflower or Canola. There are a lot of soap ingredient suppliers on the net where you can buy your supplies and everything else your heart could dream of.....

Please know that you can always come on with questions and we love pictures, lots of pictures.

Enjoy this addiction.....

Cheers
Lindy

 

[Jeremy]

I didn't read any of the previous posts because I have ADD and can't concentrate that long. But for my own bad self I made a simple recipe out of a book, no scent, no colour, and nothing funky in the way of oils and it turned out perfectly. To this day I still have one or two pieces laying around, they don't smell funky, in fact no smell, and it is giving me a good indication of how soap ages, sans the addition of extra crap...for lack of a better term.

 

[xraygrl]

For scales I highly recommend this site:

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/index.aspx

I have one of the MyWeigh scales. You can either use it AC or DC, which I love because I don't have to worry about the batteries dying.

For your first batch, keep it small and simple, about a 2 lb batch. I would say a combo of Olive, coconut, and either lard or veggie shortening, whichever you prefer.

 

[Jeremy]

God noooooooo, I have a 55 pound scale that I paid less than $90.00 for.....just look for mail scales.......don't pay too much.....prices are all over the place out there.

 

[Guest]

I suggest dollarama for your soap utensils , measuring cups etc . Mactac to line molds , soap does not stick and you can wipe it down and reuse it for a very long time. Wal Mart has inexpensive stock pots to make your soap in , if you don't already have one.

Kitn