Is it ready yet? Is it ready yet? Is it ready yet?

[MirandaH]

The only thing that I don't like about soap making so far is that it takes so long to be ready to cut and to cure. Patience is not a real strong quality for me and I don't know how you guys do it, but my hat is off to you.

I made my first batch. Just a very simple Castile. No colors, oil, scents. Figured I would get the very basics down before going on to anything harder so I can make the first mistakes without spending too much money. I see that some EO's cause things to speed up.

It has been in the mold for about....45 minutes and I am DYING to cut it and see if it worked. :smile: BUT, it was SOOOOO much fun making it!!

If you were new and this was a success, what would you try adding/doing next to take things easy and have the least likely chance of screwing up??

 

[Hazel]

Congratulations on your first batch! I'd make another batch which didn't require a long cure. What oils do you have beside olive?

 

[boyago]

I did the same thing. 100% OO for my first soap. The set up and cure time were killers. Castile soap like the one you and I made should cure for months to let it age into the sweet spot. Next I would say read a ton and start messing with other oil combos. Check out how cool soap made with coconut oil comes out. Read a ton more and do searches and hang around the forums for what other people are going through. This forum in particular the people seem very welcoming to newbs like you and I. I can't even tell you how much more you can learn here in addition to books. Also start scoping your grocers for the staple oils you will start using. I buy allot from online sources and am lucky enough to have a soap and cosmetics supplier in my town so I can save on shipping (though I am finding more and more with shipping I'm breaking about even or less on most things).
Back to the waiting, this sounds lame but make more soap. It will give you something to distract you and constantly checking on poling your soaps will seem less urgent. Could go on and on but gotta get started on diner.

 

[MirandaH]

Congratulations on your first batch! I'd make another batch which didn't require a long cure. What oils do you have beside olive?

So far I only have a few things that I can find in the grocery stores here, but I am going to probably end up buying some online as well. I just hate to pay for shipping on oil. Locally I have bought just about everything that I can find. I have olive, vegetable, sunflower, canola, coconut, red palm, (can't find just plain palm oil anywhere!!! Not even the Spectrum shortening), and lard. I also have some small bottles of castor oil and some cocoa butter that I picked up while looking for palm that was not red palm.

ETA: I also have Beeswax. I think that's it.

I can't find anything really exotic locally, which is surprising, because I live in a HUGE military area that has many people from all over the country and the world. I checked Whole Foods and they said I was the first person to ever buy the red palm oil. At this point, I am just picking things up as I find them.

I did the same thing. 100% OO for my first soap. The set up and cure time were killers. Castile soap like the one you and I made should cure for months to let it age into the sweet spot. Next I would say read a ton and start messing with other oil combos. Check out how cool soap made with coconut oil comes out. Read a ton more and do searches and hang around the forums for what other people are going through. This forum in particular the people seem very welcoming to newbs like you and I. I can't even tell you how much more you can learn here in addition to books. Also start scoping your grocers for the staple oils you will start using. I buy allot from online sources and am lucky enough to have a soap and cosmetics supplier in my town so I can save on shipping (though I am finding more and more with shipping I'm breaking about even or less on most things).
Back to the waiting, this sounds lame but make more soap. It will give you something to distract you and constantly checking on poling your soaps will seem less urgent. Could go on and on but gotta get started on diner.

I love this place. I have been lurking for a while and just recently joined. I wish there were a local supplier near me, but there is nothing here. And the cosmetic supply places around here are basically just hair and nail stuff. When I asked about soaping supplies they looked at me like I was from outer space, so I will probably be buying online. I am probably going to make another batch in a day or so and see what I can come up with that will be ready faster. It is really driving me crazy wondering if this one will work, but I am not going to sing the blues if it didn't work...and if it did, I am going to chalk it up to beginners luck so I don't get discouraged when the next batch doesn't.

At this point, I keep looking at it to see if there are any signs of anything not going right and so far it looks like it might be okay, but I suppose you never know for sure until you cut it. Eek!

 

[Obsidian]

100% olive oil soap can take awhile to harden enough to unmold and cut. Don't get discouraged if it seems too soft for a few days.

I would suggest a olive oil, lard, coconut and castor mix. Don't use more then 20% coconut oil or it can be too drying. Maybe use some kind of herb for a simple color, paprika makes a nice peachy color. If you don't mind lard, you can use it instead of palm but you should be able to find spectrum shortening at target.

http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/ is a good place to order from and right now they have fee shipping. Welcome to the addiction

 

[Hazel]

I have olive, vegetable, sunflower, canola, coconut, red palm, (can't find just plain palm oil anywhere!!! Not even the Spectrum shortening), and lard. I also have some small bottles of castor oil and some cocoa butter that I picked up while looking for palm that was not red palm.

That's an awesome selection of oils! You're lucky. I couldn't find this nice of a selection in my area. You can do so much with using 2, 3 or more oils and tweaking percentages (just double check the recipe on a lye calculator when you change it). I'm fairly sure a couple of people have mentioned red palm will give a little bit of color to soap. I'll have to see if I can find the discussion about it. BTW, is the hair and nail place Sally's Beauty Supply? If so, they carry cosmetic glitter in varied colors which work well on soap. You might want to consider this at some point if you want to get a little festive with soap.

I primarily use coconut, olive, sunflower, castor, lard and palm so if you're interested, I can suggest a simple recipe. I've only used cocoa butter a time or two in soap. I don't like using much butter or any at all in soap. This is just my preference because I'd rather use butters in leave on products. You really don't need exotic oils for soap because you can make great soap with oils from the grocery. However, you may consider exotic oils if you decide to try hot process soapmaking. You can add exotic oils after the cook for the superfat so they will remain unsaponified.

I'm probably dumping too much info on you and I hope I haven't confused you.

 

[MirandaH]

100% olive oil soap can take awhile to harden enough to unmold and cut. Don't get discouraged if it seems too soft for a few days.

I would suggest a olive oil, lard, coconut and castor mix. Don't use more then 20% coconut oil or it can be too drying. Maybe use some kind of herb for a simple color, paprika makes a nice peachy color. If you don't mind lard, you can use it instead of palm but you should be able to find spectrum shortening at target.

http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/ is a good place to order from and right now they have fee shipping. Welcome to the addiction

Thank you!! I will head to Target tomorrow...or maybe I will actually wait until a day or two after Christmas. Things are really crazy out there! I think that I am probably going to wait until Christmas day or two days after Christmas to try to unmold and cut. From what I have heard, if I did it right, it should be fine until then and possibly a lot longer, but we shall see.

That's an awesome selection of oils! You're lucky. I couldn't find this nice of a selection in my area. You can do so much with using 2, 3 or more oils and tweaking percentages (just double check the recipe on a lye calculator when you change it). I'm fairly sure a couple of people have mentioned red palm will give a little bit of color to soap. I'll have to see if I can find the discussion about it. BTW, is the hair and nail place Sally's Beauty Supply? If so, they carry cosmetic glitter in varied colors which work well on soap. You might want to consider this at some point if you want to get a little festive with soap.

I primarily use coconut, olive, sunflower, castor, lard and palm so if you're interested, I can suggest a simple recipe. I've only used cocoa butter a time or two in soap. I don't like using much butter or any at all in soap. This is just my preference because I'd rather use butters in leave on products. You really don't need exotic oils for soap because you can make great soap with oils from the grocery. However, you may consider exotic oils if you decide to try hot process soapmaking. You can add exotic oils after the cook for the superfat so they will remain unsaponified.

I'm probably dumping too much info on you and I hope I haven't confused you.

Thank you so much! I would love to try a simple recipe! I am so excited that things look good so far, but not getting my hopes up too high so that I am not too disappointed. And no, you haven't hit me with too much information. I have read about the red palm and the color and possibly staining molds. I have been reading for about 3 months and finally got up the courage to try a batch today because my husband was going to be home. We have a newborn and I didn't want any distractions.

It feels like I have a ton of oils here, and all of them are just things that I have picked up here and there while searching for palm oil. I really hope I can find it at Target. On Christmas day we are going to South Carolina to pick up his daughter and bring her home for a week and while we are there I am going to check out Hobby Lobby and a few places down there to see what they have in the way of oils and other supplies. The cosmetics place is Sally's so I might go back there and check on the glitter next week. My husband is also friends with the man who owns the processing plant in South Carolina and he has told him he would save and freeze some suet for me that we can bring back, so I am going to drop that in the freezer too and try to render some at some point. I am just so excited about all of it and I want to try everything, but after reading here for so long and seeing how much harder it is than the videos on Youtube make it seem, I am also being sensible and just taking everything one step at a time and reading, reading, reading.

 

[Neve]

My first batch was a blend of olive, coconut and canola oil. Easy peasy. Got them at the supermarket. It was a one pound batch and I must admit I started using it after only a week

 

[heisenberg]

I also made my first batch sunday night and a couple of minutes ago i slipped it out of the pringles container and cut it into pucks for wet shaving. It was a mix of Lard, shea butter and castor oil. so far so good... I licked the soap to see if it had lye in it :Kitten Love: Luckily I didnt get that "bite" as Ive heard it being called on the internet? So if theres no lye in it and my hands feel smooth and smell like sandalwood what am I waiting for?

 

[TVivian]

I also made my first batch sunday night and a couple of minutes ago i slipped it out of the pringles container and cut it into pucks for wet shaving. It was a mix of Lard, shea butter and castor oil. so far so good... I licked the soap to see if it had lye in it :Kitten Love: Luckily I didnt get that "bite" as Ive heard it being called on the internet? So if theres no lye in it and my hands feel smooth and smell like sandalwood what am I waiting for?

Winner for best username goes to..

 

[Hazel]

Some easy recipes which don't take as long as Castile to cure:

5% lye discount - nice for the shower because it's mild with good lather. I have dry skin and I've even used this soap on my face.

30% lard
30% olive oil
25% coconut oil
10% sunflower oil
5% castor oil

8% lye discount - also nice for the shower but I use more of a lye discount with recipes using palm because it's not as conditioning as lard

45% olive oil
25% palm oil
25% coconut oil
5% castor oil

You could tweak the recipe above by increasing the olive and decreasing the coconut. This would make the soap a little more conditioning.

7% or 8% lye discount

50% olive oil
25% palm oil
20% coconut oil
5% castor oil

I also add granulated sugar to some recipes because I've noticed it helps to boost the lather. I use 1 Tbl per pound of oil (2% ppo). I take enough water from what I've weighed out for the lye to dissolve the sugar. I warm the water in the microwave, dissolve the sugar in it and then add this solution after I've blended in the lye water. I do it this way just because I'm a bit AR. I think most people just add the sugar to the lye solution and lets the heat from it dissolve the sugar. Someone mentioned she uses powdered sugar because it also has cornstarch in it which makes the soap feel a little silkier.

 

[soap_rat]

Heisenberg, don't be so uncertain! Go ahead and try the soap, it will just dissolve faster and also may feel more drying than it will when fully cured.

 

[Ruthie]

Looks like you have already gotten a lot of good advice. I'll just emphasize: the best cure for waiting is- - - making more soap!!

I still buy most of my oils locally. It pays to have coconut shipped in, but otherwise I really don't save much over buying locally. Of course I do not go for a lot of "fancy" oils.

 

[yadonm]

I go down to my basement several times a day to check my soaps on the drying racks. It's like they're my babies and I just can't get enough of them! This is a crazy obsession isn't it?

 

[MirandaH]

Thank you Hazel!! I think I will try that top one that doesn't need the palm oil as soon as my husband gets home and can keep an eye on the baby for me so I have fewer distractions.

I have checked on my soap a million times now and this morning when I got up, I tugged on the liner a little and is moved, so I went ahead and unmolded, but I haven't cut it yet. It seems solid, but I think I will wait until tonight. I figure that if I cut it and it doesn't look right I will let it sit a little longer, providing that the middle doesn't spill out, but although still soft, it doesn't feel like it will still be liquid in the middle.

The top also looks decent, considering that the texturing thing isn't as easy as people would think, and when I finally got it the way I wanted, I walked away and then walked in on my husband playing with it and mashing it flat with his BARE HANDS!! I told him he could burn himself and asked him if he has lost his mind and he said it looked like I had been playing with it too and it "didn't matter, [I am] just going to cut it off flat and even anyway. I couldn't believe he did that. :thumbdown: That had to be redone. There was still a little bit of shiny liquid on the liner, but it doesn't really feel wet and slimy and it passed the zap test already and when I washed my stuff this morning there was bubbles! Anyway, here is what my soap looks like right now.

 

[seven]

.. and when I finally got it the way I wanted, I walked away and then walked in on my husband playing with it and mashing it flat with his BARE HANDS!!...

LOOLLL!!

i can just imagine how pissed you must be. i am anal when it comes to playing with soap tops. did your husband ended up with lye burns? i hope not.

btw, that is some nice, creamy looking soap you got there. and i really really like what you did with the top. as a matter of fact, i just did a batch earlier today, and did exactly like you did with the top.

 

[MirandaH]

LOOLLL!!

i can just imagine how pissed you must be. i am anal when it comes to playing with soap tops. did your husband ended up with lye burns? i hope not.

btw, that is some nice, creamy looking soap you got there. and i really really like what you did with the top. as a matter of fact, i just did a batch earlier today, and did exactly like you did with the top.

You have no idea, lol! I wanted to make him redo it, but then that never would have worked out well. And no, somehow he was completely unscathed. Would have served him right. I have only watch a zillion videos right in front of him and talked about this stuff. See how much he listens!

Thank you!!

 

[Obsidian]

That looks great. I would give in and cut it now, unless something went horribly wrong there won't be any liquid inside. If you have a cheese cutter like this, it makes a great soap slicer. Otherwise, use a knife with a thin blade.

 

[MirandaH]

That looks great. I would give in and cut it now, unless something went horribly wrong there won't be any liquid inside. If you have a cheese cutter like this, it makes a great soap slicer. Otherwise, use a knife with a thin blade.

I just read your post and decided to go cut it. And then I got terrified that it won't be right, lol. I suppose nothing I do now is going to change that either way, so I might as well go cut it and see what happens! Eeek!! So excited!

 

[MirandaH]

Seems 3 of the bars in the center have partial gel marks. I'm not selling, and it passes the zap test all over, so it is okay for now. I just need to figure out the best way to do this without that happening or getting it to gel all the way through next time.

If I want it to gel all the way through, how in the world do you wrap soap with textured tops?