Looking for a simple cold process recipe

[Ives]

Looking through my old posts, I noticed that I made soap in 2011 and then again for the last time in 2013. I want to make it again and see that I used coconut oil, olive pomace oil and castor oil the other times. I was trying to make shampoo bars, but this time I just need it to be soap. I've been reading around this forum and the internet and it looks like the basic trinity is olive, palm and coconut. I plugged those into soap making friend using ratios I found in a post here, and I guess it gives me a recipe, but to be sure, can someone point me to a simple recipe with not very expensive ingredients, and where should I buy them? Amazon? Does this recipe mean I need to have 6 oz olive oil (is it olive pomace?), 4.41 oz coconut oil the 76 degree kind, 7.05 oz of palm oil, 5.02 oz of water? Does it need to be distilled? And 2.51 oz of lye?

Oil	%	Ounces	Grams
Olive Oil	35	6.17	175
Coconut Oil, 76 deg	25	4.41	125
Palm Oil	40	7.05	200
Total	100	17.64	500

Recipe Totals​

Liquid Required	5.02 oz	142.43 g
NaOH Weight at 99 % Purity	2.51 oz	71.22 g

 

[Zing]

Your recipe is very close to my first batches and I think you'll like it. Olive oil soaps are better with long cures. Yes, use the amounts of oil and lye that a lye calculator calculated. If your scale displays grams, I'd use grams instead because grams are more precise. Use distilled water.

In my beginner days, I got all my oils at the grocery store. There is a vegetarian shortening that is 100% palm oil. I'm leery of shopping for soap ingredients on Amazon because there's a lot of cee-rap on there.

If you are feeling like you need a review course, Soap Queen's videos for beginners are excellent. Good luck!

Also I've never used pomace so can't answer that question.

 

[TheGecko]

Here is mine if you want to give it a try:

35% Olive Oil
20% Coconut Oil
20% Palm Oil
10% Cocoa Butter
10% Shea Butter
5% Castor Oil

33% Lye Concentration
5% Super Fat

1 tea Sodium Lactate PPO
1 tea Kaolin Clay PPO

 

[Ives]

Your recipe is very close to my first batches and I think you'll like it. Olive oil soaps are better with long cures. Yes, use the amounts of oil and lye that a lye calculator calculated. If your scale displays grams, I'd use grams instead because grams are more precise. Use distilled water.

In my beginner days, I got all my oils at the grocery store. There is a vegetarian shortening that is 100% palm oil. I'm leery of shopping for soap ingredients on Amazon because there's a lot of cee-rap on there.

If you are feeling like you need a review course, Soap Queen's videos for beginners are excellent. Good luck!

Also I've never used pomace so can't answer that question.

Can I use regular olive oil and coconut oil from the grocery store? Can I use Crystal Lye Drain Opener 100% lye from Walmart?

 

[TheGecko]

Can I use regular olive oil and coconut oil from the grocery store? Can I use Crystal Lye Drain Opener 100% lye from Walmart?

Yes you can, but you want to be read the labels carefully to make sure that it is 100% Olive and Coconut Oils and not some 'blend'. While I get my Olive and Coconut Oils from Costco, I have purchased Avocado Oil from my local grocery store and was careful to check that the ONLY Ingredient listed was Avocado Oil.
I don't know about the Lye since I have only ever purchased my Sodium Hydroxide from reputable soap suppliers (BrambleBerry, Essential Depot via Amazon and Shay and Company). But I know that there are other soap makers that purchase theirs from local hardware stores, you just need to make sure that it is in fact, 100% Sodium Hydroxide as not all drain cleaners are.

 

[Zing]

Can I use regular olive oil and coconut oil from the grocery store? Can I use Crystal Lye Drain Opener 100% lye from Walmart?

Yes, Yes, Yes.

 

[Louiselene]

Yes and can get lye from Ace store too

 

[lucycat]

And if you can't find a palm shortening at your grocery store consider using lard for the palm amount. It will make a nice soap if you don't mind animal products.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Can I use regular olive oil and coconut oil from the grocery store? Can I use Crystal Lye Drain Opener 100% lye from Walmart?

Yes. "Soap-making" is mentioned in the accompanying info on the website:

Crystal Lye Drain Opener 100% Lye from Walmart

I'm so glad you asked! Walmart is only a 5-minute drive from my house. No more ordering on line for me!

 

[melinda48]

Your recipe is very close to my first batches and I think you'll like it. Olive oil soaps are better with long cures. Yes, use the amounts of oil and lye that a lye calculator calculated. If your scale displays grams, I'd use grams instead because grams are more precise. Use distilled water.

In my beginner days, I got all my oils at the grocery store. There is a vegetarian shortening that is 100% palm oil. I'm leery of shopping for soap ingredients on Amazon because there's a lot of cee-rap on there.

If you are feeling like you need a review course, Soap Queen's videos for beginners are excellent. Good luck!

Also I've never used pomace so can't answer that question.

You can safely buy on Amazon - just be sure to note the vendor and check them out as you would any online purchase. Amazon is simply a “pass-through” company; they merely process orders. I have purchased a number of goods through them successfully.

 

[Minnette1212]

Yes. "Soap-making" is mentioned in the accompanying info on the website:

Crystal Lye Drain Opener 100% Lye from Walmart

I'm so glad you asked! Walmart is only a 5-minute drive from my house. No more ordering on line for me!

yay!!!!!!!! Walmart & Costco here I come!!