LOTS of questions!! (I'm new to this)

[DeejayPancake]

Hey guys! I'm fresh into the world of making my own soaps. I'm super excited to get started, however I don't even know where to begin! There are so many ingredients to consider and so many processes that I almost feel overwhelmed. I decided that I'd really like to start making soaps through the CP, since (to me) it appears to be the most fun.

Before I get into my questions, I thought I'd at least give you guys some information on what ingredients I'm really interested in using in my own soaps: Avocado Oil, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Soybean Oil, Shea Butter, Mango Butter, Cocoa Butter, Goat's Milk, Soy Milk, and Coconut Milk <--- I still need to read up on the health/soap-construction benefits of these, but for some reason I'm drawn to them! (I'm a dork) If you have any recipes that you're willing to loan me using any of these, or even none of them, I'd *love* to try them!

Questions:

1. I have find some sites with soap recipes; however, many of them don't tell me how much soap I will end up with. Is this a trial-error thing that I'll have to learn on my own, or is there a way to calculate how much soap I'll get?

2. I'm confused on what size molds I should get as a beginner! I was thinking of getting this neat-o 2lb mold box w/ cutting slits AND cutting blade, but I was wonder if this was too much? I ask because I don't wanna pour my soap mixtures into a too-big mold, AND this neat-o mold box ain't cheap! :[

3. Like I said before, I'm a beginner. What are some easy ingredients to try out with? I was thinking a simple Olive Oil-water-lye recipe.

4. I know we all have our secrets but, where do YOU get your supplies from? Do you buy in bulk? I was checking out this site

5. In my introduction, I rambled about my hair. What ingredients are good to use in soap that I may wanna rub in my mop?

6. There is a crazy-lot of fragrances/essential oils. What fragrances are safe to use for the body and how will I know? How much should I even use in a recipe? Also, what exactly are essential oils and are they important in making my soap (honestly)?

7. I've seen the use of animal fats/tallow in soaps. I know that a lotta people don't like using them, but I'm intrigued. If you use them, do you have any suggestions/recipes for using it? Why do you use it?

8. Olive oil is used in many recipes. Do you get yours from a regular grocery store? This kinda goes along with Question 4, but getting this ingredient correct is important to me.

9. I was trying to figure out how much lye is needed in recipes. What is the ratio for lye in any recipe? I tried to figure this out, but I quickly got lost.

I think that's it for now. Sorry for the overload... I just really wanna get as much info before I start messing around, especially with the lye. Thanks so much, everyone!

 

[Tootie_Smiles]

Hi there,

About the mold...I started out using a velveeta cheese box. I used 20 oz of oils and ended up cutting the bars 1" thick and I usually get 7 bars. Just the perfect size to practice, its free if you like velveeta. It kinda bows out in the middle when you add the soap. I put it in a larger container with a lid when I finish and I push something up against the side to keep it from bowing out.

http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp is my best friend. I started out using Coconut Oil, Olive Oil and palm. I tried different oils after I got a few batches under my belt. Then I tried batches with color, then I added fragrance. Just one step at a time.

I went to the library and checked out all the soapmaking books they had, surf the net. There is so much information out there, I spent months researching before I attempted making soap. Just please be sure and follow the safety rules for messing with lye. I learned the hard way.

I buy a lot of my oils from the grocery store and I just made a huge purchase from a local soap supply shop. I compared prices and purchase from where I think I can get the better deal.

HTH,
Pauline

 

[ChrissyB]

Some other good websites to check out are:
www.soap-making-essentials.com
www.millersoap.com
They both have heaps of recipes, tutorials, instructions, and presentation ideas.
I would suggest starting off simple: a simple Olive Oil 80% Coconut Oil 20% Bastille with a 5% superfat, will give you a lovely bar of soap. Also, check out www.soapcalc.com...it's a soapers best friend.
I wouldn't worry about using milks or creams just yet, get the hang of measuring your oils and water, and finding a lye solution strength that works for you, giving you lots of time to watch the process that the soap goes through.
If you make the above olive oil/coconut bastille soap, you could scent it with some lavender essential oil, that's available relatively cheaply, and smells nice.
Also, you don't need to buy the expensive olive oil. I didn't catch where you are from, but I'm sure the girls on here will let you know where they get their supplies.
There are no stupid questions here, I have learnt so much from the people on this site, and I'm sure everyone else has as well. There is also a recipe section, and check out the photo gallery for inspiration!!
The hardest part about making soap is waiting for it to cure!!
I haven't made a soap bar specifically for hair, but I guess what you use in it all depends on what type of hair you have. I know Topcat made a shampoo bar with some meadowfoam oil in it, I know that she will come past and give you some info on that.
Good luck to you, looking forward to the pics!

 

[ilovedoxies]

I use a plastic velveeta cheese box. You can find them on ebay for less than $10.

I recommend getting a digital scale, also on ebay for around $20.

I mostly by my oils at the grocery store, lard, olive oil, crisco, veg oil, castor oil. I use lard in my soaps unless someone asks me to make a vegan bar which they hardly ever do.

I hit up the clearance sections for my fragrances.

I recommend making small batches like 1 lb until you get the swing of things. Also, I would advise not to do a milk soap on your first couple of trys.

Hardly anyone sells lye over the counter any more, so you may have to find an online supplier.

Best of luck!!

 

[dagmar88]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

1. I have find some sites with soap recipes; however, many of them don't tell me how much soap I will end up with. Is this a trial-error thing that I'll have to learn on my own, or is there a way to calculate how much soap I'll get?

(example)

http://www.thesage.com/recipes/recipes.php?.State=Display&id=141

Bountiful Butters

Ingredients
12 ounces Aloe Butter
3 ounces White Cocoa Butter
2 ounces Mango Oil
2 ounces Mango Butter
16 ounces Olive Oil
9 ounces Palm Oil
4 ounces Shea Butter, Refined

17 ounces Water
6.57 ounces Sodium Hydroxide

Here's what I do. Have to say I'm extremely math chalenged Add all butter/oil weights. In this case 48. 48=100% 1%=0,48 That makes:
12/0,48=25 % aloe butter
3/0,48=6,25 % cocoa butter
2/0,48=4,17 % mango oil
2/0,48=4,17 % mango butter
16/0,48=33.33 % olive oil
9/0,48=18,75 % palm oil
4/0,48=8,33 % shea butter
Just to check yourself, add up the percentages to see if it does add up to 100% :wink:
That's step one. Now you want to make it your own. Besides, these percentages are way to hard to work with.

Go to http://www.soapcalc.net (there are a number of other soap calculators, but I happened to like this one)

Different oils have different qualities. We want to make the above recipe our own, in the quantity we want, and with our preferred soap qualities.

Summary of values:
Hardness 29 to 54
Cleansing 12 to 22
Condition 44 to 69
Bubbly lather 14 to 46
Creamy lather 16 to 48
Iodine 41 to 70 (lower = harder bar)
INS 136 to 170 (higher = harder bar)

See, now you can paly around with it; for example you see it has no bubbly lather. You could add ingredients that do make nice bubbles. And all in exactly te size you want and the superfat you want

 

[dagmar88]

2. I'm confused on what size molds I should get as a beginner! I was thinking of getting this neat-o 2lb mold box w/ cutting slits AND cutting blade, but I was wonder if this was too much? I ask because I don't wanna pour my soap mixtures into a too-big mold, AND this neat-o mold box ain't cheap! :[

I'd advise to start with something cheap. Take a look at the baking stuff in the grocery shop; silicone backing molds are perfect. If you find a silicone baking mat... buy it!!! perfect to cut up & line your ordinary tupperware box with. Works like a charm.

I started with an empty milkbox and that worked just fine :wink:

to figure out how much oils/butters & lye mixture will fill up your mold, read this topic:
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3461

You can be sure at least some of your first soaps will end up in the dumpster, so make sure a starter mold is never to big; just a waste of expensive materials.

3. Like I said before, I'm a beginner. What are some easy ingredients to try out with? I was thinking a simple Olive Oil-water-lye recipe.

A 100% olive oil (search the forum for castille) or 80% olive oil & 20% coconut (search the forum for Bastille) would be the easiest to start with

4. I know we all have our secrets but, where do YOU get your supplies from? Do you buy in bulk?

Well, to begin with, a lot of oils can be found at the grocery store, but also at small stores from people from asia (often have palm oil), africa (deffinatly carry coconut oil for afro hair :wink en arabia (cheap olive oil & olive pomace).
there are a LOT of suppliers; try to perform a search on the forum. Always compare prices, other peoples experiences, shipping fees & policys. If you produce a lot, buy in bulk, if you just start out... don't. Made that mistake, your oils could go rancid and that's a true waste of money.

 

[dagmar88]

5. In my introduction, I rambled about my hair. What ingredients are good to use in soap that I may wanna rub in my mop?

Well, kinda depends on your type of hair (straigh, curly) and greasyness.
Try the search funtion for 'shampoo' and you'll get a load of hair friendly soap recipes. But first start with something simple :wink:
I have a massive load of dry curls; so I use a good shampoo & conditioner & rub some coconut oil in the ends :wink:

6. There is a crazy-lot of fragrances/essential oils. What fragrances are safe to use for the body and how will I know? How much should I even use in a recipe? Also, what exactly are essential oils and are they important in making my soap (honestly)?

http://www.fragranceoilfinder.com/catalog/index.php

Fragrance Oil Finder has a list of fragrance oil suppliers and you can find the company that carries that FO you really crave
Normally a FO company does say where to use it in, soap, bath & body or candles only, and how much FO to use. Depends on how concentrated the FO is. A good concentrated oil has a usuage rate of 1 to 2 %.
Essential oil is a natural oil that comes from plant parts, flowers or citrus fruits. The are extracted from them & you need a great amount of, for example, lavender, to create just a little bit of EO. That's why EO's are expensive. EO's is something you really have to read in to before you'll ever use them. Each EO has a specific effect on peoples moods & health. Some can be harmfull when used under wrong circumstances!
Are they important in making soap. Nope. Your soap will wash just as good without them. Are they making soaping more fun to use & make, YES!!! Watch out, you'll soon have more EO's & FO's than you'll ever be able to use, they're totally addicting

7. I've seen the use of animal fats/tallow in soaps. I know that a lotta people don't like using them, but I'm intrigued. If you use them, do you have any suggestions/recipes for using it? Why do you use it?

Animal fats, for what I know, increase a bars hardness, are pretty conditioning & give creamy lather and make a nice, white bar of soap.
For suggestions & recipes, perform a search on 'lard' or 'tallow'.
A lot of people do like these soaps a lot!

8. Olive oil is used in many recipes. Do you get yours from a regular grocery store? This kinda goes along with Question 4, but getting this ingredient correct is important to me.

Sure you can get it from the grocery store, nothing worng ith that! I get mine at the local Morrocan butcher, who carries top quality extra vergine olive oil in 2,5 liter cans for as much as nothing.

9. I was trying to figure out how much lye is needed in recipes. What is the ratio for lye in any recipe? I tried to figure this out, but I quickly got lost.

Is it just me, or was soapcalc easier to read before it changed? Figure out the recipe you want on soapcalc & use http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/soapcalculator.htm
To figure out how many water/ lye you need

Hope to have answered your questions, have on the forum & with soaping!

Dagmar

 

[reallyrita]

LOTS of questions....I'm new to this

You have received some very excellent advice here....could be you are still overwhelmed a bit....I know I was at the beginning. And my "beginning" lasted a really long time. First off, go to the "millersoap.com" site and sit down with a big cup or coffee or tea and read it all...all in one go or bit by bit. A lot of it could be meaningless at first, but keep checking back at this site. I bought books and soon found them to be somewhat useless. The recipes made big batches and , as it turns out, the recipes all seemed to use too much lye for a nice conditioning soap. On this forum you can go to the recipe section and keep scrolling down until you hit on "Paul's Walmart Recipe." This is a good beginner's one. You can get every thing you need at a super Walmart (the one with food department) or really, any big grocery store. Don't go for the most expensive olive oil. Look for the extra light one. You can get lye usually at small independent hardware stores . I know that the ACE ones usually carry it in small jars in the plumbing section. Big chains no longer carry it (used in meth production, I believe). For an easy to use mold, wash out well a milk carton. The quart size. It will hold one lb of soap. If you are making 2 lbs....use 2 cartons. You pour and when ready to unmold, just tear the carton away and you will have a nice little log ready for cutting. Actually, you can use a kitchen knife for starters, but most of us move on to a spackle knife or a cutter made for soap or even one of those cheese wires attached to a cutting board. You can wrap your milk carton with dish towels and set it upright into a big pot (to keep it insulated and upright) to gel.....or, even easier, for the time being, forget gel and put the milk carton in the fridge (I put mine in the door compartment wedged in with the catsup bottle or whatever. Leave it there for 24 hour, then leave it alone at room temp until it seems hard when you squeeze it a little, tear away...let stand until not sticky, maybe a day or two....and cut and put on the cure rack. Don't place on a metal rack...plastic or wood is better. You can even use a basket for a small batch. Metal except for stainless reacts with raw soap.
So, a trip to the grocery store, the hardware store and some gloves and goggles (also at hardware store) and you are good to go. Run any recipe through soapcalc and it will cut down to size or go up to size any recipe you find online or in a book. It is an excellent tool...does all the math for you. For your very first batch or two, I would recommend not adding scent. Some of them misbehave in the pot and you need to be a little comfortable with the process to know what to do about that. I like a well scented soap so I use one ounce per lb of oils. You do need a good scale as we do everything by weight. Welcome to our addiction!

 

[krissy]

i am only a few day ahead of you and i got over excited. i had all these neat ingredients and saw all these really cool bars of soap on here and well, i jumped in too fast.

the biggest thing i would reccomend is to not go overboard. start with a simple recipe. like one was given to me that is 10 oz coconut and 14 olive oil. calculate the water and lye, i like thesage.com for this because it lets me change the total amount of oils without changing my percents.


also, skip trying to do a bunch of additives and scents. there are some that can accelerate your trace and before you know what hit you, your soap it seizing, and can become hard, if not impossible to get into a mold.

 

[reallyrita]

LOTS of questions....I'm new to this

Dear DeeJay Pancake (love that name!). I just reread my post to you and thought I would add a few more tips. These are some things I wish I had known about the first few times I made CP soap.
1. Don't do anything until you get that scale.
2. Don't wear fleece garments when soaping!
3. get ahold of some of those dryer antistatic sheets and use a fresh one everytime you make a soap batch. Rub it on the top of your scale, around the top and outside of your lye jar and even rub it inside and outside of the container you use to measure your lye into.
4. you can use a plastic disposable picnic type glass to pour your dry lye into for measuring...then just discard.
5. If you can do all your work inside of a sink, that is the best way to avoid a messy or hazardous cleanup.
6.Don't mix your lye in pyrex or other glass....use plastic pitchers.
7.....and oh goodness...don't be afraid of the lye...I WAS and it took me 6 months to get up my nerve to make CP soap. Think of all that wonderful soap I could have been making during those months when I was afraid of my own shadow...or, at least...the long shadow that lye jar cast....

 

[jarvan]

I love the idea of the dryer sheet on the scale, rubbing it inside the container to prevent those nasty little lye particles fro jumping around. That's so cool! :wink:

 

[Jeremy]

Wow, that`s a lot of help. But I would probably be overwhelmed if I was a newbie.
Try this, use the soap calc software. Do a castille soap (100% Olive Oil) using any OO you happen to have. Use a sandwhich container, or any plastic container you have to mold your soap. If it wrecks when you unmold it then don`t use that again. don`t scent it, don`t colour it, just get a feel for the process.
Or even better, go to a craft store and by a Melt and Pour Soap kit and see if you are even interested in soap making.
And even with all the information on the net nowadays, there is nothing quite like spending sometime with a good book and going over the process of soapmaking at your own pace.
I like `The Everything Soapmaking Book``And use the KISS principle.

 

[honor435]

lots of questions! i did hp first in crockpot. I read some books and watched utubes first. Start with a basic recipe, maybe olive, coconut, palm? or olive, coc, crisco? I have used essential oils and fragrance oils(cheaper) its spendy to use eo's, so wait til you get good. A 2 lb log mold is a good way to go, i didnt have one so i used cheap plastic molds from michaels(hp) Iam now onto cp and love that too! good luck to you.

 

[vivcarm]

Agree with everything everybody else has said, I found this helpful when I was wanting to see how it was done, as I have nobody near me that makes soap.
http://www.expertvillage.com/video/1870 ... -ready.htm
Just look at websites, but do start with a basic soap, I started with 85% Olive and 15% Sunflower, just because I couldn't get coconut, and I still use that today for some of mine, plus if you don't take to soap making (which I am sure will once you use your first bar of soap!), you can you the oils in your cooking!

 

[Dixie]

IF you want a 4 oz bar of soap, here is a simple calculation to figure out how much oil you will need for your mold:

W x L x H x .40 =__

 

[Val]

My first mold was a Capri Sun box cut in half lengthwise. it is somewhat sturdy and makes a bar just the right size between 3.5 - 4 oz. Line it with Freezer paper.

If you need to know how much oils to use to fill a box your using here is a link to help with that.

http://soapersmarket.com/info_pages.php?pages_id=23

just put in your measurements and it gives you the Oil total ..... then you can adjust your recipe to fit the mold.

Hope this helps,

Val