Mom Soap

[GreenDragon]

I've got an order from BrambleBerry coming in this week and I'm gearing up to make soap as Christmas Presents this year. Regular Bars for the ladies, and Shaving Bars for the guys. If I make them this weekend they should have a good 3 months to cure before they get them.

(Repeat: "I will not put sand in my Brother's batch, I will not put sand in my Brother's batch...")

Anyway, my Mom is one of those people who is very sensitive to smells and allergens, so I'm going to make her batch without EO's, FO's or colorants. And I plan to use mostly oils she cooks with such as olive, avocado, grapeseed, etc. Any suggestions on things to avoid? I.e. any oils that may not smell pleasant in the finished bar, or turn an ugly color?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[jcandleattic]

Pumice (aka - ground stone) makes a wonderfully exfoliating bar of soap - use that for your brother!! HAHA

The only unscented soap I make is my 100% Olive Oil castile soap, so have no advice other than that.
If you go that route, make sure she keeps it dry between uses so it doesn't get slimey, as it tends to do with even a year cure time... (which is how long I tend to cure my OO bars)

 

[lenarenee]

Will you give me your adorable dog? Please?

She can take the smell of olive oil? Then it should be fine to use in soap; a high olive oil soap can smell like the oil - especially if it's excellent and fresh quality.

Cocoa butter can be smelled in soap even a fairly low percentages.

Palm oil, to my nose, has no scent other than a fatty smell. If you didn't order any from BB, then Spectrum shortening (read the ingredient label) works very well.

Some people here say they can smell piggy smell from lard soaps. I don't. But if your mom uses and tolerate lard - then it shouldn't be an issue.

Grapeseed oil is often discouraged, or used in extremely small amounts due to how quickly it goes rancid.

Make a couple small batches of different recipes for your mom to try and see what she thinks. I love a simple, classic, unadorned bar of soap. There's always one in my shower.

 

[GreenDragon]

Will you give me your adorable dog? Please?

LOL - NO! :lolno: She is Daddy's girl and would pine forever without me Got her as a rescue dog and she's been the best dog I ever had. Her name is Natasha and is a Border Collie / Great Pyrenees mix. She thinks she's a 45 lb lap dog.

 

[Dahila]

My advice is not to use grapeseed oil cause it is short shelf life and could be prone to dos, Mom likes cooking what about using lard, extra sensitive skin responds to lard soaps. I use combination of lard and tallow olive oil , castor and it is an awesome soap, At least for my dry older skin
Castille takes a year to cure and it is not enough time

 

[Viore]

I made an unscented soap using lard, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, and castor oil. I added ground oatmeal to it for a light scrubbiness. It's one of my favorite soaps right now.

 

[GreenDragon]

I made an unscented soap using lard, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, and castor oil. I added ground oatmeal to it for a light scrubbiness. It's one of my favorite soaps right now.

Sounds exactly what I'm looking for! Would you mind sharing your recipe?

Steve

 

[Traumabrew]

If you want a simple white soap, you can go with coconut oil, tallow, shea butter and palm oil. These ingredients are most often well tolerated. To make it even more interesting, use a ghost swirl technique, which is most often done without EO or FO and can only be done without colorants.

 

[Obsidian]

Sounds exactly what I'm looking for! Would you mind sharing your recipe?

Steve

Not Viore but my recipe is similar. Makes a nice hard white bar with no oil smell.

lard 50%
olive or avocado 30%
coconut oil 15%
castor oil 5%

 

[GreenDragon]

Awesome - Thank you Obsidian

 

[MissLunaB]

If you want a simple white soap, you can go with coconut oil, tallow, shea butter and palm oil. These ingredients are most often well tolerated. To make it even more interesting, use a ghost swirl technique, which is most often done without EO or FO and can only be done without colorants.

I was about to say this is perfect and well tolerated by some, and I'm making something similar as well ^_^; Tallow/lard soaps have very creamy lather, might give your soaps an extra luxurious feel to them if you want

 

[Obsidian]

Coconut and shea can both irritate sensitive skin. I would only use small amounts of coconut and no shea or cocoa butter.

 

[MissLunaB]

Coconut and shea can both irritate sensitive skin. I would only use small amounts of coconut and no shea or cocoa butter.

Really? I've always have been told that those can soothe dry irritated skin, especially coconut oil, but I'm also African American so that might be a different factor as well.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

The OIL can, but the sodium salt of the oil, on the other hand, can be very different indeed. CO in soap is very stripping and, when used at a higher % is usually off-set by a higher lye discount.

 

[jcandleattic]

What EG said.

Once those oils are saponified, it changes their chemistry and they can become harsh to sensitive skin.

For me, when using coconut oil, I have to look at the other oils in my composition as well. If I use a high percent of olive oil along with the coconut oil I get a much harsher bar of soap, but if I lower my OO % and keep my higher CO % then the bar will get increasingly milder, the lower I keep my OO%. This has been my personal experience, but everyone's sensitivities are different.

 

[Obsidian]

Yes, everyone's skin is so different. Personally, I can't use high OO soaps, they are harsh and dry me out. I've actually cut OO out of my soap completely, I now use HO safflower instead.

 

[dixiedragon]

I would not recommend grapeseed - it can promote rancidity. (But if you do want to use grapeseed, I saw some at my Costco last week.)

Some fun things to add to your mom's soap would be honey, coffee grounds (for a scrubby soap) or calendula petals (will stay yellow).

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Not Viore but my recipe is similar. Makes a nice hard white bar with no oil smell.

lard 50%
olive or avocado 30%
coconut oil 15%
castor oil 5%

I agree this would make a nice bar. But, IME there is a potential that it will smell lardy. It has been my experience that some vats of lard just smell more than others, and if you get a strong one a 50% usage will carry through. Especially an unscented bar. I've recently begun limiting lard to 25% and haven't smelled it since I made that change. That's six batches, five of which were unscented. I replace the leftover 25% with GV shortening, but any other hard oil would do.