My first soap recipe

[coolgoatz]

Hello!

I've just joined this community and I'm about to create my first batch of soap. My plan is to make a goat milk soap, I understand the process of making a goat milk soap is a bit more complex than using water but I wanted to try it out despite being a newbie.

I found the following recipe online and it looked simple and good enough:

* Olive oil – 56%
* Coconut oil – 26%
* Shea butter – 11%
* Castor oil – 7%
(5% superfat, water and lye amount based on soapcalc.net, replacing the water with the milk)

Now first of all I wonder if this recipe looks good, I'm aiming for a moisturising soap since I have a bit sensitive skin. Also I wonder if there is anything else I'm missing or that is good to add?

I have done some research and it looks like (from what I've read) a coconut oil percentage above 20% can be a bit drying, so for the next batch I might want to make a new recipe that has a slightly lower amount of that, also I really want to try and do a lard soap next. But I've figured I'll maybe have to try my first soaps first before learning what to change.

Do you have any overall suggestions about this recipe or any great recipes that I can do after this one?

 

[KentuckySilks]

Looks too soft of a soap, aim is to have 50-60% hard oils, rest soft ( liquid at room temperature, also coconut oil is great for bubbles and is generally not too drying up to 25% or even a bit more. I would put in lard between 30-40 %, hardens n moisturizes, too much olive oil in my opinion too- you’re on your way tho!!!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Using soap calc, try the following:
20% CO
20% Shea Butter
55% OO
5% Castor
5% Superfat
Change to 'Lye concentration' and set it 33% - don't use the default setting of water as percent of oils (assuming you are making cold processed soap)

The recipe is not perfect but is a good start. I would suggest using only half the water amount as goats milk for your first try. If you use all goats milk instead of water it might get a bit thick and gluggy - not good for your first try at making soap.

Have a read of this article. It might be helpful ultimately in understanding what fats you might need to make a better soap:
https://www.modernsoapmaking.com/blog/the-most-popular-fatty-acid-profiles-in-soapmaking/

 

[bookworm42]

I second @KiwiMoose's recipe! It's a great starting point.

My husband has sensitive skin and loves soap with about 10% CO. With lard I can increase to 15% and he's fine but everyone's skin is different.
For lard soap I highly recommend this recipe. It's one of my favorites!

 

[coolgoatz]

Thanks a lot for the replies I appreciate it!

For now I'll start out with the recipe posted by @KiwiMoose, using half water and half goats milk. I'll probably also make a second batch with the recipe recommended by @bookworm42. Really excited to see the results and based on that I'll make some tweaks in the future and experiment more on my own recipe.

Will give it a try and I'll be updating with the results in this thread as well as share some photo once they've cured.

 

[akseattle]

@coolgoatz ,

welcome!
below is your recipe run through soapcalc. (soapcalc.net)

I left it at the default for water as % of oil. That is good for a beginner as it gives you more time. But, your soaps will shrink ALOT during cure. So, you could us a little less water (or higher lye concentration) and you'll have less shrinkage. End the end, the soap is the same,

When I made my first bar, I went on the internet and found the recipe that had the most shea butter- like 33%. I wanted a really conditioning bar. But , my soaps were disappearing in the shower. That started to bug me. ( and one of my son's kept saying "Mom, why does this soap melt away in the shower??) Eventually, I realized that longevity was an important quality to me.

Your LONGEVITY value is 18. ( add palmitic + stearic OR subtract cleansing from hardness). So, your bar will not last long when exposed to water. In my usual recipe, I use the same four oils you use (different proportions) but I also add either lard or tallow as a fifth oil/fat. That increases the hardness and longevity.

So, I would want to know why you selected the particular recipe you selected?
What quality were you after? Looks like your bar will be very conditioning.
If, when run through soapcalc, it has the qualities you wanted, and you are aware of the possible drawbacks ( as you said, coconut oil higher than 20% could be too drying for some people, also not great longevity), then keep your recipe.

You could play around with soapcalc until you find the balance that you want. Keep us posted!

 

[coolgoatz]

@akseattle thanks for the reply noticed it after already answering the other comments!

I chose that initial recipe because it looked simple with nice ingredients that are also easy for me to come by. I was aiming for a bar that is "conditioning", however it's not like I have super sensitive skin but mostly just like the concept of a soap that is a bit on the milder side.

Now that you mention it longevity sounds important for me too, hadn't considered that at all when I looked at that recipe. Ideally I want a soap that isn't too drying while also not melting like you described your first did, other than that some bubbles are a plus (I have a Marseille soap and that one doesn't lather much at all). So to sum it up a good soap that I can use myself and proudly share with family and friends, in the future I'll probably experiment with some scents too.

I played around some with the calculator and came up with this:

This one has a slightly higher hardness of 27 (still at the low end of the recommended rage), it's still pretty high in conditioning. The cleansing might be a bit low though so maybe can balance the oils/fats better (however my Merseille soap should be even lower since it's mostly olive).

Atm not sure which recipe I'll go for, or if I'll try two different but I'll make sure to share updates along the process!

 

[AliOop]

I left it at the default for water as % of oil. That is good for a beginner as it gives you more time.

I must respectfully disagree. I believe it is best for beginners to learn right away that working with lye concentration (rather than water as percent of oils) will give more consistent and predictable results, regardless of batch size.

To give more working time, you can recommend that a beginner use 30% lye concentration rather than the more typical 33%.

 

[akseattle]

@AliOop , I agree with you that setting the lye concentration is preferable to setting water as percentage of oils. But, the lye concentration seemed like alot to explain. So, I left that "water as percentage of oils" because that is the default on soapcalc. I didn't know if @coolgoatz wanted to use alot of liquid or a little liquid. And since @coolgoatz is using goatmilk for first soap, I didn't want to complicate things.
I found the lye concentration v water as % of oil it a little confusing when I first started.
I just looked up my soap journal. I was on my 18th batch when i finally made the switch!! I've only made 27 batches, so it did take me awhile- I still think of myself as an beginner, sort of.

If I had started right away working with lye concentration, it probably would have come more naturally. For me, there was so much to think about .... still is ....

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

I get confused by “water as % of oils” because plain water does nothing to saponify the oils.

The % water weight is determined by the weight of the lye, not the oils.
What matters is how much lye to add for saponification, the amount of water needed to fully dissolve it (same weight as the lye for a 50/50 solution), plus a percentage of additional water for the method used for creating the soap.

I soap with the CPOP method using a solution of 40% lye. This means 40% of the weight of the water/lye solution is NaOH and 60% of the solution is water.

Someone who soaps at 33% lye is using a water/lye solution of with a weight 33% NaOH and 67% water.

That’s my explanation of why folks at SMF keep insisting on using the lye/water ratio. Hope this helps at least one person who reads it. (And I’m glad for anyone else to chime in as well.)

 

[AliOop]

@AliOop , I agree with you that setting the lye concentration is preferable to setting water as percentage of oils. But, the lye concentration seemed like alot to explain. So, I left that "water as percentage of oils" because that is the default on soapcalc. I didn't know if @coolgoatz wanted to use alot of liquid or a little liquid. And since @coolgoatz is using goatmilk for first soap, I didn't want to complicate things.
I found the lye concentration v water as % of oil it a little confusing when I first started.
I just looked up my soap journal. I was on my 18th batch when i finally made the switch!! I've only made 27 batches, so it did take me awhile- I still think of myself as an beginner, sort of.

If I had started right away working with lye concentration, it probably would have come more naturally. For me, there was so much to think about .... still is ....

I can appreciate not wanting to confuse someone with changing a default setting. However, it's one of those issues that I find important enough to talk about right away, so people don't get started one way, and then have re-learn things another way. To me that is more confusing.

 

[KiwiMoose]

The water as a percent of oil weight is a default setting on soap calc because it is used for hot processed soap, which requires more water. It's not so good for cold processed.

 

[melinda48]

I must respectfully disagree. I believe it is best for beginners to learn right away that working with lye concentration (rather than water as percent of oils) will give more consistent and predictable results, regardless of batch size.

To give more working time, you can recommend that a beginner use 30% lye concentration rather than the more typical 33%.

I have always used, for example 1.8:1 (1.8 parts water to 1 part lye), as it works for my brain better than lye concentration. Everyone is different and I have had to find a way that works - for me.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

The water as a percent of oil weight is a default setting on soap calc because it is used for hot processed soap, which requires more water. It's not so good for cold processed.

Understood, @KiwiMoose! That’s why I mentioned the amount of additional water will depend on the method used for making soap. Wouldn’t it be better to have the water as % of oils listed as a separate feature specifically for HP soap? Perhaps if there was a check box to set for HP or CP soap, then when HP was checked, the water as a % of oils appeared?

 

[AliOop]

I have always used, for example 1.8:1 (1.8 parts water to 1 part lye), as it works for my brain better than lye concentration. Everyone is different and I have had to find a way that works - for me.

Yup! Lye concentration (like I use) and water:lye ratio (like you use) are two ways of saying the same thing. Both relate the water to the lye, and not to the oils. Both will give you consistent results regardless of batch size. Both make it very easy to increase or decrease water as may be appropriate for the particular recipe and batch.

Water-as-percent-of-oils (WAPO), on the other hand, is a completely different method for determining the amount of water in the batch. It will not give consistent results if you change the batch size. Also, the calculator default of 38% is not appropriate for most CP soaps, as it is waaayyy too much water. So now they have to do more mental gymnastics to "discount" the water, rather than just starting with an appropriate amount out of the gate.

To me, when someone is trying to learn the basics of soaping, it is much easier to teach them how to use one of the other two settings, than to try to explain how to adjust the WAPO setting. That's why I don't ever recommend that new soapers start with the default 38% WAPO. Using either lye concentration or water:lye ratio will help them make good soap and avoid expensive failures.