New to soap making - Few questions

[Harg88]

Hi, new to soap making. So new i’ve not actually tried it yet.

I am wanting to make an exfoliating hand soap, and have a few questions before i start spending some ££money.

• As its for exfoliating / cleaning dirty hands, what oils / additives can i use to also make it moisturising
• is cold process an appropriate technique for this ? Or would a hot process have any benefits, im thinking bigger volumes down the line
• What are the most suitable abrasive things i can add into the soap to help remove dirt, eg pumice?
• What additives / base materials can be used to create a hard soap that lasts? if this is used for ‘scrubbing’ dirt i want a fairly hard soap over lather
• Full curing time, what can be used within the soap, or processes to help cure the soap quicker than 4-6 weeks

Thanks for your help, look forward to getting started

 

[akseattle]

@Harg88, I'll start with the exfoliants. I have used poppyseeds, coffee/espresso grounds, jojoba beads, and loofah. Of those, I would say that that the poppyseeds and espresso grounds are the most exfoliating. A more coarse grind of coffee (so not expresso) would be more exfoliating and probably good on the hands. I actually have some extremely fine sand that i got in Celestun, Mexico. I've been solely straining and cleaning it. I can't wait to try it. I assume this sand would be similar to pumice powder which I have never used. But, I assume pumice powder would be a really good exfoliant.

I have been considering getting some lemon peel granules. I think they'd be pretty exfoliating and I understand would also give a mild lemon scent to the soap.

For a quicker cure, use less water.

I only make cold process soap (well I also make melt & pour from a pre-made base but some would say that actually making soap.)
As I understand it, you are focusing on a hand soap with high exfoliating properties to remove dirt and grime?
I don't know why cold process soap wouldn't be perfect for this type of a bar.

@Harg88 , I would encourage you to run any recipe you settle upon through soapcalc.net free recipe calculator. The link it below.
http://soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
On soapcalc, you input your selected oils
(choose 40% lye concentration- which means you'll be using less water), and it will tell you what properties (hardness, cleansing, bubbly, creamy ) your soap will have.
A hard bar isn't necessarily a long lasting bar.
To find your bar's longevity (how long it will last when exposed to water, subtract your cleansing value from your hardness value.)
So, google for "mechanic's soap recipe." Then run that recipe through soapcalc to see where exactly that soap stands on various properties .
You can also ask on this forum and you'll get input on your recipe.
Good luck.

@Harg88 Also, I add salt to my recipes for a little added hardness.

@Harg88 also, I'm not so sure about curing less than 4 weeks. I guess you can, especially if you start with a 40% lye concentration.
But, more cure time will give you a nicer soap. I'm actually a reasonably new soapmaker so I can't say that for a fact, but that seems to be the consensus.
Other more experienced soapmakers might weigh in with more info.

 

[missbipbip]

Welcome to the forum, Harg!! I agree with akseattle, the only way to get the soap to cure faster is using less water, or a stronger lye solution. Keep in mind, if you go this route, the soap will set up faster and you won’t have as much time to work. That may not be a problem for you if you are doing a single color soap and your main focus is getting the exfoliant in the mix and pouring it. It can be a challenge if you are attempting colors or swirl, especially if you are new to soap making.
Another thing I will add, just in case you don’t know this yet, your exfoliants will sink to the bottom if your soap doesn’t at least have a light to medium trace.
For extra moisturization, when you are using the calculator, do your soap with a super fat of about 5% or so. Some people do more, some people less, but I use 5%. That gives you some extra oils that will not be saponified, and you will get some extra moisturization.
One more thing I will add is that the longer the soap cures, the harder and better it gets. I have been guilty of making a bar that I absolutely couldn’t wait to try, so I would use it after a couple of weeks. However, the soap is really soft at this time and does not last as long. I usually cure my soaps for at least 6 weeks, but I have found that when I grab a bar that is much older….even a year old…. It is amazing soap. It lasts longer. Soap does get better with age. The fragrance oils don’t always hold up that long (although most of mine do), but the soap is great.

Hope this helps!! Good luck with your soap!

 

[ackosel]

Hi, and welcome!

Our favorite cold process hand soap recipe is this:

35% tallow
35% olive oil
25% Coconut oil
5% Castor oil

If you put this recipe in an online lye calculator, it will tell you how much water and lye to use, and you can make any size batch you want. I'd set the lye concentration to 36% for a faster cure, but truthfully, I prefer an 8-week cure no matter the lye concentration. You could add salt or sodium lactate to help harden your bars (I have never done either), and forcing gel phase should also help with longevity. I use goat tallow in this recipe, but you can use any tallow. If you don't want to use tallow at all, you can use palm oil instead.

I add 1 1/2 to 2 tsp fine, unused coffee grounds per pound of oil. (I grind them as fine as I can in a blender) I also use goat milk in all my soap to help boost lather and make the bars less stripping.

None of us have sensitive skin, and everyone, even my children, love the soap. In fact, my 9-year-old son told me that he washes his hands a lot more often since I started making coffee soap because he likes it so much, and he put soap on his birthday list! This recipe takes pitch off hands, to give you an idea of how well it works for us.

My process is different than most. I take the amount of water required and split it between distilled water and fresh goat milk. *You MUST use slightly more distilled water than lye in this recipe.* Lye requires at least an equal amount of water in order to fully dissolve. If your size batch calls for 4 oz of lye and 8 oz of water (just random numbers I chose for an example), use 4.5 oz water and 3.5 oz milk, just to make SURE there is enough water to dissolve all the lye.

Start by adding the dry coffee grounds to the 4.5 oz of room temperature distilled water, and add the 3.5 oz of fresh milk to the batch oils. Add the lye to the water/coffee grounds mixture and stir until the lye is completely dissolved. The temperature of the water will instantly skyrocket and brew the coffee. You will know the lye is all the way dissolved when the temperature of your mixture starts decreasing. Once your lye and oil temperatures are around 100°F, you can proceed as usual with the process.

I hope you find something that works great for you!

 

[Harg88]

Thank you all for the detailed replies! Really appreciate it!!

I keep going back to preferring at hot process route as for this soap at least as multi colours are not required. Would it be easier to mix exfoliants in a hot process once it has started to trace? That and i like the idea of adding in more superfats once it has saponified.

I think what i may do is finalise a recipe that i would like to try (using the great advice given ) any maybe try both methods, Hot and Cold to see which gives me the best options.

I know this is always a ‘hot’ topic but read mixed reviews, does hot process cure 'faster', i dont really believe it is perfect to use straight away like some say but can it be usable sooner, for example after a couple of weeks.

Although at the moment i am just looking to play with it, the reason for it is that i ultimately want to sell (in addition to other non soap products ) and if one process can cut a lead time down from 6 weeks it allows me to be a bit more flexible.

Thanks again, Chris

 

[ackosel]

As far as exfoliants, I have dehydrated and ground orange peels, sifted them through a fine sieve, and added the fine peels to the soap batter at trace. I had a bar of that at the sink. When it was gone, my husband asked for more of "That soap with the glass shards in it." The dried peels were very exfoliating and worked great for scrubbing pitch, dirt and grease off his hands. And no, it's not as sharp as glass shards, but I wouldn't recommend orange peels for a soap you plan to use as a body bar in the shower.

 

[Harg88]

As far as exfoliants, I have dehydrated and ground orange peels, sifted them through a fine sieve, and added the fine peels to the soap batter at trace. I had a bar of that at the sink. When it was gone, my husband asked for more of "That soap with the glass shards in it." The dried peels were very exfoliating and worked great for scrubbing pitch, dirt and grease off his hands. And no, it's not as sharp as glass shards, but I wouldn't recommend orange peels for a soap you plan to use as a body bar in the shower.

Gread advice with the orange, will 100% try this

 

[AliOop]

my husband asked for more of "That soap with the glass shards in it."

 

[Phantomina]

If I had to choose one bar from my soaping experience, it would definitely be a Gardener's soap. So basically, coffee (frozen, then mixed with lye) soap with loaaads of corn meal (polenta), and some clay + tea tree and rosemary EO's!

In our home, we are actual gardeners. And type of soil we work with, is really hard to get off your hands, so I put a looot of polenta and it works really great. So great that we also use it to scratch mosquito bites acquired in the garden .

 

[akseattle]

@Phantomina , so you use the liquid coffee, but not the coffee grounds? But, instead use the corn meal and clay for the exfoliant?

 

[Tammyfarms]

Lots of advice for you to sift through already so I will try to not add too much.
Several people have mentioned blacksmith soap, which is a really wonderful soap, but it is a more advanced soap. I would absolutely NOT recommend it for your first batch or even your first 10 batches. It’s asking for frustration and potential failure.
I know you are looking for a scrubby soap and coffee grounds make a lovely exfoliating soap so maybe start there? Better yet, your first batch should be fragrance and color free. Start with the basics before you move on to something more advanced. Also, start with really small batches, 500 or 1000 grams which will give you plenty of soap to test and less waste if (when) a batch fails.
As far as speeding your cure time, lower water and hot process will allow you to unmold faster but soap needs a 4-6 week cure time to become good soap. To test this, make a batch and use it to wash your hands once a week. Notice the differences as the weeks progress.

 

[Phantomina]

@Phantomina , so you use the liquid coffee, but not the coffee grounds? But, instead use the corn meal and clay for the exfoliant?

Yes, i make a really strong coffee, freeze it to avoid bad smell when mixed with lye. I think corn meal particles are much stronger than coffee ones, so it works better for me. I really like the scratchy soaps. Also clay added is more to anchor the EOs, I don't put it for exfoliating properties in this recipe.