New to Soapmaking -- Please Advise!

[akibo74]

Hey everyone!

I'm brand new to soap making, and I'm excited to learn about the process! My soap-making goal is to create a soap for myself that accommodates my countless allergies and inflammatory reactions to mainstream soap ingredients. In order to do this methodically and effectively, I was thinking of starting with a very basic liquid solution of water and glycerin (not sure what a good ratio would be?), and then to add a single ingredient, try it out, and see how I react. Obviously if I get a bad reaction, then I won't pursue that ingredient, but I think this trial and error will give me a sense of what ingredients I can work with.

I'm comfortable with this idea, but I'm not confident in its execution. I don't know anything about chemistry, liquid/solid measurements, where to get single ingredients, the legality of owning chemicals, dangers, etc. I would love some help/advice on how to move forward. I have purchased 100% vegetable-based glycerin, and obviously have access to water, so I think my first step would be to create a water-glycerin base. Looking forward to everyone's input!

Thanks,
Isaac

 

[KiwiMoose]

Hi Isaac,

Do you mean for liquid soap? It is not usual to use glycerin in bar soap (esp. as a beginner). Have a look around the forum to find ideas for liquid soap, bar soap etc.

Do you know of any specific allergies you have already? Like to coconut oil/nut oils/olive oil etc? That would be a good start.

 

[TheGecko]

I'm brand new to soap making, and I'm excited to learn about the process! My soap-making goal is to create a soap for myself that accommodates my countless allergies and inflammatory reactions to mainstream soap ingredients. In order to do this methodically and effectively, I was thinking of starting with a very basic liquid solution of water and glycerin (not sure what a good ratio would be?), and then to add a single ingredient, try it out, and see how I react. Obviously if I get a bad reaction, then I won't pursue that ingredient, but I think this trial and error will give me a sense of what ingredients I can work with.

Welcome. It would be helpful to know what commercial soaps you have used that have caused inflammatory reactions because not all commercial soap is actually 'soap'. Dove is an example of a soap that is not a true soap which is why it says 'beauty bar' on the label. Other commercial soap starts out as soap...in that it is made with fats and lye, but then they add in all sorts of stuff during the milling process and it is that stuff you could be reacting too.

The fats most commonly used in commercial soap making are two of the following four: Tallow, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil. This is because they can be purchased cheaply by the tanker. Elsewise, they are commonly used by artisan soap makers along with other oils for a more balanced bar of soap.

You can't make soap with just water, glycerin and some other oil...it'll just be water, glycerin and some other oil. I think it would be far easier for you to start with a cold process soap, then attempt a liquid soap.

I'm comfortable with this idea, but I'm not confident in its execution. I don't know anything about chemistry, liquid/solid measurements, where to get single ingredients, the legality of owning chemicals, dangers, etc. I would love some help/advice on how to move forward. I have purchased 100% vegetable-based glycerin, and obviously have access to water, so I think my first step would be to create a water-glycerin base.

The chemistry of soap making is called 'saponification'...it's what turns fats and lye into soap. You would mix your liquid fats with lye that has been dissolved in water until it is emulsified, pour into a container, let it sit for 24 to 48 hours, unmold, cut into bar and then let sit to 'cure' for six weeks. Depending on your recipe, four weeks is the minimum...my recipe prefers eight weeks. Regardless of the process you use for soap making, soap MUST be cured.

All measuring in soap making...oils, butters, lye, fragrance and essentials oils is done by weight...either ounces or grams. I use ounces because that is what I am used to. Other ingredients like colorants and additives can be done by volume...teaspoon or tablespoon.

You don't need a special license to purchase any soap making ingredients. In fact, you can find most commonly used fats like Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Avocado Oil, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Lard, Castor Oil, etc at your local grocery store. Lye...aka Sodium Hydroxide aka NaOH can be found in many hardware stores a 'drain cleaner'...you just need to be sure that it is 100% NaOH. When it comes to water, you really want to use Distilled Water, NOT tap water. Sodium Hydroxide does like the metals often found in city water or ground water.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Hi Isaac and Welcome!

My soap-making goal is to create a soap for myself that accommodates my countless allergies and inflammatory reactions to mainstream soap ingredients.

You are in good company. So many SMF members learned to make soap for just those reasons -- myself included. I couldn't tolerate normal off-the-shelf "soap" readily available or even those recommended by my dermatologist. I started with lard & tallow soaps in 2003 and never looked back.

I was thinking of starting with a very basic liquid solution of water and glycerin (not sure what a good ratio would be?), and then to add a single ingredient, try it out, and see how I react.

Water and/or glycerin can be used to make the lye solution, although using distilled water is best when starting out. NOTE: You can NOT make soap without lye. Once made, the lye is neutralized so there's no need to fear how it feels on the skin when you first use the soap.

I don't know anything about chemistry, liquid/solid measurements, where to get single ingredients,

You will use a calculator like SoapCalc to enter the Oils/Fats/Butters you want to use and the calculator does the rest. It will calculate the amount of lye and water to use to create the soap.

I would love some help/advice on how to move forward.

Here ya go:
ADVICE TO BEGINNERS

 

[Zing]

Welcome! I'll add a couple more things if you are interested in making cold process bar soap. Soap Queen has a great You Tube series for beginners, and I also like Soaping101's YouTubes.

Unlike others here, I got into making soap because it was a creative outlet. I had no idea that my really super-sensitive and rashy skin would make a miraculous turnaround! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised even if you start with the holy trinity of palm/coconut/olive oils.

You do have to be careful with lye but I treat it like bleach -- with respect and alertness but not fear.

Good luck, you won't look back!

 

[akibo74]

Thank you all for your responses. I plan on making a single oil-liquid soap -- single-oil because it is minimal ingredient wise, and liquid soap to avoid the long cure period of solid soaps. Basically my starting plan would be to saponify stearic acid (create the soap) and combine it with water, glycerin (add moisturizing effect) and maybe sodium laureth sulfate (create lather). Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get all of these ingredients, any other tools I will need, and how to actually prepare the soap?

 

[Zing]

I am going to encourage you to do a little more homework. There are great posts on this forum, just click on the words in green in Zany's post above. Check out Soap Queen's website and videos. You'll get a better idea on the terms, process, equipment, and good sources for ingredients.

I mention that because some of your comments are "off." For example, stearic acid is not an oil and therefore does not "saponify." Also, lye is an essential ingredient to make soap. Good luck,

 

[AliOop]

Please don't take this as criticism. You asked for our perspective as soapmakers with a bit of experience, and we offer that with a sincere desire to help you avoid mistakes, and to enjoy soapmaking.

With that preamble, I have to agree with @Zing. Liquid soapmaking is much trickier than bar soap, with far less room for error. For instance, you cannot superfat it much at all without using advanced techniques and/or potential skin irritants. This means that most beginner-level liquid soaps can be pretty drying. Typically you do want to sequester them for a few weeks to become milder, so it's not much faster than making CP or HP soap, frankly.

Also, liquid soap will lather just fine without the addition of detergents such as SLES, which can be very harsh on skin. Given all the allergies and skin reactions you mentioned, that would not be my first choice of ingredients. And again, adding non-soap ingredients to a liquid soap is a pretty advanced technique.

But if you want to go down that road, and you want to stick with a single-oil soap, then I recommend reading the posts here on SMF in our liquid soapmaking threads to learn the basics. Or if you want to shoot for the moon with your first soap, search for Irish Lass' liquid soap tutorials. They do make wonderful liquid soap. Good luck!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

@Zing & @AliOop Good advice!

I plan on making a single oil-liquid soap
Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get all of these ingredients, any other tools I will need, and how to actually prepare the soap?

Here ya go... everything you need to know as well as the tools/supplies needed to make it ...

LEARN TO MAKE LIQUID SOAP FROM SCRATCH

NOTE: This recipe can be made with a single oil but you need a lye calculator to recalculate the amount of KOH (Potassium Hydroxide) for a single-oil soap.

Also, this recipe uses 42 oz. of oils -- which is a lot!!! For a first timer, and to prevent waste and minimize expense, it is best to resize the batch to 12 oz. for a small test batch. 12 oz. oils = 16 oz. "paste" (soap base) that you can then divide into 4 portions to determine the amount of dilution water you like as well as fragrance, if using.

stearic acid - can be added at 1%-3% to thicken the batch if needed. I have no experience with using it to thicken LS but other members may have. @IrishLass ?

water, glycerin - water is used to make the lye solution in the above recipe. Water + glycerin is added during the Dilution Phase -- after the "paste" (soap base) is made.

sodium laureth sulfate - SLS is typically used in syndet (synthetic / detergent) bars and in bath bombs for its lathering ability. Done correctly, you won't need it in LS - even using almond oil as your single oil generates sufficient lather that is good for hair and skin. I speak from experience. I once made a 100% almond oil LS for a customer who requested it. I was amazed by the amount of lather that oil produced! Who knew? I certainly didn't. Nice surprise, that one!

HAPPY SOAPING!