Newbie making soap for the first time... questions!

[msarro]

Where did you get your lemongrass EO? Normally lemongrass is so well behaved that I tell newbies to use it.

I used an aura cacia essential oil that I picke up from our local natural foods store. It smells great, and strong, but like I said it tightened up.

Watching through some of the soap queen videos, she mentions adding essential oils and stirring by hand. I used the stick blender - I wonder if that could have been what caused an issue?

Really good point, Susie. I just did a blend of lemongrass, tea tree & spearmint and trace took forever. I had to hit it with the SB a bit to move it along.

Just an FYI on the lemongrass. I have no probs with it in wash-off products (soap) but a slight sensitivity in leave-on (lotion). On the other hand, my sister breaks out in a whole body rash no matter the product. Since I've heard others say the same, try it out washing your hands first instead of running off to the shower for a total scrub down, just in case!

I'm glad things went well for your first time out of the soaping gate and can't wait to see pics of the cut soap!

That's great to know, I'll definitely take care. Especially since my wife can have slight issues with skin conditioning (especially in sensitive areas). We ended up with enough for 6 full bars (I'm using bar molds), and about a 1/3rd full bar. I'll see if the partial bar works ok for her hands, and we can take it from there!

I'll take some pictures tomorrow night once they're set up a little bit. I did sneak a peek though and they seem to be firm already. I guess that means no soap volcanos?

 

[Susie]

I think your lemongrass EO was adulterated with something else. It should not cause any issues with seizing or ricing. Next time, you may want to try EOs from a soaping supply company. WSP usually has decent prices.

 

[Steve85569]

Soap, wine and cheese all need to cure . While you can use soap before it has aged it will not be what it should be at 4, 6 or 8 weeks aged. The soap you just made ( congratulations on your first batch) is really really going to get better as it ages so try and be patient. You have mentioned that DW has sensitive skin and she may not like the harshness of "fresh" ( raw) soap.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your first soap.
Welcome to the lard side. We have cookies!

 

[msarro]

Just some photos!

In the molds:

Ready to cure (and make our main bathroom smell nice):

I removed the soaps from the molds today. Everything looks good, but they're a little tackier than I expected them to be. I'm hoping that gets better with aging.

Some things I think I need to do:
1) Get a better scale. Mine kept getting cranky, and it's rather imprecise. For a 1lb batch I was probably off by anywhere from 2-10 grams on each ingredient.
2) Get some colorants. As it stands, I'll have no way to tell my next batch from this one other than sniffing everything
3) Not mix quite so long OR hand mix when I add EO's so it can be poured more easily. I think it'll help fill the molds a little more nicely. It was so thick that even some good whaps wouldn't remove the air bubbles on the sides.

 

[Susie]

I add my EOs to my oils, so I get no surprise accelerations.

You can use coffee as a colorant. Just substitute it for the water. Makes a lovely cafe` latte color.

Or you can infuse paprika into OO. Place 1 oz paprika and 6-8 oz OO into jar. Cover with loose lid. Put into saucepan with 1 in water and heat gently for half an hour. Allow to cool, then just pour off the oil from the solids (do not shake or stir). Use about 1 oz of this to substitute for 1 oz OO in your recipe for nice sunshiny yellow. Use more for darker color.

Or you can use just a bit of dry paprika mixed into your oils before the lye to get a speckly effect.

Or you can use 1-3 tsp PPO of cocoa powder for a rich brown. Add that to the oils, also. Or you can make a cocoa line with it.

There are many things you have around the house that can make good colorants.

 

[Steve85569]

"I removed the soaps from the molds today. Everything looks good, but they're a little tackier than I expected them to be. I'm hoping that gets better with aging."
"As it stands, I'll have no way to tell my next batch from this one other than sniffing everything

"

They will firm up over the next few days. The silicone doesn't allow any air to assist in the curing.

One of the things I do to tell plain colored batched apart is to take the small bar ( or end cut) and using a paper clip write a short story on the bar. That way I can track when it was made, what is in it, etc....
Otherwise I find myself asking me what was in that batch that everyone likes sooo much!:think::wtf:

 

[cmzaha]

Well, I made a test batch just a little while ago. 1 pound of soap (same recipe) but instead of using all of the other essential oils, I used .5oz of lemongrass essential oil. I wish I could have been a tiny bit more precise, but the brambleberry calculator seems to be dead at the moment

Everything seems to have gone well (I'll know for sure tomorrow I suppose).

I'm glad I picked up a vinyl apron and vinyl dishwashing gloves. There was a bit more splashing than I expected when I tried using the stick blender to start mixing the lye water and the fats (my stupid mistake, I should have tried it in water first to see how it would behave, lesson learned). When the rest of my ingredients arrive later next week I may try a 2lb batch instead of 1. For some reason i think it may splash a little bit less.

I got it to a light trace and then added the essential oil, and it immediately thickened. I had read about the possibility that it could thicken or seize but I was surprised it did. It was actually a little difficult to pour out of the bowl into the bar molds. It ended up about the consistency of good lemon curd.

I got it in and smoothed it with a silicone spatula, covered with plastic wrap and cardboard, and have it swaddled in towels.

My wife is a little sketched out by the lye, but I think she'll get over it.

For a first time out, that wasn't that bad. I'm sure it'll be even easier next time!

Plus my whole work area smells like lemongrass right now, which is lovely.

thesage.com has a good fragrance calculator. They also have great fragrances but the prices are on the high side, although I find them worth the cost

 

[msarro]

Made another batch this evening - same recipe, but this time using eucalyptus, camphor, and peppermint. I ended up using 4ml of peppermint, 2ml of camphor, and 2 ml of eucalyptus. It has a light, spearmint kind of smell. I based those numbers off of the fragrance calculator on thesage.com. I also added a tiny bit of blue and green oxide. It ended up being more of a grey green, but that's not far from what I was going for so I think it's ok

My wife is still unnerved about the idea of using lye in the house, lol.

She'll get used to it I guess

 

[DeeAnna]

I was just looking at http://soapee.com tonight and I see it has a fragrance calculator too.

 

[Arimara]

I was just looking at http://soapee.com tonight and I see it has a fragrance calculator too.

Wanna be a member? Wanna be a member? Lol, I watch too many cartoons. :mrgreen:

 

[Natural-ayurveda]

Great soap recipes

I am new to making soap as well. Initially I had no clue about what I was doing so I did a search and found a few recipes for homemade soap. The best recipe I have found so far was www.metiista.net. I have been using their products and my skin is finally starting to heal from the damage caused by the chemicals I was using. The imbalance created by store bought products caused havoc on my face. I have been using Metiista and my acne is clearing up and my skin finally has its natural glow back.

 

[shunt2011]

I am new to making soap as well. Initially I had no clue about what I was doing so I did a search and found a few recipes for homemade soap. The best recipe I have found so far was on www.metiista.com. I have been using their products and my skin is finally starting to heal from the damage caused by the chemicals I was using. The imbalance created by store bought products caused havoc on my face. I have been using Metiista and my acne is clearing up and my skin finally has its natural glow back.

The link is to a remodeling site and not in English. I've removed it from your post.

 

[Natural-ayurveda]

I'm sorry the link is www.metiista.net

 

[Obsidian]

Natural-ayurveda, I looked all over that site and couldn't find a soap recipe. Could you link directly to the page its on?

 

[paillo]

Natural-ayurveda, I looked all over that site and couldn't find a soap recipe. Could you link directly to the page its on?

Ack, I tried to look at that site but gave up, the scrolling images don't allow a reader to focus on anything. I too see nothing about soap.

 

[amd]

The closest I found on the site was a recipe that used soapnut powder to make a face cleanser.

 

[shunt2011]

That site is not user friendly at all. I couldn't take all the scrolling didn't see anything soap related either.

 

[Obsidian]

I agree, not a user friendly site at all but did you see any of the food recipes? check the blog if you haven't, so much healthy yummy looking things.

 

[penelopejane]

Msarro
In your photo you have your soap on something that looks like metal mesh. If it is metal you will have to put a thin cotton cloth between the soap and the metal or it will react with the soap.

Be careful with peppermint EO some people are very sensitive to it in soap especially when it is used on sensitive areas.

I number each batch and keep an excel sheet of notes. In my soap drawers I have a piece of paper with the number and date next to the soap.There are many ways to do this but you will probably be moving your soap around as they cure and get used so you will need a simple system.

Lye (caustic soda) is a common household cleaner - often used as an oven or drain cleaner. Not something to fear just to be careful with.

Your soap looks great. Congratulations on 2 batches already [emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]

 

[msarro]

Msarro
In your photo you have your soap on something that looks like metal mesh. If it is metal you will have to put a thin cotton cloth between the soap and the metal or it will react with the soap.

Be careful with peppermint EO some people are very sensitive to it in soap especially when it is used on sensitive areas.

I number each batch and keep an excel sheet of notes. In my soap drawers I have a piece of paper with the number and date next to the soap.There are many ways to do this but you will probably be moving your soap around as they cure and get used so you will need a simple system.

Lye (caustic soda) is a common household cleaner - often used as an oven or drain cleaner. Not something to fear just to be careful with.

Your soap looks great. Congratulations on 2 batches already [emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]

Hello! It's not actually metal, it's a plastic cross stitch sheet. It was a suggestion I saw because it allows the soap to cure/breathe on all sides, and it does seem to work pretty well. It should be available in the fabric section of any crafting store, possibly even wally-world

Here's what I'm referring to:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DEGKMO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

And now for the announcement I've been waiting for - I tried out the soap this morning, and it works GREAT. Both batches work wonderfully. They passed the zap test, they seemed nice and firm, so I figured it was time to try them out.

Lots of lather, a wide range of bubbles, and combined with a pouf it makes for a KILLER shower. It's way better than the soap I've gotten at the store! I may cut down the superfat just a touch, depending on reviews from the wife and one or two other friends. It took a TINY bit of extra rinsing to get the "soapy" feeling to go away after using it, but it's by no means a problem.

The lemongrass smells amazing, although I think my wife will be using that one more than me.

The second batch with the peppermint/eucalyptus/camphor really doesn't smell like anything sadly. I think I went a bit TOO low (only about 8ml total of essential oil). I'll be cranking that up a bit.

Additionally, I have friends starting to ask to trade homemade goods for soap, which is awesome. It's a great stepping stone for me!

I want to stick with the same recipe for folks who don't care, but several folks are vegetarians and aren't big fans of the idea of using lard so I need to do something different. I really don't want to use palm oil, so I need to see how crisco/soy oil work in larger amounts. Otherwise I may just go with a mostly olive oil recipe.

Also, can anyone recommend a good scale? While ours can do ounces or grams, it offers no precision on grams, and only tenths of an ounce. It also has problems taring reliably. It needs to have about 10-16lb capacity (I'm using heavy pyrex/anchor bowls).