Okay, how do I learn to make recipes?

[tersh79]

So, I've read some books, been over these forums, watched a million videos on youtube - but I'm not quite sure how everyone learns how to make their own recipes. On this thread http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=36775&highlight=recipes&page=2 they point out that SoapCalc isn't exact, so how do you know what to adjust? How did you learn what % coconut oil or what % castor oil or how much of a superfat you could use without making a crap bar of soap? Or do you pretty much start with a basic, well known recipe, and do your own tinkering until you like your results? Thanks for the guidance

 

[jenneelk]

What you said at the end. Start basic and make small changes. Soapcal is just a guide but really testing is the only way. Trust me on this.
Made a bunch with butters and all fancy only to find it is something I don't like the feel of in my soaps. It can be this with anything so start basic and make small changes while testing along the way. Use Soapcal as a guide and ask here too!

 

[Rosnasharn Farm]

I find MMS a great site which is how I made my recipes....work out the ingredients you want to use in your soaps....like Coconut oil, Olive Oil, Palm kernel oil from a sustainable source, then there is corn oil, sunflower oil canola oil hemp oil sweet almond oil etc etc etc but these last ones you use when you want to tweak a recipe. MMS will tell you how much weight you will have with the ingredients you put in and how much Caustic to use. I started with say 10 ounces of the oils. As jeneelk said it takes lots of practice batches to get to the one you like....I used to have trouble recognizing "trace" .

 

[roseb]

Practice, practice, practice! I started with a very simple recipe that I kept tweaking, when I got that right I added shea and eo. After 7 batches I finally have one that I'm very happy with. Now I know that my body doesn't really like co, so I add way less than I did in the first few recipes. Believe me your friends and family will take your extra soap off your hands! Start with a basic 3 oil recipe and build from there. I learned hot processed so that I can use the recipe faster and not waste so much product. I also make small test batches of 2 lb. Good luck and keep us informed!

 

[lsg]

Make sure to run any recipe through a lye calculator such as SoapCalc before using. Typos can happen and there are some really bad recipes floating around the web.

 

[sistrum]

Do a lot of research in a lot of different places. Read up on the fatty acids and what they contribute. Check out other people's recipes and try to understand why they added what they did. Here's a good recipe for starters,
45% olive oil
35% palm oil
20% palm kernel oil
Super fat at 5%

Start there and then you can switch out some oils for others. You could switch palm oil for lard or take away 10% from your olive and add 10% rice bran, things like that. I would only make one change at a time if you really want to learn.
Keep a eye on the fatty acid profiles and take lots of notes. It may take awhile and cost tons of money but you will come up with something that fits you and your skin. Have fun and good luck.

 

[sistrum]

Bumped for loopyloop, you can replace the PKO oil with coconut and take 10% of the olive and replace with your shay if you want.

 

[innerdiva73]

It may help to learn the qualities of each oil and their shelf life as it will help you determine which qualities you will want in your final bar. Some oils if used too much will hinder qualities in others. So finding a balance is necessary when designing recipes. Natures Graden has a PDF file to help you understand oil shelf life if you plan on selling and qualities.

http://www.naturesgardencandles.com/mas_assets/pdf/soapoils.pdf

Lather, Hardness, and conditioning is the most important aspects in creating a "Good" bar. For example a soap with too high Coconut oil will be drying ( great bubbles but less conditioning).

 

[innerdiva73]

So, I've read some books, been over these forums, watched a million videos on youtube - but I'm not quite sure how everyone learns how to make their own recipes. On this thread http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=36775&highlight=recipes&page=2 they point out that SoapCalc isn't exact, so how do you know what to adjust? How did you learn what % coconut oil or what % castor oil or how much of a superfat you could use without making a crap bar of soap? Or do you pretty much start with a basic, well known recipe, and do your own tinkering until you like your results? Thanks for the guidance

You said it best. Find a basic recipe and do trial and error batches tweaking as you go along! In the end some people want a soap that will have lots of lather without being too drying and then there are people that have oily skin and love the extra dryness. So having a couple of recipes under your belt will help and will be appreciated by people with varying opinions and skin conditions.