'Old Reliable' or 'Core' Cold Process Recipes

[Georgeandstella]

I use 35% salt. I have used up to 100% but I find 35 performs best for my area.

Thank you!!

 

[Savage Daughter]

I agree with @Zany_in_CO My favourite milk in soap for facial use so far is coconut milk. I searched far & wide to find coconut milk without stabilizers & gums in it, which was worth it. I also make my own whenever I have time, which is far superior to anything in a can or carton.

I either sub out all of the water for coconut milk in any given recipe, or use a 50 / 50 split with water. Either way, beautiful. Oh yeah, some honey & silk in there are also just beautiful My favourite to date.

Facial soap with coconut milk rocks

https://www.thesage.com/products/cure-cards

I bought myself a couple of packs of brightly coloured index cards for this purpose at the dollar store. I tape them to my shelf below each batch

I write the soap name, additives I used or didn't use (silk / coconut milk / no palm / whatever), as well as date made, cut date & approximate date I expect them to be fully cured, when I expect to be able to sell them, and also weigh a few samples from each batch every 10 days or so to begin.

I have found this to be super helpful. I end up using both sides of the cards so they do double the duty.

 

[Jorah]

One of the things I've been mulling over was trying to find a core recipe that avoids palm (because of the ecological issues associated with that oil) but retains the good qualities that palm oil brings to soap. If I'm reading right, lard or tallow might be the right replacement, but then you risk putting off people who won't use animal products. I realized 'I can't please everyone,' so now I'm leaning toward lard as one of my main base oils. It's readily available and affordable here. Combined with a pomace olive oil, I could have an affordable base soap to build on, keep my purchasing and cost tracking simple... I'm not making any final decisions, as I want to try the recipes I'm gathering from this thread, and I have time! But if I can find a simple two- or three-oil recipe that can become my standard, I'll be a happy soaper.

 

[Jorah]

I bought myself a couple of packs of brightly coloured index cards for this purpose at the dollar store. I tape them to my shelf below each batch

I write the soap name, additives I used or didn't use (silk / coconut milk / no palm / whatever), as well as date made, cut date & approximate date I expect them to be fully cured, when I expect to be able to sell them, and also weigh a few samples from each batch every 10 days or so to begin.

I have found this to be super helpful. I end up using both sides of the cards so they do double the duty.

Thanks for this, QQ. I thought I was doing well with my documentation, but you (and other participants on this thread) have shown me I have improvements to make!

I also need stronger shelving. Soap is heavy! The 'rigid plastic' shelving I bought last year for storing camping gear on turned out to be far from rigid. I may have to break down and buy steel shelves.

 

[Jorah]

I also make my own whenever I have time, which is far superior to anything in a can or carton.

I hesitate to ask, since it sounds like another rabbit hole to fall down, but... you make your own?? I guess I'll go search on how that's done!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

One of the things I've been mulling over was trying to find a core recipe that avoids palm (because of the ecological issues associated with that oil) but retains the good qualities that palm oil brings to soap. If I'm reading right, lard or tallow might be the right replacement, but then you risk putting off people who won't use animal products. I realized 'I can't please everyone,' so now I'm leaning toward lard as one of my main base oils.

At risk of repeating myself...

4. - NOTE: Shea Butter is the best sub for Palm/Lard in a balanced recipe. For a really great soap with a high% of shea butter that kept me coming back for more:
67% SHEA BUTTER CP - INS 155

... to keep costs down, you don't need to use 67% shea butter in your core recipe. Just sub it for the palm.

TIP: When subbing one FA for another, I use SoapCalc to compare them. Enter Palm at 100% then hit calculate. That shows up in #5 "Fatty Acids" in the right column. Then go down the list of FAs and tick lard, tallow, shea butter, soy oil (27.5% hydrogenated), soy wax, Crisco, Walmart GV Shortening, etc. one after another to see which comes closest to palm.

Left Column: Lard. Right Column: Palm entered at 100%

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I also need stronger shelving. Soap is heavy! The 'rigid plastic' shelving I bought last year for storing camping gear on turned out to be far from rigid. I may have to break down and buy steel shelves.

For strong shelving, plan ahead. Here’s what 2,197 bars of soap looks like!

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/thr...-gc-membership-decal.87646/page-8#post-937330

 

[Jorah]

For strong shelving, plan ahead. Here’s what 2,197 bars of soap looks like!

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/thr...-gc-membership-decal.87646/page-8#post-937330

I can easily see myself there in a few years! Impressive!

 

[Jorah]

At risk of repeating myself...

... to keep costs down, you don't need to use 67% shea butter in your core recipe. Just sub it for the palm.

Sometimes repetition is just what I need. Thanks for the follow-up!

 

[Jorah]

I bought myself a couple of packs of brightly coloured index cards for this purpose at the dollar store. I tape them to my shelf below each batch

I write the soap name, additives I used or didn't use (silk / coconut milk / no palm / whatever), as well as date made, cut date & approximate date I expect them to be fully cured, when I expect to be able to sell them, and also weigh a few samples from each batch every 10 days or so to begin.

I have found this to be super helpful. I end up using both sides of the cards so they do double the duty.

I have a Word template that I put each recipe on, and I hang that over my work bench to refer to while I work. You've given me the idea of extending the template to two pages and putting the tracking information on the reverse. Thank you!

 

[cmzaha]

One of the things I've been mulling over was trying to find a core recipe that avoids palm (because of the ecological issues associated with that oil) but retains the good qualities that palm oil brings to soap. If I'm reading right, lard or tallow might be the right replacement, but then you risk putting off people who won't use animal products. I realized 'I can't please everyone,' so now I'm leaning toward lard as one of my main base oils. It's readily available and affordable here. Combined with a pomace olive oil, I could have an affordable base soap to build on, keep my purchasing and cost tracking simple... I'm not making any final decisions, as I want to try the recipes I'm gathering from this thread, and I have time! But if I can find a simple two- or three-oil recipe that can become my standard, I'll be a happy soaper.

As you mention you cannot please everyone and I for one still use palm, I love it and do not apologize for it, so I will not post my vegan recipe and I am Not trying to start the whole ecological argument here, but think about the children that have food on their tables because their families have no other resources to make money without the palm industry... We see one side here. It is a sad fact but true and our country is one of the least users of palm.

Aside from that my go-to non-palm recipe is 40/20% tallow/lard, 3-5% castor oil, 15-18% PKO/CO split, and the balance is liquid oils of choice, I personally hate OO so none for me with a 2% superfat. I have trouble with high lard soaps going dossy and when I was still selling in outdoor markets many of my soaps could hang around for a couple of years due to my carrying a large selection of 40-50 different soaps so I wanted them to last.

My favorite Shea Butter Bar which makes a great facial bar is:
59% Shea butter
24% Rice Bran Oil or liquid oil of choice
12% CO
5% Castor Oil
1.2% Sorbitol
Superfat 3%
Lye Concentration 30%
I like a lemongrass, Litsea EO blend, let these cure a min of 6 months for the best lather, curing longer is even better. A little note is not to add in gm because you do not want to kill the lather.

 

[Jorah]

My favorite Shea Butter Bar which makes a great facial bar is:
59% Shea butter
24% Rice Bran Oil or liquid oil of choice
12% CO
5% Castor Oil
1.2% Sorbitol
1.2% Sorbitol
Superfat 3%
Lye Concentration 30%
I like a lemongrass, Litsea EO blend, let these cure a min of 6 months for the best lather, curing longer is even better. A little note is not to add in gm because you do not want to kill the lather.

Thanks for the face soap contribution! Could you clarify what 'gm' is? It's not an acronym I recall seeing before.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

sometimes repetition is just what I need.

I know that feeling! Me too!

Thanks for the follow-up!

You're welcome!

I can easily see myself there in a few years! Impressive!

@Christine Beale joined in May 2018; made that post in April 2022. So, think 4 years out? What I liked was the depth of her shelves long the wall and also, how she stacked the shelves on casters. Food for thought.

If only I were only just starting out, that certainly would give me inspiration for setting up a well organized space for soaping and other stuff.

Could you clarify what 'gm' is? It's not an acronym I recall seeing before.

GM or gm = Goat Milk as in GM Soap.

PS: @cmzaha 's face soap recipe made my heart go pitter pat. I would personally skip the sorbitol, but that's just me. Lemongrass/Litsea Cubeba (aka "May Chang") -- excellent choice for a EO blend that sticks!

 

[Savage Daughter]

Thanks for this, QQ. I thought I was doing well with my documentation, but you (and other participants on this thread) have shown me I have improvements to make!

I also need stronger shelving. Soap is heavy! The 'rigid plastic' shelving I bought last year for storing camping gear on turned out to be far from rigid. I may have to break down and buy steel shelves.

I just do what works for me. I don't follow anybody's way of doing things, although I pick up good ideas here & there which I temporarily implement. By temporarily, I mean I try those ideas out, and if they just don't jibe with how I feel or the way I do things, I modify the ideas to suit me or discard the ideas altogether.

The index cards, because they're brightly coloured, help me do a quick scan-at-a-glance when I have someone call / email & ask what I have available, or when I'll have something available, along with important stuff as to which additives I used. It also keeps me on top of when I need to make a 'refill' batch. Some wholesale customers want no palm, or no silk batches or a mix, so I write clearly which batches have no palm. I cater to everyone except the fragrance oil scent crowd, not just the vegans & no-palm-people. I am planning on trying lard for the first time, as well as goats milk.

I strongly suggest finding your own 'best way' of doing things because you'll be much happier along your soaping / formulating journey that way What may make total sense for someone else may not for you. Personally, the last thing I want near me is a spreadsheet when I'm soaping or formulating because I work in IT & graphic design. I don't need any reminders of computers to jack up my creation process. I use a good old fashioned notebook for my formulations as I formulate & work better when I physically write things down vs typing them out. This triggers different areas of my brain - the creative part. I back all of my formulations up digitally on my EXTERNAL hard drive (computers break / fail / get highjacked) as time permits using soap calc & then saving my formulas in PDF format, or use my own text files (for body care related formulations).

Another word of advice - don't save your stuff to cloud servers ie. Google Drive / One Drive etc. Security-wise they are a nightmare. And when you don't have internet access / power / your computer / phone / whatever the case may be, you're screwed Old fashioned notebooks - the ones you write in - rock Or simply print everything out & make some extra copies to tuck away somewhere in case of emergency. Fires & pipes bursting DO happen, so plan ahead.

Good luck figuring out what works for you

 

[Jorah]

Old fashioned notebooks - the ones you write in - rock

I agree with you, philosophically, and my large collection of notebooks bear that out, but I write so slowly that my thoughts overrun my pen and I end up with choppy, often unusable written notes. I'm truly glad that paper works for you! I'm perhaps an unusual tech person in that I am as likely to use OneNote at home as I am in my work running SharePoint sites...

But your overall advice to find what works for me... that I wholeheartedly agree with, within the bounds of good manufacturing practice and labeling, of course! (in case Soap Big Brother is reading... hah!)

 

[Savage Daughter]

I agree with you, philosophically, and my large collection of notebooks bear that out, but I write so slowly that my thoughts overrun my pen and I end up with choppy, often unusable written notes. I'm truly glad that paper works for you! I'm perhaps an unusual tech person in that I am as likely to use OneNote at home as I am in my work running SharePoint sites...

I know what you mean I formulated a new body care product last night using my oil infusions I make from my foraged plants - only took til 4AM but hey - and I have a page of chicken scratch. This will get rewritten into my notebook, in legible form once I finalize the formulation. Scrap paper gets used a lot around here, then into the wood stove for fire starter.

But your overall advice to find what works for me... that I wholeheartedly agree with, within the bounds of good manufacturing practice and labeling, of course! (in case Soap Big Brother is reading... hah!)

If there is an actual 'Soap Big Brother', I gotta say....find something productive & rewarding to do with your time, Soap Big Brother. You'll be far, far happier not being somebody's peon

 

[Mobjack Bay]

As you mention you cannot please everyone and I for one still use palm, I love it and do not apologize for it, so I will not post my vegan recipe and I am Not trying to start the whole ecological argument here, but think about the children that have food on their tables because their families have no other resources to make money without the palm industry... We see one side here. It is a sad fact but true and our country is one of the least users of palm.

Aside from that my go-to non-palm recipe is 40/20% tallow/lard, 3-5% castor oil, 15-18% PKO/CO split, and the balance is liquid oils of choice, I personally hate OO so none for me with a 2% superfat. I have trouble with high lard soaps going dossy and when I was still selling in outdoor markets many of my soaps could hang around for a couple of years due to my carrying a large selection of 40-50 different soaps so I wanted them to last.

My favorite Shea Butter Bar which makes a great facial bar is:
59% Shea butter
24% Rice Bran Oil or liquid oil of choice
12% CO
5% Castor Oil
1.2% Sorbitol
Superfat 3%
Lye Concentration 30%
I like a lemongrass, Litsea EO blend, let these cure a min of 6 months for the best lather, curing longer is even better. A little note is not to add in gm because you do not want to kill the lather.

Carolyn, Do you use unrefined shea in this recipe? It’s coming out as 34 for longevity in the SMF c@lculator, which is more palmitic + stearic than I usually use, but maybe the unsaponifiables in the shea make it a bit softer?

 

[MelissaG]

I don't share that unless it's the most basic recipe you can get. It's important for people to experiment to learn whats best for them. You don't learn, or appreciate, if it's free.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I don't share that unless it's the most basic recipe you can get. It's important for people to experiment to learn whats best for them. You don't learn, or appreciate, if it's free.

I’m asking a technical question about the recipe she shared above. Plus, she doesn’t have to share if she doesn’t want to. I certainly appreciate the vast amount of knowledge and experience @cmzaha has shared in the forum and I’m pretty sure she knows that.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I have two 'old faithful' recipes that I use:

1) My own formulation - 20% each of CO, Soy Wax, OO and RBO, 10% Shea Butter, 5% Avocado and Castor oils.
2) ZNSC (the version with 10% CO and 5 % castor - made with real sea water

However, as mentioned by @artemis , all my soap 'variations' are made by the use of additives. So I never just use distilled water, I mostly use aloe juice. I sometimes use coconut cream, home made oat milk, or rice water instead of aloe juice. When I make Earlenes' Black smith soap, I use my base recipe but with alterations to account for the borax solution ( but still use aloe). If I make a coffee soap I might use coconut cream, plus brewed coffee as the water component, plus coffee grounds. You get the idea.