Simple soap from pantry - need help with recipe

[RogueRose]

I want to make some soap with what is on hand. I have Crisco shortening (all vegetable) - it is white with: soybean oil, fully hydrogenated cottonseed oil, partially hydrogenated cottonseed & soybean oils. I also have Olive oil (virgin) and canola & soybean oil and Lye.

I was using the soap calc on this page:
http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp

And am confused if the crisco (old) is what I am supposed to use.

I don't know what makes for a decent cleaning soap and the ranges where the values are supposed to be for "cleaning, hardness, bubbly, Iodine, etc" as I can't seem to get them in the "range" that is suggested. Is it ok to be outside?

I'd love to hear some input on some %'s to use as well as the lye % or ratio. Just so I can get a starting point. I'd like to do a CP but would also try some hot process if that would work as well. Here are some recipes I calculated.

 

[dixiedragon]

With the ingredients you are using, you will not be able to get your soap in the suggested ranges. That being said, your soap will not be terrible. It will still be soap.

Here's a site with some good recipes that I love:
http://millersoap.com/soapallveg.html

http://millersoap.com/castile.html

Using your ingredients, your soap will be slow to trace and soft. It will take longer to get hard enough to demold and cut.

I think Recipe 6 was the best one. The Crisco (if it has palm) will add hardness. The olive oil will add bubbles. Soap high in olive oil will eventually get very hard. It just takes a while.

Hope you have a stick blender!

 

[Lindy]

I would recommend dropping the canola oil completely as it is prone to DOS. You are better off doing 40% Crisco and 60% Olive oil

 

[Seawolfe]

The "New" Crisco has palm:

SOYBEAN OIL, FULLY HYDROGENATED PALM OIL, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED PALM AND SOYBEAN OILS, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID (ANTIOXIDANTS).

From this site

I'm guessing the old Crisco didnt have palm in it. If that tub of Crisco is quite old agewise, be careful - especially make sure it doesn't have a rancid smell.

 

[RogueRose]

I would recommend dropping the canola oil completely as it is prone to DOS. You are better off doing 40% Crisco and 60% Olive oil

Thank you very much for your replies and help!

What is DOS?

I also can drop the canola and add soybean instead.

Just out of curiosity, what does the % of water do with the bar qualities. I changed the value down to 15% and it didn't change any of the soap bar qualities. Is the water basically a carrier for the NaOH or what?

 

[Lindy]

I don't know if soybean will be much better. DOS = Dreaded Orange Spots which means the oils are going rancid and you soap is going to end up smelling really, really bad.

15% water is way too much water, you want it at 33%....

 

[Obsidian]

I would increase the amount of OO and toss in some coconut. You can get a jar of coconut oil at walmart for around $5.00. With the oils you have, you won't get a very hard/cleansing bar. You crisco is the old kind, the new has palm oil in it. If you are relatively new to soaping, I would leave the water amount on the default setting.

50% olive oil
20% coconut
30% crisco (old)

If you really are wanting to use what you have on hand, I would try

50% OO
50% crisco

Keep in mind that if your crisco is getting stale, I wouldn't use it at all. I recently used a older jar of crisco and my soap went rancid in 2 months, had to toss it all out.

 

[RogueRose]

Thanks for the suggestions. My crisco was just opened, it was vacuum sealed and it looks and feels fine. I had another container that was mostly used that had gone rancid so I can definitely see the difference.

 

[Susie]

Then choose the "Crisco new w/palm" on soapcalc.

You can also get lard(manteca) from Walmart for cheap. They have 1 lb and 4 lb tubs. Lard, coconut oil, and olive oil make lovely soap.

If you are really adventurous, you can also go to the pharmacy aisle, look in the laxatives for castor oil. Use that at 5% for lovely bubbles.

My favorite soap recipe uses all Walmart oils(or Sam's).

Coconut oil-20%
Lard- 45%
Olive oil(cheap yellow Great Value brand)-30%
Castor Oil- 5%

 

[RogueRose]

Well I think it turned out very nicely! This is the first time I really researched a recipe and before I used rendered chicken fat and I think maybe some soy oil and it was awful!

So, I guess in a couple months I'll be able to see how things went!

 

[RogueRose]

When I was cleaning the utensils from the finished blended product, it was a SUPPER oily substance that seemed to be resistant to my normal Dawn Direct Foaming soap and even the Dawn concentrated dish detergent. It just seemed to be very difficult to get the oils/slickness off my hands and equipment buy very hot water and Dawn ultra concentrate seemed to do the trick just fine.

So, did I do something wrong? Will the sliminess subside after a few months of curing?

The first recipe is just OO and Crisco (old) 50/50, the second is Crisco (old), OO and Soy: 50/25/25.

I used the standard 38% water. The process seemed to work flawlessly until I went to wash up. It was like SUPER slimy, more so than just washing oil or shortening. Is that normal?

I was reading some castile recipes that use a 1:1 lye:water ratio, IDK is that might be of interest here.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated on the sliminess I found on cleanup.

 

[Seawolfe]

I think you were just battling the super high alkalinity of the batter (like how bleach feels kinda soapy/slippery) and the unsaponified oils. Some people don't even bother cleaning the utensils till the next day when its all turned to soap and makes it all easier. Some people wipe everything up with paper towels before cleaning in the sink. You'll figure it out.

 

[eucalypta]

You definitely need some coconut oil in your soap.
I would suggest at least 20%.
just likes others have suggested as well!

soap is meant to clean, yours doesn't. (Cleansing = 0)

good luck unmoulding the soap you propose too - it's way to soft. :evil:

 

[Seawolfe]

I dunno - Ive made a shampoo bar with zero cleansing and it works a treat. Just give it plenty if time to set up before unmolding. A 100% olive oil castile will have a cleansing of zero as well, and its a lovely soap. That is when I realized that those guidelines in soap calc don't necessarily mean what I think they mean (because I've seen a bar with zero cleansing clean my own grubby self). I'm not to keen on the recipe itself, but it will be soap.

 

[Obsidian]

You definitely need some coconut oil in your soap.
I would suggest at least 20%.
just likes others have suggested as well!

soap is meant to clean, yours doesn't. (Cleansing = 0)

good luck unmoulding the soap you propose too - it's way to soft. :evil:

I disagree with this, all soap will clean even if the cleansing number is 0. The higher the number, the more oil it will wash away from your skin. Both of the recipes posted will be gentle, good for sensitive or dry skin.
Coconut definitely will improve a soap but its not necessary.

I will unmold just fine but it might need some extra time in the molds. I made a 100% peanut batch once, it took over a week before I could unmold and even then it was quite soft.
Once it hardened though, it was like castile, hard as a rock.

I never wash up tools with fresh batter, its just oily and nasty. Wipe most off and wait until the next day to wash.

 

[Lindy]

You definitely need some coconut oil in your soap.
I would suggest at least 20%.
just likes others have suggested as well!

soap is meant to clean, yours doesn't. (Cleansing = 0)

good luck unmoulding the soap you propose too - it's way to soft. :evil:

Please don't get nasty with opinions when you obviously don't have the experience to know what you are talking about. 0 cleansing means it is a very conditioning bar of soap, it doesn't mean its too soft and the unmoulding will be just fine.

 

[eucalypta]

Right, opinions differ.
I'd agree with a zero cleanse bar for certain purposes, like shaving or facial soap for example, but for a general toilet soap it might be turned up a notch IMHO.

Please don't get nasty with opinions when you obviously don't have the experience to know what you are talking about. 0 cleansing means it is a very conditioning bar of soap, it doesn't mean its too soft and the unmoulding will be just fine.

Who's nasty here now?
Not a fundamental remark; your "clairvoyance" regarding my experience failed miserably.

No hard feelings; have a wonderful and happy day.

 

[Susie]

I have to agree with Lindy here. I read your remarks, and thought they were rude. I make no assumptions about experience. AND Lindy is a Forum Moderator. So, it is indeed her "job" to address such matters.

 

[eucalypta]

I have to agree with Lindy here. I read your remarks, and thought they were rude. I make no assumptions about experience. AND Lindy is a Forum Moderator. So, it is indeed her "job" to address such matters.

I don't question her action as a mod to tell me I'm rude (or direct for that matter); but Lindy's judgement regarding my experience.

I'm always very willing to help people.
Sometimes I forget to put on my "velvet gloves" when commenting on something, for which I apologize.

 

[CanaDawn]

I agree that the slimy feel on clean up is probably just the high alkalinity. If you don't think things got clean, go ahead and wash them again the next day, because the soap will have lowered its pH enough to make it help instead of hindering.

As mentioned, the soap may take a while to harden enough to unmold, and will be low cleansing, so will not be extremely effective at removing oil, but should be mild once it has cured (and that might take a while).

(Let's try to stay on track.)