Soap Making In Canada

[sopher1]

I recently became interested in soap making and just didn't know where to start. So I have a webpage documenting some of what I've found on making soap in Canada.



http://skolnik.hobby-site.com

http://skolnik.hobby-site.com/soap.html

 

[Hazel]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure if you want feedback on your site or not. I was pleased to see you emphasized safety with the use of lye and I was also pleased to see you mentioned not to use aluminum with lye.

Some observations:

I found it very hard to read because of the background of multiple soap pics.
Dumping vinegar on your skin can cause a lye burn to be more severe. Rinse off with cool water.
It's not recommended to use dehumidifier water since dehumidifiers also pull in airborne impurities so you don't know what might be added into the soap.
There are several misspelled words like sacrafices (sacrifices), vinager (vinegar), emited (emitted), to in this sentence 'so the reaction doesn't happen to quickly" (should be "doesn't happen too quickly"), etc.
You mentioned always add lye to water which is correct. However in a couple of paragraphs, the way you have it phrased sounds like lye can be added straight into oils without first dissolving it in water.

This is just my suggestion but you might consider pulling this page and researching more thoroughly about using lye for soapmaking. Then rewrite it with expanded information on lye (difference between NaOH and KOH), safety, PPE , etc to make it more informative for someone who is interested in soapmaking.

 

[sopher1]

Thanks for the feedback Hazel. I'll make the changes you pointed out. A lot of the info I have posted is from researching the web! I guess there is a lot of misinformation out there. I'll pull the webpage as soon as I can to correct the info.

I don't know anyone who makes soap as a hobby here in Newfoundland. It took me almost 6 months to find the Lye and most people thought I was an idiot when I talked about making soap myself. Just seemed like a pretty cool do-it-yourself project.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[Genny]

I don't know anyone who makes soap as a hobby here in Newfoundland. It took me almost 6 months to find the Lye and most people thought I was an idiot when I talked about making soap myself. Just seemed like a pretty cool do-it-yourself project.

When I first started making soap I had people ask "Why?". Once in a while when people find out what I do, they say, "Why? You can get 3 bars for $1 at the Dollar Tree." Oddly enough, I've never been questioned on why I crochet even though you can buy hats and mittens from The Dollar Tree as well.

 

[Hazel]

I'm so glad I didn't offend you. Sometimes what I write which is meant to be friendly advice isn't taken that way by the person reading it. That's the downside of interacting through a forum.

You're right! There is a lot of misinformation of the internet. It's scary at times reading some of what is being posted. Here are some links to sites which you may have already seen. But it you haven't, you'll find good information which will help you. They cover the same information but sometimes it's helpful to read about the process as written by different people. You might read it on one blog but it may not not quite make sense until you read it phrased differently.

Miller's Homemade Soap Page
Miller's Troubleshooting Help- this page has been extremely helpful for me :wink:
How to Make Cold Process Soap by Lovin Soap Blog
Soap Making by David Fisher
Soap Queen Cold Process Blog
Cold Process Soapmaking Videos by Soap Queen TV

You also might be interested in learning about Crockpot Process Hot Process method. I learned how to do CPHP from Ms. Brenda's tutorial but Gracefruit's is excellent, too. eta: I forgot to mention honor435 generously helped me learn CPHP. She answered my questions when I didn't quite understand something.

Ms. Brenda's CPHP Tutorial
Gracefruit's CPHP Tutorial

Awhile ago, I found this tutorial for HP on the stove. I was amused by her writing style and she has lots of pictures showing the steps the soap goes through while it's cooking. However, I'd recommend using a double boiler if you're only doing a small batch.

Also on Gracefruit's site, I came across palm free soap recipes so I thought I'd include the link since a lot of people have been discussing palm free recipes.

A couple of books which helped me were "The Everything Soapmaking Book" by Alicia Grosso and "Smart Soapmaking" by Anne L. Watson. I've heard good comments about "Milk Soapmaking" by Anne Watson but I haven't read it. But I thought I'd mention it if you decide to try milk soaps.

I hope some of this helps and I think making my own soap is a cool hobby, too. You'll just have to make the soap and start handing it out to create converts. I want to say that each batch will get better and better as you tweak your recipes. I started handing out my soaps right away to family and friends and they weren't too impressed. It wasn't until I had made soap for about 9-10 months when I realized how much better my soap had become because of experimenting. I found out by using a bar from one of my earlier batches and realized it wasn't very nice and a bit drying. I was quite embarrassed when I realized I had been giving these out.

Good luck with your soap making!

 

[sopher1]

I Pulled the page.

Thank's

Mike

 

[Hazel]

You're welcome! I hope I was able to help. Please let us know when you put it back up.

 

[sopher1]

I would be curious to see that Birch is hard enough wood for Lye. As that's mostly what we burn, that was my original thought?

 

[Hazel]

I don't know if birch is hard enough. I have heard making lye from wood ashes basically creates potassium hydroxide. It's hard to regulate the strength (not sure if that's the correct word) and you don't get hard soap like you do with sodium hydroxide. I'm sure if you googled you'd probably find more info on it.

 

[sopher1]

Yeah I wasn't sure if Birch would be hard enough either. I also figured it would be more potassium based too. I was originally curious about the Birch because most people burn Birch here and it would have been cool to find a use for all that ash. I know sometimes you can put it in your garden to help regulate the PH of the soil.

Sometimes some of this stuff is hard to find on Google and even if you do find it, it may not be correct. I also talked to my Grandmother about making soap they used to make some variation boiling whatever ash was around and fat. She said it used to smell horrible and was only suitable for scrubbing the floors. They used to get a lot of their info from a magazine called "The Family Herald".

I will research the links you have posted and make the necessary changes. I will hopefully get you to review it.

Thanks for all your help you guys are great!

 

[Hazel]

Glad to help!

You might find some of this info helpful. The first article does say any wood would work but ash and apple are the best. Third article does say birch can be used.

http://www.pioneerliving.net/soapmaking.htm

How to Make Lye

http://www.survivalblog.com/2011/11/how ... asqui.html

 

[louiet]

Birch is good

Any hardwood tree is good. Birch is plenty hard. I got plenty. The very best for potassium are fruit trees e.g. apple, pear, plum if you can find some. I have found old writings that mention elm, beech and basswood as being better than others. The fact is that any every dry organic plant has some potassium in it. I found a reference that said banana stems are the very best. Not many banana's in Canada or Maine. So, use birch!