Soap Recipes?

[Vilaeya]

So, I am a complete noob at soapmaking, and I have one recipe so far. It is the olive oil and coconut recipe.
Today I have accumulated a couple more oils that I will list below. If by any chance anyone has a recipe that I could try out, please list it below!
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Sweet Almond oil
Castor Oil
Fragrance Oil
(Now for the following oils I am unsure if they can go in soap, but I will list them anyways)
Vegetable oil
Canola Oil

 

[Donee']

For a beginner I would really really urge you to keep it simple. and double check exactly what olive oil you have
A really really simple recipe would be
Non vegan:-
Sunflower Oil
Lard
Coconut Oil

Vegan:-
Coconut Oil
Sunflower OIl
Castor Oil (3%)

Chuck those into the soapcalc and then check out the properties on the left hand side

Personally its now become my hobby finding the perfect combination to get THE perfect soap - to use as a basic recipe
I only do CP because i am by nature a drama queen and having volcanoes and cracking and exploding and all the other stuff associated with HP is just to much for me

 

[lsg]

I am a user of Palm so my suggestion would be:
Castor Oil
Coconut Oil
Palm Oil
Olive or Rice Bran Oil

 

[dixiedragon]

You can get all of this stuff at Wal-Mart.

Very basic recipe:

40% lard or palm (lard is in a green and white package and may say Manteca, or it may be blue and white Snowcap brand. Spectrum shortening is 100% palm)
5% castor (look in the pharmacy section with the laxatives. In my Wal-Mart it's in a blue bottle on the bottom shelf)
20% coconut (baking aisle, Lou-Ann brand. Don't get the liquid, you want the solid.)
35% sunflower or olive (or a mix)
5% superfat

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Dawni]

If you can find Zany's no slime Castile recipe, using the liquid she used, you can use those oils you have, which are mostly soft oils, and still come up with a hard bar.

In fact that's what I used in mine - 80% Olive oil, 10% coconut, 6% sweet almond and 4% Castor.

I've not made with canola but I have used, and I have seen, great soaps made with them. Also, check the ingredients of your vegetable to see what it really is - the coconut I use is labeled as vegetable oil too.

Fragrance oil is what it says - fragrance. There's a whole board here that might help you see if yours is good to go.

Also, once you learn to use a soap calculator and you will be able to formulate any number of good recipes with whatever oils you have. I'll come back with links hehehe

 

[shunt2011]

I highly recommend either lsg or dixiedragons recipes. They are basic and a great soap. One of my recipes is very similar to dixiedragons.

 

[Vilaeya]

If you can find Zany's no slime Castile recipe, using the liquid she used, you can use those oils you have, which are mostly soft oils, and still come up with a hard bar.

In fact that's what I used in mine - 80% Olive oil, 10% coconut, 6% sweet almond and 4% Castor.

I've not made with canola but I have used, and I have seen, great soaps made with them. Also, check the ingredients of your vegetable to see what it really is - the coconut I use is labeled as vegetable oil too.

Fragrance oil is what it says - fragrance. There's a whole board here that might help you see if yours is good to go.

Also, once you learn to use a soap calculator and you will be able to formulate any number of good recipes with whatever oils you have. I'll come back with links hehehe

Agh you're so sweet! Thank you for the help and answering my question.
I will look up the soap!

I have palm oil coming in the mail tomorrow, so I wanted to try a recipe before that.

 

[Chris_S]

I use simular to lsg and dixiedragon although i have been fiddling round with my %s and with new recipes oh and i generally use palm not lard but i have used lard before and it makes an awesome bar of soap. If your waiting for palm just go out and get some lard and use that instead. Good luck

Oh and i use sweet almond oil too but i just dont use aas much olive oil as dixiedragon

 

[Clarice]

This is such a helpful forum! I am so happy to have found it! Can anyone tell me about the different coconut oils? I believe I have seen CO 76 degrees and CO 96 degrees? (May have my temps wrong). How do I know which is which, and how critical it is to soaping? I have used fractionated CO for years for my skin and hair (to be honest I really dislike the smell of coconut) and I am so very happy that after soaping CO has no smell - YAY!

Thanks all, Clarice

 

[Chris_S]

This is such a helpful forum! I am so happy to have found it! Can anyone tell me about the different coconut oils? I believe I have seen CO 76 degrees and CO 96 degrees? (May have my temps wrong). How do I know which is which, and how critical it is to soaping? I have used fractionated CO for years for my skin and hair (to be honest I really dislike the smell of coconut) and I am so very happy that after soaping CO has no smell - YAY!

Thanks all, Clarice

I use 76 degree refined coconut oil i think from little i know about the 96 degree kind its rare and difficult to get hold of but i am off to do a little research out of curiosity so ill come back with maybe some better info if no1 beats me to it

Ok so dixue dragon did beat me but to add to what she said about the 96 degree coconut oil i found this

 

[dixiedragon]

https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-...nd-tricks/sunday-night-spotlight-coconut-oil/

76 degree is "regular" coconut oil. It melts at 76 degrees. I say "regular" b/c nobody labels it 76 degree. I think the only people who call it that are soapers. This is what most of us use in soap.

Virgin coconut or unrefined coconut is also 76 degrees. It is also fine in soap. I like to use it in lotion and lip balm to add a bit of coconutty smell. It also makes awesome brownies!​

92 degree coconut has been hydrogenated to give it a higher melt temperature. Some people here light to use it in soap, because they live in hot climates and they find it easier to deal with a solid (or semi solid) coconut. Another benefit of this is for products where you want a higher melt temp, such as using it in a lotion bar or lip balm as a solid oil (similar to shea butter).

Fractionated or liquid coconut is liquid at room temp. IIRC, they remove the long fatty acid chains and leave the short ones. This actually makes it harsher in soap. I like to use this in my thinner lotion. And also on my dog.

 

[Meena]

The 96 coconut oil is the liquid version, the 76 is the more usual stuff which is hard at room temps cooler than 76F.

 

[Chris_S]

The 96 coconut oil is the liquid version, the 76 is the more usual stuff which is hard at room temps cooler than 76F.

The 96 degree isnt liquid thats fractionated one your thinking of

 

[Steve85569]

76 coconut is the one most commonly found here in the USA. I don't think I have seen the 92 coconut here - I'm sure the suppliers would be more than happy to sell some though.

In my humble opinion here in the States if it doesn't specifically say it's 92 or fractionated it going to be 76 degree CO. The two have identical fatty acid profiles as far as my research can tell so it's really not an issue.
Fractionated has had all the good soap making FA's ( fatty acids) removed ( coco butter?). It does make a good carrier oil for other uses though.

 

[Clarice]

See! This is one of the things i love! A wealth of information shared willingly! Thank you all. I slather fractionated CO all over during the winter months. I hear some people drink it - not sure I am ready for that! Glad to know what I am using is fine (probably as you say the 76 degree stuff found easily in stores)

Thank you all

 

[cmzaha]

I also recommend going with lsgs or Dixiedragons recipes. You can also find many tried and true recipes here and a lot of other good information. All written recipes, even recipes on this site, should be run through a soap calculator. So you need to get comfortable with learning to use a soap calucator such as found at soapee.com or soapcalc.net, I think the soapcalc here is working but honestly I still use soapee.com. (Sorry Angie). I may change one of these day

See! This is one of the things i love! A wealth of information shared willingly! Thank you all. I slather fractionated CO all over during the winter months. I hear some people drink it - not sure I am ready for that! Glad to know what I am using is fine (probably as you say the 76 degree stuff found easily in stores)Thank you all

While CO is wonderful used right out of the jar or bottle, in soap it does not act the same. It is one of 3 bubble creating oils but become quite the stripper of natural oils when added to soap. Most here will keep CO, PKO or Babassu in soap around 20% some use more, some, like me, use less.

 

[dixiedragon]

^ What she said. Keep in mind that when you add lye + a fatty acid (oil), you get a new substance. Lye + coconut oil = sodium cocoate. Coconut oil itself is a wonderful, gentle moisturizing oil. But sodium cocoate is harsher and more cleansing than most soaps, such as sodium lardate, for example. So don't think that by adding an oil to your soap, you will get that oil's properties.