Soap recipes

[Mschwartz]

Do most of you use the same recipes and then tweak them with colors or liquid portions like milk, juice, etc? I like this combination so far. I want to expand and try more “artsy” things. What do you do? Thanks

 

[Ford]

Hi, a lot of people comment. On keeping coconut oil to 25% or less. Just a user preference? My recipe....
Lard 45%
CO 20%
Avo 15%
Cocoa butter 15%
Castor 5%
You can use Olive oil instead of AVO. I just got better numbers with avo.
Still a newby myself. Hopefully someone with more experience will comment.

 

[artemis]

Ya, I think most of us start out with a 33% each oil type of recipe. Next phase is usually trying every combination under the sun. But in the end, I think we all hover somewhere around 3 base recipes and just change out the colors, fragrances and additives. I have my regular recipe, one I do for a particular friend, and one that my husband likes. But, I'm a hobbyist and don't sell. I think people who sell generally only have one or two recipes.

 

[lsg]

The highest % of coconut oil that I use is 30%. Mostly I use 25% coconut oil.

 

[TheGecko]

I started with the basic recipe I got from BrambleBerry when I bought their Beginner's Cold Process Soap Kit (Olive, Palm, Coconut and Castor Oils). I then spent several months tweaking it...trying different oils and butters and eventually settle on:

35% Olive Oil
20% Coconut Oil
20% Palm Oil
10% Cocoa Butter
10% Shea Butter
5% Castor Oil

33% Lye Concentration
5% Super Fat

1 tea Sodium Lactate PPO
1 tea Kaolin Clay PPO

This is my Regular Soap recipe and the only thing that changes is colorants and scent.

That is not to say that I don't make specialty soaps. I make a Goat Milk Soap; no Cocoa Butter and 100% Goat Milk. I make a Mechanic's Soap...it's my Regular Soap recipe with Powdered Pumice. I also make Obsidian's Lard Soap (which is what I call it since it's her recipe, not mine). I haven't had much luck with Salt Soap, but another soap maker shared her recipe with me so I may give it another try; if it works, I will add it to my product line.

I would like to have add a luxury soap, but without sounding egotistical it's kind of hard to beat my Regular Soap. My scents are long-lasting without being over whelming, they leave the skin feeling nice and clean, they have abundant lather and the bar itself is long lasting. But even in my small-town area, folks like to splurge a bit when it comes to themselves or gifts. But the simple fact is...'luxury' (high dollar) ingredients don't really make for a 'better' bar of soap...Sodium Hydroxide doesn't care whether I am using Cranberry Butter at $20.00/8 oz or Shea Butter at $7.00/lb so it's all about 'label appeal'.

 

[Mschwartz]

Interesting. The reason I ask is watching YouTube it seems a lot of soap makers keep their recipe the same and just jazz it up with different scents and colors as well.

I’ve been trying adding bentonite to soaps but it speeds trace up so quickly. Should I add it to the oils and mix with the blender or add it at trace? I’ve seen both online. It clumps too so I want it dispersed well too. Thanks

 

[Ford]

Hi, I have been hydrating my clays. With the fragrance oils. Prior to adding. Ymmv.

 

[TheGecko]

Interesting. The reason I ask is watching YouTube it seems a lot of soap makers keep their recipe the same and just jazz it up with different scents and colors as well.

I'm a 'don't fix what isn't broken'/'why mess with success' kind of gal. Look at what happened with the Coco-Cola company with "New Coke". Then there is KFC who has been successfully selling chicken based on a recipe Colonel Sanders developed almost a 100 years ago.

 

[AliOop]

I’ve been trying adding bentonite to soaps but it speeds trace up so quickly. Should I add it to the oils and mix with the blender or add it at trace? I’ve seen both online. It clumps too so I want it dispersed well too. Thanks

Bentonite is super absorbent and thus not as soap friendly as kaolin or French clays. Even if you predisperse it, it grabs so much water that your batter will thicken very fast. It’s also very drying for many folks. Try kaolin and see what you think.

To respond to your original question, I stick with two basic recipes, with my main one being very similar to Ford’s, and a second one that is a bastion version of ZNSC. My husband's soap is pretty similar my first recipe with some tweaking. So I guess that makes 3. I do like to masterbatch my oils and my lye solution so I can soap on a whim.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Yup I pretty much run with the same recipe each time ( after about a year initially of making adjustments to get it 'just right'). Then I add things like sea water, aloe, beer, coconut cream, oat milk etc.

 

[BARJRD]

I have been using a recipe for some time (see below) but would like to make a soap with a better lather. I am trying to avoid palm oil and animal products. I read @DeeAnna article (with much interest!) on the properties of the fatty acids and the concept of "longevity" vs. "Hardness". I have been playing around with SoapCalc and created a recipe with longevity, only to discover that the 35% cocoa butter could cause the soap to crack as well as inhibit lathering.
Does anyone have a recipe that they are willing to share that does not have palm or animal oils, with a decent longevity and nice lather?
Thanks!!

 

[DeeAnna]

If you're a no-palm no-animal-fat soap maker, your best bet is to look into soy wax (aka hydrogenated soybean oil). @KiwiMoose is the go-to person for advice on what kind of soy wax works best in soap and how to use it.

 

[cmzaha]

I have my basic vegan and non-vegan recipes only changing out the liquid oils at times. It did take me several years to nail down the percentages of my tallow/lard combo and my palm/shea. The percentages of the two combinations I do not change. If I did not use palm I would have gone in the soy direction. But I have my own reasons for using palm and will not start that discussion so do not ask. I did have salt bars, a couple of facial bars, and a brine bar in my lineup which was each their own formula.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I like this combination so far. I want to expand and try more “artsy” things.

It all depends on whether you plan on selling? In that case, it's like @TheGecko said, KFC is the same recipe time after time. You DON'T want to waste time and $$$ doing artsy stuff. You do want to perfect your recipe and concentrate on finding scents that appeal to your customer base. More than anything else, FRAGRANCE SELLS!

If making just for yourself, family & friends, then the sky's the limit.

 

[SoapSisters]

I use soy wax and I love it! I use it at 23% or 24% of my oils. I find it adds hardness and good lather to my soap. The only downside, for me, is that I have to work at pretty high temperatures and I have to be quick if I want to do swirls. I think @KiwiMoose manages to do more intricate swirls than I do. I've also found I need to gel my soap for it to lather well.