Soapmaking newbie, recipe options?

[SpineyNorman]

I have made two batches of basic soap using olive oil, palm oil (not kernel), coconut oil, lye and water. They came out very well. I Iike using my own, basic soap.
I have another 32oz bottle of palm oil ready for another batch. What can I use in place if olive or coconut oil to make a new, different batch? I cannot afford expensive stuff, so something priced like the palm oil. I don't want any fragrance or colors.
So, palm + olive + ? or palm + coconut + ?.

Thanks!

 

[bookworm42]

You could try lard. Where I am I can get 4 lb for about $8. I hear it makes some great soap (I'm waiting for my lard soap to finish curing so I can see for myself)

 

[Ekuzo]

You could try lard. Where I am I can get 4 lb for about $8. I hear it makes some great soap (I'm waiting for my lard soap to finish curing so I can see for myself)

I'm yet to make lard soap myself, but I got a bucket in the freezer You got it cheaper than me over here

@SpineyNorman yup, definitely try lard or tallow instead of palm. Soy wax is an option too, if you don't mind soaping at higher temps with a higher risk of accelerated trace.

Instead of olive oil you can use high oleic sunflower oil.

And instead of coconut you can use palm kernel oil (yes, this time it is the kernel type).

You got decent options to choose from for a simple, 3 oil soap

 

[LidiaG]

I have made two batches of basic soap using olive oil, palm oil (not kernel), coconut oil, lye and water. They came out very well. I Iike using my own, basic soap.
I have another 32oz bottle of palm oil ready for another batch. What can I use in place if olive or coconut oil to make a new, different batch? I cannot afford expensive stuff, so something priced like the palm oil. I don't want any fragrance or colors.
So, palm + olive + ? or palm + coconut + ?.

Thanks!

Hi @SpineyNorman
Good for you! Glad your soaps came out well.
I haven't been able to try palm oil yet. I imaginge that it makes a very good soap. What was it about your soap that you wish you could improve?

Perhaps you could also say what percentages, someone else here that has used palm before and is more experienced could help

Have you tried any additives like sugar, Citric Acid, Clay, Oats, milk, honey, Aloe vera? I wonder if you have some of these or other additives already at home that you could add to your soap.
I would not recommend using too many additives to start. But maybe one or 2 to get a soap a bit different

 

[Susie]

I would start by analyzing what you like about your soap, and what you would like to improve (write it down!) Then, still using the same ingredients, you can change the percentages of each soap to try to achieve improvements you would like to see in your soap. Continue this until you have perfected that recipe (write it down, print it off, make lots of notes!). THEN you can start substituting other oils to try to improve your recipe. Do try to avoid using more than 5 oils until you have a firm grasp of what each oil brings to the soap, and know how you like it.

 

[Iluminameluna]

When you say you don't want colors, do you mean like what ppl most often post in terms of micas & the like?
I'm asking bc I don't use those bc of budget constraints & fear . I have multiple autoimmune issues, & allergic reactions are random for me, so nope. Instead I use spices & things like cocoa powder that I KNOW I'm not allergic to that's accessible in my kitchen.
Most spices, & cocoa, are oil soluble. Annatto, turmeric, shredded & dehydrated carrot, these are all things you can use to color your soaps. I've made some really nice soaps by embracing the Brown!
Using a VERY strong espresso roast coffee that's cheap (delicious too btw) from the Dollar Tree (made in Puerto Rico) as the replacement for water to dissolve the lye, then cocoa hand blended into the oils before adding the lye, ¼ tsp ppo of ground Ceylon cinnamon as well, made an amazing bar of soap . After a year, it smelled good enough to eat!
Just to add: These were made during the COVID lock down. I was living w/ my older son & my 3 grands. So there were lots of milk cartons, fruit cup containers, & single serve cereal bowls. I felt we were blessed in that I'd had the foresight to have read the reports coming from Asia about the new virus & so had stocked up on soap making stuff, among other things. Mostly the lye & white vinegar. What you're seeing is my using even disposable food containers being repurposed into soap molds. By the time the postal svc was starting to operate again my younger son had a huge box full of his favorite soaps, mostly mocha & cappuccino smelling ones, at his door in WI.

 

[Ekuzo]

When you say you don't want colors, do you mean like what ppl most often post in terms of micas & the like?
I'm asking bc I don't use those bc of budget constraints & fear . I have multiple autoimmune issues, & allergic reactions are random for me, so nope. Instead I use spices & things like cocoa powder that I KNOW I'm not allergic to that's accessible in my kitchen.
Most spices, & cocoa, are oil soluble. Annatto, turmeric, shredded & dehydrated carrot, these are all things you can use to color your soaps. I've made some really nice soaps by embracing the Brown!
Using a VERY strong espresso roast coffee that's cheap (delicious too btw) from the Dollar Tree (made in Puerto Rico) as the replacement for water to dissolve the lye, then cocoa hand blended into the oils before adding the lye, ¼ tsp ppo of ground Ceylon cinnamon as well, made an amazing bar of soap . After a year, it smelled good enough to eat!
Just to add: These were made during the COVID lock down. I was living w/ my older son & my 3 grands. So there were lots of milk cartons, fruit cup containers, & single serve cereal bowls. I felt we were blessed in that I'd had the foresight to have read the reports coming from Asia about the new virus & so had stocked up on soap making stuff, among other things. Mostly the lye & white vinegar. What you're seeing is my using even disposable food containers being repurposed into soap molds. By the time the postal svc was starting to operate again my younger son had a huge box full of his favorite soaps, mostly mocha & cappuccino smelling ones, at his door in WI.
View attachment 78892View attachment 78893View attachment 78894View attachment 78895

Those are lovely! Have you ever had problems with brown lather?

I'm all about using spices and things from the kitchen for color, by I haven't used anatto, carrot or coffee yet