Thoughts Wanted on Basic Soap Recipe

[JuliaB]

Hi all. I'm hoping for input on this recipe as a general basic one for a crowd (with various fragrances/colorants added and, of course, lye and water according to lye calculator). I want something simple, inexpensive and middle-of-the road, likely to suit a wide variety of recipients. Thanks.

Lard- 40%

Olive Oil- 35%

Coconut Oil- 25%

 

[Millie]

Have you made soap before? Looks like the perfect recipe to start with. Make sure to give it a full cure and test many batches on your loved ones before sharing with strangers.

 

[toxikon]

Looks good to me! If you want to add one more oil, I'd recommend adding castor at 5% (taking the 5% from the coconut oil).

 

[Seawolfe]

Sure, cant go wrong with that - nice basic body cleaning bar. Let it cure for at least 6 weeks before handing it out IMHO.
I have dryish skin so I use less coconut oil and more lard. Or just up the superfat to maybe 6 or 7% and call it a facial bar
In the future you might want to try 5% castor for more bubbles, &/or a TBSP of sugar per pound of oils (PPO) dissolved in the water before you add the lye for more bubbles.

 

[IrishLass]

Looks good to me, too!


IrishLass

 

[SaltedFig]

Did you end up using this recipe for your first soapmaking book (published Oct 23)?

 

[Kamahido]

?

 

[Clarice]

Hi there - I used the recipe and suggestions above with following changes from soap calc page

1 Lard, Pig Tallow Manteca 40.00% (454 grams)
2 Coconut Oil, 76 deg 18.00% (204 g)
3 Castor Oil 7.00% (80 g)
4 Olive Oil 35.00% (397 g)
8% superfat
430 g distilled water
152 g lye (NA)

per suggestions on adding sugar to water before adding lye, I added 2.5 T (total of all oils was 2.5 pounds)
my immersion blender burned up before light trace so i switched to beater - which took a LOOOOOOOOONG time, but i eventually got light trace, at which point I added some essential oils

I poured into the mold, wrapped, and set overnight
I just unmolded it and it is quite soft - like I could dig my fingers into it easily if I wanted to do so

Questions:

Will this softness harden up over time?
thoughts on the adjustments I made?
I have dry skin, so I upped the super fat a bit from the normal 5% i use, I also added a bit to the castor oil, as I have read it has skin moisturizing properties.

All in all, I may have sprinted before I knew how to properly walk by making all these changes - but I tend to be impatient

Thank you all!

 

[Chris_S]

Hi there - I used the recipe and suggestions above with following changes from soap calc page

1 Lard, Pig Tallow Manteca 40.00% (454 grams)
2 Coconut Oil, 76 deg 18.00% (204 g)
3 Castor Oil 7.00% (80 g)
4 Olive Oil 35.00% (397 g)
8% superfat
430 g distilled water
152 g lye (NA)

per suggestions on adding sugar to water before adding lye, I added 2.5 T (total of all oils was 2.5 pounds)
my immersion blender burned up before light trace so i switched to beater - which took a LOOOOOOOOONG time, but i eventually got light trace, at which point I added some essential oils

I poured into the mold, wrapped, and set overnight
I just unmolded it and it is quite soft - like I could dig my fingers into it easily if I wanted to do so

Questions:

Will this softness harden up over time?
thoughts on the adjustments I made?
I have dry skin, so I upped the super fat a bit from the normal 5% i use, I also added a bit to the castor oil, as I have read it has skin moisturizing properties.

All in all, I may have sprinted before I knew how to properly walk by making all these changes - but I tend to be impatient

Thank you all!

Did it gel? Iv had soap thats taken nearly a week to even unmold. What i will say is that you made a big batch for a new recipe ill make a 1200g batch until i know im happy with making a bigger batch. I wont add too much beyond this because i keep getting proven wrong recently so ill stick to that piece of advice and my experience.

 

[dixiedragon]

Looks like a fine recipe to me. When did you make this?

Did you reach gel stage? Here are some good pics.
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/gel-phase/

 

[Meena]

Did you end up using this recipe for your first soapmaking book (published Oct 23)?

This is frightening! Are you saying JuliaB published a book less than a month after asking for opinions on a recipe??!?!!?

 

[Chris_S]

This is frightening! Are you saying JuliaB published a book less than a month after asking for opinions on a recipe??!?!!?

Pretty sure thats the name of the book not that it was her first recipe book! otherwise why would she need advice about a recipe?

Edit after reading it again it does look like thats what was meant surely that cant be right no1 would publish a soapmaking book of someone who had barely got past thier first recipe thats a law suit waiting to happen

 

[Zing]

Hi there - I used the recipe and suggestions above with following changes from soap calc page

1 Lard, Pig Tallow Manteca 40.00% (454 grams)
2 Coconut Oil, 76 deg 18.00% (204 g)
3 Castor Oil 7.00% (80 g)
4 Olive Oil 35.00% (397 g)
8% superfat
430 g distilled water
152 g lye (NA)

per suggestions on adding sugar to water before adding lye, I added 2.5 T (total of all oils was 2.5 pounds)
my immersion blender burned up before light trace so i switched to beater - which took a LOOOOOOOOONG time, but i eventually got light trace, at which point I added some essential oils

I poured into the mold, wrapped, and set overnight
I just unmolded it and it is quite soft - like I could dig my fingers into it easily if I wanted to do so

Questions:

Will this softness harden up over time?
thoughts on the adjustments I made?
I have dry skin, so I upped the super fat a bit from the normal 5% i use, I also added a bit to the castor oil, as I have read it has skin moisturizing properties.

All in all, I may have sprinted before I knew how to properly walk by making all these changes - but I tend to be impatient

Thank you all!

Soap hardens over time, cure it 4-6 weeks and water will evaporate. I don't know what type of mold you used. I have a silicone loaf. After 24 hours, if the side does not pull easily away from the soap I know it's too soft and I leave it for another 24 hours. I unmold when the side pulls easily away.

 

[Clarice]

Did it gel? Iv had soap thats taken nearly a week to even unmold. What i will say is that you made a big batch for a new recipe ill make a 1200g batch until i know im happy with making a bigger batch. I wont add too much beyond this because i keep getting proven wrong recently so ill stick to that piece of advice and my experience.

Thank you! to be 100% honest, I was being LAZY - and since I had a 454 gm loaf of lard i used that as the starting point - which drove the total batch size! In for a penny, in for a pound! HAH I always run before I crawl - more thrilling

 

[Clarice]

Looks like a fine recipe to me. When did you make this?

Did you reach gel stage? Here are some good pics.
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/gel-phase/

View attachment 35716

Thank you! I made this last night. I unmolded it this AM and it was soft enough for me to deform the edges as I turned it out of my silicone loaf (surrounded by a wooden box). I had wrapped it over night - I am not 100% sure I understand the gel phase, so I will look at the link thank you very much.

i used soap calc, and here is a screen shot

this brings me to another Q - I had some left over after filling the mold, and I poured it into some little silicone molds that I have (flowers and such) but I did not wrap them for overnight - frankly I don't know what to do if I want to make little molds rather than a big loaf?

This is FUN!!!!!

Thank you all!

 

[Clarice]

Soap hardens over time, cure it 4-6 weeks and water will evaporate. I don't know what type of mold you used. I have a silicone loaf. After 24 hours, if the side does not pull easily away from the soap I know it's too soft and I leave it for another 24 hours. I unmold when the side pulls easily away.

thank you for this - I had thought it was imperative to get out of the mold for curing - I did not realize it would be OK to leave a bit! Another learning!

 

[dixiedragon]

Thank you! I made this last night. I unmolded it this AM and it was soft enough for me to deform the edges as I turned it out of my silicone loaf (surrounded by a wooden box). I had wrapped it over night - I am not 100% sure I understand the gel phase, so I will look at the link thank you very much.

i used soap calc, and here is a screen shot

this brings me to another Q - I had some left over after filling the mold, and I poured it into some little silicone molds that I have (flowers and such) but I did not wrap them for overnight - frankly I don't know what to do if I want to make little molds rather than a big loaf?

This is FUN!!!!!

Thank you all!

So glad you had fun! It's always good to have a small mold ready for extra. If you want, you can wrap those molds in a dishtowel or put them in a card board box to insulate. Or if they are oven safe, gently warm your oven on the lowest heat setting, turn it off, and put your soap in there to force gel. I like to put mine on top of a cutting board, because I don't want to spill raw soap in the oven. You could also cover a cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment paper, or use a glass casserole dish. Raw soap will react with aluminum, so make sure to protect your cookie sheet.

 

[Chris_S]

thank you for this - I had thought it was imperative to get out of the mold for curing - I did not realize it would be OK to leave a bit! Another learning!

Definatly suggest getting read up on gel phase and soap queen is where i learnt more about it. I have a shelf specifically for leaving my soaps to gel ect overnight out the way of the moggies. when i go back to check them they have gelled and are usually cool or cold so i usually give them a prod and take the silcone liner out the box and wrap it back up till its cooled completely then ill usually leave the unmoulded loaf on my desk for usually upto 6 hours before i cut it then ill just take a slither off the end and give it a little fondle and see how it feels by which point ill know if its safe to cut it all and add it to my curing shelves. Honestly there is absolutly NO rush if its soft a few more hours isnt going to make a difference to the curing process

I am sure we have all been there too but strongly suggest from personal experience start off with smaller batches if you can its taken me nearly 6 months of testing to feel happy making bigger batches than just one loaf at a time even now when i try a new or tweeked recipe i will only make a one loaf batch i did just that last week with a new recipe and it went mega fast once in the jugs and it wasnt the fo that caused that i know thats a safe one only thing could have been is the recipe with more hard oils and butters i used than normal for me if i had made a bigger batch that would of gone even worse. Now i know that happens with that recipe i can work round it and work smart as i call it and work in less in a jug at a time and take it just to light trace in the bowl then sb it in the jug before pouring. it turned out ok in the end but honestly if i had that happen to me when i first started soap making that would of been a disaster and defo failed batch

 

[shunt2011]

There are some excellent posts on this forum to help identify gel. The recipe you used is similar to mine with a couple differences. If it didn’t gel it will remain softer longer. Just leave it till you can press it and it’s fairly firm.

 

[SaltedFig]

This is frightening! Are you saying JuliaB published a book less than a month after asking for opinions on a recipe??!?!!?

Pretty sure thats the name of the book not that it was her first recipe book! otherwise why would she need advice about a recipe?

Edit after reading it again it does look like thats what was meant surely that cant be right no1 would publish a soapmaking book of someone who had barely got past thier first recipe thats a law suit waiting to happen

When I posted that comment, there was a dot net link as the signature.
That link led to the amazon sales of the soaping book (published October 23 2017).

It was the pringles can comment on the back of that book that got me thinking about it ... one of our lovely members had posted a thread on just that subject, and this post (and the next) was in that thread:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/thr...-container-as-a-round-mold.63899/#post-664256

There's some other details, but that's the bones of it.

*edited to remove sales link