Welcome to the SMF Family!! Please read this first :)

[MrsPine09]

Hello soapers & the like!

I'm Steph AKA stephasafari.

Totally new to the soap and body care making world! I've been wanting to make soap for over five years now but it wasn't until two months ago that I became frantic with soap making visions and aspirations! I have now managed to get together a great supply inventory and all of my utensils/tools.

Last night I made a small batch of lip balm, a recipe I created using a ratio "recipe". It was a success! And now I'm doing all that I can to gather up my courage and knowledge of CP so I can make my first batch tomorrow (er, today...I'm a night hawk).

If it wasn't for SoapMaker 3 Software I'd probably be way in over my head- this software is fantastic! I've come up with a recipe using it and altering my ratios to find a suitably scored soap.

Anywho- this is my introduction! I intend on making soap making and body care a business. I'm from Toronto, Ontario.

Welcome to the board and good luck with your first batch of CP!! I hope you will let us know how it turned out (maybe supply us with some pictures of the soap and the lip balm?!)

 

[stephasafari]

Hello soapers & the like!

I'm Steph AKA stephasafari.

Totally new to the soap and body care making world! I've been wanting to make soap for over five years now but it wasn't until two months ago that I became frantic with soap making visions and aspirations! I have now managed to get together a great supply inventory and all of my utensils/tools.

Last night I made a small batch of lip balm, a recipe I created using a ratio "recipe". It was a success! And now I'm doing all that I can to gather up my courage and knowledge of CP so I can make my first batch tomorrow (er, today...I'm a night hawk).

If it wasn't for SoapMaker 3 Software I'd probably be way in over my head- this software is fantastic! I've come up with a recipe using it and altering my ratios to find a suitably scored soap.

Anywho- this is my introduction! I intend on making soap making and body care a business. I'm from Toronto, Ontario.

Welcome to the board and good luck with your first batch of CP!! I hope you will let us know how it turned out (maybe supply us with some pictures of the soap and the lip balm?!)

I will try to do just that! =)

I'm an hour away from taking the soap out of the mold *fingers crossed*

Where should I post these photos? I assume not in this section of the forum...?

 

[Hazel]

Welcome to the forum!

You can post pics in the Photo Gallery.

 

[Deja_Nu]

Hello everyone!!!!! :wave:

My name is Faye & I'm ~VERY~ new to the whole soap making process... I'm sure TONS of questions to follow!!!!! :crazy:

 

[Hazel]

Hi Faye,

Welcome to the forum!

How new is new? Are you still in the researching phase or have you started making batches?

 

[tanusree]

Can I use fresh flower or fruit extract while making soap

Hi Everyone,

I am Tanusree. I have been reading ardently about soap-making for quite a few days now, am a newbie! But soap-making has fascinated me so much that I want to try it out at my home now.
I am planning to use coconut oil, palm oil, castor oil and olive oil as base oils, and the lye solution. I am thinking of using cocoa butter and shea butter as super fattening substances. I also want to add flower extract (rose extract) prepared in yogurt.
But I have couple of questions regarding this:

1) Should I add cocoa and shea butter with the base oils and then add lye solution? Or can I add cocoa-shea butter after I have added the lye solution (I wanted to add these later for an extra moisturizing effect).

2) When should I add yogurt? And how much should I add?

3) Is it a good idea to use fresh flower or even fresh fruit extracts in homemade soaps? If yes, then what is the best way to add these and when should they be added?

Many thanks and super excited to be here
Tanusree

 

[Hazel]

Re: Can I use fresh flower or fruit extract while making soa

Hi Tanusree,

Welcome to the forum!

Just add the cocoa and shea in with the base oils. It can take up to a couple of days for full saponification if you're allowing the batch to gel (longer if you don't gel). The lye will saponify whatever oils so you really don't know what will end up unsaponified for any conditioning in the finished soap.

I'm lazy about adding dairy products so I use enough water to dissolve the lye and then add the dairy after I've added the lye solution. This way I don't have to worry about the lye scorching the cream or buttermilk or whatever I'm using. The amount of yogurt to add will depend on the batch size and how much water is required. As an example, I would use 6 ounces of distilled water if I was making a 2 lb batch which requires 12 ounces of liquid and 5.5 ounces lye. The 6 ounces of water is enough to dissolve the 5.5 ounces of lye. I would actually use slightly more water if I was using heavy cream. This is just personal preference but I would only use 3 ounces of cream and 9 ounces of water because I'm one of those people who can smell butyric acid in dairy products. I've still found using a lower amount of cream produces the extra creaminess and I'm not bothered by the smell.

I haven't use yogurt but the same principles for using other milk products would apply. Some discussion which you will find helpful about yogurt.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11704
viewtopic.php?t=23607
viewtopic.php?t=5571

I also haven't used fresh fruit but I remember someone mentioning there can be a problem with it going moldy. Make sure the fruit is pureed. You can search the CP section and use fruit as the keyword. It should bring up the discussions about fruit. Here is a link to a discussion about juice and puree.

viewtopic.php?t=21590

 

[Seifenblasen]

Hello Tanusree! I am kind of new to making soap, too, but one suggestion is if you have not made any CP soap before, try making a simple batch first to get a feel of it before playing with yoghurt and fresh flowers/fruits as sometimes these additives can get tricky.

 

[Seifenblasen]

Hi Hazel,

I'm one of those people who can smell butyric acid in dairy products. I've still found using a lower amount of cream produces the extra creaminess and I'm not bothered by the smell.

For my last batch of oatmeal-milk-honey-cinnamon kitchen sink soap, I used a steep water discount and add half-frozen (cow, because that's what I had on hand) milk at trace. Absolutely no butyric acid even before the cure.

The soap got very dark and ugly because of the EO and other stuff, but smells almost edible.

 

[Hazel]

I used a steep water discount and add half-frozen (cow, because that's what I had on hand) milk at trace. Absolutely no butyric acid even before the cure.

Butyric acid is in animal fats. Cow milk has very little fat in it as compared to cream. Butterfat percentages in cow milk vary between a miniscule amount up to 4%. Heavy cream generally has about 36+%, light whipping cream has approximately 30%-36% and half & half 10%-18%. That's why I notice it more when using dairy products with a higher fat percentage. I've never noticed an odor with regular cow milk (it was 1%) or cultured buttermilk (1%-2% butterfat). I should mention I never noticed an odor from the batch I used half & half in so 18% must be my cut off point. But I didn't use half & half for all of the liquid.

Now that I think about it, yogurt doesn't have much fat in it so there may not be a problem with odor if one is sensitive to butyric acid.

 

[Seifenblasen]

Interesting!

The milk I used is around 3.6% fat, when the girls are out in the pasture. Now if 18% fat is the cut-off point, how much is the total percentage of butterfat in your soap before it starts smelling weird?

 

[Hazel]

The milk I used is around 3.6% fat, when the girls are out in the pasture. Now if 18% fat is the cut-off point, how much is the total percentage of butterfat in your soap before it starts smelling weird?

18% isn't really the cut off point because I didn't use it for 100% of the liquid. The first cream batch I ever made was with 100% cream. I froze the cream in an ice cube tray and slowly added the lye. I was so upset at how bad the soap smelled to me. I could smell a rancid odor over the FO. It stunk! I thought one of the oils had gone bad. I posted about it on a forum and another member explained about how some people can smell BA and some can't. She said generally people who think jasmine and honeysuckle smell bad are the ones who can smell butyric acid. I've always disliked the scent of jasmine and most honeysuckles smell terrible to me. I used to wonder why people raved about how they loved jasmine and honeysuckle.

I've found cream for 25% of the liquid and half & half for 50% of the liquid is fine for me. So possibly 10% or maybe slightly higher would be what I would consider my cut off point. However, this is just for me. I had several people sniff the cream soap and only one noticed the odor. It just depends on the person. I've never noticed an odor in 100% goat milk (one of them was unscented) or in buttermilk soap.

 

[Seifenblasen]

Thank you, Hazel! That's awesome information.

 

[Hazel]

You're welcome! But it really isn't helpful since you use goat milk for your soap.

 

[WitchWayBeauty]

Hello everyone

My name is Joanne and I have been making and selling M&P soap for about a year now, in Canterbury, Kent, Uk

I love making fun soaps and have Facebook: www.facebook.com/witchwaybeauty
Twitter: @witchwaybeauty
Etsy: www.etsy.com/witchwaybeauty
Blog: http://witchwaybeauty.wordpress.com/

Hope to chat to you all soon

 

[crafter]

Hi,
I'm Al and am new to the forum.

I've been making soap off and on for about 10 years.

Have sold a lot of soap.

Spending quite a bit of time marketing other crafts now, working with one of my sons.

Here partly for the soap discussions and partly for marketing ideas.

Look forward to it.

Al

 

[Hazel]

Hello to Joanne and Al,

Welcome to the forum!

 

[chicklet]

Hey y'all Just wanted to say hello since I've been lurking for months but finally got around to joining. CP soap making is the latest in a long line of hobbies I've tried over the years. Yes, I'm one of THOSE. I don't know if it's my ADD or my love of learning (I want to know something about EVERYTHING!), but I guess it doesn't really matter, does it? I've thoroughly enjoyed all my adventures over the years, but I do have to say - soapmaking is turning out to be a favorite. It's just so very SATISFYING, isn't it? I've read some books, read hundreds of posts on this forum, read some blogs, and looked at 10,000,000 pictures of soap, but I can't seem to get enough. Oh yeah, and I've made 6 or 7 batches of soap so far. The first couple of batches have cured enough to use and that has just added to the satisfaction level. I haven't joined a forum in several years (the last one was about raising chickens, thus the "chicklet"), but I can tell that this is a very friendly and helpful forum. I'm impressed! So anyway .... hey from Tennessee.

 

[Relle]

Welcome Chicklet, we love photos here so post away, love to see your first efforts.

 

[Hazel]

Hi Chiklet,

Welcome to the forum!