What soap recipe would you say....

[lenarenee]

...is the most non-allergenic? (church is collecting hotel size soaps for the homeless and I thought I'd make some instead) I don't have insurance, but what about making something that would be least likely to cause a problem?
(scent and color free - unless I use yellow palm or something)

 

[dibbles]

It seems like most commercial soaps use tallow or palm. Then I'd just keep it simple - olive oil and coconut oil. I'm sure your soaps will be appreciated, whatever you decide to use.

 

[SunRiseArts]

What a treat. I am sure they will love it no matter what you make.

If they are not picky, the shortening from Walmart is made of tallow and palm, then you can add a little of castor and olive IMO. It will be inexpensive, and yum on the skin.

Since I do not sell my soaps (at least yet), sometimes when I make too much, I take the extra to the women shelter.

 

[Susie]

I would use a standard lard/palm/tallow, CO, OO, castor oil. That seems to be a fairly well tolerated recipe. Be sure to label your box with all ingredients, so the user can beware.

 

[Logansama]

The simpler the better. Castile would probably be safest, as its just olive, but it takes a really long time to "ripen" enough to be nice to use. So I'd also go with the olive/coconut/tallow blend.

I also collect hotel soaps, shampoos and lotions for the homeless. Its always appreciated.

 

[cherrycoke216]

I'm with Susie. ( & sun rise art, & logansama ) Castile or Bastile being mild and gentle, it needs longer cure to be better. Otherwise it melts down the drain faster than a palm /lard / tallow based soap.
I'm sure they'll like whatever you give them. Even the fugly seized, or soap on a stick. But being practical, if they are homeless, probably would like a longer lasting soap. And you are very thoughtful about not causing sensitivity or allergic. Probably avoid peanut oil, Shea butter ( latex allergy )...would be a good idea.

But isn't there something called Good Samaritan law? Protect those who help from unintentional injured or death and the likes. To avoid people refrain from helping...?

 

[dixiedragon]

Lard. Pigs are very close to us, biologically - they used to use insulin from pigs before they learned how to produce it in a lab. I think they still use pig heart valves.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

What a treat. I am sure they will love it no matter what you make.

If they are not picky, the shortening from Walmart is made of tallow and palm, then you can add a little of castor and olive IMO. It will be inexpensive, and yum on the skin.

Since I do not sell my soaps (at least yet), sometimes when I make too much, I take the extra to the women shelter.

To continue the Walmart angle, you can make a very good, very inexpensive soap from GV shortening that Sunrise mentions at 55%, along with LouAna coconut at 20% and LouAna Safflower at 25%. (LouAna is high-HO). They're all near each other at Walmart, and I don't think any of the containers is more than $4.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

If t'were me, I'd use my 16 bar wooden slab mold. Unmold. Cut each bar in half to make 32 bars at a little over 2 oz each. I wouldn't worry too much about allergies, but I would not use nut oils or shea butter.

My easy peasy "Palm Olive" soap would work well for this project:

32% water
2% SF NaOH
62.5% palm (RBD or red) or lard
23.5% olive oil
14% PKO (palm kernel oil)

Cut: 8-12 hours. Cure 3-6 weeks. Temps: 120°

HTH :bunny:
​

 

[earlene]

Lenarenee, it's great that you're doing this.

I use my regular soaps end pieces, etc. as travel soaps, instead of using hotel soaps when I travel. IMO, any recipe you personally like should be fine for this purpose. But for the homeless who may also have delicate skin conditions I would advise using low CO percentages in your formula, simply because it can be so harsh.

 

[lenarenee]

Thank you everyone, I think that Brewer George has a suitable option for this project - using Wal Mart products. I do worry about allergies - and also using animal products in case these are given to people who's religions prohibit their use.

 

[cherrycoke216]

Thank you everyone, I think that Brewer George has a suitable option for this project - using Wal Mart products. I do worry about allergies - and also using animal products in case these are given to people who's religions prohibit their use.

Maybe crisco instead if you are worried about animal products will upset someone or against their religion. Actually in my experience, most homeless are not that picky and actually quite friendly unless they have been abused or have mental illness. It's such a shame they fall out of system and some with mental illness it's harder for them to get back in. And with global economic in the toilet since 2008...I hope that government around the world will do something about it. Create more temporary jobs, some shift late at night.., for these people. Sometimes I have the feeling that certain kind of bourgeois/ middle class or upper class IS the bunch that are really picky or snob. Maybe the life stress, the peer pressure, or...first world problems. But I digress.



ETA: I'm thing about make some pine tar to give the church. Though I'm not a Christian or catholic .They supply one meal a day for homeless. And being homeless, means usually you don't have much money for skin conditions. And live on the street/ under the bridge does make their skin look rough. And pine tar being antibacterial, anti fungal, etc. might served this purpose well.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Thank you everyone, I think that Brewer George has a suitable option for this project - using Wal Mart products. I do worry about allergies - and also using animal products in case these are given to people who's religions prohibit their use.

I know that Islam has a specific exemption to eat things that are haraam (forbidden) under duress. So washing with something probably wouldn't be a problem for most. I would suspect Judaism has a similar exemption.

Anyway, Walmart's vegetable shortening (with the pie on the front) is hydrogenated soy and palm. I use it for my daughter's vegan recipe and it works fine.

 

[RDak]

FWIW, to new soapers I always suggest a simple non allergenic type of recipe..........20 percent coconut, 50 percent lard/palm, 30 percent olive.

I tell them about 5 percent castor oil and let them know about the increased suds.

 

[Susie]

Unless you live in an incredibly small town, whatever shelter they stay in at night usually has commercially produced soap (mine uses Dial, as they are corporate tax write offs) for the people that stay with them. Therefore, they have choices if they have religious prohibitions against certain products. I, therefore, only worry about allergens. That would be the reason I write a label for the box. Then people can make informed choices.

 

[lenarenee]

Unless you live in an incredibly small town, whatever shelter they stay in at night usually has commercially produced soap (mine uses Dial, as they are corporate tax write offs) for the people that stay with them. Therefore, they have choices if they have religious prohibitions against certain products. I, therefore, only worry about allergens. That would be the reason I write a label for the box. Then people can make informed choices.

Yes that's really a reasonable solution - no one provide 100% perfection for every population. Label the soap well and let them make their own choices.

 

[earlene]

As the mother of sons who both at one time or another has utilized homeless shelters, I'm pretty sure that the homeless client isn't spending a lot of time scrutinizing the free soap. My eldest son is still considered homeless in that he lives in his van and sleeps where ever he can park it for the night. I give him soap and he loves it, but he cares more about access to a place to bathe than whats in his soap.

Granted, I think it's wonderful that any and all people who donate soap to shelters of all kinds are donating. Please continue and I do agree that labeling the soap is a good idea, of course. Other places to donate our soap if anyone wants to participate in this kind of kindness, are Food Pantries, who give items to the poor in many areas around the country; Women & Children's Shelters (where victims of abuse go for shelter); Veteran's Shelters; etc.

 

[Susie]

If you are still at a loss as to where to donate soaps, nursing homes are loaded with people who would LOVE to get a visit from the soap fairy. ESPECIALLY if you will take a minute to visit with them. Nursing homes use "low bid" soaps. Those women, especially, would adore to have something that smells good.

 

[lenarenee]

If you are still at a loss as to where to donate soaps, nursing homes are loaded with people who would LOVE to get a visit from the soap fairy. ESPECIALLY if you will take a minute to visit with them. Nursing homes use "low bid" soaps. Those women, especially, would adore to have something that smells good.

I love this idea too! You've done this? What is a good size bar for this population? I find handmade soap to be very slippery, and the elderly often have arthritis so small bars are better?

 

[earlene]

If you are still at a loss as to where to donate soaps, nursing homes are loaded with people who would LOVE to get a visit from the soap fairy. ESPECIALLY if you will take a minute to visit with them. Nursing homes use "low bid" soaps. Those women, especially, would adore to have something that smells good.

Some nursing homes no longer use bar soaps for bathing their clients and discourage them as gifts. However, even if that is the case, the staff love being gifted with homemade soap.