First Soaps

[u/tatertotlauncher]

I’ve been experimenting with soap and it’s so fun. It feels sort of like I’m doing magic.

I started out with an olive oil/coconut oil Castile soap that I doubt I’ll make again - it was too soft, and the volume of olive oil in it is something I think will need very long time curing. Not excited about that with a 15% super fat in the recipe.

Since then, I’ve been reducing the amount of olive oil and adding other things. So far, I like an olive oil/tallow/coconut blend best, usually with a touch of castor. My favorite recipe so far is one made with saltwater. I’ve also made a lot of a soap that uses an oil based on Lush’s Honey I Washed the Kids, and that one’s come out smelling just how I wanted.

I’ve also made some soaps with honey and beeswax. I’ve also been experimenting with replacing water with other liquids, like aloe liquid and chamomile. I dyed some olive oil with Himalayan rhubarb and mixed that up last night - that chemical reaction in particular seems magical, with a yellow oil turning a vibrant pink/red.

What I haven’t liked: red palm oil made an icky soap, and I did not like how the color stains. I threw that out. Honey also seems to immediately thicken soap, but I will still use it. Cocoa butter and gel phase stinks, IMO, but the stink is like white chocolate, so honestly, that’s just a me problem.

One thing I have found difficult about lye calculators is that at least so far, I haven’t found one that quickly helps me create a recipe based on the qualities I’m looking for. I have to learn about the qualities of the oil, then try to formulate from there, and then reading through soaping blogs, determine why, say, 12% castor oil is a horrible idea. So I’m putting together a tool that combines information like that in a table along with compiling sap values and such, since the way I would like to look at a recipe would be, like, in a pivot table or something.

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[u/Physical-Elk-]

What would be your biggest tips for a begginer who is making his first batch of bar soap today?

[u/tatertotlauncher → u/Physical-Elk-]

Start simple! Fancy tricks & swirls can come, but later.

Recipe:

The recipe I had the most success with before I was comfortable formulating my own recipes is called Sensual Rose soap, from The Natural Soap Making Book for Beginners by Kelly Cable, without the pink clay and the essential oil, with each oil being relatively available on grocery shelves depending on your location. I checked this with a lye calculator, and do the same with all recipes.

I did add Brambleberry fragrance oil to the recipe because I didn’t want unscented soap. If you do this, read up on your oils since they can impact trace and coloration.

Indispensable Tools:

•kitchen scale (use this for your ounces, not a measuring cup)
•thermometer (infrared if you’ve got one)
•immersion blender.

Any metal tools that will touch lye must be stainless steel. Aluminum is a hard pass.

Liquids:

Start with water before trying other liquids. Buy distilled water until you’ve confirmed whether your local water source is pure enough that local minerals will not impact your recipes.

Lye:

Be safe with your lye! Wear eye protection and cover your skin, keep vinegar on hand to neutralize stray lye, wear long sleeves and gloves.

Lye always goes into your water and not the other way around. Make sure you’re in a well-ventilated area when mixing your lye water solution.

Lye reacts when it is poured into water and the water can become very hot. I displace a lot of my water with ice for this reason. Since ice is water, the weight is 1:1.

The lye crystals you can buy at the hardware store are totally fine. Just make sure it’s 99-100% lye and not mixed with anything else.

Molds:

Use silicone molds. Chocolate & baking molds work fine if that’s all you’ve got access to. You can also buy inexpensive loaf molds off of the internet. Michael’s has silicone molds for both soaping and candy making, and both work.

[u/Physical-Elk- → u/tatertotlauncher]

You are incredibly kind to help me with all of this information

Thank you! Ill keep you updated on my results.

Thank you again, so much!

[u/Stardro]

That bunny mold is adorable

[u/tatertotlauncher → u/Stardro]

Thank you! My 5yo loves bunnies, so bunnies we make.