Ask the Soapers

[Sue]

Jim,
You can make small bathes for trialing, if they are unsucessful, use it in the shower. Know the properties of each oil you use and then run your recipe thru a lye calculator. Personally, I would make at least about a pound of finished soap but that's me.

Snowdrift Farms is well respected. The link to their calculator is here: http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/soapcalculator.htm

You can use anything for a mold, even a pizza box if you line it with freezer paper, disposable round food savers or pvc pipe cut in sections. Or you can make your own flexible silicon mold by using molding putty.
Sue

 

[ironbrewer]

Thanks for the quick reply.

What is the Lye discount in the calculator?

I was looking at Snowdrift. They look good.

 

[Sue]

Lye discount is the extra oil or less lye used. Superfatting is extra oil to add moisturization to a soap. You can play around with the percent. The higher the percent the more oil but also a better chance of spoilage if there is too much.

I forgot to mention in my previous post, if nothing else respect how toxic lye is. Be careful how you use it, store it and who is around. It mars hard surfaces like countertops and floors. Burns skin and can blind you if splased into eyes.

Here are two sites with a lot of info:
http://www.teachsoap.com/
http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/library/coldprocess.asp

Feel free to ask more questions if needed.
Sue

 

[ironbrewer]

When I brewed beer we used NaOH to clean our fermentation vessels, and brite beer tanks, and now that I treat water for a living we get it by the tanker load.

Thank you for the concern.

 

[sedo]

Hey Krissy,

What are the benefits of using Aloe vera compared to Beer?

I tried searching for it on your site but perhaps I am looking in the wrong place.

Thanks.

 

[ironbrewer]

I have another question. If I use my wife's stick blender to make soap will I still be married? Will I be able to clean it well enough to still use for food??

Thanks in advance.

 

[Wendy]

I have another question. If I use my wife's stick blender to make soap will I still be married? Will I be able to clean it well enough to still use for food??

Thanks in advance.

Yep, she will never know. Just remember you still have to use soap to clean soap.

 

[soapbox]

I have another question. If I use my wife's stick blender to make soap will I still be married? Will I be able to clean it well enough to still use for food??

Thanks in advance.

Stick blenders aren't really powerful enough to stir a batch of soap once it gets past a certain thickness, but also -- while stainless steel can be cleaned, the thought of unreacted lye on the blender means you'd be sleeping in the doghouse.

 

[ironbrewer]

Stick blenders aren't really powerful enough to stir a batch of soap once it gets past a certain thickness, but also -- while stainless steel can be cleaned, the thought of unreacted lye on the blender means you'd be sleeping in the doghouse.

So what kind of mixing device would you use? I'm going to try to make small(about 1 lb batches until I get it working. Lye washes off things pretty thoroughly if you use lots of water. I was more worried about soap getting stuck in nooks and crannies.

 

[soapbox]

So what kind of mixing device would you use? I'm going to try to make small(about 1 lb batches until I get it working. Lye washes off things pretty thoroughly if you use lots of water. I was more worried about soap getting stuck in nooks and crannies.

Wendy makes a fair point, too, that your bride might never know about the usage. I don't know about the mixing speed of these things, but you might also introduce froth in a smaller batch, which isn't good either. As the soap thickens, a small, high-rpm mixer might cavitate and/or fail to mix the outer edges of the mixture.

Frankly, for a small batch, a wooden spoon (again, not used for anything else ) is probably adequate, but others might suggest alternatives.

 

[Meliphicent]

I made my own soap for the very first time last week with this recipe:
Tallow 250g
Palm 125g
coconut oil 100g
olive 50g
castor 25g

It's curing now, but I gave the first piece I cut a bit of a trial last night and it was pretty good for a first time effort IMO. I have a few questions though:
1. Are any of the oils used here excessive? I read somewhere that castor can't be more than 5% of the total soap mix but found almost nothing on all the others.
2. The lather wasn't too bad but it wasn't anywhere near as "creamy" as I was expecting - is this an oil ratio thing or should I have superfatted more? (I did a 5% lye discount)
3. I'm just making for myself - should I focus on getting the soap the way I want and then adding scent or should I go for broke and try scenting it as I go?
4. Assuming I could get my hands on an old pasta machine would it be worth trying to hand mill my own stuff? I'd only be doing about a pound of soap per batch but I'm really commited to making something I can be proud of. (image of pasta "mill" http://www.chinatraderonline.com/Fi.../Kitchen-Gadget/Pasta-machine-12014156384.jpg)

 

[Sue]

Your chosen oils do not look excessive. It will lather a bit better with some more time, your ph is probably still very high. If you use a lye calculator a recommended maximum fragrance level will be given for your recipe, you can also choose the percent of lye discount. It would be fine to go ahead and use a fragrance you enjoy. If your soap is great and it isn't fragranced, you may not be as happy with it.

I don't think the pasta maker will be helpful. The machinery used for milling is to extract the glycerin which is then sold. The naturally occuring glycerin is kind to your skin. It's one of the big plusses of cold process soap. Grating CP soap with a kitchen grater or similar tool is rebatch, not milling as in a triple milled soap. With rebatch you will need to add a bit of liquid and the soap is softer.

Go ahead an try rebatching a couple bars or you can buy rebatch that is unfragranced and add your own additives and scent. Grating is easiest when the soap bars are new. Use a kitchen grater - the type you would use for home-made hash brown potatos.
Sue