Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #300 on: May 06, 2009, 01:52:12 PM » by lovingmomof2

Okay, I made my goats milk, honey and oatmeal soap. Well, I think I did. After mixing everything in and pouring into my first mold the mix got really thick and started getting really dark (almost as dark as molasses). Is this batch going to be okay or is it ruined?

P.S. I just got done taking a look at the molds and a couple of them look like there is some separation going on.

« Last Edit: May 06, 2009, 01:58:19 PM by lovingmomof2 »
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Proverbs 31:26
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #301 on: May 06, 2009, 02:05:51 PM » by hi_itsgwen

It may just be that air is whipped into the mix, and as it's coming out of solution, it makes it look darker. If it doesn't set up, you can just rework that batch...no need to throw it out.

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #302 on: May 06, 2009, 02:56:35 PM » by lovingmomof2

One of the molds has two different color areas. Kind of like if you had some butter melt and come to the top of something you had made and then get hard again. I hope someone can understand what I am trying to describe. Most of the soap batch is the dark tannish brown color and the second color that has settled on the edges is a creamy color. I am not sure what to do. I have never been here before, this is my first milk soap. Huh

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Proverbs 31:26
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #303 on: May 06, 2009, 03:59:38 PM » by boysmama

The dark molasses color was the batch going into gel. I am assuming that this is only a couple hours since that happened. If this is true the batch is now cooling off and the edges and top reverting back to the tan color the whole bar will be when cool.
Wait 24 hrs or until completely cool and then look at it again. I think it's going to be fine.

Sometimes too hot of a gel will cause true separation. The soap is still usually safe to use if the original lye to oil ratio was ok. If there are any beads of liquid on top or trapped in the bar do the tongue test to see if it is free lye or water, glycerin or oils. At worst you can chop it up, put it in a warm oven to melt in a tightly covered pan and then smash it into your molds again.

Congratulations on your first milk soap! It is a whole new experience, but worthwhile. I LOVE to use goat milk soap. I also prefer to gel most of my soaps which is good, because it is hard to keep 100% (of liquid) milk soaps from gelling. Add any bit of honey at all and it is going to get HOT.

« Last Edit: May 06, 2009, 04:12:58 PM by boysmama »
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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #304 on: May 06, 2009, 04:25:21 PM » by lovingmomof2

Quote from: boysmama on May 06, 2009, 03:59:38 PM

Thank you so much for your help. Wow! So, my soap started to gel right in the pot before I finished putting it in the molds. I guess, that would be because of the honey. Now, the waiting game. I am not good at waiting. I enjoy making soap and gardening, the downfall for both of these is the waiting. Wink

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Proverbs 31:26
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #305 on: May 07, 2009, 08:17:01 AM » by lovingmomof2

I looked at the soap again today and one of the mold still has that separated thing. It kind of looks like some grease come to the top and cooled. So, if I melt this soap I can just remold it? Do I have to do it in the over or can I melt it on the stove top with a lid on the pot? Thanks.

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Proverbs 31:26
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #306 on: May 07, 2009, 09:47:22 AM » by boysmama

Quote from: lovingmomof2 on May 07, 2009, 08:17:01 AM

If you do it on the stove pot you will want to use a double boiler, think LOW heat and tightly sealed to prevent it from drying out.
I add 1 tbsp water per pound of soap in a glass casserole dish tightly covered in the oven. Once it is soft, stir hard and smash back into the mold. Rebatched soaps are strange...the bar is not as hard and weird texture, but still useable soap. I only did this once with a soap that reached a false trace and so came out with lye liquid spots.
Just curious if you ran your recipe through something like the soapcalc calculator...and what percentage of superfatting it was. Did you use any scent at all? Sometimes the cheap EO's are diluted with other oils and they end up pooling on top of the soap.
I have had two batches of a cinn/rose scent that overheated and came out with small beads of glycerin on top. I didn't rebatch, just wiped them before wrapping.

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #307 on: May 09, 2009, 08:07:25 AM » by lovingmomof2

Quote from: boysmama on May 07, 2009, 09:47:22 AM

Quote from: lovingmomof2 on May 07, 2009, 08:17:01 AM

I used the MMS lye calculator with 7% superfat. I didn't use any EO or scents. The fats I used were olive oil, grapeseed oil, lard, coconut oil, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil and a little beeswax. I used canned goat's milk and I added ground oatmeal and honey at trace. I read on-line that you could rebatch soap in a crocpot so I gave that I try. It took a while, but I think it did well. How would you know if it is glycerin on top? I am asking just in case this happens to me a gain. The only way I can explain the way it looked it if you have ever seen a dessert that has a lot of butter/fat in it and the butter cools and hardens on top of the dessert, its like a foggy color. I wasn't sure what it was or why it happened so I figured it would be better to rebatch the whole thing. I do enjoy making soap and learning more about it. Thanks for all your help.

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Proverbs 31:26
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #308 on: May 09, 2009, 01:58:15 PM » by naturalgirl

Here's another newbe for making soap. I would love to make it, but have yet to find a recipe that calls only for the fats I have avalible. How do I go about making soap with these fats?

Tallow (I have lots of this avalible)
Lard
Olive oil

I don't have coconut oil, although I would love to have it.

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #309 on: May 09, 2009, 04:08:10 PM » by Roehrmomma

Google a lye calculator and put in how much of what fats you want it will help you make the recipe with the right ammount of ingredients.

Em

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #310 on: May 10, 2009, 02:06:00 PM » by naturalgirl

Um...I'm kinda overwhelmed right now. I feel like I'm trying to read greek(around here, greek is sometimes pronounced simply Eeeek! Cheesy

). Grr...I hate not getting it myself! Can you pleeeeze help me? lol. I looked up a lye calculator, and came up with this one:

http://candleandsoap.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=candleandsoap&cdn=homegarden&tm=49&gps=39_169_1251_628&f=10&tt=8&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.soapcalc.com/calc/SoapCalc.asp

How do I use the thing? And if I do push what kinds of fats, how do I read the recipe afterwards?

(PS...I also have beesewax too, but didn't think it would be needed, tallow being a hard fat)

If I knew what all the buttons were for, and what was happening, I'd probably be fine. As is, I'm baffled. I feel kind of funny right now, being quite comfortable with cooking for years, and now being right back to fuzz. Embarrassed

(small tiny voice...please, can you help me?)

« Last Edit: May 10, 2009, 02:18:21 PM by naturalgirl »
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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #311 on: May 10, 2009, 02:12:57 PM » by Mrs. B

Quote from: naturalgirl on May 10, 2009, 02:06:00 PM

Um...I'm kinda overwhelmed right now. I feel like I'm trying to read greek(around here, greek is sometimes pronounced simply Eeeek! Cheesy

). Grr...I hate not getting it myself! Can you pleeeeze help me? lol. I looked up a lye calculator, and came up with this one:

http://candleandsoap.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=candleandsoap&cdn=homegarden&tm=49&gps=39_169_1251_628&f=10&tt=8&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.soapcalc.com/calc/SoapCalc.asp

How do I use the thing? And if I do push what kinds of fats, how do I read the recipe afterwards?

If I knew what all the buttons were for, and what was happening, I'd probably be fine. As is, I'm baffled. I feel kind of funny right now, being quite comfortable with cooking for years, and now being right back to fuzz. Embarrassed

(small tiny voice...please, can you help me?)

I like MMS's lye calculator: http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php You plug in your values and it only shows what you put in on the print out.
Kathy Miller's site is also good with alot of tutorial type stuff... This page breaks alot of the oils/fat info down, and tells what ratios are good and why... http://www.millersoap.com/soapdesign.html

« Last Edit: May 10, 2009, 02:14:42 PM by Mrs. B »
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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #312 on: May 12, 2009, 12:20:05 PM » by naturalgirl

I would like tallow to be my main ingredient, which is not included in that lye calculator. Do you know of one that does, that is more simple than the one I found?

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #313 on: May 12, 2009, 12:32:45 PM » by naturalgirl

I found this one...

http://www.northcountrymercantile.com/soapmakinglibrary/lye_calculator.html

But I still am uncertan of what I'm getting into. I have no idea how much fat would make a good bar. I have TONS of tallow on hand Undecided

How do I know how much fat of what kind would make a good bar of soap? I thought of 10 lb tallow, 2lb olive oil (grade A? What's the difference between grade A and pomace?), 2lb lard, 1lb beesewax, 1lb coconut oil (if I can get some cheaply...,and what is the difference between 76 degree and 92 degree?), and 1 lb caster oil, which I think I could get locally. They also ask for persentage of superfat???What's that? Any thoughts?

« Last Edit: May 12, 2009, 12:36:58 PM by naturalgirl »
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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #314 on: May 12, 2009, 04:06:53 PM » by lovingmomof2

Quote from: naturalgirl on May 12, 2009, 12:32:45 PM

I would recommend borrowing a couple of soapmaking books from your library before jumping into it. They are very informative and will give a better understanding and take some of the fear out of it. I am new to soapmaking so I might be miss stating. I believe superfatt is the extra fat that is not needed for the saponification with the lye. I usually use a 5 or 6% superfat.

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Proverbs 31:26
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #315 on: May 15, 2009, 05:20:44 PM » by naturalgirl

lol. Uh, the librarian looked at me as if I were from the moon when I asked for soap making books. I guess that means the world wide web for me Wink

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #316 on: June 16, 2009, 01:06:20 PM » by lovingmomof2

I made a batch of goat's milk soap on Saturday. When I cut it today I noticed that parts of it close to the bottom of the mold were pretty soft, it got lighter in color towards the center of the bar and just above center (closer to the top when in the mold) has this clear slimy stuff that oozes out a little when cutting. Is there something wrong with my soap or this normal for milk soap? I have only made milk soap one other time and it gelled in the pot. Thanks

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Proverbs 31:26
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #317 on: June 17, 2009, 07:36:00 AM » by lovingmomof2

Quote from: lovingmomof2 on June 16, 2009, 01:06:20 PM

The clear slimy stuff reminds me of vaseline. Does anyone know of it is normal or if I need to rebatch it? Also is there something I can do to prevent it from happening in my next batch of soap?

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Proverbs 31:26
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #318 on: June 18, 2009, 03:47:53 PM » by lovingmomof2

bump. Anyone?

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Proverbs 31:26
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #319 on: June 18, 2009, 05:56:49 PM » by Mrs. B

Hopefully a more experienced soaper will give you a real answer, but it sounds like glycerin to me. I've not had this happen, but I've never made soap with milk and I know that the additional fats in it can make the soap do weird things. I added honey at trace before and some of mine did this, but after letting it dry further it was fine.

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #320 on: June 18, 2009, 08:17:16 PM » by Kansas Girl

Did you insulate your goat's milk soap? Goat's milk generates a lot of heat and needs a lot of exposed surface area in a tray type mold. I'm just guessing that if you made it in a log shape and insulated it may have caused the liquid. You do not want goat's milk soap to gell, in fact, I put my filled mold immediately in the freezer for a couple of hours and then the fridge for a day or more before unmolding. -KG

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #321 on: June 19, 2009, 05:42:25 PM » by lovingmomof2

Quote from: Kansas Girl on June 18, 2009, 08:17:16 PM

No, I did not insulate the soap. I used loaf pan size molds. Is there anything that I need to do with them or just give them a longer drying time? Thanks

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Proverbs 31:26
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #322 on: June 19, 2009, 08:28:40 PM » by Kansas Girl

To be honest I'm not sure. I would probably just let it cure and see what happens. It will probably be just fine. -KG

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #323 on: June 22, 2009, 08:09:30 AM » by JeffAngie

There are 11 pages here so I thought that I would just ask this.
To all you bar soap makers. I would REALLY like to make some bar soap so I thought I would ask you if you would be so kind as to post your best recipies. I have never done this before and so I need to know what to get. I would so much appreciate it.
Blessings,
Angie

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #324 on: June 22, 2009, 09:33:05 AM » by boysmama

Lovingmomof2, Did you do a tongue test on that liquid trapped in your bar? Just barely touch the tip of your tongue to it. If it stings like licking a battery it is lye and needs to be re-batched. Otherwise it's ok to use as is.

I prefer to gel all my soaps, even milk soaps and no, I do not think the soft spots are normal for milk soaps.
Are you hand stirring your soap? What are your temperatures of lye solution and oils? and how long does it take to trace?

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #325 on: June 22, 2009, 09:43:22 AM » by boysmama

I've not made these recipes, but have put them through a calculator so the ratio of fats to lye should be correct. Like I said, no experience with the actual soap from these recipes.

Beef Tallow
16 oz. tallow
2.13 oz lye (sodium hydroxide)
4 oz. liquid

Lard (pork)
16 oz. lard
2.11 oz. lye
4 oz liquid

Lard (sheep/mutton)
16 0z. lard
2.10 oz. lye
4 oz liquid

Goat Tallow-also suggested that deer/venison would be the same
16 oz. tallow
2.10 oz lye
4 oz. liquid

Mink Oil
16 oz. oil
2.10 oz. lye
4 oz. liquid

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #326 on: June 22, 2009, 09:46:35 AM » by lovingmomof2

Quote from: boysmama on June 22, 2009, 09:33:05 AM

No, I didn't do the tongue test. It did get on my hand and nothing happened. I just ended up rebatching it to be safe, although I don't really care for the whole rebatching process.

What is the difference between gelling milk soaps and not gelling them. Everything that I have read on-line says not to gell them.
I use an hand mixer and alternate between having it go for a few seconds and using it to stir. It took between 5 and 10 minutes to reach trace, probably closer to 5. The temperatures of the oils and lye when mixed together were 125 degrees. The method I used to make the milk soap was mixing lye with some water and then after mixing the lye/water with the oils adding the milk. I haven't tried partially freezing the milk yet. Do you think this could be part of the problem? I read on-line that several people do it this way with no problem, but maybe I am missing something. How do you make your milk soap?

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Proverbs 31:26
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #327 on: June 22, 2009, 10:01:01 AM » by boysmama

This recipe is basic. Good soap, but not as conditioning as I like. It's easy to get these oils though. When I found this recipe the prices were much lower. If you know you are going to make several batches check out Columbus Foods/Soaper's choice for oils/fats.

Walmart Recipe
64 oz. lard
31.5 oz LouAnn Coconut oil
16.5 oz sunflower oil
28-34 oz. liquid
16 oz. lye

*It's a good idea to run your recipe through a calculator anytime you want to reduce/increase or substitute any ingredient or recipe. I prefer the MMS lye calculator http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php
Scroll down and enter the number or oz of each of the oils/fats you plan to use. Calculate lye. Select the amount of lye for the superfat % you prefer. They give the recommended amount of liquid to use for each amount of lye. I prefer to use 5-6% super fatting and get my conditioning from adding milk and luxury butters like shea or cocoa as high superfatting gives a greasy, slimy feel and a softer bar.

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #328 on: June 22, 2009, 10:51:56 AM » by boysmama

Here's my hubby's favorite soap. I like this soap too, although I have made a combo I liked better, but can't figure out which batch/recipe it goes with. Roll Eyes

13 oz. lard
13 oz. coconut oil
6 oz. olive oil
5 oz sunflower oil
5 oz. castor oil
5 oz shea butter
3 oz. cocoa butter

16 oz. goat's milk
7 oz. lye

Here is how I do it. I relearned how to make soap after a couple years - to soap at room temps, with frozen milk, no cooling time for the lye and such when I was preparing to turn this into a business. I found out that have the lye and oils a certain temp is not really necessary. Another two babies and it is still a hobby and self sufficiency/home economizing tool, Kiss

but the method still allows me to soap and clean up easily within nap times so I don't have to worry about the kids getting hurt with lye around. You do need to know what real trace looks like, though with milk soaps it would be hard to prevent it.

Measure out your scent and colorings and set aside. Prepare molds.

Put the lard in the bottom of a deep stainless steel pot and add all the other hard oils and butters to it. Heat, stir and blend with a stick blender until a soft slurry. Remove from heat and add liquid oils. Set aside.

Weigh out frozen milk (can be cubes or just frozen in a ziplock and broken into pieces) into a glass pitcher. Set the pitcher in a bowl of ice water. Weigh out and slowly stir in lye. Stir until dissolved.
The milk should be a light yellow. I like to pour the lye mixture through a stainless steel sieve as I add it to the oils in case there is a flake or two of lye that has not dissolved.
Working quickly stir lye mixture into oils pot. Blend with a stick blender until you reach a light trace. Divide, scent and color as needed, working quickly. Pour and swirl as necessary. Set aside and cover lightly for 12-24 hrs. Cut as soon as cool and firm enough to handle. At this point there should be no zing when you tongue test the batch, especially if there are any liquid spots. You can use immediately although it will suds and clean differently, and harden( lasting longer) with a 6 week+ cure.

I get uncut EO's, excellent quality.
For winter mint (dh's favorite) I take out 2 cups of soap at trace and set aside. I scent the remainder with .5 oz peppermint 3x EO and 3 tbsp of room temp. liquid cloryphyll. Scent the 2 cups with .2 oz clove bud oil and 1 tsp gr. cloves. Either swirl in the pot or mold. Clove will really heat up quickly. Work with lightly traced soap and work quickly.

For tanglewood I use 1 oz. 5x sweet orange, .2 oz cedarwood, .2 oz. spearmint. I color different portions with 1 tsp annato butter coloring, 1 tbsp. chloryphyll and also some plain and swirl together.
I love playing with scents...orange and coffee are good, as is orange and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Rose and spice. A Theives type blend is wonderful for a hand soap. It cuts odors wonderfully.

If you use the more sophisticated soap calculators it will give you approx properties of your soap recipes. This is the list for this recipe and for every new recipe I try to come close to these values.
Hardness 43
Cleansing 18
Conditioning 52
Bubbly 27
Creamy 34
Iodine 57
INS 154
Just because the numbers are close doesn't mean that different recipes will feel the same, but they do come out reasonably similar.

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Re: Soap Making: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
« Reply #329 on: June 22, 2009, 11:16:53 AM » by boysmama

To gel or not to gel!

Ok, I prefer the look of a gelled soap versus ungelled, especially on a soap that would otherwise go into a partial gel. I dislike that two tone look. You can get a gel and you can get overheating that causes separation. It is trial and error to figure out which recipes and scents need to be cooled, warmed, covered lightly or insulated in order to gel and not overheat.

You would not want to gel a scent with a low flashpoint and certain colorings will also morph if gelled. Some folks prefer the chalky, muted look of an ungelled soap.
If you want to keep a milk soap out of gel, use frozen milk and set your container in ice water when stirring in the lye. Add lye mixture to room temp oils as soon as the lye is dissolved.
Doing the above also keeps milk soaps from turning dark, even if you gel.
When the soap is poured set in a cool room, fridge, outside as needed to prevent it from gelling. I always lightly cover my soaps as it keeping the top from cooling too fast prevents most ashing in my experience.
Honey, certain fragrances, and definitely spice EOs all really heat up the soap. I think beeswax does as well. I don't know if you can prevent gel on some of these, especially if you have several heating factors in one recipe. Even if it does gel you still want to make sure it doesn't overheat and cause separation.

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