(Part 2) Top products from r/soapmaking

> Will I always divide the lye grams by the percentage of water I want? Like if I decides to use 35% water instead, I'd divide by 0.35?

That's correct. The good thing about that website I listed, is it has a range of acceptable water amounts (30% is great for me).

> Also, how many pounds does this recipe make?

My recipe makes about 2 pounds. This fits perfectly in this silicon bread pan here.

> If I wanted to use it, but at a smaller scale, would it be okay to simply calculate the equivalent percentage? Like, if it makes 5 lbs, and I wanted to make 1 lb, could I just calculate 20% of each quantity, or would I need some more complex calculations?

I would recommend that you first determine what types oils you are going to use, then calculate percentages/weights. I wouldn't make anything under 900g as it's too much work for that little soap being produced. With my recipe, I can get 8-14 bars of soap depending on how thin I cut them.

> And finally, could I sub palm oil with more lard? I've been reading they're pretty similar, and I'm not too keen on using palm oil (despite how apparently awesome it is)..

YES! Thats the awesome part of soap, is you can make whatever recipe you want. And Palm oil is the shit, it makes a nice hard bar of soap. I would be cautious on adding too much lard, as I think it makes a softer bar overall. Unless you intend to add sodium lactate/salt in your recipe.

> ETA: How do you figure out the amount of oils to use before hand? Do you know the total amount of grams you'll use first, then take out the water's percentage, or what? Sorry for all the questions :|

I've come up with a personal range of amounts I like to use in my soaps with the exception of lard (cant seem to find a specific value yet!), but there is a ton of knowledge out there. Also check out SAP values too, if you like doing math, you can calculate exactly how much Lye you'll need.: Avocado Oil: 5 to 10%, Castor oil: 3 to 8%, Coconut oil: 15 to 30%, Palm Oil= 20-30%, Palm Kernel Oil: 10-15%, Shea Butter: 10-15%, Olive Oil: 20-50%, Lard: ? (20% seems to make a good bar).

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions! I think you should get your recipe down first before trying to add any color/fragrance. Unscented bars of soap are also great too! Bonus pic of our soap:

http://imgur.com/nrw5lTG.jpg

http://imgur.com/M8qQUt4.jpg

http://imgur.com/rTWH7qr.jpg

http://imgur.com/DkgstXS.jpg

Have you looked over the Soap Queen's website? https://www.soapqueen.com/

I've been learning how to do this via her site, her book, and advice from my mother. I picked up her book Pure Soapmaking Friday and I love it. Things that I did not understand are sorting themselves out. She explains what each of the oils do, so you can understand why you would use them, goes over tips and tricks, explains why weird stuff happens to soap, goes over equipment...pretty much it's been an amazing starting point. The first 1/4 of the book is all the basics and the rest is recipes.

Full disclosure, this author also owns Bramble Berry, which is a US (not sure if you can order from the UK) soap supplier site. Having said that, most of my stuff I've purchased from other sources and it hasn't made a bit of difference. The site also does a lot of video tutorials.

I really suggest looking up YouTube videos, too. YouTube has been a huge help in sorting out what trace is, what different sorts of trace there are, and design info. I think YouTube soap stuff is addicting. Be careful. Search "soap making challenge" and get ready to watch a zillion of the most amazing videos. :)

The chemistry of making soap is just simple saponification a book like this would probably help. Scientific Soapmaking: The Chemistry of the Cold Process https://www.amazon.com/dp/1935652095/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_t6GFAbDRF0CTQ if you really want to go in depth there are engineering books on soap as well. Soap Manufacturing Technology, Second Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1630670650/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_68GFAbVMD7SK7 this would be really in depth and probably cover modern soap and surfactant chemistry as well. My specialty is mostly Hair Color and personal care, i’ve only begun making soap recently. Beside when i was a kid and we made soap from rendered animals.

Also, I would recommend reading The Natural Soap Book or The Soapmaker's Companion by Susan Miller Cavitch - if not for the recipes, certainly for lye safety information. It is very important you educate yourself about lye and the entire soap-making process.

I made a bar fashioned after Japanese clay facial soap that has bentonite clay, kaolin clay, activated charcoal, and some light scent to it. I've got friends who have very sensitive skin and they've had no reaction to it, and it's helped clear up my roommate's acne.

I'll try and find the recipe for the actual bar, but I'm pretty sure I used a standard olive/coconut/castor/tallow mix.

Edit: basically I made a copycat of this:

https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-clay-charcoal-facial-soap/dp/B0007OH3QI

Thanks.

I was already aware that in general you could use mica for soap. I was curious if there was something special about Crafter's Choice or other soap supply versions of mica, compared to something like this that's marketed for stamping.

Smart Soapmaking, Cool Soapmaking, and Castile Soapmaking, by Anne L. Watson. Also her lotion and goat milk soap books if you want to splurge on the complete set.

https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Soapmaking-Reliably-Luxurious-Yourself/dp/1620355116/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

I don't know. I would hate to do that to you. I'm trying a new mold making goop since I need the pourable kind and usually do a more putty like one. I'm using this stuff so honestly, I don't know how much cheaper mine will turn out than the one you saw online. I am also not fast about things, I carved the bar about three weeks ago and still haven't molded. Let me see if I have this down right and then we'll talk. It might be the easiest thing to do is send you a bar that's been molded and you can take it from there. :D

I molded most of them in plain, rectangle individual molds because of the challenges in cutting salt bars. Here is the 6 plain bar rectangle molds I used. With the extra soap I had, I put the rest into some individual molds that have an impression on them. Here is the 6 bar impression molds I used.

The marbling technique I used was an in-the-pot swirl. 3/4 of my batter was colored with rose clay, 1/4 with titanium dioxide. I poured the white mix into the pink batter in equalish amounts at 12, 4, and 8 as spots on the clock, so to speak. At one spot, I poured high at about 6" above the batter, the next I poured medium at about 3" above, and the final I poured as close to the batter as possible; this makes it so the white gets dispersed at different depths of the pot and doesn't just float all at one level.

Next, I took a spatula and pushed into spot with the closest drop, pushed the spatula to the bottom on the bowl, and swirled once clockwise thru all the dots, meeting back at the center of the original spot, and pulled straight back out. That's it.

From there, I just poured my mix directly into the center of each individual mold, filling them slightly over full. I overfill slightly because I take one of those spatula frosters used for cakes and use it as a squeegee or a trowel, and level the soaps with a clean pass across each soap top. Any extra soap that comes off, I will use to fill an extra small mold so I don't waste soap. Spray with alcohol every 15 minutes for the first hour, and I also forced these thru gel phase to get the colors to pop more!

Voila!

I've had this one for about 10 years and the wood is just now starting to look pretty rough. Still works very well.

https://www.amazon.com/Body-Shop-Synthetic-Shaving-Brush/dp/B001PDDEVS


https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-us/skin-care/shaving-supplies/mens-wooden-shaving-brush/p/p000363

Also using a mini frother will help immensely! Many soap suppliers sell them and ikea has one too. Use it to mix the pigment with the alcohol or oil.

I use this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000E39LYO/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1467561969&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=mini+frother&dpPl=1&dpID=41R4tvDk2JL&ref=plSrch

a 1qt or maybe 1.5 qt would be about right.
https://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCR151-WG-2-Quart-Manual-Cooker/dp/B000WHZJ8Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1483399456&sr=8-4&keywords=1+qt+crock+pot

I got mine from a locally-owned hardware store - exactly this one. Costs $4.50 or something like that.

It's a Marvel tray that was in a LootCrate. Intended for ice cubes, but also works for tiny soaps (or so I found out).

https://www.amazon.com/ICUP-Marvel-Heroes-Cube-Tray/dp/B005OZU4OI

This is the first time I've heard of Pine Tar soap... I want to try. When you say you use Bickmore Pine Tar, is this what you are talking about?
https://www.amazon.com/Bickmore-Pine-Tar-32oz-Formula/dp/B000HHSC5G

As a brand new soaper, I'm actually wondering the same thing. I ended up purchasing this for curing but haven't gotten around to using it yet. Is there any reason that wouldn't work properly?

https://www.amazon.com/3M-8511-Particulate-Respirator-10-Pack/dp/B0002YKBV2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1473432959&sr=8-6&keywords=masks+dust

This is the one I have, great reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Prodyne-126-B-Cheese-Slicer-Bamboo/dp/B000I6147Y/

I carefully screwed a small block of wood to it above the wire, so I can get a consistent 1-inch thick bar of soap cut. I also screwed a small block on the side to prevent the wire coming down pushing the loaf to the side. Works great, been using it for a couple years now.

this is what it is. It says essential oil, but it says oil blend. I've never attempted this before, so I'm absolutely clueless.