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In response to the mostfrequently asked question! This banner was generously and humorouslycontributed by Chris McClusky! :-) For a more detailed explanation,browse through the questions on the "SoapySuccess"pages.
Since I've been browsing other people's websites about soapmaking,I realize that it currently doesn't seem to be politically correct tomake soap using animal fat, which is how I made it for years usingthe lye company's instructions. Since reading more aboutall-vegetable and finding sources for hard vegetable fats, I've had alot of fun experimenting with different all-vegetable combinations.I'm not impassioned on the subject, however, and provide informationfor both camps. I love animals...but I do eat meat (not my favorite,but I eat it) and use animal products. I can appreciate that thereare those who choose to refrain from such.
From a neutral perspective, there are pros and cons to either typeof soap. One of the pros to making soap with animal fats is that itis much cheaper, if you can find a reasonable source of fat forrendering. Even if you buy your materials at wholesale, I suspectthat it will cost more to make all vegetable soap, so that should bea consideration if you are making your own soap to economize. Soapsmade with a combination of lard and tallow tend to be harder also,which I like. When making soaps from animal fats, I have usuallypreferred to have a mixture of about half and half and at the veryleast, one pound of beef tallow to 5 lbs. of lard for hardness. Alllard soap is a bit soft and can sometimes be kind of tacky to thetouch. All tallow soap is a bit too hard for my tastes and cansometimes be brittle.
If you just want homemade soap for its mildness and don't mind thecost, there are things to recommend all vegetable. It doesn't tend tohave as much odor after curing (although my sensitive sniffer canalways detect the olive oil in castile soap if the light oil is notused), you don't have the mess and smell of rendering (my kidscomplain when I'm doing that!) and it won't gross out your friendsthat there's animal fat in the soap if they find that to be aproblem. As of the fall of 1998, I've been experimenting withall-vegetable and since discovering the stick blender, I may not goback to the other! (Especially since I have to buy animal fats anddon't have them for free any longer.)
Homemade Soaps for Sale Click Here for Details...
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IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT RED DEVIL LYE IN THE U.S.!NOTE (September 2005): After receiving a couple of emails, I've finally come to believe that it's true... the company that markets Lewis Red Devil Lye has pulled it from the market and has replaced it with a liquid drain opener that contains no lye. My suspicions are that it's due to its use in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamines. This is very sad for the home soaper! :-( I've been buying my lye in bulk for quite awhile now, but for the average person that wants to make one or two batches and has gotten accustomed to buying it locally... this will need to be addressed. Here is a helpful link sent by Nancy M., whose email comment is underneath: http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/coldprocesssoapmaking/a/lyesources.htm When I bought the two remaining containers from the local Albertsons, I was told it's popular in this community in the production of meth. When I mentioned it to a clerk at the JoAnn's fabric store, where I was fruitlessly trying to find any kind of other soapmaking stuff, I found out she's a soapmaker and that she got her lye at the local Grocery Outlet, in bulk. They don't have it out where anybody can see it, but if you ask and show ID, you can buy it. |  Graphic courtesy of About.com from |
Contentsof this page:
RECIPES: (* mark my favorites or simpler recipes... 3*s = the BEST!)All recipes will yield about 7 pounds of soap, or 28 4-oz. bars, after cure. All recipes are based on WEIGHTS, not volume. You will need to weigh oils and lye with a good scale. Water can be measured with a liquid measuring cup with no problems. Shortening Recipes:
No Palm Oil:
| Modern Soapmaking Procedures/Stick Blending
Recipes Using Palm Oil:
Recipes Using Palm Kernel Oil:
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Other Links:
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Special Utensils? - I've read in so many places that you should have special pans and tools for making soap that I just had to put in my two-cents worth here! I have never set aside my kettles, bowls, pitchers or stainless steel utensils only for soapmaking...it would seem silly to me. A wooden spoon is a different case. Wood is absorbent and you could never wash out all the junk in the wood after using it on soap (kind of makes you wonder how sanitary it is for other things as well!). If you are stirring with a wooden spoon, then by all means label it for soap and use it for nothing else. I use my regular beaters for soap, and everything else is used for other cooking purposes as well. Lye is not going to absorb into your stainless steel, plastic and glass containers (if it was that tricky, it would absorb its way right through the plastic container you buy it in)! Just wipe them out well (if there's raw soap in or on them... toss that into the trash to save your pipes from the grease) and wash with hot soapy water and rinse with hot water...just like you would any other dish. That's it. I don't know why we carry our respect for lye into paranoia, but I suspect we run a greater risk from eating off dishes that come out of our dishwasher, than to use our soapmaking utensils for cooking purposes! Enough said!
Here's some feedback on wooden utensils I received after posting this:
- Subject: About wooden spoons
- Date: 12/22 10:59 AM
You mention on your soap making page you wonder about the sanitary properties of wooden utensils in everyday cooking. You may be surprised to learn that it is better than metal or plastic!
They did a study where they measured the bacteria counts on the surface of a butcher block table and the surface of a stainless steel table. They cleaned them identically, took measurements, then waited several hours and measured again. Almost all the bacteria on the butcher block table were dead. The amount of bacteria on the steel surface had multiplied many times.
They determined that due to the inherent antibacterial properties of wood, it actually kills bacteria instead of allowing them to live in the pores as common sense would dictate.
Thought you might like to know that perspective.
- David P. Ihnen
- Systems Administrator
- OIBU Lab Support
- Cisco Systems, Inc.
Knowing what lye can do to wood over time, I would still be quite reluctant to use my soapmaking spoon for cooking...blah! But, this was very interesting! Thanks! Of course, I don't know that any self-respecting bacteria would survive contact with lye for very long. My stainless steel pan that I use for dissolving the lye solution is the cleanest pan I have in the house! :-)
An Update (Very Interesting... I find this easier to believe!):
- Subject: Wooden utensils
- Date: 08/21 10:55 PM
I just wanted to let you know, for the sake of correctness, about the situation regarding wooden surfaces vs. plastic or steel. I read the post that you had on your website about the experiment where it was shown that bacteria multiplies better and faster on steel than wood. (I know that it wasn't your post, but it was on your page) I've been working in the food industry for about eleven years now, and I was intrigued when I heard about this study. Unfortunately, I learned very soon after that when some other researchers tried to duplicate the experiment, they got the opposite results. In fact, no one has ever gotten the results that the first researcher claimed to have gotten. Problem is, the new discovery gets front page, because it's fascinating, but the failure of the new discovery gets put somewhere in the middle of the paper. I don't think that anyone ever stopped cleaning their counters just because they were made of wood, but you never know. Best to have the facts.
Yours truly, P.J. Buchan
The following recipes listingredients but few procedures. If you need BASIC SOAPMAKINGINSTRUCTIONS, you will find those on the mainsoapmaking page. Toread more modern instructions (how I do it now) go to theModern SoapmakingProcedurespage.
My First All-Vegetable Attempt withInstructions:
This was my first batch of all vegetable soap(Spring of '98). The ingredients used were as follows:
All Vegetable Soap
Do you need METRICmeasures? Check out this conversion tool at Majestic MountainSage: MajesticMountain Sage: Measurement Conversion Calculator.You type in the measurements,hit the button and it will convert them for you.
- These next two online calculators are thanks to Anna Merhoff!:
- http://www.therepertoire.com/ccc/conv.htm
- http://www.foodwine.com/cgi-bin/hts?convcalc.hts+usequiv+new
- 28 ounces of coconut oil (2 jars)
- 24 ounces of olive oil (the cheapest and lightest in color)
- 30 ounces of vegetable shortening (the cheapest, and purest you can find)
- 12 ounces of lye (one standard can of Lewis Red Devil)
- 32 oz. cold water (4 cups)
- 1.5 - 4 ounces essential and/or fragrance oil depending on strength and your nose, if soap is not intended for remelting
- *ASH - It has been suggested that using some beeswax in the recipe in place of some of the fat will prevent ash, which sometimes forms on surfaces exposed to air while the soap is setting. Many batches will not have the problem. If you would like to do it, I suggest substituting 4 ounces of beeswax for 2 ounces of the fat.
Some people prevent ash ontheir soap by putting Saran wrap on TOP of the soap after itis poured. You can release air bubbles by gently poking it with aneedle. After the soap sets for 24 hours, the plastic will peel offeasily. If you use some sort of plastic other than food grade, youcould have a problem with your soap becoming discolored afterunmolding. Something else that works well on top of the soap, isa thin piece of mylar plastic (used by quilters to make patterntemplates...buy at a fabric store).
A third suggestion I recently readabout on a soaplist was to put your freshly poured soap mold into theoven with a pan of water and the light left on (NO heat...only thelight). Be sure to put a sign on the door so that no one (includingyourself) turns it on! The water provides humidity while the lightprovides gentle heat. No need for blankets and such thisway.
Follow the usual soapmaking instructions, although thetemperatures of each solution before blending should be around95º to 110º (lye solution the cooler of the two). I mixedthem together with a hand held mixer for about 20 minutes and afterthat, just stirred it every few minutes until it "traced" (which tookbetween one and one and a half hours). At that time, I poured it intoa cat litter pan (never used) which was lined with a sheet of plasticwrap, long enough to hang over two sides. This helps you turn out thesoap and keeps it from sticking on the center bottom (which is whereit always tends to stick if it's going to do that). This was placedinto a cardboard box, and put a warm blanket over the whole thing. Itwas turned out and cut in about 24 hours plus. If you don't have acardboard box large enough, set your pan on a towel and then put alarge piece of cardboard over the top, then cover it with more towelsor a blanket, out of drafts.
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Rebatching:
I tried rebatching the soap, following the instructionsfrom Pamela Love, of Soap CraftersCompany, and what was supposed to look like "runny marshmallowcreme" after melting and mixing looked more like a stiff gummy batchof mashed potatoes. (I melted it using thecrockpot and also tried it in a slow oven.) Soap is like thatand I'm not going to blame her. Instead of messing around withcrushing that stuff into molds (I tried a few), I poured the littlebatches into small bread pans which had been lined with a piece ofplastic wrap and will cut them into bars after they've dried out fora couple of days. She had a few recipes on her page but I combinedsome different essential oils with herb teas and ground spices incombinations that sounded appealing to me. You can experiment all youlike...just write them down so that you can recreate something if itturns out really good. Her rule of thumb for each one pound ofremelted soap was to add one cup of milk (I assume this is togive the soap that "antique" color...water worked fine also), 1/2tsp. of essential oil and about 1 T. of dry herb (if you like). Youcan get more instructions by linking to her website and also findsome wonderful suggestions from other "soapers" on the Rebatching,Remelting, Remilling, etc.page.
Personally, I avoid rebatching like the plague (only when a batchis totally separated) but if you must, here's one of the greatsuggestions you will find on the RebatchingPage...
"I am so excited!!! I have found the way torebatch! I've been doing this soap thing for about 2 months. Ihave found the perfect way to rebatch (determined!!) I foundthese boiling bags at the local Walmart Store for melting candle wax.(I suspect you could also usethose baking bags you can buy at the grocery for doing turkey andpoultry.) I grate my basic soap and fill thebag. I add any liquid (you don't need a lot ... just depends on howdry the soap is) like a small amount of water, extra glycerin, oils,aloe vera gel, etc., really just enough to moisten the soap, and puta twist tie on the top. Drop the bag in to a pot of water and bringto a boil. Check periodically ( I pick the bag up and squeeze it withpot holders to mix) until it is all melted (it gets quite liquidy). Ithen open the bag and add color & fragrance(?) etc... I squeezewith pot holders to mix and sometimes put back into the boiling waterto keep it melted. I snip the bottom corner out of the bag andsqueeze into molds. It sets up very quickly if it is too cool butshrinks very little. I put the molds in my freezer overnight (I'musually doing this stuff at 8:00 or 9:00 pm) and the next morning Ipop them out of the molds. It is working wonderfully and hope thishelps any other frustrated rebatchers out there!" -Carol Justice,carol_justice@hotmail.com
Here's another interesting suggestion from a soaplist...just be careful and not cook for too long or you'll have asoap monster in your microwave! :-)
"In a mad-dash to rebatch some soap to give as apresent, I used the microwave to rebatch. I took my grated soap andput in a plastic pot, added my milk and zapped it for two minutes ata time. Stirred and zapped again. In 5 minutes I had the soap readyfor the mold. I measured 24 ounces to rebatch. It was great!!!"-Janice, Faery Hill Gardens
| This was the recrafted or rebatched all-vegetable soap I tried the first time. The dark one is cinnamon with ground nutmeg and cinnamon and clove oils added. Continuing, clockwise, are Mandarin Orange Spice tea with crushed cardamom seeds and lemon oil, lemon with oatmeal and honey, anise oil with Wintermint tea, bitter almond oil with honey. The almost white bars are what the soap looked like before remelting and adding essential oils and spices. The bars are thinner than I'd like, but couldn't find the right pan for the amount of soap I had! Soap balls were made from the scraps after trimming and beveling. |  |
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These recipes have been run through the LyeCalculator at the Majestic Mountain Sage site. They allow for approximately 5% extra fat, so if you are going tosuperfat the soap you may want to cut back slightly on one of theoils in a recipe.
You can put together most any combination ofoils you wish and create your own recipes using the saponificationchart on the "Design Your OwnRecipe" Page. I'm only listing what I didin case you want to copy it or work off these:
I have never made this soapmyself, but periodically get a request for a recipe, so I'm passingon suggestions I've gleaned from others who have made it. If you dothis and have problems... I'm probably not the person to ask! :-)
Pine TarSoap (Notes)
First of all, you can choose any soap recipeand make it into pine tar soap. It's a matter of adding it to therecipe you have chosen... all vegetable or animal fats. From whatI've read, I think the easiest method is to add the pine tar to themelting oils at the beginning. You can buy pine tar at a feedstore... it is used on horses hooves for conditioning purposes (andbe sure to read the label and make sure it is 100% pine tar andnot pine rosin). To save on cleanup later... use a disposablespoon to get the tar out of the container (a stout plastic spoon oreven a wooden popsicle stick will hopefully do the trick) and dropthe spoonfuls into the melting oils. They should break up as the fatsmelt and warm up and you can incorporate the tar into the fats. I'dbe sure they are completely blended in before proceeding with the lyesolution, etc. and you will still want to check for correct temps asusual. Pine Tar soap tends to come to trace more quickly than soapwithout it, so you might do well to go with a higher water additionrate for the recipe rather than the low end suggestions. For recipeson this site... around 32 ounces of water would be good. For a recipethat makes 28 bars like the ones on this page... you will likely wantto add about 6 to 7 ounces of pine tar to the pot with the base oils.Scenting is kind of a moot point because the soap will cure out withthe scent of pine (less tar with aging ). If you decide to scentalong with the natural smell of the pine tar... pick something thatwill blend well with that or enhance it... and you'll have to movequickly since the soap is going to want to set up quickly and you'llhave little time for extra fussing around. Essential oils might bebetter behaved since you are already going to have soap with atendency toward accelerated trace. Another comment was that pine tarsoap took longer to harden up during cure, but once hard that it wasvery long lasting.
If for any reason you have some sticking toyour bowls or utensils after the mixing process... soaking them for 1or 2 days in warm water will aid in removing the residual pine tar...but hopefully with the technique above... you'll not have thatproblem. If you try these suggestions and it works out well for you(or not)... please emailme with feedback and I'll adjust thesesuggestions accordingly. :-)
I got some feedback from one gal who saidthat the above warning was not sufficient enough to prepare her forhow FAST her soap set up! Here is another recent email that I wantedto post... this fellow is delightful to read and has some goodfeedback for those who decide to take the plunge. :-)
- From: Bill Adams
- Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2005
- Subject: Pine tar 20%... don't use a stick blender
Hello again Kathy,
As you see I went for the 20%.....I used the"more is better" theory.... kill you twice as fast..... go for it..... just do it.......
The soap really did not ever get hard aroundthe edges so........
I did remelt this batch of soap.... if youcould call it a batch of soap. I just set the Pyrex dish in themicrowave, heated it till it began to froth up around the edges,reset the heat to number 2 (out of ten) and cooked and stirred. Ittook 30-40 minutes to have a pretty good melt.......all the hardenedpieces were broken up. I cooked it another 10 and most of the smallpieces were dissolved. I took it out and continued to stir till itwas setting up, shaped the edges and quit. Looks like a Germanchocolate cake....hope no one decides to have a piece before I getthe icing on.....
[Just a warning... if you decide toremelt a batch according to what Bill did... you'd better watch itlike a hawk. The only thing worse than a soap volcano in yourmicrowave oven, would be one laced with pine tar. I don't even wantto think about how long it would take to clean up THATmess!]
According to Hersh, it doesn't matter howmuch pine tar you add, it sets up to a point of not being able topour it in 28 seconds, little tar or a lot of tar. I suppose it wouldhelp to use lower temperatures for the fat and lye, add additionalwater, (which the soap spread sheet does for you when you plug in thepine tar amount) mix with a paint stirring stick. (NO STICKBLENDER. If a stick blender accelerates a normal batch of soap,you can imagine what it does to pine tar. Instant pudding followedby instant brick.) Pour the lye while stirring, and try to get itthoroughly mixed, and poured, before it sets up. (In my case I didnot even get it mixed in the container I intended to use as a mold.)
I am going to see what this soap islike.....my dog needs a bath.....ha
Later...
Bill Adams
More suggestions...
From: Pat Lowe
Date: July 2, 2009
Subject: Note About My Experience with Making Pine Tar Soap
Hi,
I've made my own pine tar soap for several years now. I use a double-boiler type arrangement to soften my pine tar before adding it to my soap base. One easy way I do this is by using a very old (small) sauce pan that I have dedicated just for this purpose. I place it on my stove top burner, add a cup or two of water in it, then add the small can of pine tar inside the sauce pan. It is VERY important to leave the lid to the pine tar can open so that when it gets hot, it doesn't explode all over my kitchen. It is also important to make sure that the water in the sauce pan does not cover more than the bottom half of the pine tar can, so that when the water boils, it does not boil over into the pine tar. Then, when the pine tar is softened to a more or less liquified state, I carefully lift the can with kitchen tongs and then pour in the amount I desire into my soap base mixture just about the time it is ready to trace. I mix it as thoroughly as possible, trying to get the color evenly distributed, and then pour it into the soap mold I have prepared for use. I've had very good luck with this method and thought I'd share it with you all. If I use less than the entire can of pine tar in my soap batch, then I just let it cool a bit again and press down the top of the can onto the can and use it for my next batch of soap. I love pine tar soap, and the users of my pine tar soap have nothing but praise for it once they use it. It is a lovely old-fashioned soap with many uses, and it is too bad that many people have to be educated on its existence and its uses.
Pat Lowe
P.S. I have never had to soak my soap making utensils for a day or two to get out the pine tar residue. What I do is use stainless steel pots and spoons, and a rubber spatula to scrape the soap out into the mold. When the pots, spoons, and spatulas cool a little bit -- not completely -- but are still slightly warm, I put them in my sink and runn warm-hot water in and over them, let them soak for about 30 minutes, more or less, and then use a dishcloth or throw away sponge and wash them out. It doesn't always 'slide out', but it is not difficult to wash out the pine-tar soap residue, either. Hope my suggestions are of use to your readers and fans of pine-tar soap-making!
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*Designates reliable,simple recipes - any of the scent and color combinations can be usedwith any recipe.
*Fresh Peach (Base Recipe by Sandy Maine)
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This basic recipe was taken fromSandy Maine's Soap Book. I used the stick blender and addedthe paprika and oils at light trace. The soap oozed a bit of oil orglycerin from the top and I don't know if I added a little too muchoil while weighing the ingredients or what. Otherwise, it looks fine.Sure smells great and the paprika gave it the perfect peach color!Hope the peach smell holds after curing...so far, so good. I didn'tlike the texture as well as some of the recipes that follow...it wasmore tacky and flexible when cut after 24 hours. The final product isfine, but my preferences run to smooth, firm and silky from thestart.
If I make this again (itdid lather nicely) I would bump the shortening back to 36-37 ouncesand reduce the water to 24 or 28 ounces.
Good basic recipe that is easy tomeasure because you use a standard 3# can of Crisco as abase.
*Rachael's "Tried and True" Recipe(Thanks! to RachaelLevitan)
- 48 ounces Crisco (a 3-pound can)
- 21 ounces Soybean Oil (or Olive, Canola, or a blend of these)
- 18 ounces Coconut Oil
- 28 ounces of cold water
- 12 ounces lye crystals
Temperatures: 100 degrees
Trace by hand should be in about 20 minutes.Cure about 24-48 hours before cutting.(I've done this with the stickblender and trace happens in about 1 minute! If you want to mix soapthat way, this is probably not the recipe to use...unless you'requick! ...Kathy)
A NiceVariation:Cucumber with Shea Butter (very mild inscent and moisturizing)
|  Don't labels make a difference? |
A couple of people on the Latherings Board ravedabout this basic combination, so I thought I'd post it for those ofyou who have trouble finding coconut or palm oil. I haven't tried ityet. Let me know if you try it and like it!
All-Vegetable, No Coconut orPalm
- 56 ounces olive oil
- 30 ounces vegetable shortening
- 9 ounces castor oil
- 12 ounces lye crystals
- 28 ounces cold water
- 2 T. salt dissolved in a small amount of hot water and added to lye solution
The salt was felt to be animportant part of this recipe, although I imagine you'd have nice,but softer soap without it. I would keep it in unless you try it thatway and don't like it as well as soap without the salt.
This has real eye appeal for people. Some like thezesty quality added by the bergamot and other essential oils, andothers might prefer to leave out the oils and only put in the herbsand spices.
Zesty Calendula
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- Add at trace:
- 3/4 oz. Citronella EO
- 1/2 oz. Bergamot EO
- 1/4 oz. Rosewood EO
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground Ginger (dry spice)
- 2 T. freshly ground Coriander Seeds
- 1 cup Calendula Petals (pulverize a bit in the blender after measuring)
- About an ounce of Vit. E. Oil (If you can get it to pour fast enough!)
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This was a bit soft when cut, but has firmed up pretty nicely (I originally made it with more water...you can even cut it to 24 ounces and it should be fine and nice and firm after 24 hours). After curing it really smells more like lemon than anything else. I have to give credit for the inpspiration where it's due. A Garden Eastward offers an essential oil blend called Rachael, and I copied some of its ingredients. The real scent blend is probably even better, but I was too cheap to buy it along with everything else I ordered! Maybe next time.
*Note on MilkSoaps: I haven'tmastered soaps with milk and honey in them (about a 50/50 trackrecord!) but have learned a bit more since making the first ones.Milk and honey both can cause overheating in soap. When youmake a recipe with milk or honey or both, you should onlyslightly insulate, or not at all. With a deep mold, I think Iwould completely pass on insulating. If you are sure the soap is atthick trace when you pour and don't insulate... hopefully, you won'tget a separation like the one shown at the top of the "BotchedBatches" page! :-)
Had a bit of difficulty with this one and neededto reclaim it in the oven. The potato masher came in handy forbreaking up the chunks...it remelted quite nicely. What a relief!There was an ammonia smell when I put it into the enamel pan forreclaiming but that subsided after the ingredients completelyblended. I think the slight ammonia smell comes from the milk in thesoap and you might notice a little of that even when your soap worksout the first time! It should cure out in a couple of days. Therecipe below was a slight variation of Rachael's recipe (above) andher original oil quantities could easily be substituted.
Spiced Milk and Honey Soap
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- Subject: Milk Soap Technique
- Date: 8/28/2001 5:41 AM
Have been so busy haven't had time to visit my favorite soap page,but returning to it is like a reunion with an old friend! Just alittle something to share with you regarding milk soaps...I find thatI don't seem to get the discoloration associated with milk soaps withthis method and so far it has worked every time. I'm referring tothat orange-red discoloration that happens, not the antique colorthat is usually associated with milk soaps.
- Reduce the amount of water that the lye is mixed with to accomodate for the total fluid content of the recipe.
- Mix a concentrated batch of "milk" using evaporated goat or cow milk to total the amount of fluid the recipe calls for.
- Mix your lye and fat together as usual and as soon as is is mixed, then add you milk mixture instead of waiting until trace.
This may be an easier technique for novice soapers. You canincrease the milk concentration in the recipe this way, also, and Ifind that it's more economical for me to use the evaporated forms ofmilk, because that way it is always available and I can just mix whatI need instead of trying to figure out what I'm going to do with theleftover fresh or canned milk.
I continue to enjoy your soap page! Thanks, Sarah D.
This is basically the method that Iuse... I buy the canned evaporated goat's milk at the supermarket.Usually no more than 6 oz. does the trick. You can use cow's milkalso... either will work. - Kathy M.
- Subject: Awesome milk soap trick
- Date: 10/3/2001 8:48 PM
I was playing around in my cupboard today and hit on a great trickfor making milk soap. I am interested in nutrition, and keep"Non-instant powdered milk" around to add to my smoothies. About 3/4c makes a whole quart's worth of milk.
I added .7 ounces to the premeasured water and blended well withthe stick blender. Then I added the lye and stirred by hand for a fewminutes. I made my usual batch of soap, and it worked great! Nooverheating, bad smell, or anything! You can get non-instant powderedmilk at any health food store. The soap itself was very light incolor, the same shade it usually is (scented with lemongrass andsandalwood FO).
Thanks for running such a great site!
Heather
*Note on MilkSoaps: Milk and honeyboth can cause overheating in soap. When you make a recipewith milk or honey or both, you should only slightly insulate,or not at all. With a deep mold, I think I would completelypass on insulating. If you are sure the soap is at thick trace whenyou pour and don't insulate... hopefully, you won't get a separationlike the one shown at the top of the "BotchedBatches" page! :-)
This was posted by Michelle M. onthe Latherings Board in January of 1999. She based it on Rachael'srecipe that is on the animal fats page. It calls for goat's milk, butyou can use cow if that's what you have.
Oatmeal, Milk and Honey
- 48 ounces shortening (a 3# can)
- 18 ounces coconut oil
- 12 ounces soybean oil
- 10 ounces canola oil (olive can be used as well)
- 12 ounces lye crystals dissolved into 18 ounces cold water
- One 12 oz. can of evaporated goat's milk added at light trace (for lighter colored soap with a firmer texture, you may use 6 oz. evaporated milk and increase the water to 22 oz.)
Temps: 95-100 degrees
- Add at trace (Michelle):
- 2 ounces of A Garden Eastward's "Flower Power" (soaps very cinnamony)
- 3 T. honey
- A sprinkling of cinnamon
- Add at trace (Kathy):
- 2 ounces of Sweet Cakes "Oatmeal, Milk and Honey" FO
- 1 cup pulverized (blender) oats
- 1/4 cup honey
This has a nice texture andI made two different versions (below). It lathers much like thecastile recipes:
*"Canolive" Soap (Kathy Miller)
|  Some bright colors here (some not intended)! The soap on the left is the "Canolive" Iris Blend. The center soap was scented with Sweet Rain FO from Sweet Cakes and is the "Favorite Castile w/No Palm" (on the Castile Recipes page). The soap on the right was colored with 1 cube (1/2 cup) of coconut oil sold for corn popping. Less would have given the color I REALLY wanted! (Maybe one pat or two instead of a whole stick!) |
| Spiced Apple:
| Iris Blend
This is pretty sweet and I wouldn't add any more than this...you might even want to cut back a bit on the Iris FO. |
This version of "Canolive" has ahigher percentage of coconut oil for more lathering and makes a nicehard, smooth bar. It can be poured at a lighter trace and be okay. Itreceived a "thumbs-up" from Sherry Wersing:
I must tell you, you really hita winner big time with the CANOLIVE II (SEQUEL). I love it. I made itin a very small batch to test, then made a double batch (that wouldbe only 1/2 your recipe still!) that fit perfectly in that sizeRubbermaid drawer organizer! I am compelled to write to you to tellyou how great that soap is (I'm anxious to see it in use...see,without palm oil I hope it can stay hard). If you put in molds, I dida couple, it is so shiny, like a big shiny white chocolate bar! Butnot shiny in the box type molds. I am going to make more of thosesoaps. I love them. And I can make them without ordering palmoil.
Canolive II(The Sequel)
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36 ounces canola oil (or you may substitute sweet almond, corn, peanut oil, or any blend of those oils if you'd like)
- 36 ounces olive oil
- 16 ounces coconut oil
- 24 ounces cold water
- 12 ounces lye crystals
Temperatures: 90-100 degrees
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This soap has a very nice texture after 24 hours (cutting stage). I used the stick blender, so don't know how it will be with hand stirring. If you are not comfortable with the low water content, you could bump it up to 28 or 32 ounces, but I like the firmer bars that don't take as long to harden up.
- This was the second Orange-Eucalyptus Combination
- using pulverized orange peel, orange, eucalyptus and
- citronella oils. If you don't want the citronella smell
- you can leave it out, but it holds better than orange.
- Original version is on the Castile Soaps page.
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Here's the last one with even MOREcoconut oil! :-) (I found a local source for coconut oil that makesit cheaper than olive, so I've been using more of it lately to seehow the end result compares.)
"Cocanolive" Soap(Kathy Miller)
- *37 ounces canola oil
- 24 ounces coconut oil
- 26 ounces olive oil
- 28 ounces cold water
- 12 ounces lye crystals
Temperatures: 110-120 degrees
When I combined the lye solutionwith the fats, this got a bit grainy looking at the start, so Iturned the burner onto low for a minute while I mixed with the stickblender until it smoothed out (I mix my soap in the bottom of mystainless steel spaghetti cooker). Was fine after that. Don't know ifI should raise the temperatures any more than this or not...I hadactually started around 100 degrees when that happened.
*I had some feedback that thisrecipe was lye heavy so rechecked the numbers and went back to theoriginal SAP number for canola. The recipe has been adjusted from theoriginal to include 3 more ounces of canola oil (37). My test batchturned out fine, but I thought I should be conservative since acouple of folks had problems.I never had trouble on the previousrecipe either and have not had bad feedbaack and lots of thumbs up...same sap number for canola as the original on this one... not surewhy the difference. The problem they experienced could have been fromthe fragrance oil used.The original figure for the canola on thisrecipe was 34 ounces.
Are you getting the idea yet? Youcan put together any combination of oils you like and vary themaccording to what you have on hand and what properties you want inyour finished bar. This recipe produces nice texture and rich creamylather...the cleansing kind. The higher the coconut percentage, themore suds and cleansing...this one leaves you with a little "squeak"but not dry. Nice for stick blending...doesn't become thick tooquickly.
*Soybean with Coconut and Olive(Kathy Miller)
- 44 ounces soybean oil
- 25 ounces coconut oil
- 16 ounces olive oil
- 24 ounces cold water
- 12 oz. lye crystals
| Here's what the second variation on "Almond Joy" looked like, using the recipe above. This soap doesn't have quite as hard a finish as the first version, but the extra coconut ensures a lot of lather. This has a higher percentage (around 29%) of coconut. I wouldn't go any higher than that in a recipe. These bars were three days young when captured on my scanner! I wish the top looked as finely grained as the edges. |  |
This batch was a variation on the one above, but Icut back on the soybean oil and added avocado oil. It should make avery nice soap, but drives up the cost considerably. The scent iswonderful! Nice for stickblending...doesn't become thick too quickly.
Mint Swirl with Avocado Oil(Kathy Miller)
|  Mint Swirl Soaps |
- I just bought my peppermint and eucalyptus oils in the pharmacy section of a local market...pretty reasonable there compared to local sources of EOs like the health food store. If you mail order from a place like A Garden Eastward, you can probably beat these. After mixing in the essential oils at light trace and while the soap is thickening, but still rather pourable pour most of the soap into your large mold (this recipe didn't trace overly quick with the stick blender like some have). Leave about 1/8 or 1/10th of it in the pan.
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To this, I added these, which were being kept warm and melted in a small measuring cup on the stove:
- 1/2 blue/green Crayola crayon
- 1/2 forest green Crayola crayon
- A little bit of the original oils
Mix the coloring in thoroughly and well (Igot a few bubbles in the soap while doing this with the blender) anddrizzle this soap over the white soap in the mold, distributing itevenly over the top in back and forth motions. Then, take yourspatula or a knife and run it back and forth through the soap, firstone direction and then either in an opposite direction or on adiagonal. Try to reach the bottom and sides of your mold while doingthis.
Note: This soap turned out reallynice except for one problem I had. There developed a thin layer ofdiscoloration on the top, sides and bottom. It was kind of tan and Itrimmed it off while cutting the bars. I don't know what caused thisand would like to hear from you if you try this recipe. Did you havea similar problem? Could it be the avocado oil reacting to somethingor maybe some other environmental thing? If you have any feedback,emailme.
You can use any fragrance combination you'd likewith this...I'm just running out of generic soap recipenames!
Sweet Grass and Clary Sage Soap(Kathy Miller)
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| This is to give you an idea of what a difference a label can make in how your soap looks. These are not perfect bars, but they are really set off by the label. If you are planning to go into a soap selling business, packaging can really make a difference in sales. I'm sure many of you will come up with labels that are nicer than these...but they give you the idea. |
All-Vegetable Blend(Kathy Miller)
- 26 oz. soybean oil
- 20 oz. each canola, coconut, and olive oil (total of 60 oz.)
- 12 oz. lye crystals
- 24-26 oz. cold water
- Temps 100-110 degrees
Have had a couple of nice batches using this blend. I've noticedwith warmer weather that bars of soap with lots of olive or soybeanseem more prone to weeping glycerin. In this recipe, I added a bit ofcanola since it is lower in the conditioning oils and also gives thebar a nice sheen and texture.
"Here is my recipe. I did NOT name this soap. This was named by agroup of people that loved it!" - Sherry Wersing
Sherry's Fantastic Soap( Contributed by SherryWersing, who wrote the poem at the top of the "Soapy Success"page)
- 24 oz canola
- 18 oz coconut oil
- 6 oz cocoa butter
- 6 oz castor oil
- 16 oz olive oil (pomace or pomace/olive blend is fine)
- 9.8 oz lye
- 21-23 oz water
- Fragrance Oil or Essential Oil of choice
Temps: Water/Lye 105-110 degrees / Oils 110-115 degrees
This recipe has often been requestedon the Latherings Forum and the feedback from folks who've made ithas been great! Sherry has agreed to share it here for anyone whowould like to make it. It will not be as large a batch as the restposted on this site, so adjust for fewer bars/smaller mold. See"Shaving Bar" variation below...
To make a GREAT shaving bar, WHICH BY THE WAY makes a GREATSHAMPOO BAR! (my hair only stays after being blown dry by THIS bar!Perhaps it is the microcrystalline wax, I do not know. But the nextday, after sleeping on it, my hair brushes back into place! NEVER didthat before with ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sherry's SHAVINGBAR:
I make the above recipe, except that instead of using 6 oz ofcocoa butter, I use 2.5 ounces of cocoa butter and add a 3.5 oz tubof PALMER'S COCOA BUTTER FORMULA (it is NOT a cream or lotion, ratherhard in a plastic tub..) The ingredients of it are cocoa butter,mineral oil, microcrystalline wax, fractionated cocoa butter andvitamins C and E. I infused calendula petals in the olive oil, butthis is just an option. Makes a thick lathering soap, and funny, buta great shampoo bar!
Sherry's Fantastic Soap- LARGER Batch
I've had a request to post a larger version of this recipe sothat it will be the same size as the other recipes on the site (forpeople who have molds to accomodate that size). The following ispretty close to the same percentages as Sherry's original, with minorvariations for the sake of simplifying the numbers.
- 28 oz. canola oil
- 22 oz. coconut oil
- 7 oz. cocoa butter
- 7 oz. castor oil
- 20 oz. olive oil
- 12 oz. lye crystals
- 26 - 28 oz. cold water
- Fragrance Oil or Essential Oil of choice
- Temps: Water/Lye 105-110 degrees / Oils 110-115 degrees
I haven't tried this myself, but here's arecipe from a fellow soaper...
Acne/Oily SkinSoap(Contributed by LisaThomas)
I wanted a bar of soap that would help with a friend's acne/oilyprone skin & I had read that witch hazel, Tea Tree oil and someother botanicals would be good for his skin. So I set out to makesome, just to experiment. I began by taking common cooking canolaoil. and adding the herbs; red clover, chamomile,slippery elm,peppermint and comfrey leaves and gently heating them on the stove onlow heat for about 2 hours. (For the amount of oil, I usually useabout 2 Tablespoons of each herb. Also, someone wrote because shefound that after heating and soaking the herbs it "smelled and lookedfunny"; she was worried it was burnt and unusable. So, just as apre-warning, it WILL smell kind of odd due to the combined herbsmell.The tea tree oil will more than cover up this smell for you.Italso should look light brown to a greenish color. As long asit.doesn't smell burnt, and the oil isn't blackish brown it is fine.)I strained, and set this aside.
- 9 oz. lye crystals (9.02 oz to be exact), dissolved into:
- 15 oz. of cold water and 10 oz. of chilled Witch Hazel (mixture turned a yellowish color after adding lye)
- 15 oz. infused canola oil (above)
- 15 oz. coconut oil
- 8 oz. olive oil
- 24 oz. soybean oil
- 1 oz. stearic acid
- 3 oz. of beeswax. (just stuff I had laying around :)
I heated all the oils together until the beeswax and stearic acidmelted and then set aside to cool.
I am afraid I am not the type of soapmaker who measures thetemperature of the lye/oils before she mixes. I just feel the side ofboth containers until they still feel warm, but not hot to the touch.I KNOW this is not exact- but I honestly have never ever had a failedbatch (knock on wood) yet.
So I added the lye to the oils ... it traced very very fast. Istarted with hand blending for 2-3 minutes, then stick blended for2-3 min. At this stage it was fairly thick - like heavy pudding. Iadded:
- 1 oz. Tea Tree oil
- 1 tsp each of Lavender & Peppermint oils.
I then hand blended for another 2-3 minutes. At this point I wasbeginning to think this would be my first unsucessful batch. It wasway to thick to pour out of the pan so I had to spoon/scoop it intothe molds. (It was a wonderful yellowish color- looked like the barsof Neutrogena you buy.) I went ahead and decided to put them into themolds to see what would happen. I put half into the Milky Way patternmolds, and half into a box mold that would need to be cut later intobars. I was working in my basem*nt which was a stable 65 degrees. Ididn't insulate any of the molds- I just shut the light off and wentto bed.I was sure the next day I would find a big mess down there butboy was I in for a pleasant surprise! The next morning I checked themand they were hard enough already to unmold, and cut. They lookedgreat! I cured them for 3 weeks only, they had little to no ashformed on the edges. [I would stillsuggest four weeks cure time to be safe. The beeswax could be cut byhalf and still make a nice bar. Not insulating is probably not a badidea with beeswax in the mix... any traces of honey will heat up thesoap quickly... somtimes too much. - Kathy]
Let me tell you - these bars are the best soap I have made todate. Both the pattern molds and the cut bars held up equally well.The bar hade a wonderful yellow color- looking alot like a bar ofbeeswax. They smelled slightly medicinal but not too heavy. I thinkthe lavender lightens the scent some ( I added this due to reading ithad a antibacterial/antibiotic property in an herb book I have). Ihave made this recipe 4 times now- each with equal sucess, and thisis a best selling bar for me. My friend loved it so much, he bought30 bars for himself and a bunch of his friends. It helps "cut" oilyprone skin but leaves your skin very very soft. He swears that incombination with my witch hazel/mint/vinegartoner (recipe below forthose who have asked)- his acne problem is gone!
I hope more people will read this experience and realize that theyCAN make their own recipes.
-Lisa Thomas
Mint-Vinegar Toner for OilySkin (LisaThomas)
- 1 tablespoon dried mint or 3 T. of fresh
- 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (must be the apple!)
- 1 cup witch hazel
Mix all ingred. together stir thoroughly and allow to sit coveredfor 3 days. Strain or filter out the mint (HINT if you use teabags- 2 of them, then you don't need to strain!). Pour into a cleancontainer with a lid, apply with cotton ball as needed.
I have found that this is excellent for my oily skin. Sometimes ifI get a little dry, like in the winter, I add a teaspoon of honey inthe mix to use at night. It helps add moisture to the skin as well ascombats acne, and clears up the red spots from old acne areas.
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This is the first of the batches Imade in a soapmaking marathon at the end of November '98. Nicesoap...great fragrance! Some of the ingredients in this one might notbe as simple to come by.
Pumpkin Spice (Kathy Miller)
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This first batch of pumpkin spice has a slight case of "alien brain soap syndrome"! I think it's caused by too much insulation when the soap is in gel stage... there is such a thing as too much! |
- 1 oz. castor oil
- 2 ounces Pumpkin Spice fragrance oil (Sweet Cakes)
- 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
I didn't write down the temperatures forfats and lye, but think they were between 95 and 100 degrees. Itspeeds things up to wait and add the olive oil after you've meltedthe harder fats and beeswax over the stove. It cools it down morequickly.
This soap got nice and thickrather quickly because I used the stick blender. I had to smooth itwith a spoon and there were a few furrows on the top. By morning, thetop of the soap had puckered and shrunk and my son said it lookedlike a brain! I decided to leave the top as it was for an interestingtexture and not waste the soap trying to shave it off. It's nice andfirm with good texture.
* If you'd like to make thisrecipe in a more simplified version, try this:
- 15 oz. coconut oil
- 24 oz. olive oil (or canola is fine)
- 24 oz. palm oil
- 24 oz. soybean oil
- 12 oz. lye crystals
- 32 oz. cold water
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This one is really yummy andlathers extremely well! I didn't mark it with an asterisk because ofthe palm and cocoa butter which you might have to specialorder.
"Almond Joy" / Chocolate Almond Swirl (Kathy Miller)
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The actual soap was not quite this "white". Flash |
- 1 ounce Bitter Almond fragrance oil (Sweet Cakes)
- 2-3 T. cocoa powder blended into about 1/4 of the soap at trace (after pouring 3/4 of it into mold)
Temperature: 95-100 degrees
Instructions as usual. Add the Bitter Almondoil at early trace and pour 3/4 of the soap into the mold/s. Mix thecocoa powder quickly into the remaining soap (stick blender makesthis easy) and drizzle it over the top of the white soap in a backand forth fashion. Take a butter knife and gently run it back andforth to gently swirl the two colors together (you decide when itlooks pretty enough to stop). A note on adding the cocoa. You couldprobably blend the powder with a small amount of the soap beforestirring it into the rest. When I did it, I added some olive oil tothe cocoa, but had some oil ooze out of the darker soap after it setovernight, so think it was too much.
This soap was a bit ridged on topwhere it was swirled as it got thick, but I left that on also. Itlooks kind of neat and really smells strong! If you pour your soap atlight trace, this probably won't happen. I put in more Bitter Almondthan I listed in the ingredients above and it was a little too muchfor my tastes, but will last longer. One ounce should be okay. Thesoap is very hard, cleansing, and lathers well. People who are intoalmond and chocolate really get excited over these bars!:-)
This is a wonderful recipefor the stick blender and the texture at pour and after cutting isGREAT! The almond oil can be replaced by other oils with a similarsap value, which is what I did in the recipe after this one. Irenamed it back to "Peachy" because that's how I feel about therecipe, whether it's peach scented or not! I keep using this over andover.
*"Peachy" with Almond Oil(Kathy Miller)
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- 2 oz. Peach FO from Sweet Cakes (I like the Peach Deluxe FO better...will get that one next time)
- Optional: 1 tsp. Bitter Almond FO
- 1 T. paprika (for color)
Now that I have some more palmoil, I'll be experimenting with using it in more recipes. The expenseof ordering it is similar to my cost of buying olive oil at our localCostco store, so I don't mind using it.. keeping that in mind. Iprefer to use it in lesser quantities though...a pound in a batch canmake quite an impact on the finished bar. The soybean in this recipecuts down on the expense and it offers emollient qualities and stablelathering. It would not make a good bar of soap if used by itself,but is very nice in combination with more saturated fats. It's alsovery easily and inexpensively bought in the U.S. If you live inanother country, you may want to find some other common oil with asimilar sap value to replace it.
Some more soaps made with the "Peachy"recipe:
 Bay Rum with Beeswax This soap had two ounces of beeswax (colored with a honey smell) added to the base oils and 2 ounces of Bay Rum FO from Sweet Cakes. It's wonderful in texture and scent! |  Apricot-Freesia The base oils included 1/4 cup corn popping coconut for color and part of the soap was swirled after adding about 1 1/2 tsp. paprika. The scent was 2 ounces of Apricot-Freesia FO from Sweet Cakes. |
This slight variation of the "Peachy" recipeabove, has a softer finish to the bars so far. Think it's the addedsugar. Think I will leave it out next time.
*"Purely Herbal" with JojobaOil(Kathy Miller)
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The sugar added to the soap givesthe finished bar a more translucent quality, making the color darkerthan when sugar is not added. I LOVE this basic recipe...it is a joyto mix with the stick blender and doesn't suddenly set up on you as ageneral rule (depending on what you add at trace). The Purely HerbalFO has quite a fruity smell...almost reminded me of when I'm peelingand coring lots of apples for canning. If you use some other scent,you might not want the color I chose. You can add anything you wantto any of the base recipes on the page, within reason!
This is a variation of the"Chocolate Mint" soap on the animal fats recipe page. I have notactually done this version yet, but it should be very nice and Iwanted to post it for those of you who may want to do it without anyanimal fats. I love the other one! If you tailor ANY recipe and use 8oz. of cocoa butter in it, you'll get the wonderful traits of cocoabutter in your finished soap. Just be sure that if you include thatmuch in a recipe that already has a high percentage of saturated fatsin it, that you use the amount of water usually suggested on the MMSlye calculator. Cocoa Butter makes a HARD bar! Skimping on water fora high saturated fat recipe makes the bars very difficult to cut!:-)
White Chocolate(Kathy Miller)
- 40 ounces soybean oil
- 16 ounces olive oil
- 16 ounces coconut oil
- 8 ounces palm oil
- 8 ounces cocoa butter (food grade...the GOOD smelling stuff!)
- 28-32 ounces cold water
- 12 ounces lye crystals
- 1 oz. fragrance or essential oil if desired at trace, such as peppermint, almond, or non-discoloring vanilla if you'd like. If you use regular vanilla or chocolate fragrance oil, it will turn the soap brown...which is fine. It just won't be "white" chocolate anymore!
- Temps 100-110 degrees
If you use good smelling cocoabutter, this will smell nice on its own, even without added fragranceoil. The cocoa butter gives the lather a really nice creamy feel andit's SO gentle on the skin. Since cocoa butter costs more than theother ingredients, this is kind of a luxury soap at myhouse!
The Canolive II recipe is excellent for moldingand makes a nice smooth firm bar, so I tried this version using a bitof palm oil.
Canolive III(Kathy Miller)
- 36 ounces canola oil
- 36 ounces olive oil
- 10 ounces coconut oil
- 8 ounces palm oil
- 26 ounces cold water
- 12 ounces lye crystals
For this batch I added at trace:
- glycerin...probably about 1-2 ounces
- 1.5 oz. lavender and lavandin essential oils (think I would prefer all lavender next time...a bit softer... and since I first did this, I would now mix the EOs with some Lavender Flowers FO from Majestic Mountain Sage... it has lasting power where the EOs die over time.)
- purple candle dye shavings melted in with base oils
- Temps 100-110 degrees
- This makes a nice hard bar of soap with a silky feel contributed by the canola oil. The palm adds to the hardness and lather of soap.
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As of August 1999, this is my favorite all vegetable recipe that uses palm (although I like the Favorite Castile II really well, it is more prone to melt in the dish if exposed to too much dampness). This makes a sleek and hard bar with great lather while still being mild. If you use canola instead of soybean, the bar will have a glossier and harder finish. Both make nice soap.
Sudsy All-Vegetable(Kathy Miller)
- 24 ounces coconut oil
- 24 ounces olive oil
- 18-20 ounces soybean or canola oil (18 will yield a slightly harder finish)
- 16 ounces palm oil
- 24-26 ounces cold water
- 12 ounces lye crystals
- Temps 100-120 degrees (varies according to what you use for fragrance... some fragrance oils work at higher temps)
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The bar at right was scented with 2 oz. of the King's Ransom EO blend from A Garden Eastward and swirled.
This was the first batch I did with the Sudsy All-Vegetable Recipe.
November, 2001... this is the latest recipe I'vebeen making for sales. Some people don't like to read "canola" on thelabel or think it might be more prone to weeping in storage (I've nothad too much trouble in our moderate climate). I decided to post thisas another option for those who don't mind purchasing coconut andpalm oil.
Soap Classic (Kathy Miller) This is my current favorite!
- 39 oz. olive oil (For harder soap substitute 2 oz. of cocoa butter for 2 oz. of the olive)
- 24 oz. coconut oil
- 18 oz. palm oil
- 26-30 oz. cold water (lower for essential oils, higher for troublesome fragrance oils)
- 12 oz. lye crystals
- Temperature around 100 to110 degrees.
This is the latest recipe I've been making. Some people think canola can be problematic for weeping in storage, so I'm using this classic combination of olive, coconut and palm. I've tweaked this from the original and cut back a little on the olive oil... I think it stores better.
Mango Mélange... a confetti type soap.
I finally got some palm kernel toplay with in the Summer of 2000. This is the first recipe I've usedand like it very much. This and the "Sudsy All Vegetable" are theones I used most for sales. They are harder and last longer in thedish (this one is a bit firmer and has a few more suds). I thoughtthis recipe might be better for molding, but haven't tried thatmyself. If that's your aim, I'd use the olive instead of the soybean.Also... olive will make a slightly more conditioning soap.
"Pound" Soap (Kathy Miller)
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One of the first batches from this recipe was "Piña Colada'. This one substituted about 8 oz. of Macadamia Nut Oil for part of the olive or soybean (Macadamia has a slightly higher SAP value) and was scented with two ounces each of coconut and pineapple fragrance oil. The yellow bits are a few calendula petals tossed in for color. |
I like to measure out the first four oils (one pound of each) andmelt until clear. Then pull it off and add the 20 oz. of olive (orsoybean is fine) oil. This helps to cool it down to 110 degreesquicker than putting them all in at the front.
I made two revisions of the favorite Sudsy-AllVegetable recipe which incorporated palm kernel oil, which makes aharder bar with stronger cleansing/lather. I think I like thefirst one best... but they are just slightlydifferent.
Sudsy All-Vegetable Soap with Palm Kernel (Kathy Miller) NEW!
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This was a batch of "Stress Relief" blend (spearmint, peppermint, corn mint and some anise) that used chromium oxide green for the swirling color. |
I like to measure out the first four oils (one pound of each) andmelt until clear. Then pull it off and add the 24 oz. of olive oil.This helps to cool it down to 110 degrees quicker than putting themall in at the front.
Sudsy All-Vegetable Soap with Palm Kernel #2 (Kathy Miller)
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This batch was scented with Frankincense and Myrrh fragrance oil for the holidays. It turns the soap a tan shade. I think it would have smelled even better with a touch of vanilla FO (not my idea, but from Jim Adlhoch). |
This makes a hard soap with lots of lather, but very mild. Note that this recipe is slightly larger than the ones that I usually post and uses nearly 14 oz. of lye.
Double Bubble! (Mona from the Latherings Forum)
- 30 oz. coconut oil
- 20 oz. palm oil
- 10 oz. palm kernel oil
- 26 oz. olive oil
- 10 oz. canola oil
- 32-34 oz. of cold water
- 13.78 lye (7% lye discount)
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Design Your OwnRecipe!- Has been moved to its ownpage so that you can print it on its own for reference. This includesupdatedsaponification tables and "Properties of Oils" charts. Alsoincluded are some ideas for coloring and scent blending.
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| Do you still have questions?For more information on where to find other good soapmaking sites, ingredients and equipment, more recipes and information...go to my Soapmaking Links Page! To learn more from other people's experiences and suggestions...go to the "Soapy Success" Page. |
Here are some good pages with other recipes to try (soap andcosmetics, which I don't make much):
- Cranberry Lane Recipes
- Majestic Mountain Sage
- Noah's Ark: Recipes for Soap
- Pine Meadows-Recipes for Sweet Smelling Soaps and Lotions
- Rainbow Meadow
- Soap and Related Recipes - Sabrina Downard's website.
- Soapmaking: Free soap recipes
- Soap Naturally!
- Teach Soap
- This page last updated on 20 July 2009.
- Header Graphic: Courtesy of Print Artist 4.0 Platinum
If you still have questions, please read through the information on the Troubleshooting Help page, MOST Frequently AskedQuestions and Modern Procedures. More can also be learned through the Botched Batches and Soapy Success pages. Many common problems have already been addressed on the site and it's difficult for me to keep up with emails these days and get anything else done. If your question involves my looking up information that you can also research, or going over numbers and recipe calculations, I might not respond if in the middle of a project around our home and garden. I apologize for this, since I've enjoyed my correspondence with people and don't like to ignore emails of any kind. Thanks! :-)
- Return to Top of Page
- Return to Soap Home Page (Index)
- Modern Procedures
- Traditional Methods with Notes
- Where to Find Ingredients
- All-Vegetable Soaps and Recipes
- Recipes Using Animal Fats
- Castile Soap Recipes
- No Scale? Soap Recipes Using Fluid Measures
- Design Your Own Recipe!
- Soap Recipe Spreadsheet Template
- MOST Frequently Asked Questions
- Troubleshooting Help! NEW! :-)
- "Soapy Success" and FAQ's
- Rebatching, Remelting, Remilling, etc.
- Rachael's Tips on Making Clear Glycerin Soap
- Kathy's Soapmaking Links
- What type of Soaper are You?
- pH Testing in Soap - Article by Ann-Perius Parker (reprinted with permission)
- Olympic Views: The Miller Garden Page
- SOAPS FOR SALE!
