# Soap making



## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

I'm going to start making soap this year. I've never made soap before, but have always wanted to was just a little intimidated by the lye. I've decided to go for it this year. :idea: 

I've been looking around for supplies and ingredients that I can get in or close to my town and located a source of lye in a nearby town. 100% Lye at lowes in the plumbing section and was told that I could get it at sutherlands which would be closer gotta check to make sure they have it. 

So all you soap makers out there, what tips can you give me for starting up making goat milk soaps. If you could start from scratch what would you do not do etc.... Any and all recepies for goat milk soap is welcomed too, I have one recepie to go off of, but I would like to get a few more to try out. You can PM me the recepie if you have one to share with me. What oils do what? theres lard,coconut oil, etc... why so many and what does each one add to the soap? What do you add to your soaps for like scrubs and stuff?

I hate being such a newbie, but I guess we all have to start somewhere. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks


----------



## nubians2 (Feb 20, 2011)

*Re: Soap making tips!*

One of the biggest tips is to make sure you have vinegar on hand. It will counter the effects of the lye if you get it on your skin. Others: Don't be afraid to try a new recipe if you don't like the current one. I tried 3 before I found the one I wanted to use. As far as the oils go some are there to help the soap harden, some add lather, and some are added to be moisturizers. I really like the soaps that contain Shea Butter so I looked only for recipes that contained it. You can find alot of good recipes on line. I add oatmeal and dried lavender to my soaps so far. Oh another tip is once your soap has set for 24 hours, put the molds in the freezer for a couple of hours and then gently press on molds. It will help them release. I got alot of my pans and such from thrift stores to help cut the cost. Make sure you get a stick blender it will make stirring go so much faster. I can't think of anything else right now. You can message me if you have any other questions otherwise I am sure the other ladies will offer info.


----------



## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

*Re: Soap making tips!*

some of the soap recipes I have read... use a stand mixer like a kitchen aid... I have used mine on other soaps, but I'm working on getting enough of my goats milk to try my own soap! Keep us posted on how it goes!


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

*Re: Soap making tips!*

I use a stick blender... and this site has AWESOME info on what the oils/fats do as far as benefits to the skin 
http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapm ... ngoils.htm


----------



## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

*Re: Soap making tips!*

Great link Liz! I'm bookmarking that one for sure.


----------



## K-Ro (Oct 14, 2007)

*Re: Soap making tips!*

Yep, a mixer makes life so much easier and saves your arms.
I write down each recipe when I make it, date, etc. That way you know if you like it or not and have that exact recipe. You can tweak the recipes to get exactly what you are looking for. Run your recipe through a lye calculator.

Wear eye protection!! long sleeves and gloves too. But don't ever go without eye protection. I can tell you I speak from experience, I used to 'not worry about it'. Then one day, I guess it was static or something, when I opened the lye, I felt one of the granules 'jump' into the corner of my eye. My eye lash caught it so thankfully there was no damage, but that one granule can blister your eye and cost you your sight if it lands in the wrong place.


----------



## JessaLynn (Aug 30, 2009)

*Re: Soap making tips!*

I do the same as K-Ro just about.I found when experimenting with oils that coconut oil makes a very soft bar so be careful not to use to much.This year I'm trying a Green Tea Butter Blend for a face wash bar.It's very expensive to buy but if it's worth it I want to keep it around.Green Tea is suppose to help with smoothing fine lines ect. Best advice I can give you is just experiment with different oils and fragrances to see what you like. I do a simple one that consists of lye,olive oil,coconut oil,vegtable shortening,raw milk,and essential oil.Always comes out great.I'm buying tallow from our butcher shop today and making some with that instead of the shortening just to see how it turns out.Good luck with your soap making! It's alot of fun and I started selling it at craft shows and now doing flea markets this year.I sell some on my website but word of mouth and free samples has traveled farther :wink:


----------



## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

*Re: Soap making tips!*

How about your scented oils. Can you mix essential oils and fragrance oils? Most people seem to like the essential oils but you can gets some really nice scents in the fragrance oils and lots to choose from.


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

*Re: Soap making tips!*

With essential oils...you are limited as far as scents go, and they are expensive though a little goes a long way.
I also hand render beef fat for lard./.....working in a restaurant with access to a USDA slaughter house has it's perks.
Using Tallow makes a VERY HARD long lasting bar with extremely gentle creamy lather....my next project will be to render white tail deer fat for Tallow and see how that turns out.


----------



## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

Yesterday I sold one of my extra yearlings due to kid and took some of the money to buy my soap making kit. I just got the basics, I've never done this so I didn't want to pour too much money into it before I ever even made a bar. 

*stick blender $20 walmart
*Lye $5 hardware store (I talked to her about it and she said she will always carry it, Woohooo)
*Castor Oil $? (forgot what I paid for that stuff) Walmart
*Olive Oil $4 Big lots (you could get it anywhere, I just happend to be there and think about picking it up)
*SS pot $free had one laying around the kitchen I don't use much anymore (I will be making a trip back to big lots for one though (For cheese) priced $15 in clarence isle.
*Essential oils (orange & Jasmine 1oz of each) $14 Local herb shop
*Rubber gloves $3 walmart
*Eye safety glasses $free got some laying around the shop
*Vinegar $free got it at the house
*Spoon for stirring lye mixture $free again have it at the house
*Pitcher for stirring milk lye mix $3 Walmart
*2 thermometers for temp of lye mix and oils $6 walmart
*Cake pan (non alluminum) for mold $1 everythings a buck store
*Freezer Paper $6 Walmart (huge roll of this stuff will last a while)
(I think that's everything I purchased)

I still have Lard on the shopping list, but gotta get that at the grocery store. I'm going to be ordering some Fragrance oils after I do my first basic batch. 

Did I forget anything really basic?


----------



## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

If you can get Crisco (or store brand) it makes a nicer soap than lard.

One thing for sure. Keep your soap as warm as you can for as long as you can. I wrap mine in old horse blankets.

Here is the best book I've read for soaping: *Scientific Soapmaking* by Kevin M Dunn ISBN: 978-1-935652-09-0


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I've found that using lard doesn't compare to using beef tallow...the beef makes an extremely hard long lasting bar and with all the other beneficial oils added to it it makes a really good moisturizing soap.
I won't use Crisco...way too expensive for soap, save it for pastry crusts. I have found that Walmart as well as Shop and Save carry a store brand of shortening that is a mix of vegetable and meat fats, less expensive than Crisco and it also makes a harder bar. If you are using a deep mold or one made of wood that is 1/2 inch thick...you don't need to cover it with heavy material to retain heat, just plastic wrap on the top and a dish towel as the thick wood is very insulating( my hubby was sweet enough to make me a :take apart" wood mold with 1" pine boards)

Of course though, if your personal choice or clientel are vegetarian and meat fats are not favored, stick with the vegetable based soaps.


----------



## nubians2 (Feb 20, 2011)

Mine is primarily Olive oil. I did like the fact that it an all oil based recipe compared to lard. It is more expensive to make but it makes a really nice bar.


----------



## glenolam (Jul 20, 2010)

After I milk I freeze the soap in pre-weighed zip lock bags. That way when I want to make soap I just pull out enough bags to equal the amount of milk I need and don't have to worry about burning the milk when I add the lye.

I don't insulate my soaps at all. I soap at room temperature and after pouring the soap in the mold I put the molds in the fridge. By insulating you're allowing the soaps to go through the gel stage, which is something I don't like. There's nothing wrong with it by any means, but it's my preferance to have milky soaps stay a milky color.

A great tip to keep the lye granuals down is to keep a box of dryer sheets near by. Wipe down the lye bottle and cup that you measure your lye in with the dryer sheet and it will eliminate any static. I've even wiped down the inside of the lye bottle just before pouring it out. Before I knew this trick I had some major static and ended up with lye beads jumping everywhere but in the measuring cup. What a mess!


----------



## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

Dryer sheets are a great idea! I love the stick blender! It works great for blending the milk and lye. I also freeze my milk and use it frozen or slushy.. I also have ice water in my sink just in case it needs to cool down more. I use primarily olive oil too... I just by the cheapest one I can find.. not virgin if possible. I also use other beneficial oils like castor, almond, avacado, jojoba... etc.. Good luck and have FUN! I REALLY have enjoyed making soaps and giving them to my friends!


----------



## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

I like to make sure my soap is always fully saponified, hence warming for 36-48 hours. In fact we, put our soap in the oven for 2 hours before setting it into insulation. This allows for some hard cured soap in a hurry.

I use Grade A Olive Oil, Shea Butter, Coconut Oil and Palm Kernal Oil. The CO and PKO help make the bar hard and give great lather. Usually I buy 35 to 70 pounds of Olive Oil at a time. I never measure. I weigh everything down to the gram.


----------



## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

Thanks guys, I still haven't made my first batch of soap yet. After getting all the supplies I came down with a horrible cold. I didn't want to be messing around with that lye while I had that. It lasted a good time too. Now I'm all better and I'm planning to make my first batch real soon. 

I'm mixing my jasmine and orange EO's for the sent and was wondering how much I need to put in of the EO's? 

The oils I have set aside for soap is Olive oil, Lard, and Castor Oil. I'de like to try and just see through trial and error what works best for me. 

I already came up with a name for my soap line too  "Coyote Whispers"


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

With the EO's you only need few drops of each depending on the size batch you are making.

Hope you feel better!


----------



## calendula (Mar 21, 2011)

For those of you who use beef tallow in your soaps: about what percentage of the total fats is beef tallow?


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I tend to use it at around 10-15% in recipes with olive oil...in those w/o OL, I go a bit higher to around 20%

I have found that the bars don't turn slimey as they dry after use and they last FOREVER...LOL, the lather is super rich and creamy too.


----------



## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

I agree with Liz about 10%. Don't add EO's until after you trace or they will saponify and you will lose the scent. I love the name. BTW, good choice of oils, castor will give you lather and a good hard bar. Let us know how it turns out.


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Castor oil is also a humectant and works with the natural glycerin to help trap moisture in the skin. I have a "Kitchen" soap made with coffee that removes bad odors that has castor oil and shea butter in it...the exfoliation of the coffee helps the castor oil penetrate further.


----------



## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

That sounds like a really cool soap, Liz. Never thought of coffee for exfoliant.

My new soap is Orange Zest, with orange peel, orange EO, and orange juice.
We'll see how it turns out.


----------



## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

What is the "gel stage"? I haven't heard that term before.


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I believe thats the stage that comes once it is semi solid in the mold and then it goes back to "gel" before it is through the whole saponification process.

So it goes in a process like this...Trace( thick but liquid enough to pour), sets up, gels( liquifies again as the saponification heats up again) then cool down to harden.


----------



## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

Ah, I see. We mix and pour at 125F then into a 125 oven for a couple hours. Maybe I will skip this and try cooling them instead. Right now I am building a drying box which will fan them when they come out of the molds.


----------

