Soap Making Thread

beaglady

This thread is to talk about making handmade soap, to avoid a total hijack of a coconut oil thread in Food and Nutrition.

I've been making soap for 14 years, and used to sell it at craft shows and online. Now I just make soap for personal use, and for one annual event. Once I retire in a few years, I'll probably start selling again. For me, its mostly about fragrance.

toxikon

Yaaaay, soap thread!

I've been making soap on and off for over 5 years, but I only got serious about it a year ago. I don't really sell, but I basically live on the SoapmakingForum and make a few batches a month now. I offload extra soap on my friends, family and coworkers all the time LOL. I love trying new techniques. I've settled on a few favourite recipes. My fave oils are lard, tallow, coconut, avocado, olive and castor oils.

Here are some of my creations:



From left to right: Sparkly Snow, Magic Rainbow, Oatmeal Milk and Honey, Lavender Ombre, Charcoal with Gold Mica, and Calendula Petal.

MichelleSilverleaf

I LOVE your colours! My mom's been making it on and off over the years but now we're going into business (she makes 'em, I handle the paperwork and tech stuff). We tried a recipe with a few different oils like avocado, shea butter, a couple I can't remember and didn't like the end product. So we keep it to coconut and olive oil and just play around with fragrances and colours. Just test-drove a cinnamon bun one and LOVE it. Sandalwood is another favourite of mine.

toxikon

MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »

I LOVE your colours! My mom's been making it on and off over the years but now we're going into business (she makes 'em, I handle the paperwork and tech stuff). We tried a recipe with a few different oils like avocado, shea butter, a couple I can't remember and didn't like the end product. So we keep it to coconut and olive oil and just play around with fragrances and colours. Just test-drove a cinnamon bun one and LOVE it. Sandalwood is another favourite of mine.

Check out Soapmakingforum.com, it's a really amazing community and more than happy to share tried-and-tested recipes.

This is also a handy little reference for recipe formulation: http://www.lovinsoap.com/oils-chart/

The key to formulating a great recipe is learning what different oils bring to the table and how to balance them together. For example, castor oil used at 5-10% makes a noticeable difference in lather stability, while using more than that can result in a bar that's too sticky and soft. Coconut oil makes soap more soluble and boosts bubbles and cleansing. Using too much can make your bars TOO soluble (they don't last long) and can be too skin-stripping.

callsitlikeiseeit

those are awesome looking (and i bet so much better for you too!)

beagletracks

@kace_kay

MichelleSilverleaf

I think she's been frequenting a couple but I'll pass it on. This recipe she did get from a soapmaking site, she was looking for a bar that would be more sudsy but it didn't end up doing that. I do have a soapmaking program though that has recipe formulation in it as well so probably going to be testing that this year too.

toxikon

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

those are awesome looking (and i bet so much better for you too!)

It is really awesome to be able to control what goes into your soap and formulate recipes that suit your own preferences. I used to spend tons on expensive facial cleansers, because store-bought syndet bars were always too harsh and heavily fragranced for my preferences. Now I just use my own soaps on my face and my skin loves it.

beaglady

@Moon_Stone When I started making soap, there weren't really any online videos to watch. I got a lot of good advice from some experienced folks on a homesteading yahoo group I belonged to. (yes, I'm dating myself) Then I found some good basic recipes on a website and started playing. Soon I discovered online lye calculators and started formulating my own.

@toxikon your soaps are beautiful. There seems to be a big surge in techniques for cool swirls and patterns since online videos have become popular. I'm planning to make a couple batches for my own use soon, which would be a good opportunity to play with new techniques.

toxikon

beaglady wrote: »

@toxikon your soaps are beautiful. There seems to be a big surge in techniques for cool swirls and patterns since online videos have become popular. I'm planning to make a couple batches for my own use soon, which would be a good opportunity to play with new techniques.

Thank you! There is definitely a lot of gorgeous soap inspiration out there these days. I like browsing Instagram for ideas.

eccomi_qui

I’d like to write the script for the spiritual successor of days of our lives

toxikon

Moon_Stone wrote: »

beaglady wrote: »

@Moon_Stone When I started making soap, there weren't really any online videos to watch. I got a lot of good advice from some experienced folks on a homesteading yahoo group I belonged to. (yes, I'm dating myself) Then I found some good basic recipes on a website and started playing. Soon I discovered online lye calculators and started formulating my own.
.

Thank you. I look forward to following this thread. This is something I’d like to give a go. It sounds fun.

It is a very satisfying hobby. You get to feel like a mad scientist and an artist! I'd recommend checking out the Soapmaking 101 videos on YouTube as a starting point. And if you need any recommendations or have questions please PM me! I love talking soap.

RWayne48

Great timing on the thread - soap making as my creative project for this year and I've just started looking into sites.

poetic_cell

@eccomi_qui wrote: »

I’d like to write the script for the spiritual successor of days of our lives

I made this for you cracker

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SuzieC2003

I used to make soap all the time. Absolutely loved it. I am hoping to get back into it soon!

MichelleSilverleaf

This is some of ours curing in the racks, Lavender Buds on the bottom and Lemongrass Verbena on top (not the greatest pics):

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WorkerDrone83

prune_juice_ wrote: »

I swear...everytime i see this thread i get excited thinking its the soup making thread and then i get a big letdown. haha

Lol. I keep seeing "Stop making threats".

Just_J_Now

WorkerDrone83 wrote: »

prune_juice_ wrote: »

I swear...everytime i see this thread i get excited thinking its the soup making thread and then i get a big letdown. haha

Lol. I keep seeing "Stop making threats".

Lol. I keep seeing "Stop making threads" I thought it was for that troll dude that doesn't like short girls and wants to bang his cousin.

WorkerDrone83

Just_J_Now wrote: »

WorkerDrone83 wrote: »

prune_juice_ wrote: »

I swear...everytime i see this thread i get excited thinking its the soup making thread and then i get a big letdown. haha

Lol. I keep seeing "Stop making threats".

Lol. I keep seeing "Stop making threads" I thought it was for that troll dude that doesn't like short girls and wants to bang his cousin.

That is too funny. I know it's not a confessions thread, but I kinda like that dude. He's a true catfish, keeping things alive.

Just_J_Now

WorkerDrone83 wrote: »

Just_J_Now wrote: »

WorkerDrone83 wrote: »

prune_juice_ wrote: »

I swear...everytime i see this thread i get excited thinking its the soup making thread and then i get a big letdown. haha

Lol. I keep seeing "Stop making threats".

Lol. I keep seeing "Stop making threads" I thought it was for that troll dude that doesn't like short girls and wants to bang his cousin.

That is too funny. I know it's not a confessions thread, but I kinda like that dude. He's a true catfish, keeping things alive.

I suppose it can be entertaining. It's so dead in here lately.

toxikon

prune_juice_ wrote: »

I swear...everytime i see this thread i get excited thinking its the soup making thread and then i get a big letdown. haha

I'm so used to typing the word "soap", that when I google SOUP recipes, I almost always type "soap" instead.