Soapmaking...anyone?

[ruledbymercury]

I just started soapmaking about a month ago. Just melt-and-pour because my apartment is too tiny for anything more involved than that. So far I've just used the $10 soap bases and little pots of colored mica powder you can get from craft stores, fragrance oils from fromnaturewithlove.com, and very simple bar molds. I'm not a huge fan of shaped soaps. My soaps are made to wash with, not to sit in baskets by the sink and look pretty.

For little Christmas gifts for all of my female family and friends, I made several batches of cucumber-avocado bars in the following scents: cinnamon, peppermint vanilla, violet, pink sugar, and orange vanilla. Then I cut out strips of paper with the name of the scent typed in a cute font and wrapped the strip around the bar as a label, then wrapped the whole thing in wax paper, so that you can read the label through it. I bought white tulle drawstring bags and put two bars of soap in each and tied it with some red curling ribbon. Hopefully everyone likes them.

I'm looking for ways to make my soap more interesting (additives?) and also for better quality bases. Any suggestions? I'm also interested in recipes for lotion, bath fizzies, etc. Basically any bath & body products. I'd love to one day have my own small business making this stuff, so it's something I'm pretty excited about.

If I remember, I'll post pictures of my soap gifts later.

Happy soap-making!

[SingleWhiteFemale]

I used to be really into this, but my interest really waned.

Don't be afraid to make your soaps all pretty! You can always make small colored/shaped soaps to put inside your huge bars (something I used to do). I was more of the melt from a brick, then add stuff girl, so nothing too fancy-schmacy, like yours! I'd love to see photos!

[armadillo]

I make soaps, lotions, shampoos, conditioners, scrubs, balms...etc. I do the lye soaps though, because I like playing with chemicals. :) One thing that got my DH thoroughly hooked on my soaps is that I put ground loofah in them. Scrubby soaps! No need for any loofahs, poofs, washcloths in the shower. I've done some melt and pour for my brother's ex-GF. She was in a sorority, so I got some candy molds in the shape of Greek letters and make some MP soap colored with mica in her sorority colors from that. Then I embedded the letters inside a clear base with fragrance. It went over really well!

[looch]

Hey armadillo:
Question for you on the lye. I was all set to try the chemical method until i was having trouble finding the lye. I visited a soap making board and they were saying how it is more difficult to get access to the lye, because it is also used to manufacture meth. Do you have any alternatives?

[ruledbymercury]

Thanks for the replies, ladies! The loofah thing sounds like a great idea. How much would you add to, say, a 4oz bar? I haven't really delved into the world of additives yet. I do have some white jojoba beads, but haven't used them yet. I also have oatmeal and epson salt that I suppose could possibly be used as additives. Mostly, though, I've been experimenting with fragrances. Need to order more vanilla though. I seem to add vanilla to EVERYTHING! Peppermint, cinnamon, etc. It all smells better after adding vanilla. Mmmmm...

I also made some double-layer soaps. I mixed a half-batch of base w/ red mica powder and peppermint oil and poured my molds half-full. Then I mixed another half-batch, left it white and added vanilla oil. So they were red and white peppermint-vanilla bars! They smelled like buttermint candies and looked really cute too!

[armadillo]

Looch, you can get lye online...try http://www.thechemistrystore.com or http://www.sarahsspacreations.com.

For loofah, I put 1 cup of ground loofah into 1 batch of soap...and my batches make ~24 bars. Mmmm...vanilla...do you use a color stabilizer with that or do you let your bars turn brown?

[ruledbymercury]

So far the vanilla I've used has been light enough that it hasn't really messed with the colors of the bar of soap. So, no stabalizers for me!

[Ade]

I used to make soap, but now just make lotion for myself out of necessity (I'm allergic to almost everything!). My favorite site for supplies, ideas and recipes is Majestic Mountain Sage (http://thesage.com). They have EVERYTHING like oils, butters, add ins, fragrances, containers, everything! They are based in Utah, but have really reasonable shipping rates and great prices, especially for the quality of the items.

I would get my lye from the hardware store, it's drain cleaner. Or, you can use borax. You use such a small amount, so a little goes a long ways. Then, I would get a big thing of coconut oil or shortening from Smart and Final for the base, and use the special oils (shea butter, coco butter, sweet almond oil, etc.) in small amounts at the end. The biggest drawback to this method, versus mel and pour, is that you have to age the soap, as you need the lye to dissapate, but you have a lot more options and it is a lot cheaper.

[looch]

Ade...
are borax and lye interchangeable in the same amounts?

[armadillo]

Borax and lye are not the same thing!!!!

[looch]

I don't think that anyone was implying that they were the same thing. Lye is sodium hydroxide and borax is sodium borate or sodium tetraborate.
So they aren't interchangeable then? I hadn't heard that before, so that's why I asked.

[armadillo]

I've only seen borax used in one form of soapmaking before, and that was if you want to make cream soap. Borax doesn't cause saponification though, it's used to "relax" the soap to make it creamy. In cream soap making, you use a mixture of NaOH (lye) and KOH (potassium hydroxide, which is normally used to make liquid soap). After saponification, you add borax and whip it up.

[looch]

That sounds too complicated for me right now! I am going to stick with the lye process, and see how that goes!
Thanks for the clarification!

[Ade]

Armadillo, you're right, borax and lye are not the same thing, bad error on my part. But, it not just used in making soft soaps. Many "old" soap recipes call for both lye and borax (http://waltonfeed.com/old/soap/soapreci.html). It's been a while since I've made soap, but I just took a look at my supplies and I used to use Red Devil Lye. I think I got it Home Depot, but you should be able to find it at most hardware stores. Again, you use it in such small amounts, that a little really does go a long ways. I highly recommend checking out different soap recipes, because there are so many different soap making processes out there, you just need to find the one that you like the best.

When I was making it, I experimented a lot. I used many different items as molds, like the plastic trays from some store bought cookies, old bakeware pans I found at thrift stores (small bundt pans made some awesome shapes), candy molds, even old shoe boxes lined with waxpaper. Some great mix in that I've tried are oatmeal, green clay, cranberry seeds, dried orange and lemon peel, lavender flowers, camomile buds, and countless oils and butters. Also, I used crayons for coloring. I would just break one in half and melt it in at the end. They work great for the most part, but the lye can interact with some colors.

You can boil herbs in the water that you use (peppermint, chamomile, rosemary, sage and lavender are all great), try different base oils (as a general rule, the harder the oil, the harder the soap, so soft oils, such as olive, will generally need to be supplemented with a harder oil, like coconut), add different mix ins, etc. I think trial and error is one of the most fun parts of soap making, and it is so cheap (just the cost of the fat, lye and any mix ins), that it's okay if a batch turns out horribly. Talking about it this much makes me want to get back into it!

[Ade]

The site I recommended Majestic Mountain Sage (http://thesage.com), has a Lye calculator, so you can make your own soap recipes and determine how much you will need Lye Calculator (http://thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php)

[armadillo]

ROFLMAO, Ade...you said soapmaking is cheap! ;) It sure started out that way, but I swear I've spent over a thousand dollars on trying out different things. I'm back to trying to minimize the experimentation and just stick with recipes I know and love. I think Red Devil Lye isn't made anymore. On one of the soapmaking boards I visit, there was an announcement about that. I love The Sage...I use their lye calculator all the time.

[looch]

bump for watchy!

[FriendsOfGrey]

can't the handling of all those chemicals in wrong amounts be dangerous? I think I've heard of people gettign severe burns.

[FriendsOfGrey]

But, this is something I would definately like to try.

[armadillo]

Lye can be VERY dangerous, so you need to take precautions. Always wear long sleeves, gloves, and eye protection. If you get some on yourself, hold whatever body part that got splashed under running water for at least 10 minutes. Do not try to buffer the lye, since that will only create heat and lead to more burns. Also, always add lye to water and not the other way around.

[keska]

I just started buying my lye from Brambleberry. They've only recently been approved to sell lye. I also use them for some fragrance and essential oils and some other additives. I buy most of my base oils from Mission Peak Soap because they are local and that cuts down on shipping costs. I also like the MMS lye calculator. I always use it when I'm creating a recipe.

[janiebird06]

Lye is super super dangerous..one tiny flake got on me that you could not even see and it burned like the devil...so be soooo careful...also, when you add it to water, fumes blow up for a while... dont get close to it ..I always put mine near an open window..and never use around kids or pets...I banish pets to a closed room..

[Julss05]

Thinking about making my own soaps and candles out of soy. Anyone try this? I'm going to start with some reading from the library and go from there.

[jenji]

I've not tried soy for either, but I'd be interested to hear how it goes

[CarolinaGirl]

I bought some handmade oatmeal honey soap at a festival over the summer and it is so awesome that I've decided to make my own soaps. I've just made my first batch - cold process - with (almost) the same ingredients as the one I bought. I used olive, canola, and coconut oils and added some ground oatmeal, honey, and cinnamon. It's curing now. I've been scouring the internet for some other good natural recipes.

I'd like to make some lotions/creams. My absolute favorite lotion is Palmers Cocoa Butter lotion and I've been looking for a recipe for a natural cocoa butter lotion or cream. I've found several, but wondered if anyone here had any?

Some of the cream recipes I've found contain beeswax. Does beeswax cause the recipe to be too thick/greasy/waxy??
Otherwise, I found one that seems easy and simple. It's actually a body butter, but hopefully I could use it as a facial cream. It contains only cocoa butter, shea butter and jajoba oil.

Any other simple recipes?