Homemade Soap Recipe??

Black Crow 155 post s 22-Jul-2008 7:54 AM	Hi! I am wanting to try my hand at making homemade soap. I have been doing the MP soaps for a long time and think I'm ready for the "real" stuff! LOL!! If someone could help me out here with where I can find a basic recipe to start off with, instructions so I dont blow up my house, etc it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! ---------- Black Crow Black Crow Hollow www.blackcrowhollow.com Primitive Folk Art Dolls
misscolleen 24 post s 22-Jul-2008 12:40 PM	hi black crow : ) i often read your posts and am so happy to finally be in a position to offer you some help as i often see you helping others. if you look on fragrance page here at canwax click the cp testing link and there is a basic cold process soap recipe there. if you have any other questions i have always found sj to be an excellent resource. happy soaping !!
Black Crow 156 post s 26-Aug-2008 9:29 AM	Hi! Thank you so much! I will be sure to do that! Can't beleive that I forgot I posted this question! I came in here today to post it again! LOL!! ---------- Black Crow Black Crow Hollow www.blackcrowhollow.com Primitive Folk Art Dolls....and melts!
Black Crow 157 post s 26-Aug-2008 9:33 AM	Ok, so here is what I got off the fragrance section: This is our NEW standard recipe we are using to ensure consistency: 3 lb Batch 6.82oz Lye 15oz of Water - - - 10 oz Crisco 16 oz Olive Oil (Pomace Grade - green in colour) 8 oz Coconut Oil 6 oz Palm Kernal Oil 4 oz Cocoa Butter 4 oz Shea Butter - - - 1.5 oz of fragrance oil But...what do I DO with the ingredients??? How does it all get put together? I have no idea where to start with any of this. LOL!! Sending out an S.O.S here! LOL! Also, is the Lye and water part of the whole recipe I see here??? just wanted to make sure since it looks like its seperate from the rest of the ingredients and I wasnt sure if I was looking at two different recipes here. ---------- Black Crow Black Crow Hollow www.blackcrowhollow.com Primitive Folk Art Dolls....and melts! Last Edited on 26-Aug-2008 9:34 AM
Black Crow 158 post s 26-Aug-2008 10:58 AM	Does canwax sell Lye?? I can't find it anywhere on here. ---------- Black Crow Black Crow Hollow www.blackcrowhollow.com Primitive Folk Art Dolls....and melts!
Betty Jane 38 post s 26-Aug-2008 4:31 PM	Hey Black Crow I have sent you some info to your email address. I think that you will find the links quite useful. Best of Luck Betty Jane
Carnelian 4 post s 4-Sep-2008 7:33 AM	Hey! I started making cold press soap last year and became addicted really quickly.. one small piece of advice though.. start small. Making a 3lb batch at first is big, and can be costly if you mess up. Another thing is that you can't change the recipe like you normally would if you were cooking. Meaning.. if you had a 3lb recipe that you wanted to make into 1lb, you can't just divide up the recipe into thirds. You have to be pretty exact with the lye, and it wouldn't work. THere are many soap calculators online that you can use to help out with that as well. Hmmm.. anything else that I can tell you? Oh ya, only use stainless steel if you are using pots. If you use aluminum the lye and water mix will wreck the pot for sure.. I hope that this was a bit of a help! Carnelian
Carnelian 5 post s 4-Sep-2008 7:43 AM	Oh ya.. Can wax does sell lye.. it is under sodium hydroxide. There is also potassium hydroxide probably too.. that is for making liquid soaps. YOu have to be really careful with it, because it is caustic. Meaning wear gloves and a mask when you are mixing. Also, have vinegar around in case there is any splashing onto your skin. It counteracts the lye so it doesn't burn your skin. A VERY basic explanation of how to make soap is to mix the lye with water, it will boil when you mix so be careful. Then mix up the oils separately. Make sure that your measurements are accuarate, you are going to want a digital food scale. I mix my soaps in the large glass mixing bowls.. I think that you can get them at Canadian Tire for 10$. Then I heat up to oils so that they are about the same temp as the lye. (use a thermometer) then, carefully I add the lye/water mixture to the oils slowly while using an electric hand mixer. You have to mix until you get to trace. This is when the mixture has the consistency of pudding.. then add your fragrance, then put into your wooden molds or whatever you are using. After, take your mold and wrap towels or blankets around it so it can set. I leave mine for 24+ hours, then I cut them into the size I want. YOu have to let them set tho for about a month before you can use them to let the lye finish doing it's thing. Hopefully this has been a bit of a help! Plus there are lots of info online too to help. Take care, Carnelian
Black Crow 159 post s 4-Sep-2008 7:55 AM	HI! Thank you so much! You have been a great help. I have spent hours on the itnernet reading as much information as i can get plus I purchased the Soapmakerks Companion to help me even more. I was doing MandP soap before and have a three pound soap mold. I have also found an online lye calculator and have read that the slightest change you do to a recipe has to be recalculated. Your information was really helpful. I can't wait to get started on this but being that it is LYE I am going to be working with I want to make sure I had all the information I needed to do this safely. I didnt know about the vinegar so that advice alone was EXTREMLY helpful. i will be sure to buy a big jug of it just in case. Thank you so much!!!! Really appreciate it! ---------- Black Crow Black Crow Hollow www.blackcrowhollow.com Primitive Folk Art Dolls
Carnelian 6 post s 4-Sep-2008 8:09 AM	I remember when I first started it felt really nerve wracking to start.. I was so nervous around the lye! Just be careful and don't let any furry friends (cats, dogs or otherwise) near you when you are working with the lye. When I was experimenting, I took a batch of soap and divided it up when it was in trace to try out new scents. One thing about the fragrances and EO's is they can affect the tracetime so you have to mive quick. I remember I made a batch with citrus Eo's and it hardened REALLY quick so I had to rush to get it into the molds.. plus, I use the mica's at Canwax to colour the soaps.. I really like the intense colour that it gives off. You don't have to use wooden molds either..for some really small batches I went to the dollarstore and bought some plastic containers in different sizes. YOu can use those too.. be careful going into the world of Cold process soap! It is addicting! THe other thing that I found with CP soap was I felt like I was 'cheating' with the m&p soap.. I know it isn't, but I really wanted the whole experience of actually MAKING the soap. PLus, I have heard that some craft shows won't even let you sell soap unless it is HP or CP soap. THey won't even allow the M&P soap in...
Black Crow 160 post s 4-Sep-2008 12:10 PM	that is exactly how I feel!! that I wasn cheating! I wanted to make it from scratch. Have you ever used real food in the CP for colouring like pumpkin or carrot?? I have heard this can be done but wondered about the shelf life and if it would mold on me. Another thing I wondered is do I have to use the lye calculator each time I make any little change, or is it just when you are changing the oils and butters??? I would assume that when it comes to adding other things like pumpkin or clay,or honey, etc. I have been printing like crazy all the information I am gathering. I have to go over it all some time too...make sense of it all. There is alot of it I dont understand yet....formulas, percentages, etc. But I am VERY eager and excited to get started. I need to buy supplies too. I dont have a wooden mold...its one I got from ebay. I plan on also using all sorts of things too. You have been really really helpful and I can tell from the tone of your post that you enjoy it alot. I figure if I can master candle making then I can do this. LOL! ---------- Black Crow Black Crow Hollow www.blackcrowhollow.com Primitive Folk Art Dolls
Carnelian 7 post s 4-Sep-2008 4:37 PM	Right away when you are just starting, I wouldn't change the recipe too much just yet. THere are literally hundreds of recipes out there that will help out with trying different things. I haven't tried colouring my soaps with food yet. Some people also colour thier soaps with crayons too! I think that it would be good to try though soon.. I would imagine that you would just use the juice from the food though to colour because I have heard of people using beets to get a vibrant purple colour. I think that the only time you don't really have to change the lye count is when you are superfatting the recipe. THat means that you are using a really luxurious oil like mango or shea to enrich the soap. I have used the Canwax basic recipe, and it worked really well.. Wel I can say that you are right that I am very passionate about making my own soap and body products. There is a great feeling of getting into the shower with a soap that I have made just for me. Plus, I know exactly what is going into the soap. I had a situation where a friend of mine was raving about a popular companies body butter that she loved. She told me about it, and it turns out I had the fragrance. I asked her how much she spent, she said $24! I told her that I could make the exact same thing for literally a quarter of the cost and made her some. She was shocked at how much it was the same.. needless to say she realized the crazy mark up of retail items...and she is buying my stuff now instead!

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