Soap Making 101

[rebecca100]

I thought about doing loofa too! I told dh when I planted it last year I was going to make soap to go with it and try to sell it at the farmer's market! Of course I have never made soap before....... or grown loofa for that matter........ maybe this year........ Perhaps I should set it as a goal for this year!

 

[Farmfresh]

Use a runny batch of soap for filling loofas. I use the loofa as the mold. Just stuff the loofa into a plastic cup and pour in the soap.

 

[LovinLife]

This morning as I was washing with my bar of goat's milk soap I bought local for $5!! I began to wonder how much it costs to make a bar of soap. Do you have a ballpark amount a bar of soap costs to make? I know that you could probably get pricey with the EO's and stuff but just assuming you used a basic recipe.

 

[glenolam]

It doesn't really cost that much per bar to make it. I did it out one day with the prices of the ingredients that I bought and that cost was a little less than $1.50 per 4oz.

But, take into consideration the goat milk (rather, the feed for the goat, housing, etc), the material supplies you used/bought, your time etc and the price per bar goes up.

It all depends on the stuff you use - how much that cost you and how much you think your time, effort and other "supplies" cost you.

 

[savingdogs]

The start up costs for soapmaking are significant....buying all your pans and sodium hydroxide and molds and such, and of course the fragrance, but you can kinda do it on the cheap too.

I made unscented soap, and none of my soap making supplies are new. Really the molds were the most expensive thing and the sodium hydroxide, but for 10 dollars I got enough to make many many batches of soap.

If you compare that to going to the store and buying some bars of soap, you are cheaper buying it ready made. But I have the means now to keep making it over and over.

If I were to count what my GOATS cost me now that would be some mighty spendy soap, but of course they are multipurpose. I'd have a very hard time figuring a price for my cost of the bars I have right at the moment.

 

[freemotion]

I have a different point of view on this....you can get a very cheap stainless stock pot at a discount store for maybe $10, a thermometer for about $3-5, scrounge a plastic pitcher to mix lye in, and use a sturdy cardboard box lined with freezer or butcher paper as a mold...or as I do, a plastic storage tote. I trim off the ridges with a vegetable peeler. I use re-purposed plastic containers in which to weigh everything, and then you need a small kitchen or postal scale....often someone you know will have one you can borrow in exchange for a bar of soap. I was given two for free over the years! Yay!

I render tallow from grocery store suet ($0.89 per pound, with little waste...no waste, really, as I feed it to the hens) and use whatever other oil was on sale...various veg oils, and the latest two batches I actually used EVOO to make a special soap for us and a client who will pay the extra.

I make 24 bar batches and each batch costs me $11-15, including the lye. I don't count the goat's milk, as I save it up in the freezer if I have to deworm or if I just have too much in the fridge and it will end up being fed to the hens.

I don't scent mine and people will sniff deeply and exclaim that it smells so good! Anyways, my basic soap costs $0.50-0.70 per bar to make.

 

[rty007]

knock knock...
So I decided to be the pain in the backside that I am. And go ahead and ask for a soap recipe using sandal and Cedric oils, I am looking for a recipe that has moisturizing qualities. I am open for suggestions weather it be OO, goatmilk, lard, or whatever else, as well as the method hot/cold. I mean with a little guidance, I will read up and I am pretty sure it is gonna come out well.

 

[freemotion]

This fits in my small dollar store dishpan.

Oils/Fats: Ounces: Oil %:
Tallow (Beef) 20.00 25.00
Soybean Oil 36.00 45.00
Olive Oil 8.00 10.00
Lard 16.00 20.00





Total Oils Weight: 80.00 oz or 5 Lb.



Total Recipe Weight: 116.88 Ounces
Or: 7 Lb. 4.88 oz.

Calculated Alkali & Water Needed:
Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) : 11.06 Oz.
Minimum Water : 25.81 Oz. (I used goat's milk instead)

Use the instructions found online for recipes containing EO's to get instructions on how to add them. I think you add them at the end, as you don't want them to saponify.

 

[rty007]

you know what, I am not sure I will be able to get tallow, it would be a lot easier to get goat milk for that example.

 

[freemotion]

Tallow is made by rendering suet. Can you get suet? It is in the grocery stores here.

If you go to Summerbee Meadow's site, you can put the oils you can get into the calculator and make up a recipe. You can even re-size it to fit your mold. If you've never made soap, I recommend that you make a batch without eo's first to get the method down, as eo's are rather pricy.