Soap Making 101

[valmom]

Hi, Krisac!

I use soapcalc.com- they have a page that tells you what each long chain fatty acid in each oil contributes to your final product, as well as having a neat calculator that is easy to figure out.

Superfatted means there is more oil in the recipe than can be reacted with the lye you add- this basically ensures that all your lye is reacted and is not free in the soap to burn you. Superfat also adds to the moisturizing property of the soap.

For molds- try a quart milk carton. Cheap, nice square bars, and you haven't spent any money on a mold if you decide you hate soaping!

About molds- I have one I bought that has 6 half-cylinder shapes. I love the shape- it is so easy to hold in the shower and has a nice flat side to scrub with. But they are a bear to get teh soap out of, even if I freeze it. Has anyone any ideas on how to make myself a pipe mold cut in half with the removable caps on the ends so that it stays upright and doesn't roll? I have been kicking this idea around because then I could just push it out of the half pipe and cut it. I also would have to calculate out how long it would need to be since I only make small 2lb batches.

 

[Farmfresh]

The "recipe" I posted was completely made up. and not in any way intended to be used. just sort of an example of how "duck out of water" I am feeling. Part of the reason for makeinf soaps and lotions arises from my other new hobby as a civil War reenactor. The Sutlers or shop keepers would love to have homemade products to sell and since I am already making clothing for them and the gal who made the natural soap at my shop just moved out it seemed like good timing. Everything I am reading is making me go blind with confusion. % of this, and % of that, and % of this. and dont forget the these two percentages combine...hot process, cold process, molds (all the recipes say pour into mold but info on that is few and far between. Don't even start me on lotion...to sell it it has to have self life so it has to have preservative....germaben and phenonip have been suggested. Lord know what combinations I'll run into there. I am a lost little lamb in a huge world. Thank you for all your advice. I will look into the site you suggested. and Start small. What are the best molds to use?
Kristina

At first a simple box mold, like that litter pan will work best. I like to start people off with a simple Olive Oil only soap. Superfatting means there is more fat in the soap than the lye can possibly bond with. That leaves a soap that is moisturizing and it also makes it safer for a beginner so that all of the lye is bonded. Around 5% superfatting is usually best for a beginner. Higher fat than that makes the soap harder to trace (or get solid).

Soap is really chemically amazing. The lye is a base, the fat is an acid and they bond together chemically to form a salt. Soap is a SALT. Weird huh?

 

[Farmfresh]

Hi, Krisac!

I use soapcalc.com- they have a page that tells you what each long chain fatty acid in each oil contributes to your final product, as well as having a neat calculator that is easy to figure out.

Superfatted means there is more oil in the recipe than can be reacted with the lye you add- this basically ensures that all your lye is reacted and is not free in the soap to burn you. Superfat also adds to the moisturizing property of the soap.

For molds- try a quart milk carton. Cheap, nice square bars, and you haven't spent any money on a mold if you decide you hate soaping!

About molds- I have one I bought that has 6 half-cylinder shapes. I love the shape- it is so easy to hold in the shower and has a nice flat side to scrub with. But they are a bear to get teh soap out of, even if I freeze it. Has anyone any ideas on how to make myself a pipe mold cut in half with the removable caps on the ends so that it stays upright and doesn't roll? I have been kicking this idea around because then I could just push it out of the half pipe and cut it. I also would have to calculate out how long it would need to be since I only make small 2lb batches.

When I use my PVC pipe molds I just stand them up in a BIG old 52 oz insulated refillable mug that I got at the local gas station. I have another mug that I turn upside down over the top for insulating purposes. Keep a PVC mold around 12 inches long or it is hard to get the soap out.

I have found that plastic "pressure test" plugs on the bottom end work pretty well to keep the soap in till it sets up or just use a removable clean out plug on the bottom.

 

[krisac]

So abour molds..I'm hearing cardboard and plastic. I read somewhere on here on the PVC pipe thing that they use vaseline on the inside to make the soap easier to get out....would that effect the soap at all? Also do you line the othe molds with anything?
Kristina

 

[Farmfresh]

I use the Vaseline and it really doesn't bother the soap.

Most metals other than stainless steel will react with the soap. Plastics need to be basically microwaveable (to withstand up to about 250 degrees F) because the chemical reaction heats the soap. Cardboard and plastic are best also because they can flex some to release the soap.

 

[krisac]

does pyrex work for a mold?
Kristina

 

[krisac]

Another strange question, in case you haven't all figured out that I am very weird my grandmother used to make lye soap. I guarantee she didn't have calculators aor any recipes. She never saw a computer or cell phone. Her brother never even had indoor plumbing until 1975! But my reasoning, that lye soap would clean through anything. In our reenactments the men get very dirty cleaning their black powder rifles. any thoughts on how you would make a recipe with more lye in it?
Kristina

 

[savingdogs]

Another strange question, in case you haven't all figured out that I am very weird my grandmother used to make lye soap. I guarantee she didn't have calculators aor any recipes. She never saw a computer or cell phone. Her brother never even had indoor plumbing until 1975! But my reasoning, that lye soap would clean through anything. In our reenactments the men get very dirty cleaning their black powder rifles. any thoughts on how you would make a recipe with more lye in it?
Kristina

All soap is "lye" soap. You can't make soap without lye.

You certainly do not need a computer or a scales to make soap, but it makes it easier to come to trace. Your grandma might have been making hot process soap...it is supposed to be coarse and strong.

That was made by the old timers by putting the lard and the lye in a cooking vat and stirring forever until the correct chemical balance was reached.

You could certainly make a recipe that uses more lye....when they call recipes "superfatted" that means they put extra OIL in, to make it more moisturizing, because when it saponifies, some oil is still left.

Am I explaining this right? If someone has a better way to explain it please jump in.

 

[krisac]

the soap my gramma made would eat the iron off a cast iron pot Like the hard core soaps you would buy in the market to take grease oil, skin, off. I'm looking for something that would be MANLY soap and help them get the black powder, and lord knows what else they get on them. Also to wash the soot off hands after handling the untensils off the campfires. You know the line from GoneWith the Wind "You scrub yourself down with strong lye soap while I put these britches in the boilin' pot. The Whole Confederate Army has the same problem Crawlin clothes and dysentary" That's Why I don't think the extra superfatting would work, I'm actually wondering how to decrease the oils if that is making any sense. OR add some kind of scrubbing agent.
Kristina

 

[savingdogs]

I guess I explained that wrong, adding oils makes it less strong. But once you put in more lye than can be absorbed by the oils, you either won't get trace or you will be washing with LYE, so you want to use a good recipe.

I think the equvalent these days would be a soap like Fels Naptha which is a detergent type bar designed to strip oils from clothes, etc. Perhaps someone here can suggest a "detergent" soap recipe for you, it would probably not have as much oils to lye in the percentages.

I know borax is an ingredient in some soaps designed for cleansing.