Soap Making 101

[freemotion]

Just cut the bars from this afternoon's batch of pine tar soap. I don't even know what it is for but thought it sounded interesting....smells good, too! That could be my equine background showing, however....

 

[hillfarm]

I was going to add a pine tar soap, til I realized how messy it was to make. How's the cleanup on that one?

Im envisioning a string of tar from my stove and across the table and in my hair before I would of finished.

 

[freemotion]

Same as any other soap.....you just have to be quicker as it seems to start at trace and hardens as you try to stir. I tried to clean my pot with the usual crumpled newspapers but had to switch to scraping, then washing.

 

[Leta]

Pine tar is for dry scalp, dandruff, and other skin conditions.

How'd that go, free? I just got my stick blender today (Vinnie's, Bosch, $1, woot!) so I'm gonna be soapin' it up here soon.

 

[freemotion]

It looks great! It was very QUICK. I had a hard time getting it all mixed before it just about seized up. There were a lot of funky air spaces...not bubbles, just spaces along the edges where it was hardening as I was trying to get it level in the mold with my spatula. I had to adjust the pattern in which I cut the bars in my dishpan mold to cut off all the edges. I have my usual 16 bars that are perfect, and 8 half-weight bars that are skinny and have the funky layers showing. I'm thinking they will make great shampoo bars for my itchy dog.

It smells lovely curing in its box on the rack in my dining room!

 

[Emerald]

Freemotion-have you ever "French milled" your soap? I had some that would not stop "ashing up" and a friend who makes soap all the time figures that it might have been a touch lye heavy even tho I have a digital scale.. She recommended that I grate the soap fine and add just a touch more oil and reheat it in my old crappy double boiler whisking with an old whisk till smooth and then put it back in the mold. Since it was a holiday gift for my brother and I used really good and expensive ingredients(cocoa butter-was the big expense) I really didn't want to lose that batch... The grating and a bit more olive oil and a touch more clove oil(brothers favorite smell) and pored it in the fancy molds that a friend gave me and let it set up and it was really nice.


I'm thinking that if you grated the funny edge bars of your tar soap and maybe put a touch more oil (one of the ones from the recipe or castor) and put in a smaller mold it would make nice bars for you too.

I've also taken good Greek olive oil castile that my mother picks up for me somewhere in Florida and milled it and added different fragrances and it also turns out well... a bit softer bars but if you cure them in the ol' delicate's drawer for about 6 months they harden well and work well.

 

[freemotion]

I've read about milling but I make 7 lb batches and that would be a lot of grating, stirring, re-pouring! Yikes! I thought the soda ash was more about curing temp/time in the first day or two. My recipes are a bit super-fatted.

 

[Emerald]

I was thinking more along the lines of only milling the bits that you had to trim to get nice bars. I've made clumpy soap balls by grating all my little slivers and adding just a bit of water and just melting till they would stick and then formed them into balls that had tiny bits of all the types of soap in it.. kinda pretty. (I think I might have held some of the grated up soap back and dumped in too. haven't done it in years.)
I too try to super fat my soaps but this one batch just really didn't ever stop ashing up. And I do put them in a box with old towels around them so that they cool very slowly. I wondered if it is due to me not having a big mold but many bar shaped ones. (they remind me of an old soap we used to get but I can't remember the name of.. smelled kinda piney and was big ovals) But the milled bars turned out really nice and super fragrant. I still have one bar around here somewhere..

I've also made a coconut oil only soap(small batch) and it was a bit harsh on my skin but we used it as laundry soap and it was really nice. If I catch coconut oil on sale again I may do some more just for laundry with lavender or a nice strong mint.

I have to say I only make soap for family due to the costs. and my batches tend to be about a dozen bars at a time.. so really small. And I have also found that if I add a bit of castor oil to my batches they suds up really creamy.. the ones without it don't get as sudsy. But I can't remember who recommended the castor oil.

 

[gettinaclue]

I wondered if it is due to me not having a big mold but many bar shaped ones.

I think you're right Emerald. I made my soap in a small molds this time and I got ash on every single one of them. Maybe they cooled to quickly? I didn't attempt to insulate the molds to keep them warm. The ash trimmed off nicely with a vegetable peeler, but some of them in the shaped molds I can't trim or it will ruin the shape or design. I've read you can give them a gentle rinse in water to get rid of the ash, but I haven't tried it yet. Have you tried it?

I was thinking more along the lines of only milling the bits that you had to trim to get nice bars.

I did that a bit ago. I made the Castile soap back in April and I trimmed the bars over a plastic grocery bag and tied it tight. After making some more soap about a week or so ago, I added those trimmings as well. I also added a bit of coconut oil and some water to help it melt and for better lather. If you do try it, just go easy on the water. I put way to much in and I haven't unmolded it yet. I'm thinking it may be a loss because I added to much moisture.

 

[Kingsfarm]

I read about coconut oil in many things, when I went to health food store she asken what KIND I wanted, edible or ? ... I sure didn't know what to buy... can you help: am making (or trying to) my own products.... please explain....thank you somewhere it says coconut oil is solid...does that make sense? there is a kind you cook with too.... o my goodness.... essential oils too...can you put essential oils in something you eat? do I sound confused? Y E S. Remember, no question is a stupid question and I sure hope this helps someone besides me...G