Teach Soap

Kemarie21,

Don't give up before you get hooked! Soapmaking is FUN. I've made approximately 4000+ bars of soap. Some batches go wrong NO MATTER WHAT. It just is what it is. Could be temperature differences between the lye water and the oils. Could be grabbed the olive oil blend oil bottle instead of the pure olive oil bottle. Could be a misread of the amount of lye to use.

Things go wrong and it's great that you expect mistakes. BUT don't give up just yet. Simply play with the lye calculator!

My main recipe is olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil and shea butter. The shea butter can be omitted. I buy my olive oil at Sam's Club. I pay extra but I buy my coconut oil at Walmart (Lou Anna brand). But I don't pay postage for it!

Half my recipe would be: 15 oz. coconut oil 76 deg, 37 oz olive oil, 8 oz castor oil, 20.4 oz distilled water, 8.173 lye. I use water as 34% and superfat at 7%. It's a nice soap with lots of lather and a lovely feel after using it. It is a soft soap that requires a bit longer to cure.

Do not just use a recipe you find online. Always put it through a lye calculator. I would not use the corn oil.

I hope this helps.

Jill

Another excellent beginner recipe is 75% olive oil, 20% Coconut and 5% castor. It makes a nice hard bar with lots of bubbly lather. It is best after curing 8-10 weeks though because of the high % of olive oil.

Also I wouldn't make more than 2# at a time until you get a feel for the process.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!