Teach Soap

If you wanted a very simple laundry soap which did not involve coconut or palm oil (due to friends with severe allergies), what sort of recipe would you use? I know not to superfat more than about 1% (just to make SURE to 'eat up' all the lye), but what sorts of oils would be right?

1. It doesn't need to bubble all that much.
2. It doesn't have to smell great -- I can add essential oil directly to the wash if it's important to me.
3. I don't care if it's got a slimy texture.
4. I'd like it to be a hard bar because those are easiest to grate.
5. It needs to be quite cleansing.

I was thinking of using the same recipe that I'd use for my ideal "all around use" bar -- olive oil and lauric acid -- but without the superfatting/moisturizing. But that might be expensive enough to take away the chief reason, for me, to make my own. Your thoughts?

I think the only other option is lard. I wouldn't use OO, it's very moisturizing and won't get you're clothes clean. It could possibly leave marks on cloths and clog your washer, espically if you superfat, even just 1%.Goodluck!

Hrm. Well, for sure I can't use lard. Not kosher.

Back to the ol' drawing boar... Wait! What about mixing soybean (for bulk, mainly) with lauric acid (for cleaning, hardness, and bubbles)? Soybean's qualities are almost identical to those of olive oil, except that it doesn't ever harden and it's not hygroscopic, but the lauric acid would take care of the hardness, and laundry soap need not be moisturizing and so it doesn't require the hygroscopic quality.

What about beef tallow? You could make your own using fat from Kosher cuts of beef.

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

I still wouldn't be able to use it for washing fabrics that might touch dairy foods or dishes (pot holders, dish towels), and I'd prefer to use one detergent that will work for all my non-delicate clothing.

Shorter: I make vegetarian-only soaps, period.

All vegetable Crisco? All you really need is a basic un-superfatted soap to make laundry soap. It doesn't have to be a really hard bar.

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

It doesn't have to be a hard bar to wash with, but grating a soft bar gunks up my grater. I don't know, Crisco might do if I had to use it.

Be careful with crisco though, because of your friends with allergies. Don't forget, you'll want to check the ingredients and make sure you have the crisco mixture with soybean and cottonseed oils, not the one with palm oil.

--Lindsay

I don't know that I've ever seen kosher on soap before. Once fats are turned into soap they are usually considered soap.
What is traditional soap made from for Kosher?

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

Rather than try to explain all the laws of kashrut and how/why they would apply to soap making, I'll let you look at the OU website and/or CYLOR (Consult Your Local Orthodox Rabbi). For me, it means that all the ingredients must be certified kosher.

I love my handmade laundry soap!!! - its the Duggar's recipe - but you dont have to use felds- naptha you can use castile soap - which is 100% olive oil you will need the borax and the washing powder to make it laundry soap that is low sudsing and wont clog your drains.


4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

_________________
Kristen D. Vineyard
visit my blog http://washwithvegetables.blogspot.com

Yes, I'm familiar with the method of turning the soap into the detergent. I was hoping for the recipe for the soap itself -- something a trifle less expensive than Castile, I hoped, but so far my research and questions in multiple places has all yielded either palm and/or coconut oils (which are the exact thing I tend to mention as not being what I can use) or Castile/olive.

*sigh* Oh, well.

Rice bran oil? Cheaper than olive, with about the same properties... Though I've never tried it at 100%-- I don't know what kind of bar it would make.

_________________
***************
Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries