Teach Soap

I just make stuff for home and love it way better than store stuff, I'm a DIY addict now LOL. I have made whipped butter only, for my tike but wanted to make some creamier stuff for me so I bought E-wax and Phenonip and I already ahve oils butters and fragrances which I use for cp soap. I wanted to get idea of ratios i.e how many butter vs oils vs water or milk(which I was going to sub for water) and how much emulsfier and preseravative to add? I saw one site as far as ratios they have 70-80% water or milk, 3-6 % emulsifier, .5-1% preservative, .5% fragrance the rest oils and butter does that seem right and what should the ratio of butters vs oils matter other than texture and can I add honey to does that go in as part of the water? As I was trying to read more into it ALL the recipes I see have stearic acid. Umm I didn't buy that one, do I really need it?

I posted a recipe for lotion somewhere on this forum. I'm sure you'll find if you search. I would not use more then 10% milk as it has proteins which are harder to preserve. For honey, I would not go above 0.5%. Make sure that you have an accurate scale and weigh everything. This is especially important for preservatives because if you add to much, it can irritate. Phenonip is used at 0.5%-1.0%.
Follow all safety guidelines including simmering liquid for 20 minutes to help kill off any germs or bacteria. Always use new containers for your lotion to avoid contamination.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Well the search bot was down or not compatible with my sytem but I looked at several posts and found one recipe but it has stearic acid. Do I need stearic or can I use a harder butter like cocoa to offset the need of it? I was thinking of using shea, cocoa, sweet almond, and sunflower for this recipe since thats what I have on hand ( I also have olive, grapeseed, corn, canola, coconut, palm kernal flakes, and palm, if that one of those might be better). Out of curiosity would butters like mango, pistachio, almond and the like be worth buying for lotions they sound yummy, but I'm not loaded LOL so was thinking of cost it is for us at home not mass production or anything?

Stearic gives the lotion a thicker texture. It doesn't work the same way as butters. Pistachio and almond butter are usually made with hydrogenated soybean, so they will have similar properties as soybean. You can add them, but it would be more for label appeal. Experiment with the oils and butters that you already have and see how you like them. Sub any oil for oil and any butter for butter. Just keep the % the same.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I will be trying out my first lotion too - very soon and I will definitely be using on of the recipes posted here because I think this is the best method for getting started and for involving myself a little bit with the matter and for a better knowledge of ingredients and the substance of making lotions. I am really excited about that.

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JKM Creative Enterprises

I found it. Here you go.
Here is a basic recipe I posted some time ago. A Preservative is a must. Germs, mold and bacteria are natural, but they can seriously hurt you.

Distilled water 79%
Coconut oil 7%
Shea Butter 4%
E-wax NF 3%
Sweet Almond oil 5%
Stearic Acid 1%
Preservative - the % varies depending which preservative you use (I left this as 1%, so the whole formula would equate to 100%)

Always heat and hold you water for 20 minutes to make sure that any bacteria are killed, even though you are using distilled water. The smallest batch I would make is 16 ozs. because if you go any smaller, you will need a very accurate scale that goes down to 0.000 oz. You will also need a thermometer.

Here is what the recipe looks like for a 16 oz. of lotion;

Distilled water 79% 12.64 ozs.
Coconut oil 7% 1.12 ozs.
Shea Butter 4% 0.64 ozs.
E-wax NF 3% 0.48 ozs.
Sweet Almond oil 5% 0.8 oz.
Stearic Acid 1% 0.16 oz.
Preservative - % according to the manufacturer's recommendation

The total comes out to 15.84 ozs. because I didn't add the unknow preservative.
Simmer your water. Meanwhile add your oils, butter, ewax and stearic acid and melt together. Let the water cool to 120. Do the same for your melted oils/butter. Using a sanitized stick blender start mixing the melted oils into your water. It will start turning white. Make sure it's mixed well. Add a scent if desired. Then depending on your preservative add it below 120 degrees. When everything is well incorporated, pour into NEW bottles, but leave the cap off. Put the bottles in the fridge to cool off. Put caps on when the lotion is cool. If you would put caps on right away, condensation would form in the top of the bottle and that's just plain water, which could cause problems with lotion going moldy or bad.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Yeah =) I did it. I love thi lotion. So soft and silky way better than store bought stuff. Can't wait to play around with other recipes.

Looks good! Congrats!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

irena can btms sub the ewax?

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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JILLY

BTMS is an emulsifier. Fractionated coconut oil is a liquid that is less greasy then regular coconut. It has been altered "fractionated" so it's a liquid.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I just placed an order with BB to get ewax, stearic and phenonip (and bottles) so I can try making lotion! I'm going to use soapbuddy's recipe.

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

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.