Teach Soap

Hey hey!

I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, and ask a few questions.

My name is Morgan. I'm a college student and found myself in need of a hobby, so I stumbled across soap making. I finally got all of the things I ordered yesterday, but I won't be able to make anything until this weekend.

And onto the questions!

1. We live in a pretty old house, and we can't use Drano because our pipes are cast iron (or some other reason I can't quite remember). I'm a little bit concerned about cleaning up after soaping. I don't want to end up with active lye going down our pipes (my mom would kill me!). Would it be best to wait before cleaning up, or could I neutralize the lye before cleaning up?

2. I have some cardboard boxes laying about. As long as I line these with freezer paper are they okay to use for molds?

3. I was playing around in soapcalc last night and came up with a potential recipe that I would like to try. Does this look like a sound recipe or did I do something really wrong? (The number ranges all came out right, I just want to double check before I dive in.)

Palm Oil 45%
Coconut Oil 25%
Castor Oil 10%
Sweet Almond Oil 10%
Shea Butter 10%

Thanks so much!

Welcome!
You can wait til the next day to clean up. By that time it should be soap and you can just rinse it off.
Make sure that your cardboard box is thick enough, otherwise it will bow and raw soap could spill out. You could use a milk carton, then tear off the paper. Or use a lined plastic container.
Castor oil and almond are considered soft oils. I would not go above 5% for castor. I would add olive oil to your recipe.

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

Thank you!

Would this recipe be better?

Palm Oil 40%
Coconut Oil 25%
Olive Oil 10%
Shea Butter 10%
Sweet Almond Oil 10%
Castor Oil 5%

Or would I be better off completely removing the Sweet Almond Oil?

Here is your recipe.

Palm Oil 40%
Coconut Oil 25%
Olive Oil 10%
Shea Butter 10%
Sweet Almond Oil 10%
Castor Oil 5%


Here is how I would change it.

Palm oil 30%
Coconut oil 20%
Olive Oil 30%
Shea Butter 10%
Almond oil 5%
Castor oil 5%

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

Ah, okay.

Now if you don't mind me asking, why those percents? Is it just something you eventually learn, or is there a deeper reason? Thanks again for your help.

Olive oil is an excellent oil for soap, but it doesn't create many bubbles. Castor is good for that.
Most people find coconut oil over 20% drying, so I lowered your %.
Shea butter has unsaponifiables, but it also acts to make your soap harder.
Palm creates a harder bar, but technically you don't need it to make good soap. I don't use palm at all.
Almond oil is a nice addition, but I find I don't notice a difference between soap that has it and soap that doesn't.

Go ahead and play with your oils for now. You might find a simple recipe like 45% olive, 30% palm, 5% castor and 20% coconut will give you the qualities for a good soap with just 4 oils.

Always run ANY recipe with a lye calculator, even recipes from books. For a small recipe, I would convert ounces into grams for better accuracy. For a converted recipe that ends up with three decimal point like 4.257 (for example), round up your oils and round down your lye. I normally superfat at 7%. Add all your oils and butters right up front. There is no need to add anything at trace, like some of the older books advise. Soap at trace still has a very active lye and it will take whatever it wants. there is no guarantee that any particular oil or butter will end up as your superfat.

Oh, and you might want to read my sticky. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3800

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

Hi Morgan! Welcome!
Soapbuddy has been soaping for a long time and we've all learned a lot from her.

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

Welcome, Morgan! Nice to meet you.

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

Thanks soapbuddy! I looked at that thread a few weeks ago to get an idea of what I'd need to buy, but missed the part about the oils. There's definitely a lot more information there than in the book I bought.

Hi ljm1180 and sudsyfun! Nice to meet you.

You're welcome morgansoaps! Have fun with your new addiction errrh, hobby!

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

Hi, morgansoaps, and welcome!

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- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
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Welcome! Hopefully we can help you with any future questions!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist