Teach Soap

You guys must stick together there is safety in numbers! Besides you have much different ideas and it's fun for a different perspective! So welcome back Dave and ahum where have you been? Soaping we hope!

That makes sense about the creativity being part of the fun of making soap and I may get there eventually. Since I've only made a total of about 6 batches of soap though, I'm not feeling anywhere near confident enough yet to start creating my own recipes.

I'm still learning all the basics, like recognizing when the soap mixture has seized (did that 4 weeks ago), like not adding citrus fragrance when the soap mixture is still too hot (did that 3 weeks ago), or not substituting too high of a percentage of canola oil for olive oil (did that 2 weeks ago).

I have not yet even been able to try out my first bar of handmade soap as it won't be finished curing until this weekend. BTW, if you don't hear back from me after this weekend, someone please call the police to come out and check on me to see if I have spontaneously combusted in my shower while using a bar of handmade lavender soap.

Thanks guys. It's great to be back. You're hysterical with the Daniel Craig bit.....very funny!! I was in Italy on the family vineyard for several months. The parents are aging and we had to make some business decisions about exporting that were difficult and time consuming. Also, my wife is Russian and has a clothing line that she wants to merge with another designer. In other words; a lot of business. But in all, we spend most of the time with our families which was wonderful because we're all getting older and you can never get the time back. This gets me choked up but I haven't made a bar of soap in months. Been going through withdrawls. That's going to change because we're back home and after the horses are fed tonight, it's soap time!!

And yes Midnightstorm (love your name by the way), being creative is what makes soapmaking so much fun. Just be sure to keep copius notes on your projects and ask people for their feedback....even if they didn't like it. That's how you'll be able to tailor a wonderful soap. It's fun, and very enjoyable. Welcome to the addiction.

I am new to soap making too and I am willing to share recipes that have worked well for me. Keep in mind that you can alter the size of a recipe to fit your mold. This is just a math thing by calculating the percent of each ingredient in the original recipe then substitute the total amount you want your batch to be and then calculate the weight of each ingredient in you new batch. THEN RUN IT THROUGH A LYE CALCULATOR TO GET THE AMOUNT OF LYE AND WATER YOU NEED. If you have a problem with this email me at schraderpl@hotmail.com and I can help you with the math part.

Recipes:
I like Anne-Maries recipe for Shea Butter Soap. This recipe is located at the beginning of this forum.
http://www.millersoap.com is a great place for recipes. I like Kathy Millers Soap Classic. I use her suggestion for substituting some cocoa butter for some of the olive oil AND I like to add a little castor oil 5-8%

I also have a good recipe for oatmeal cookies that I share!

One more thing.

I feel when you start a new hobby if you don't start off with some success you will not continue. I think coming up with your own recipe or modifying a recipe to make it your own should come after you have been successful with something basic. Let's face it. This is not a cheap hobby and I would bet most of us are not going into the soap making business so money is an issue.

This is a wonderful forum and I have been indebted to everyone who has shared. I hope my thoughts have not alienated anyone.

I'm looking forward to getting enough experience under my belt to start creating recipes Just not quite there yet. In the meantime, I feel like I'm on a scavenger hunt to find some of the things called for in the basic soap recipes I've found. I looked at Walmart tonight for Aloe Vera but didn't find any that didn't have other things in it.

I'm looking forward to making this shaving bar recipe. Women's shaving cream/gel is usually more expensive than men's so I hope it works well.

I have been making soap for a little over a year and just have reached the point where I will repeat one of my receipes. I would change and change again depending on what I read or what I had available to me.

Sorry to hear about the aloe vera gel... I was going to walmart tomorrow to look for it??? I did look at walgreens but only found the ones mixed with alot of other additives. Maybe I will try on-line. I have a years worth of mistakes to blend together.

Don't let that last statement get you down.... there was only one batch that was not useable! And that was because of the additive I put in it. So no matter what oil blend you try it should all be soap.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

After I got home from Wally World last night, I looked online for a 100% Aloe Vera Gel that might be carried at chain stores. According to Walmart.com, my local Walmart is supposed to have this one:

I think when I was at Walmart last night, the employee steered me wrong. She was the one who said she didn't think they carried anything that was 100%. I also asked her about 100% cocoa butter and she told me the same thing. I guess I should question that as well.

At least now I know what the 100% Aloe Vera product looks like and I should be able to find it myself if my local Walmart really does have it. The more things I can find locally, the more I save on shipping. I'd rather use that saved shipping money for things like fragrance and essential oils.

I also looked on line last night, found that brand you did but also found another brand - lily of the desert- and it has a few less additives. I now have the cost in my head what it would be per bottle with shipping included. I did find some aloe serum, but was pricey at 5.00 per oz without adding shipping in. So I off now to see what I can find... i will let you know.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Have you tried health food stores? They are pretty explicit in their products being natural so to speak and you just might find it there. I've picked up many fun things at health food stores to try!

Mella, I did think about that. The problem today was I went to the other side of the town. Ended up at Target, yes they had some aloe gel, but again had alot of additives in it. So I will continue on my search, maybe put my DH on it... he likes running errands

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

OMG . . . that company is sooo sneaky!

I didn't realize this was not 100% Aloe Vera. After I read your post, I googled it again and looked more closely. It was only then that I noticed the label actually says '100% Gel' and NOT '100% Aloe Vera'. That labeling is obviously meant to mislead. Guess I will have to look at the health food store for something that is 100% Aloe if that's what the shaving bar recipe calls for.

Of course, if Aloe costs a lot at the health food store then that kind of defeats my purpose since the whole idea was to make something that would save me money on buying shaving gels/creams at the store.

You don't have to use aloe for shaving soap. Although it does feel better on the skin. A Wholefoods done the road from me sells it for $12 per liter. That's roughly a quart, if you're left handed. The big ingredient is bentonite. Aloe is just icing on the cake. Don't buy "Aloe Drink" or "Coctail" because it contains preservatives. I buy a brand called "Georges". It's 100% liquid aloe with not additives or preservatives.

$12 per liter is a very good price. So do you get that brand locally or on the net? I am thinking about using it in the rebatch I need to do, mostly to moisturize the skin, as my mother is still dealing with the wild parsnip rash she got this summer. I even considered extracting it from my aloe plant, but am afraid that would take my entire plant to give me even a smaller quanity.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!