Teach Soap

Hi! I'm Stephanie, wife, mom, homeschooler and crafter. I've been wanting to make soap for about a year, and a few weeks ago I decided to get well acquainted with CP method so I could get started in the near future. I am hoping to use the soap for Christmas gifts for family, friends and school staff. I've become mildly obsessed and have even started dreaming about soap!

I really want to try the Break The Rules recipe as the ingredients appeal to me but I'm not sureif that's a good starting point. I see so many recipes callin for olive oil but I really don't like the smell of OO. Does the smell remain?

I like light scents and natural colors so I'm thinking of doing an unscented, coconut heavy bath and maybe one milk and honey batch to start.

I'm do excited to start! I'm afraid of two things - ill crash and burn and waste a lot of money, or that I'll become addicted and spent a small fortune making soap

The smell of olive oil doesn't persist through the saponification process. Even a 100% olive oil batch doesn't get the smell! I dislike the smell too!

Welcome to the boards, and the addiction! Those dreams will only get more and more common hehe

_________________
~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Welcome, Stephanie! And welcome to your addiction! It will be an addiction! I take my iPad to bed nightly to get my internet soap searches and YouTube soap video fix - last night I startled myself when I was starting to doze off and the iPad smacked me in the face ever so gently

Heather is right - the dreams will become more common. If there's advice for this, always keep a journal handy for you never know when you will wake up with the most awesome idea for a soap creation.

_________________
- Stacey -

Anyone's life truly consists of work, sunshine, exercise, soap, plenty of fresh air, and a happy contented spirit. - Lillie Langtry

Welcome! I'm a fellow homeschooler-turned-soap-addict . You'll be hooked, so pace yourself!
My first batch was a super simple one-----water, lye, and olive oil. No color, no fragrance, no fancy stuff . I think most people here will advise you to start with a simple, basic recipe so that you get a feel for the "normal" soaping process and then go from there. If you start off with an unusual recipe, you might run into more difficulties than you would with a simple one. Plus, if you want to make soaping a long-term hobby/addiction/business, you really need to know how the basics work.
This forum is a great place to read and learn. If you have a question and can't find the answer, just ask! There's a world of soap knowledge to gain.....

_________________
Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

Hi Stephanie and welcome to the addiction! You'll find that we're all enablers here.

A simple 1-2# recipe with only a few oils and no color or scent is the best place to start - it gives you a better feel for the whole process.

When you say "coconut heavy" do you mean coconut oil? Because if you do, your soap could be very drying. Most soapers try to keep the coconut oil at 20% or less of the recipe. I would also recommend holding off on a milk and honey soap until after you've made a few batches. You use a slightly different process when using milk and adding honey makes it much easier for your soap to overheat.

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

Welcome! Start simple and small. For a 1 lb. batch, I would convert it to grams for better accuracy. I suggest that you read this thread> viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3800

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

Hi Stephanie, I'm in the same place as you, new here and still researching, trying right now to decide on which formula's I want to try first. Hubby said I could buy my supplies, so, I need to know what oils!

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

Redwood, I find high coconut % to be drying, although it doesn't seem to worry my family, but I make the soap! So there!!!

I've made a very similar recipe to the one Linda listed & was worried about the coconut, but I think because it's got a high olive oil % it's moisturising. It really makes a lovely soap

Thank you Rochy, I just may try that one. I was wanting to make a 100% coconut oil soap for turning into laundry detergent anyway.

Thanks! I can tell you will be enablers lol. I've been reading the forums for several days and watching soap queen videos. My 6 year old is already saying "are you on soap queen AGAIN?" haha. I thought it was weird that she uses glass but everyone here says thats a no-no.

I really want to try a cocoa butter recipe. If I start with grocery store oils where would I get lye? I was thinking of getting everything from bramble berry for about $100 - oils, scale, lye, one coloring, molds for about 4 lbs worth, etc.

I was also considering starting off with a bramble berry shredded base and just do a rebatch but I'm on the fence about that.

Has anyone tried the break the rules soap?

Welcome to the forum

I've done a break the rules soap recipe, I don't know if it's the same one you're talking about. 75% coconut oil & 25% cocoa butter?

You may be able to get lye at a hardware store if you have one in your area. Like Ace Hardware or Menards.

_________________
Genny

If you can't find lye locally, you can order from any number of places online. BrambleBerry carries it and lots of soapers use Essential Depot for lye.

_________________
Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts