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Author Topic: Soap Making  (Read 7847 times)

Offline luvin honey

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Re: Soap Making
« Reply #80 on: December 22, 2009, 12:59:33 am »
I was looking into making soap last year and gave up because I couldn't find lye and was under the impression you couldn't get it anymore.

Where on Earth can you purchase lye???


Hi Derrick--I've also had great luck finding it in farm-supply stores and hardware stores in the plumbing section. It's never labeled as lye but as drain cleaner or similar. It is NaOH or sodium hydroxide, 100%, or caustic soda.
The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.
---Emily Dickinson

Offline luvin honey

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Re: Soap Making
« Reply #81 on: December 22, 2009, 01:06:49 am »
Should have been using something to mix it with instead of my hand, but oh well.

BTW - I didn't even notice that one of my gloves did have a tear in it until later... and found that lye is pretty much like bleach... you have to rinse it forever to get that slimy feeling to go away, but other than that, you don't notice it much... apart from the heat when mixing it...
Holy cow! I hope you're kidding! How about a wooden spoon, whisk or stick blender? Seriously, lye can cause serious burns so your hand is about the last thing you want in it.

I learned on another forum that lye is deactivated by vinegar, so just spray vinegar on anything/place lye has splashed. Goggles for your eyes, though!
The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.
---Emily Dickinson

Offline luvin honey

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Re: Soap Making
« Reply #82 on: December 22, 2009, 01:13:13 am »
to start with used fryer oil instead of olive oil - I hope you didnt fry fish -my god its soap not axel grease - :) dont think you can wing it when it comes to soap -ingredients need to be pure and exact-dont give up-you will get the right combination after you spend several hundred dollars for ingredients and finaly get $2.00 worth of soap :-D RDY-B

Well, for my first batch, I didn't want to really spend that much on olive oil for something I knew I would likely screw up... plus, I'm not going to sell this batch or anything, even if I did get it right.  Remember, I'm still in the experimentation phase here... and it pays to use cheap materials to experiment with... it doesn't get any cheaper than using up some of the old fryer grease we keep saving because we don't want to throw it down the drain or out in the trash... and the grease doesn't smell bad or anything.  'Sides, we have a vacation comming up in the next few weeks, so I'm all about saving money right now.
The only thing is, each oil works differently, so you really need to either work it all out mathematically or use a lye calculator like on thesage.com to help you figure out how much lye and liquid you need for the exact amounts of oils you have. Good luck!
The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.
---Emily Dickinson

Offline luvin honey

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Re: Soap Making
« Reply #83 on: December 22, 2009, 01:25:40 am »
I've been making soap like a crazy woman for over a month now, and I have a favorite: EIEIO. It has a bunch of farm ingredients like egg yolks, beeswax, honey, oats, goat's milk, propolis. If anybody would like it, I'll dig out the recipe and add it tomorrow.

I've been having fun using around-the-house containers for molds. My favorite so far: Old soy milk container and oatmeal canister. When the soap is firm, I just cut off the containers around it and peel the soap out.

Sarafina: I made beeswax and honey soap with a blend of eucalyptus/peppermint/rosemary EOs, another with cinnamon leaf EO and a third with peanut butter to make Bit O' Honey soap. My favorite is NO scent, as the scent-free beeswax/honey soap smells so wonderfully honey and nutty all on its own. It smells more like Bit O' Honey than the BOH soap!


I love the enthusiasm of all you soapers and hope this thread thrives all winter!
The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.
---Emily Dickinson

Offline annette

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Re: Soap Making
« Reply #84 on: December 23, 2009, 03:06:33 pm »
I have enjoyed reading this post. I want to get into soapmaking at some point. Right now I am sticking to body products like lotions, creams, balms, etc.

Offline luvin honey

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Re: Soap Making
« Reply #85 on: December 23, 2009, 05:49:59 pm »
Annette--Do your products use ingredients from the hive?
The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.
---Emily Dickinson

Offline annette

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Re: Soap Making
« Reply #86 on: December 24, 2009, 10:21:03 pm »
I make mostly products using my beeswax, but lately I have branched out and I am making a different sort of lotion that doesn't use any beeswax. 

Offline Robo

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Re: Soap Making
« Reply #87 on: December 26, 2009, 09:39:38 am »
I love the enthusiasm of all you soapers and hope this thread thrives all winter!

If you haven't had a chance to listen to the podcast we did with Monica Warner,  I would highly recommend it.   She shared a wealth of information including some great websites to get lye, essential oils, and the other supplies at great prices. 

http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/making-products-from-the-hive-with-monica-warner/
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison



Offline blckoakbees

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Re: Soap Making
« Reply #88 on: January 10, 2010, 03:23:55 am »
 :) :shock: I am glad I asked about soapmaking.  I have made a couple of batches and my family loves it.  However, there are so many people selling soap at the craft fairs it really does not sell that well.  Most people are simply melting stuff adding fragrace and putting them in molds.

I did find a great mold which is easy.  PVC pipe makes really nice looking round soaps.  I really enjoy the soap making and will continue as it makes great presents.  I would love to have some more recipes for those who are willing to share.

Thanks.

JA

Offline luvin honey

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Re: Soap Making
« Reply #89 on: January 13, 2010, 09:59:45 pm »
Hi blckoakbees--I'm glad you started this topic, too :)

Can you tell me more about the PVC pipe? I've also read of people heating the pipes and smooshing them down to form an oval mold. Do you grease yours? Line it? How do you get the hardened soap out?


Here's my favorite recipe so far, but keep in mind I'm new at this. I love it because it has beeswax, honey and other farm products, is beautiful and a great soap.

The original was called EIEIO, but I have revamped it a bit:

I poured mine at a thin-medium trace into a loaf pan lined with bubble wrap, bubbly side facing up, very well greased with olive oil. When I peeled the wrap off the next day, the soap had a very cool honeycomb appearance to it :)

EIEIO (revised from The Soapmaker's Companion, Susan Miller Cavitch)
13 oz coconut oil
13 oz olive oil (save aside 1 cup oil)
13 oz palm kernel oil
6 oz lard
5 oz corn oil
5 oz sunflower oil
2 oz beeswax
_______________
Total oil: 57 oz

4 egg yolks, room temp
1/4 cup mixture of dried oatmeal (ground), wheat germ and cornmeal
12 grams grapefruit seed extract (optional preservative that I did not use)
7 tsp pure EO or FO (optional, and I did not use)

Total liquid: 19 oz (suggestion is 6.25 oz goat's milk/12.75 oz water)
Lye: 8.25 oz

Fats and oils: 100 F
Lye solution: 85 F

Add lye to water, mix well and let cool to 85 F. Mix egg yolks into set-aside 1 cup olive oil (oil at 85 F). Heat goat's milk gently to 80 F (I did not do this but instead chilled it as much as possible) and drizzle into the lye solution. Immediately add the milk/lye mixture to the oil (100 F), beating briskly. After 1-2 min of blending, drizzle in the well-blended egg/olive oil mixture, stirring briskly the entire time to present the egg yolks from curdling. At trace, add the oats/corn/wheat germ. Enjoy!


The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.
---Emily Dickinson

Offline BingalingBees

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Re: Soap Making
« Reply #90 on: January 21, 2014, 12:28:58 pm »
Please, if you're making cold processed soap wear protective glasses/goggles and use a lye calculator to make sure you have your oils vs lye solution ratios right on.

I use: https://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php
« Last Edit: January 21, 2014, 02:17:53 pm by Robo »
Brad Raspet - Mount Vernon, WA
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