Thread: making soap

Originally Posted by mrjynx

@nounou- So is that virgin olive oil? cos thats what I use... Ive never saved the excess to see how it sets after being cooked... cos that would be great. I like the idea of recycling things.

That lye calculator will come in handy..


Whats the difference between..
Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)
Potassium Hydroxide (KOH)

yes old ollive oil from "la tortilla!!!" or sunflower oil or any cooking oil...lard as well...

I believe NaOH is for hard soap
KOH is for liquid soap

@nounou- So is that virgin olive oil? cos thats what I use

CarrieM uses pomace olive oil in her soaps,

She makes bath bars and shaving soaps, She is still working on getting the shave soap formula down. You want a creamy lather that hold up well, not too bubbly or it doesn't hold up well. and dries out too fast.

Originally Posted by 0livia

Potassium Hydroxide is weaker and requires more water.
Its for cream soap.
You need Sodium Hydroxide.
Watch out for the difference when you calculate.

Oh kay.. thank you.

I think I`m going to have a go at making some from olive oil, sodium hydroxide and bentonite Clay... theyre all cheap and readily available..
Then I can decide after that if anything else needs adding...
It`ll certainly be a cheaper alternative.. and a learning experience..
Ive been looking for something to do with my old cooking oil.
Now to save up some oil... I`ll post my results..

Thank you everyone

this is the easy way, as mentioned above:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...adventure.html


basically, all soap is made from fat and a powerful alkaline. historically, this was ashes and animal fat, people use other things today.

Originally Posted by mrjynx

I just read the wiki on soap... Im a bit confused.

What are the simplest ingredients shaving soap can be made from.

I`m talking soap without a scent.. just raw soap.

What would have been used historically before anything exotic would have been imported.

Granny Clampett's lye soap made down by the cement pond!
tallow (fat), and sodium hydroxide, (lye also called caustic soda)!
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