Thread: Soapmaking lather question?

The whole point of which, i am told is to take advantage of the _foaming_ action from the KOH but yet to keep the puck from becoming too soft-as full KOH saponified soap would likely be.

From mine own experience I know that tallow firms up things, so maybe that offsets some of the softness given by the use of KOH.

the first experiment i may do is alter the ratio of splitting of the salts-depending on what that next batch turns out to be. that might help correct for the minor differences in calculated and actual variations of the specific acids found in my home-rendered tallow and other ingredients. Maybe i try 70/30 or 75/25, possibly 65/35. i'll let it be known when it happens.

i don't think the DIY'ers will ever overtake the sniff-and-buyers. that the mkt won't implode if we share some better information than i've been able to dig up before.

Like a chef adjusts and juggles seasonings to match the particular ingredients and mood of what he's cooking. HIS/HER big advantage is they can try the product as they go along. WE have to wait a bit.

over

Yeah see iv never ton into the detailed chemistry side of soap, with bath soaps I've never had to. But the tallow should counteract the softness of the KoH to an extent. Castor oil also helps with a hard bar of soap.

I'm located at Newcastle, about 12 hours south of Brisbane.

Any chance of posting a small batch, stove-top, step-by-step recipe for us who have never made soap before? Or a tested link?

Originally Posted by Hex

Any chance of posting a small batch, stove-top, step-by-step recipe for us who have never made soap before? Or a tested link?

This is a tallow soap I have made and like allot, however this is a bar soap not a shaving soap.

44 oz. beef tallow
20 oz. Hemp Oil
20 oz. coconut oil
12 oz. lye crystals(sodium hydroxide)
32 oz. cold water
Temps 110-115F

If you don't like hemp oil as it gives the soap a green tint, you can replace it with olive oil with just as good results.

I'll try and do a basic step by step for you.

- measure out your 32oz of water(exactly) and slowly poor in your lye crystals whilst stirring constantly, it will get hot, and wear safety glasses and gloves, and do not breath the fumes they are nasty.

-add all your oils and fats into a large pot, big enough so that the oils only come half way up the pot and heat them on the stove whilst your lye cools down. The fats and oils have to be completely melted and heated to 110-115 degrees.

-this is The tricky bit, the lye solution and oils have to be at the same temperature before you mix them, between the 110-115 as long as the temperate is the same and within that temperature range. Once the lye solution and oils are at the same temperature you can start pouring the lye into the oil mixture, slowly in a steady stream, whilst stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, or if you want to speed things up you can use a stick blender and give it a buzz every few seconds but not too much.

-now you have to keep on stirring until the mixture reaches a "trace", a trace is then you are stirring, a white cream line of liquid follows the spoon around the pot, and if you lift it out of the mixture and poor some back in from the spoon, the mixture will hit the surface and not soak in straight away(it will kind of bead for a bit, then dissolve). Once this stage is reached and the mixture is thoroughly mixed, and still warm enough to be the consistency of say, cream, you can poor it into your moulds. You can use anything for moulds, I use many rectangular cake trays, lined with baking paper.

-once you have poured the mixture into the moulds, you want to cover them with a towel and put them in a warm place for 24 hours to set.

-once they have set after 24 hours, you can remove the soap from the moulds and cut them however you like, I just do 2" slices.

-now take all your soap and place them on a rack or similar and out them away in a dark place to cure for 4 weeks.

- after 4 weeks the curing shall be done and you can use your soap.

Daniel, thank you for that detailed recipe, fascinating!
I'm wondering what material should be used for the vessels?
I'm guessing the water and lye should be mixed in glass or HDPE?
And the oil and lye solution stainless steel?
Also, at what point would you add essential oils, clay, or other additives?
Cheers!

A quick search found this source for lye and an interesting lye calculator.
I have no affiliation and only post this for interest:
Buy Lye. The place to purchase Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide on the Web. Red Devil Lye Alternatives, Wholesale or Retail.

Personally I use a big glass measuring/gravy cup to mix the lye in, and a big stainless steel pot for the oils.

All your essential oils, scents,clays and superfatting oils are added after the mixture has reached a trace.

A lye calculator is essential if you wish to create your own recipe.

There is a great thread over at Badger & Blade on home made shave soap:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...e-shaving-soap

I've done two batches with slightly different compositions based on the recipe in there, the first cold process, the second hot. That recipe uses stearic acid and both KOH and NaOH. Both my recipeds came out pretty well and I'm shaving full time with my home made soap now. The cold process one was harsh after a few weeks, but mellowed out nicely after a couple months of aging. Here is my blog post about making the cold process shave soap:
Tooling Up: Making soap

You can find all the ingredients easily online from soap making supply places, including stearic acid. I think if you can make a custard or swiss meringue buttercream frosting you can certainly make soap. Its not any more complicated than many cooking projects. There are lots of resources out there for learning how to make soap. The main challenge I encountered with the shave soap recipe is that the stearic acid seizes things up immediately on addition. There are some tips on dealing with that in the B&B thread.

-Holly

Originally Posted by HollyGates

I've done two batches with slightly different compositions based on the recipe in there, the first cold process, the second hot. That recipe uses stearic acid and both KOH and NaOH. Both my recipeds came out pretty well and I'm shaving full time with my home made soap now. Here is my blog post about making the cold process shave soap:
Tooling Up: Making soap

The main challenge I encountered with the shave soap recipe is that the stearic acid seizes things up immediately on addition. There are some tips on dealing with that in the B&B thread.

-Holly

WHOOHOO! now we're getting somewhere! thanks

Originally Posted by Hex

Daniel, thank you for that detailed recipe, fascinating!
I'm wondering what material should be used for the vessels?
I'm guessing the water and lye should be mixed in glass or HDPE?
And the oil and lye solution stainless steel?
Also, at what point would you add essential oils, clay, or other additives?
Cheers!

there are 1000 places on the web that teach cold process/hot process soap making. pick any. then twist up the recipe to make a shave soap from info you'll find here and very few other places. esp WRT salts and stearic.