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dxw

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I am a brand-new noob soap-maker ... first cold-process batch last weekend, and second yesterday. I live near Wellington, New Zealand, with my wife, a variable number of children, and some dogs and cats.

My motivation to start was a "surely I can fix that" response to my wife suffering skin allergy problems with most laundry detergents, coupled with teen kids leaving home for tertiary studies and living on very tight budgets. I thought I'd try and learn about making soap so I could eventually replace some of our household cleaning products with my handmade versions :)

Having just started to dabble I find I am also loving the chemistry and learning so much about things I'd never given a thought to ... like grapefruitseed extract and anti-oxidation / rancidity prevention. I made myself a little mould from scrap timber ... awful mitred corners but it will do for the time being, and line it with baking paper to make the blocks. I have my eye on some of those nice silicone loaf moulds with wooden boxes, but freighting costs kinda double their price right now. That can wait.

I've tidied some bench area in our outdoor shed, scoured op-shops in the area for suitable utensils, and plugged-in an old rusty refrigerator. I now have power, equipment, bench and shelf space, storage but no running water. So far so good.

My first batch was a simple 70% olive and 30% coconut oil, with around 5% over-fatting. I clearly under-scented it, using rosewater, and am a little worried about the olive oil smell - just olive oil, not rancid. It might also end up being my first attempt at melting down and remaking, so I can add more fragrance. The olive oil smell seems to be waning as it cures, maybe the rose water will come forth over time.
This one (especially the smell) also got me wondering whether I could be selective with over-fatting, perhaps by adding the desired overfat oil later in the process (edit: hmphhh, one of the sites you referred me to has debunked that theory).

My second effort was 38% olive, 32% coconut, 15% sunflower, 10% castor, and 5% shea butter. I added the shea after trace, to see how that works. Both wife and daughter love Earl Grey Tea so I tried to make this an earl grey tea soap - bergamot oil and some ground-up tea. I only just cut it this morning but it smells fantastic and the bars feel quite creamy. Fingers crossed.

I'll be scouring these forums for knowledge and ideas, and probably asking lots of questions - hopefully not too many too stupid.


(edit: p.s. and now I have read the 'culture and tone' thread I will not mention my op-shop pyrex ... while I quietly replace it. Stainless steel?)
 
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Waves from across the ditch :wave:

A workspace ... sweet.

A couple of things ... it's superfatting, not overfatting (details of terminology only, but useful).
(Terminology can be found in The Acronym and Abbreviation Definition Thread )

If you're going stainless (which I've used for over a decade without any trouble), go marine grade (or 316) if you can.
Food grade is usually good, but avoid aluminium and chromed items (that pretend to be stainless) at all costs.
Alternatively, a good sturdy jug can be sourced from feed stores for cheap, they are heavy duty polypropylene (#5) and built for chemical use.

I'm not overly fond of the olive smell either. Woodsy, herb and mints scents cover it up really well (cedarwood, patchouli, lavender, rosemary, peppermint etc.). If you want to drop the amount of coconut (it can be irritating to some people's skin in larger amounts), you can add a little sugar to increase the bubbles.

I like the sound of your Earl Grey soap!

Anyway, welcome aboard!
 
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Hey and welcome!

Your wife will probably appreciate a maximum amount of coconut oil at 15%. It can be very stripping on the skin.

In order to get a true super-fat (AKA overfatting), you have to hot process (HP) it so that it goes trough saponification. Otherwise the lye will take what it wants. You would do yourself a large favor if you read this about superfatting: https://classicbells.com/soap/superfat.html

Matter of fact, DeeAnna has such a wealth of info on that site that you would do yourself a huge favor if you bookmarked it. Just sayin'.
 
Hi SaltedFig, and thanks. I hope you're not roasting too much atm, it's hot enough here.

Thanks for the terminology check. I'll get there, eventually :)

I have a collection of old, student days, el-cheapo nested stainless steel bowls and a few heavier coffee-maker jugs. Hopefully, if I get a largish poly jug for the lye mix I will probably be okay for a wee while.

Sounds like if my olive soap doesn't descent with curing, I might try to mask with lavender for a rebaqtch exercise.

Excellent, thanks Susie. I will read there and add it to my growing soap-making bookmarks directory.
 
Not today, but it's roasting time again in a few days :)

The nested bowls sound just right.

The smell of freshly made soap is always stronger, the smell does tone down a lot after curing. If you do rebatch, maybe keep a couple of bars to check out how the soap changes over time.
 
I am a brand-new noob soap-maker ... first cold-process batch last weekend, and second yesterday.
Congratulations! Both of your batches sound really nice... esp. the Earl Grey. Keep up the good work!

my wife suffering skin allergy problems with most laundry detergents,
That could be due to the fragrance as well. You may want to keep that in mind. I had problems using fragrance oils early on and it took some time to find ones that didn't irritate my sensitive skin, but I have no problems at all using essential oils to scent my soap.

I thought I'd try and learn about making soap so I could eventually replace some of our household cleaning products with my handmade versions
Like most soapers, I make all my own household cleaning products. Easy to do and VERY cost effective.

like grapefruitseed extract and anti-oxidation / rancidity prevention.
Grapefruit seed extract was once used to prevent rancidity but is no longer considered effective, plus it's expensive, IF you can find it. A better alternative is ROE, Rosemary Oleoresin Extract -- follow manufacturer's use rate. I've used antioxidants ROE & Vitamin E in every batch since 2004 and never had a problem with rancidity or DOS (so-called "Dreaded Orange Spots" that show up during cure). That being said, it's not essential at all to making good soap.

I have my eye on some of those nice silicone loaf moulds with wooden boxes, but freighting costs kinda double their price right now. That can wait.
You might be able to find a silicone mold for meat loaf at a kitchen supply shop or possibly a thrift store. Set it inside a shoebox to stablize it if need be.
The olive oil smell seems to be waning as it cures, maybe the rose water will come forth over time.
Rosewater is nice in other products such as lotion and linen/body sprays but won't scent soap, at least, not in my experience.

(edit: p.s. and now I have read the 'culture and tone' thread I will not mention my op-shop pyrex ... while I quietly replace it. Stainless steel?)
Although it is frowned upon, some members, myself included, use Pyrex. The recommended #2 and #5 plastic containers I tried both failed when I got a batch of NaOH lye that heated up to over 150°F/65°C. One degraded the plastic into the lye solution (ACK!) and I had to dump it and start over; the other container just kinda crumpled under the intense heat. Just don't tell anyone and you'll be fine. :silent: (...I'm taking a deep breath and tiptoeing away, hoping to escape the tongue-lashing that's sure to follow )
HTH (Hope This Helps) & Welcome! :bunny:
 
:bunny:

Your olive/coconut combo is great for swirling, but it with not last at all I the shower IMO.

Please post pictures!
 
Zany_in_CO: Thanks very much for all the comments. So, so, so much to learn and experience and ... I daresay ... messup with.
Great info and advice there.

...I'm taking a deep breath and tiptoeing away, hoping to escape the tongue-lashing that's sure to follow

Yeah, every community has *those* topics. I won't tell anyone, I promise.

"in_CO", that's, like, the US state? If so, I spent a couple weeks conferencing in Denver in 2016 ... what a fantastic city! We got a slightly freakish snowfall, mid-May, which just added to the wonderful time. One of the great US cities for foreigners to spend time in IMHO.
 
Congratulations! Both of your batches sound really nice... esp. the Earl Grey. Keep up the good work!

I am loving the scent and feel of the Earl Grey effort, already. Lets see how it ages now :)

That could be due to the fragrance as well. You may want to keep that in mind. I had problems using fragrance oils early on and it took some time to find ones that didn't irritate my sensitive skin, but I have no problems at all using essential oils to scent my soap.

Yes, indeed I think it may well have been the fragrances.

Like most soapers, I make all my own household cleaning products. Easy to do and VERY cost effective.

Learning / making priority at the moment is cold-process bar soaps - useful and good starter place I reckon. Next it's Shampoo, probably a solid shampoo effort first - gulp, a dive into other dimensions of cosmetic / cleaning chemistry. Reading up atm. Then potassium based liquids and laundry soaps. I reckon that's a pretty decent learning schedule for the next year :)

Grapefruit seed extract was once used to prevent rancidity but is no longer considered effective, plus it's expensive, IF you can find it. A better alternative is ROE, Rosemary Oleoresin Extract ...

I got some grapefruit seed extract and used it in my earl grey effort. I'll look at ROE for the future, thanks.

The idea of grapefruit also resonated well with the bergamot idea for earl grey.

You might be able to find a silicone mold for meat loaf at a kitchen supply shop or possibly a thrift store. Set it inside a shoebox to stablize it if need be.

I used a silicon loaf cake 'tin' and a similar muffin tray for overflow, for my first effort. My little scrap-timber mould was great for the earl grey effort, which I only made a very small quantity of, and delivered a nicer rectangular cross-section IMHO.

I'll get some dedicated silicon soap moulds over time ... my birthday is not far away :)

Rosewater is nice in other products such as lotion and linen/body sprays but won't scent soap, at least, not in my experience.

Hmmmm, thanks. Maybe I will repurpose the rose-water effort into lavender ... always popular in our household. I love rosewater and orangewater, especially from Middle Eastern / Mediterranean sweets.

HTH (Hope This Helps) & Welcome!

A big help for somebody so early on the (steep) learning curve. Thank you very much.
 
:bunny:

Hello and welcome! Your Earl Grey Soap sounds amazing. Would love to see pictures if you are able.

For soaping I use HDPE or Polypropylene plastic containers. I heat my oils in a rice cooker and the lye in one of those plastic containers. Once everything is at the right temp (for me, between 96-100F), I mix them together in an easy pour HDPE 2L or 4L measuring cup. I can look up the brand when I get home if you are interested.
 
Thanks elurah

I am enjoying the 'so much to learn' part of this. Everywhere I look there's new stuff to learn ... and some of those SMF-challenge videos and results are just awesome.

Organisation and rememberings is gonna be a problem. I have already 'lost' the great site I was reading yesterday, about making shampoo. Oh well, it will turn up again.

Edit: Found it - http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.co.nz/2009/05/road-trip-essentials-solid-shampoo-bar.html - yay more to read.

Would love to see pictures if you are able.

I have found a cute packaging idea on the web - soap teabags. Once I have tried that I'll go for a photo effort :)

p.s. It's not a sickness, right, to check my curing collection everyday ... is it? Sheesh, they don't seem to have changed a bit since yesterday :)
 
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Hiya and welcome from across the ditch! I spent some time in Wellington last year and really enjoyed it. Beat the pants off Auckland and Hamilton that's for sure. My partner's family is from Te Aroha in the Waikato, it was my first trip to meet them and what a beautiful country.

Have so much fun with your new hobby :)
 
Hiya and welcome from across the ditch! I spent some time in Wellington last year and really enjoyed it. Beat the pants off Auckland and Hamilton that's for sure. My partner's family is from Te Aroha in the Waikato, it was my first trip to meet them and what a beautiful country.

Have so much fun with your new hobby :)

Thanks Primrose.

Wellington is quite the lovely little city ... hugely over-serviced for its population. I am not terribly inappropriately biased. Actually an Aussie who has only been here for 17 years now.

The web and soapmaking are not a good combo. everywhere I look there's awesome things to see or watch. Just now decided I *need* to make amethyst jewel bar soaps. I guess I will have to now learn to make clear base soap for melt-and-pour efforts ... tomorrow maybe :)
 
..."in_CO", that's, like, the US state? If so, I spent a couple weeks conferencing in Denver in 2016 ... what a fantastic city! We got a slightly freakish snowfall, mid-May, which just added to the wonderful time. One of the great US cities for foreigners to spend time in IMHO.
Yes, I'm in Lone Tree, Colorado, a 30-minute drive southeast of Denver. Sadly, many visitors don't get out of the city. Had I known you were coming, I would have whisked you off for a half-hour drive up I-70, where there's an overlook to view the most jaw-dropping sight -- the Great Divide along the Rocky Mountains. It's my favorite spot in the whole wide world. Altho, I hafta say, New Zealand is on my bucket list. Cross fingers...
Cross Fingers.jpg

...p.s. It's not a sickness, right, to check my curing collection everyday ... is it? Sheesh, they don't seem to have changed a bit since yesterday :smile:
A sickness? No, no, no... around here, that's normal! And what's more, there's NO cure for it! No matter how long you've been at it. I bet you talk to them too, yes?
 
I bet you talk to them too, yes?

Not yet, but I did bring a block into the house to show/smell for youngest child ... because he had not seen them yet. He asked a lot of disturbingly difficult questions about the chemistry. Apparently soap chemistry is a junior secondary school chemistry topic. Who'da known? :)
 
Not yet, but I did bring a block into the house to show/smell for youngest child ... because he had not seen them yet. He asked a lot of disturbingly difficult questions about the chemistry. Apparently soap chemistry is a junior secondary school chemistry topic. Who'da known? :)

I’m sure I didn’t do soapmaking at my school but DH said they would have covered the topic. I must have slept through it all.
 
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I’m sure I didn’t do siapnaking at my school but DH said they would have covered the topic. I must have slept through it all.

Two of our kids advised that they had done a module on soap in chemistry. Our middle child regaled me with stories of the evil caustic 'gloop' that they produced in the practical session, which made my novice attempts all the more credible in her eyes :)
 

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