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Nuddle

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Hi, saying hello, I have wanted to try and make soap for years, but every time I looked into it, the thought of using the lye scared me off, and I pushed it out of my mind, only to be back there a few months later.
So I finally had a go today, it was a disaster, and kind of cranky that I have wasted all that oil, as I think I will be throwing it away , but I am now more determined to make it work.

The biggest reason I want to make it is ,that I want to make a shampoo bar.. maybe thats not a good start, maybe I should start with a basic soap recipe.

I attempted the hot process, as I am not very patient, but after today, think I will try the cold process instead and just try to be patient.

Can anyone share a very basic recipe to start with?
 
Rather than share a recipe, I suggest reading a lot of the posts here in the beginner section, the cp section, recipe feedback, and recipe tutorials section. These are full of not only starting recipes, but also the information on why it is a good starting recipe, what to look out for, how to actually go about making the soap in a safe and effective way, how to use a lye calculator, how to adjust recipe size - and so on. In short, it'll give you a great basis in soaping rather than just "make this soap"
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. The advice above is very good. There are recipes available on the site. As well as discussions ast to why most don't use soap on their hair. Check it out. They are all great reads.
 
Hi, and welcome to the forum. Soaping 101 and the Soap Queen YouTubes have great tutorials for beginners.
 
Welcome!

Here's a good, basic recipe, all ingredients available at Wal-Mart. (except lye)
Hot process is not harder than cold process. The recipes are the same and the end product is pretty much the same (some cosmetic differences) but the process is different.

50% lard, tallow or palm.
- Lard - Armor brand, green and white container. (in my area)
- Tallow - Great Value brands shortening (not veg shortening)
- palm - spectrum shortening
20% coconut
25% olive
5% castor (laxative section)

5% superfat (this is the default in the calculator)

Soap is actually not good for hair. Just start with a basic hand/body soap and work up from there.
 
Welcome! It can be tempting to jump right in, but as you've learned, it can result in wasted supplies. I'd recommend doing some good research on the following topics:

1. Lye Safety
2. What different types of oils bring to a soap recipe
3. Hot process vs cold process (hint: curing time is exactly the same for both!)
4. What is superfat and what's best for your recipe
5. Learning to use a Lye Calculator (Soapee.com is great) and what Lye Concentration means
6. Curing your soaps - timeframes, airflow, storage

A good way to search this forum is to type the following into Google:

site:soapmakingforum.com your search term

And when you feel like you have a good handle on the basics and would like to try your first recipe, post it here before you make it! The members here are happy to help and make sure your next batch is awesome.
 
I started with a recipe, but my sister-in-law started with the Bramle Berry kit. She was very happy with it-- she was able to make a first soap and see if she liked the process before jumping in with both feet. I think having it all pre-measured helped her focus on the process. Warning: the next week, she went back to BB and ordered just about everything she could fit into her cart! :D
 
Welcome! I hope your second batch goes well! My first kit was the Brambleberry natural soap kit. It was really easy to use, and was a nice introduction. Also, the Soap Queen has a lot of good videos, so you should watch all of them. I branched out pretty quickly into making my own recipes. For me, that's the funnest part. Soapcalc is your friend. Make small batches, and have fun testing them. For me, we have pretty hard water, and I tend to like things that are very moisturizing, so I can customize soap for myself. I also like to use oils that I can buy locally as much as possible, so lots of lard, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, and castor oil.
 
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