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Newby looking forward to experiment with soaping. Definitely wanted to join a forum to expedite growth. So far, most of my soaping haS been limited to melt and pour. I just received my scale from AMAZON today so tomorrow I'll start with my first attempt at cold process soap. Most likely, a coconut oil based soap for starters. I love coconut so it seems logical to me to try CO soap first. Looking forward to learning from you all! So far, I've been reading your posts and looks like I'm home.
Thanks in advance for all you'll do for me. If anybody has a favorite coconut oil recipe you want to share... God bless!!!
 
Hola y bien venido! If you're thinking of making a high CO soap, you also need to have a high superfat to counteract the cleansing value of the coconut. Maybe try just 30% CO to start (even that is considered high by most soapers).

You could try 30 CO, 30% OO, 35% palm/lard/tallow/soy wax and 5 % castor. See how that goes.
 
Hola from Colorado USA!

There are many Newbies and Semi-newbies here so you are in good company. You might want to take some time to read info posted on the Beginner's Forum -- especially the Stickies. There's lots of good information there to help you. Take a cuppa along and scroll down to Lovin' Soap Studio to get a handle on most of the stuff we talk about here.

To save time, money, and frustration, this is a good read for a soaper at your stage of experience:
Q: What advice would you give to your beginning soaping self?

Most of the equipment you need you probably already have in your kitchen, with the exception of a stick blender which you might find at a thrift store or Walmart, Target, etc. You can use a whisk to bring soap to trace, but a stick blender is faster.

LYE NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide): Walmart carries Red Crown Lye made by Boyer Corp, a long-time supplier to the soapmaking community.

For very little expense, you can buy lard at the grocery store which makes a fine bar of soap all by itself. You can use it along with coconut & olive oil to make the Basic Trinity of Oils starter formula to get off on a good foundation.

Plan on making small 1 pound (500g) batches at first to get the hang of it. Molds can be made from milk cartons, plastic containers or cardboard boxes lined with plastic bags or freezer paper.

Run all recipes through a calculator like SoapCalc first. There's good directions for Getting Started at the top of the page. Then hover your mouse over each number to find out what to do at each step.

You can get feedback by starting a new thread on the Recipe Feedback Forum (non-soap items too). Best to do that BEFORE you try a new recipe. :D

If you like chemistry, @DeeAnna's Soapy Stuff is a good read for Newbies & experienced soapers alike. It's a treasure trove of all things soapy.

The best way to search SMF: Look for the SpyGlass in the upper right corner of this page or GOOGLE (type your keywords here) site:soapmakingforum.com

HAPPY SOAPING!:computerbath:
 
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Welcome to the forum. A soap high in coconut oil will not last as long as those made with a combination of oils. Coconut oil soap is highly soluble in water.
 
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