Advice please

[tiffanyjayne]

When I signed up and expressed my want to learn how to make HP soap I was told to give m+p a go first to get a feel of what I wanted from soap, looks, smells ect...I successfully make 6 m+p soaps and then made my first CP soap (courtesy of Crafty Gemini on YouTube) which was 2 types of oil...no smells, no color, just a very basic test to see if I could manage well I made it 5 days ago and after cutting it and leaving it to rest it looks great, my mum is allergic to all none natural soap so I thought it'd be ideal for her

Now I'd like to get on with some HP and eventually work with natural ingredients such as whole vanilla pods and cracked black pepper but I'm happy to work with basics for a few months and get the feel for things....I just sat down to work on my next soap to realize I have no clues as to what I need, other than the two oils I used (canola and extra virgin) I don't know what can be used, what the benefits of different types are, what works well and what I should steer clear of....I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction before I spend a lot of money on ingredients that just won't go as I've spent a lot of time reading up on HP and CP soap but haven't come across the pros and cons of oils.

Thank you in advance

 

[lsg]

I would buy coconut oil and Castor oil.

 

[Obsidian]

If you aren't against using animal fat then lard or beef tallow are good options too.

 

[tiffanyjayne]

I'm more than happy to use Lard, not sure where i'd buy tallow from as we aren't so local to any butchers but i'll bare it in mind, other than putting water and lard into the lye calculators i'm a little stuck on what's next or what else i should be adding, i guess researching the effects of each one would give me the colours/smells/hardness to expect thank you for the suggestions.

 

[sistrum]

There's a lot of information on the web. Try typing in "soaping oil properties" a lot of places that sell supplies have lists. Sorry but I'm not sure how to post links.

 

[Chookie2]

The first thing i think is to learn the properties of oils available to you as some more easily available oils have a short shelf life or don't add much to soap.

Then just decide which oils are easiest for you and plug them into a soap calculator to get correct proportions of lye and water. Most important is to be exact in measuring.
Have fun experimenting.

 

[Obsidian]

Here are some good beginner recipes http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...cess-soap/my-favorite-cold-process-recipes-2/

my favorite soap calculator http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp

single oil soaps, a good read http://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm

some info on the different oils https://summerbeemeadow.com/content/properties-soapmaking-oils
http://home.windstream.net/familyjeans/propertiesofoils.html

Make sure you read the sticks too, especially the abbreviation thread and how to find out how much oil your mold will hold.

 

[tiffanyjayne]

Thank you all, i've just found a 'recommened oil% sheet' which seems to explain why certain oils should only be added in small %'s and what they offer to soap so it'll keep me busy a little while, then i'll find out how much of them i need

 

[roseb]

I have had success using CO @ 25%, OO @ 40%, PO (Spectrum brand its sustainable) @ 30%, Castor @ 3%, SF with Sweet Almond @ 2% with a water discount of 33%. It makes a nice lather and is nice and gentle. I also HP and love it. Here is a video on the method that I use. I don't get any hard spots as you can sometimes with HP.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhoI44OEKkQ&list=TL0mfRbMRpdYA[/ame]

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[sistrum]

Good video, but it cut off before end.