Best simple cold process soap design technique for a first time artesian soap maker?

[Saltynuts]

So I went with just what Baby Shoes said as far as the basic oils, using 40% lard 40% olive and 20% coconut (just a few grams off on occasion, as you will see below).

I used the default soapmakingfriend soap calculator. So I didn't change any settings as to the lye/oil/water things, I just went with the default. I went with a 0% superfat, but you will see below I had just a few grams extra oil/less lye in places so I have just a very, very slight superfat.

Lard: 459 grams (which is interesting, I bought a pound, which I think is 457 grams).

Olive (extra virgin, like me, if that matters haha): 459 grams

Coconut: 236 grams

Lye: 168.51 is what the calculator said, I put in 167

Water: calculator said 337.03, I put in 344, because that is what I poured in and I just left the extra in since Brambleberry calculator seems to say to put much more water in.

Sodium lactate: 2.51 teaspoons (at 1 teaspoon per pound of oils I read) - I converted the 2.51 to ML and put that many ML in but I forgot what that number was, but I matched it basically exactly.

Fragrance: 35 grams (soap calculator said 34.32 grams).

Fragrance was a "Green Irish Tweed" copycat, I'll see if I can find it. I'm sure this is what killed the whole deal (yes KiwiMoose I should have listened, but you know how I am .

I mixed the oils together, and since 2 of the 3 are solid at room temperature, I microwaved them together. In 30 second increments. I wanted to melt the oils, but not get them any hotter than necessary to do that.

I added the lye to room temperate water, stirred with a spatula until it was all dissolved. Then let it sit there while I got everything else ready, all the different pitchers for the different colors and what not.

When everything was assembled, I added the lye water to the water and basically instantly started stick-blending. I do not know the respective temperatures of the oil/water solution but I would guess neither was that far above room temperature.

I stick blended almost constantly, constantly checking for emulsion. I was basically looking for the point where when I pulled the stick blender out and let some drops drop back in, I would see some tension when they hit the better, indicating that a trace was close. I then added the sodium lactate, and the fragrance, and blended some more for just a few seconds.

I then poured it out into 3 separate funnel pitchers, with the intent to do the one pot wonder or pot swirl.

I then started to add the mica colors to the three separate pitchers.

Here are my micas:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YNW3GC2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Now, I know yall are going to be harsh on me about using those cheap things, but here is what happened. In another thread yall told me about the colors and nurture soap and a couple other places. I literally spend a few hours browsing through all those tons of colors, almost ordering different ones at different times. But the prices kept adding up because it was just so hard to pic only a few. So I figured I'd just get a cheap amazon mica set to start with, I knew this project was not going to come out good anyways. So that is why I got those. In the future I will definitely order better colors!

It was when, or maybe slightly before, I added the colors that I realized everything had gone to muck. The batter in the 3 pitchers was SO hard. It was impossible to really stir in the colors good, the stick blender would not work at all, I had to use a spatula, and that was VERY hard and I never really got it done completely. Next time I will definitely do what Tree Marie does and mix them in some oil ahead of time to make it easier (and it should also be easier when the batter is not basically a solid LOL).

And what several of you asked about - the fragrance. Here is exactly what I ordered:

Green Irish Tweed Type Soap / Candle Making Fragrance Oil 1-16 Ounce | eBay

I can take a picture of the bottle if that is helpful to diagnose. I am sure yall will say that is horrible and filet me over it.

So that is what I did, criticism is fully accepted and desired, I am trying to learn! Next up are my like 1 million questions, although not sure I'll get to that tonight, might be tomorrow.

Thanks so much everyone, it was a fun time even if it turned out nothing like I wanted.

Not to hijack, but Katie at Royalty Soap is my favorite! She'll cheer you right up if you are in need of a laugh. I binge her all the time.

That funny you and others like he so much. She is good, but I just find her jokes not that funny and her tone of voice a little irritating to me. Tere from Tree Marie has the best soap videos I have seen, almost hypnotic with how beautiful her soaps come out and her easy going voice. To each her/his own!!!

 

[AliOop]

That funny you and others like he so much. She is good, but I just find her jokes not that funny and her tone of voice a little irritating to me. Tere from Tree Marie has the best soap videos I have seen, almost hypnotic with how beautiful her soaps come out and her easy going voice. To each her/his own!!!

I have to agree, Katy is so sweet and creative but not someone I enjoy watching or hearing. Besides Tree Marie, watching Holly of Kapia Mera is also a relaxing experience.

 

[MellonFriend]

That funny you and others like he so much. She is good, but I just find her jokes not that funny and her tone of voice a little irritating to me. Tere from Tree Marie has the best soap videos I have seen, almost hypnotic with how beautiful her soaps come out and her easy going voice. To each her/his own!!!

I'm sure Katie wouldn't appeal to everyone. I'm of a very similar background to her, so I really get her humor.

Tree Marie is amazing. Very relaxing to watch.

Hahaha, I know that is what I am supposed to do, but I could not resist, I tried it last night and it seemed just fine.

I'm going to jump on this before anyone else does. Did you do a zap test? You are really taking a risk if you didn't. You do not want unreacted lye contacting certain places of your body, if you catch my drift. If you didn't zap test, before you go and start licking all the soap you just made, please look at how it's done on This Thread.

 

[Zing]

So, here is a picture I snapped last night. It actually came out better than I expected given how poorly the process went with the soap turning so hard on me and me having to stuff it in the mold by hand. Its like I was BORN to soap!!!!

The 3 on the bottom right were just extra I had left over after I filled up that big bread-like mold, I stuffed the leftovers randomly in some solo-molds. If you look at the far bottom right one, in the middle of the bar, were it came out all smooth, I REALLY like the look of that. It might have all looked somewhat (smooth) like that if things had not hardened up on me I suppose.

I'll post hopefully tonight in detail the ingredients and my process, along with like a MILLION questions I have having been through this.

Thanks everyone!


View attachment 63214

Isn't it exciting and addicting? Just wait til you start using it in 3-6 weeks! Congrats. Great colors.

 

[Quilter99755]

I'm a little late to the party...as usual. For what you've said was a "glop and plop" situation you have some fairly pretty soap. It looks far better than my first attempt at colors.

And I would have to agree that it is very hard to resist the urge to use your soap. In fact, I was one of the HP people who followed the advice of those HP bloggers who said you have soap, go forth and use it! I didn't even know there was such a thing as curing soap until I found this forum. Even my harsh soap was 1000% better than the stuff I was buying out of the store, so I thought I'd died and gone to heaven with my wonderful hand crafted soaps.

Luckily after finding this site, I experimented with all of the reading that I did the first few months so had plenty of soaps to leave on the curing rack. I found that people on this forum knew what they were talking about as far as curing. 3-6 months from now you will have some awesome soap.

My advice would be to listen to what the wonderful people here are telling you. They are speaking from their hearts. But cut the sarcasm or you might find that you will no longer get that wonderful advice.

 

[Michelle0803]

So I went with just what Baby Shoes said as far as the basic oils, using 40% lard 40% olive and 20% coconut (just a few grams off on occasion, as you will see below).

I used the default soapmakingfriend soap calculator. So I didn't change any settings as to the lye/oil/water things, I just went with the default. I went with a 0% superfat, but you will see below I had just a few grams extra oil/less lye in places so I have just a very, very slight superfat.

Lard: 459 grams (which is interesting, I bought a pound, which I think is 457 grams).

Olive (extra virgin, like me, if that matters haha): 459 grams

Coconut: 236 grams

Lye: 168.51 is what the calculator said, I put in 167

Water: calculator said 337.03, I put in 344, because that is what I poured in and I just left the extra in since Brambleberry calculator seems to say to put much more water in.

Sodium lactate: 2.51 teaspoons (at 1 teaspoon per pound of oils I read) - I converted the 2.51 to ML and put that many ML in but I forgot what that number was, but I matched it basically exactly.

Fragrance: 35 grams (soap calculator said 34.32 grams).

Fragrance was a "Green Irish Tweed" copycat, I'll see if I can find it. I'm sure this is what killed the whole deal (yes KiwiMoose I should have listened, but you know how I am .

I mixed the oils together, and since 2 of the 3 are solid at room temperature, I microwaved them together. In 30 second increments. I wanted to melt the oils, but not get them any hotter than necessary to do that.

I added the lye to room temperate water, stirred with a spatula until it was all dissolved. Then let it sit there while I got everything else ready, all the different pitchers for the different colors and what not.

When everything was assembled, I added the lye water to the water and basically instantly started stick-blending. I do not know the respective temperatures of the oil/water solution but I would guess neither was that far above room temperature.

I stick blended almost constantly, constantly checking for emulsion. I was basically looking for the point where when I pulled the stick blender out and let some drops drop back in, I would see some tension when they hit the better, indicating that a trace was close. I then added the sodium lactate, and the fragrance, and blended some more for just a few seconds.

I then poured it out into 3 separate funnel pitchers, with the intent to do the one pot wonder or pot swirl.

I then started to add the mica colors to the three separate pitchers.

Here are my micas:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YNW3GC2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Now, I know yall are going to be harsh on me about using those cheap things, but here is what happened. In another thread yall told me about the colors and nurture soap and a couple other places. I literally spend a few hours browsing through all those tons of colors, almost ordering different ones at different times. But the prices kept adding up because it was just so hard to pic only a few. So I figured I'd just get a cheap amazon mica set to start with, I knew this project was not going to come out good anyways. So that is why I got those. In the future I will definitely order better colors!

It was when, or maybe slightly before, I added the colors that I realized everything had gone to muck. The batter in the 3 pitchers was SO hard. It was impossible to really stir in the colors good, the stick blender would not work at all, I had to use a spatula, and that was VERY hard and I never really got it done completely. Next time I will definitely do what Tree Marie does and mix them in some oil ahead of time to make it easier (and it should also be easier when the batter is not basically a solid LOL).

And what several of you asked about - the fragrance. Here is exactly what I ordered:

Green Irish Tweed Type Soap / Candle Making Fragrance Oil 1-16 Ounce | eBay

I can take a picture of the bottle if that is helpful to diagnose. I am sure yall will say that is horrible and filet me over it.

So that is what I did, criticism is fully accepted and desired, I am trying to learn! Next up are my like 1 million questions, although not sure I'll get to that tonight, might be tomorrow.

Thanks so much everyone, it was a fun time even if it turned out nothing like I wanted.

It is so exciting to start the soap making journey! Good luck to you.

You need to follow the recipe exactly. Not kinda. Not sort of. Exactly. We do not add a pinch of this oil or a dash of that. When you run your recipe through the calculator most tell you what kind of bar you will get.

Soaping is expensive. Don't buy inferior ingredients just to save a buck. The results can be disheartening.

I fully realize that you want to make the pretty fancy soaps but start with the basics. Perfect that. Then move on to the next.

Would you try to make a fancy, expensive dinner if you had never cooked before.

You asked for input. You have gotten tons of great advice. Don't ignore the wisdom and experience of those who have gone before you