Yasser AA
New Member
Dear soaping community, i'm new to soapmaking and was wondering if there are any cheap soap recipes that you would recommend. Thank you all!
Cheap recipes
- Thread starter Yasser AA
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Obsidian
Well-Known Member
80% lard
20% coconut oil.
Its a hard long lasting bar with decent lather
20% coconut oil.
Its a hard long lasting bar with decent lather
atiz
Well-Known Member
If you go to some recipe threads, you will find a lot of recommendations. The price of oils greatly depends on where you are, and I have no idea of the prices in UAE.
But yes, lard is nice and cheap if you are not opposed to using animal products. Lard 40-60%, coconut oil 20%, rest some liquid oil makes a decent bar.
But yes, lard is nice and cheap if you are not opposed to using animal products. Lard 40-60%, coconut oil 20%, rest some liquid oil makes a decent bar.
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Grocery Store Soap
- 48 percent Crisco (I use Great Value vegetable shortening.)
- 25 percent olive oil
- 25 percent coconut oil
atiz
Well-Known Member
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
Go to the Beginner's Forum and look for the thread "Beginner's Learn to Soap Online." There are many sources there for tried and true recipes that you can try with whatever oils you have available. The least expensive soap I make is made from lard from the grocery store. It makes a very nice bar of soap.
Ladka
Well-Known Member
I can confirm both longevity and good lather as #Obsidian said. Perhaps a bit drying to my hands.
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List what you have available as low-cost oils and fats plus what and if any animal fats are available to use so we can better help you.
I doubt lard would be available in the UAE, it being a mostly islamic country. I agree with @cmzaha the best course of action is probably to have a list of oils available to OP, so we can help @Yasser AA brainstorming. Any edible oils are usable for soapmaking, so I'd suggest going to the supermarket and seeing what's available for a reasonable price.
To help you browse the aisles in your supermarket it might be useful to know what oils are generally used and how a recipes are often made.
Soaps can be made from just one oil, like 100% olive oil castile, but most soaps are a combination of different oils. A lot of recipes consist of basically 3 different types of oils:
1. Bubbly hard oils (e.g. coconut oil, palm kernel oil). These oils are high in short chain saturated fatty acids and make the soap more bubbly.
2. Long lasting hard oils (e.g. rendered animal fats, palm oil, butters (like cocoa and shea butter, milk butter is not a good idea)). These oils are high in long-chain fatty acids and make the soap last longer in the shower.
3. Soft oils (e.g. olive oil, high oleic suflower or canola oil, rice bran oil,..) These oils should be high in mono-unsaturated fatty acids.
If you have one of each of these groups available at a decent price that would already give a lot of options.
A lot of people on here also like to add +-5% castor oil for more bubbliness, but that's not a must and can drive up the price.
One very important thing to consider is to keep the amount of poly unsaturated fatty acids in the recipe low. These are often the oils that are considered to be very healthy, with lots of omega 3-6-9, but will go rancid when used in soap at a high amount (e.g. regular sunflower or canola oil, flaxseed oil, pomegranate seed oil,..).
Another tip is that refined oils often work better in soap than unrefined oils. I often look at the frying oil section in the supermarket to find my soaping oils, since these are always refined and low in poly-unsaturated oils (but be careful with oil mixes, these can make it more difficult to figure out how much NaOH you need for the recipe)
I hope this helps a bit already. Please let us know what kind of oils are available to you.
To help you browse the aisles in your supermarket it might be useful to know what oils are generally used and how a recipes are often made.
Soaps can be made from just one oil, like 100% olive oil castile, but most soaps are a combination of different oils. A lot of recipes consist of basically 3 different types of oils:
1. Bubbly hard oils (e.g. coconut oil, palm kernel oil). These oils are high in short chain saturated fatty acids and make the soap more bubbly.
2. Long lasting hard oils (e.g. rendered animal fats, palm oil, butters (like cocoa and shea butter, milk butter is not a good idea)). These oils are high in long-chain fatty acids and make the soap last longer in the shower.
3. Soft oils (e.g. olive oil, high oleic suflower or canola oil, rice bran oil,..) These oils should be high in mono-unsaturated fatty acids.
If you have one of each of these groups available at a decent price that would already give a lot of options.
A lot of people on here also like to add +-5% castor oil for more bubbliness, but that's not a must and can drive up the price.
One very important thing to consider is to keep the amount of poly unsaturated fatty acids in the recipe low. These are often the oils that are considered to be very healthy, with lots of omega 3-6-9, but will go rancid when used in soap at a high amount (e.g. regular sunflower or canola oil, flaxseed oil, pomegranate seed oil,..).
Another tip is that refined oils often work better in soap than unrefined oils. I often look at the frying oil section in the supermarket to find my soaping oils, since these are always refined and low in poly-unsaturated oils (but be careful with oil mixes, these can make it more difficult to figure out how much NaOH you need for the recipe)
I hope this helps a bit already. Please let us know what kind of oils are available to you.
Saponificarian
Well-Known Member
Because the soaper is in the UAE, I am guessing Lard is going to be a no, no.
Tallow, Camel fat, Palm or the butters might be your best bet for a hard oil and of those, I am guessing tallow will be the cheapest for you.
Tallow, Camel fat, Palm or the butters might be your best bet for a hard oil and of those, I am guessing tallow will be the cheapest for you.
I was also thinking Lard would be a no no, but Camel Fat makes wonderful soap which would be my first choice if available, tallow second at 45% and palm third at 35-45%. I only pick palm third because it traces quicker than tallow. Tallow will add some cleansing value to soap so watch the cleansing number when adding in oils such as coconut oil, palm kernel oil, or babassu (the cleansing oils in soap).
Yasser AA
New Member
Thank you all so much!
