CP recipe question...

[beebiz]

I know that I had said that I only intended to do M&P soaps, but.....

We had to go to the grocery store today (Walmart Supercenter). On the way, we passed TSC (Tractor Supply Company), and I remembered that on Kathy Miller's site it said that TSC was a possible source for lye. So, I stopped in to check it out. To my surprise, they had it in 2 lb. plastic bottles! After tax, it was about $9.70 for the two lbs. ($4.85/lb.) So, I got some... just in case! :wink:

When we got to Walmart, I hit the cooking oil isle. I knew they would have canola oil and olive oil. But, I almost fell out when I also found the coconut oil... no palm oil, though! :cry:

Remembering that Kathy's site had a recipe that only called for canola oil, olive oil, and coconut oil (besides the lye and water), I decided to get some and just try my hand at making some homemade soap!! :wink:

Kathy says the soap has a nice texture and lathers much like the castile recipes. The recipe on Kathy's site is as follows:

*"Canolive" Soap (Kathy Miller)
40 ounces Canola Oil
36 ounces Olive Oil
12 ounces Coconut Oil
24 ounces cold water
12 ounces lye crystals

Temperatures: between 90-100 degrees

Here's my problem. The recipe makes 7 lbs. of soap and I only want to make 1 pound... as a "test run."

I have a set of digital scales that will weigh in fractions as small as 1/1000 of an ounce. If I were to divide the ingredients by 7 (to get the 1 lb. recipe), run it through a calc. and make sure everything is right, use extreme caution when measuring everything out, should everything turn out alright??

If this sounds like a "dumb" question, I'm sorry. I'm trying to learn!!

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you have to give!!

Robert

 

[Lane]

Your math sounds right, I'd round off my numbers to make things easier.

Canola 6 ounces
Olive Oil 5 ounces
Coconut Oil 2 ounces

But I would run the recipe through a lye calc to get exact numbers for your water and lye. With this recipe, I come up with:
Lye 1.727 oz and Water 4.290.
This is doing a 5%SF. (using the BB lye calc)

I have done a recipe like this and it heats up (maybe the Canola?) and gets pretty hard within 5 hours!

What are you using as a mold?

Be careful and WEAR GLOVES! I HATE HATE HATE gloves but I can not count the number of times things started going crazy (temps changing too fast, seizing soap, dropped spoon, fallen over stick blender...etc ) and I have REALLY burned myself from touching raw soap... R E S P E C T your lye!

GOOD LUCK and let us know how it goes!!!

 

[FSowers]

Have you tried the soap calc.

You can put in 1 pound and percentage of oil and it will tell you the water and lye.


http://www.soapcalc.com/calc/soapcalc.asp

 

[beebiz]

Thanks for the input!!

Lane, don't worry about the gloves. In my younger years, I worked in a place where I was always handling caustic things. After a couple of pretty fair chemical burns, I learned to wear protective clothing! And, it was a lesson I won't ever forget!!!

As for the mold I will use, I'm not real sure yet. The shape and surface finish of the soap won't matter that much, because it will just be for my wife and me. As I said, just a "test run"... try it on and see if it fits kind of thing!!

I've got some extra cardboard around here. And, I'm pretty good at making boxes with it. I've toyed with the idea of making a small box and lining it with plastic wrap.

What do you think?? Got any good suggestions?????

Thanks again,
Robert

 

[beebiz]

BTW.... FSowers, thanks for the link. I've not run it through the calc. yet. But, I will!!

Robert

 

[FSowers]

Your welcome!

Shoe boxes work good, draw organizers, anything like that.

 

[WilsonFamilyPicnic]

milk cartons are my favorite 1lb soap molds.....no lining. just rip it apart.

 

[beebiz]

At one time, I had thought about shoe boxes for larger batches. After some checking, I found out that my wife threw away all the shoe boxes that we had. So, I thought (dangerous for me to do ) I would build a couple of molds out of scrap lumber that I have around here.

I never thought about the milk cartons. I like the idea that you don't have to line them and that the soap is easy to get out. But, I don't know if any of our local grociers carry milk in a "carton" any more or not. I guess they do. In the last 18 to 20 years, the only way I've bought milk was in a plastic gallon jug.

What size milk carton do you use for a 1 lb. batch? 1/2 gallon, quart, pint????

Thanks again for the input!!

Robert

 

[morsedillon]

When we got to Walmart, I hit the cooking oil isle. I knew they would have canola oil and olive oil. But, I almost fell out when I also found the coconut oil... no palm oil, though! :cry:

For local sources of palm oil, try your local health-food store. Their prices won't be as good as if Wal-Mart were to carry it, but it can still be cheaper than shipping it in. Look for a tub of something labeled 'Vegetable Shortening'. If you're lucky, the ingredients will read '100% Palm Oil'

 

[beebiz]

Thanks for the input. I had thought about health food stores. But, the closest one is almost 40 miles away. I never thought about looking at vegetable shortening to see if there was any that was 100% palm oil.

If things go well with my "test run," I am probably going to speak with my local grocery store manager and see if I can special order some of the things that I will be using. If he will let me, it might save me some money!

Thanks again for the input,
Robert