Economical Soap Recipie

[tlm884]

Hey guys, I am curious what is the "cheapest" soap that you produce. Not cheapest as in lowest quality but lowest priced oils. I want to produce a good qaulity product on the cheap if possible.

Right now my basic recipe is 50% Crisco, 25% Coconut Oil, 25% EVVO. Crisco is inexpensive and it produces a good soap. Coconut oil is fairly expensive here. The EVVO I use is pretty cheap. So I might up the amount of EVVO up by 10% and decrease the coconut some. However, I am curious to what you guys use.

 

[fiddletree]

The most inexpensive soap I make is 75% OO, 25% CO. OO costs about 3 euros/liter where I am, and I get CO for about 5 euros/kg.

You might want to try ordering ingredients online to get lower prices....local CO for me costs about 150 euros/kg! I order my ingredients (except OO) from England, which is the most economical in Europe that I can find. I've heard palm oil is really cheap, but I have never/will never use it for ethical reasons.

 

[carebear]

It used to be 100% lard, but the price of that has gone up so it's not dirt cheap any longer.

Probably my 100% coconut oil with a 20% superfat.

 

[judymoody]

Cheapest soaping oils that are also reasonably stable are (in the US anyhow): vegetable shortening, lard, tallow, palm, palm kernel, coconut, and pomace olive oil. Rice bran oil is chemically similar to OO and is cheaper in some markets although from reading around the forum, many people seem to prefer OO.

I use Crisco in some recipes but at no more than 20% of the total recipe. I like to keep soy % low, if I use it at all.

My basic "go to" recipe uses the basic trinity: OO, CO, and PO in descending amounts. If I want to get fancier, I add castor or cocoa butter. I use my Crisco recipe when I'm doing sample bars to test new FOs - it reduces costs for what is essentially an experiment.

 

[Maythorn]

I recently decided to sub a small percentage of soybean oil for the olive. I also ordered some palm kernel oil because I like it and because it's cheaper than CO. Shortening is pretty economical but not Crisco.

I definitely noticed the price of lard go up. A one lb cube was $.99 and now it's $1.63. But it's still cheaper than palm for me. Once I tried to see about palm at Oriental stores and it was only the orange kind at $7 a lb.

 

[sarawithouth]

I've seen 100% Crisco recipes, but I like my 100% olive oil.

 

[LauraHoosier]

Cheapest lard I've seen is at SoapersChoice at .80/lb for the 50lb cube which is close in price to Soybean Shortening - 100% Pure - No Additives .8740/lb for a 50lb cube.

Either of those mixed with other really good oils lowers the bottom line without sacrificing quality but I usually don't use them in higher quantities then about 25-30%. I use OO/CO/Canola/Castor and I've recently tired Lard/PKO/OO/Castor and the price per batch/per bar is pretty low. If I dropped the Castor it would go down a good bit more but I like lots of bubbles

I think the main way to lower costs is to run the costs in a spreadsheet using the bigger quantities first to see how that affects your per batch/per bar pricing. I do this myself before I decide to make any changes to my recipes. You might be surprised how that alone helps. If you're already doing that then look at any specialty oils you're using and see if you can find them cheaper at a different supplier.

 

[Soaplady22]

For inexpensive, I like my mostly lard recipe - it's still cheaper than the one with all the shea butter and is a perfectly fine soap. Lard and olive oil - pumice works.

 

[FreeRabbit]

OO
less then 10% veg. oil like kanola
CO and PO are very cheap

more expansive:
avocado, shea, mango, jojoba and going up