Hi from Portland, Oregon

[Marya]

Hello Everyone -

In 2004 I learned how to make CP soap from a couple of sites: Latherings and then thedishforum.com. I don't know if the dish is still really up and running (something funny's gone on there) but it looks like this is "the" soaper's forum these days?! Or maybe this used to be thedish - I don't know.

Anyway I researched my butt off then in the end only made 3 batches of soap, although they were REALLY good soaps. By the third batch I'd created my own and it was sooooo fantastic - then I went and lost the recipe I'd slaved over!! Not long after that I also learned how to make candles and got all obsessed about that, buying all the cool molds and goodies. It's funny how often the two hobbies go hand in hand (why is that?).

THEN I went and had 3 boys (well, 2 more) and got very busy. But now I'm dying to get back into it - all of it - just for fun! Even my boys want to help (no, I won't expose them to lye). I remember a lot about how to make soap and candles but also have forgotten a lot. So I expect to be on here with a zillion annoying questions again!

I'd like to collect/re-collect any helpful links, or links to specific helpful hints and instructions. I used to know all the main ones like Kathy Miller's site and the MMS lye calculator, etc. but anything else (or more current) is lost to me.

Anyway, hi and talk to you soon!

Marya

 

[Saswede]

Welcome back, Marya!

You already know some great resources, so I only have 1 to add - and that's the soapcalc lye calculator. You may already have used it, and may prefer MMS, but I thought I'd throw it into the mix in case you didn't know about it. (www.soapcalc.net)

Happy soaping!


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[Marya]

Thanks very much Saswede! It's familiar - in fact I can't remember if I used that one the most or the MMS Lye one. But I'll add that to the bookmarks, thanks!

Welcome back, Marya!

You already know some great resources, so I only have 1 to add - and that's the soapcalc lye calculator. You may already have used it, and may prefer MMS, but I thought I'd throw it into the mix in case you didn't know about it. (www.soapcalc.net)

Happy soaping!


Sent from my iPad using Soap Making

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Welcome Marya I to live in OR tho I'm completely across the state from you and way up in the mountains. This forum has lots of great help. I've found the search very useful!

Enjoy!

 

[savonierre]

Hi Marya, welcome to the forum and back to soap making..

 

[Marya]

Thanks Pepsi Girl and Savonierre!

 

[evilnurse]

Welcome Marya to the forum. I have 3 boys also. 22,20 and 13


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[Marya]

Oh whew - nice to know I'm not the only one with 3 boys! Thank you.

Welcome Marya to the forum. I have 3 boys also. 22,20 and 13


Sent from my iPad using Soap Making

 

[Hazel]

Hi Marya,

Welcome to the forum! :wave:

I know how you feel. I had a recipe that I thought was horrible so I recycled the paper I had it printed on. Then approximately 5 months later, I decided to use a bar since I didn't want to waste ingredients. I absolutely loved it! I was so upset with myself. Lesson learned. Never toss recipes.

Here are some sites/channels you might find helpful if you haven't seen them already.

http://www.soapqueen.com/category/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/
http://www.youtube.com/user/soapqueentv/
http://www.youtube.com/user/soaping101
http://soapscentreview.obisoap.ca/
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/essential-oil-chart.html

 

[Marya]

Thank you very much Hazel! Yeah, that's a bummer! I have no CLUE what happened to it. I just can't imagine. I've turned the house upside down 3 times looking for it.

Hi Marya,

Welcome to the forum! :wave:

I know how you feel. I had a recipe that I thought was horrible so I recycled the paper I had it printed on. Then approximately 5 months later, I decided to use a bar since I didn't want to waste ingredients. I absolutely loved it! I was so upset with myself. Lesson learned. Never toss recipes.

Here are some sites/channels you might find helpful if you haven't seen them already.

http://www.soapqueen.com/category/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/
http://www.youtube.com/user/soapqueentv/
http://www.youtube.com/user/soaping101
http://soapscentreview.obisoap.ca/
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/essential-oil-chart.html

 

[Hazel]

Do you remember the oils you used in it? If you remember the oils, you could probably re-create it.

 

[Marya]

Yes luckily I do have the recipe that's the one just before that good one and it had all the same ingredients:

coconut oil
cocoa butter
shae butter
palm oil
pko
olive oil
avocado oil
rice bran oil
castor oil

I know it's a lot of ingredients but I don't care - I LOVED how it turned out. Only now, I want to replace the palm products with free-range tallow. So I have to tweak it but I don't remember all the details and properties about the different oils and butters (hardness, fluffy lather, softness, etc) so I have to re-research that before I do anything I guess. What a PITA! I'm not in a chemist mood.

Thanks!

Do you remember the oils you used in it? If you remember the oils, you could probably re-create it.

 

[Hazel]

Yeah, that is a lot of ingredients but it's interesting. I have dry skin so if I was using the same oils, I'd start with the percentages below because it looks like it would make for a mild soap with creamier lather. But you never really know until you make the recipe how it would turn out. I'd also probably use 8% lye discount if I didn't add cream or buttermilk for part of the liquid. Although, this is just my opinion.

25% olive oil
20% palm oil
10% pko
10% coconut oil
10% avocado oil
5% rice bran oil
5% shea butter
5% cocoa butter
5% castor oil

You could then fiddle with the percentages if it didn't turn out like you wanted.

 

[roseb]

Welcome! Hope to see you around!

 

[boyago]

Welcome Marya, I am soaping in Portland too. I'm still pretty new but let me know if you need any local source help and we can compare notes. Also there is a group on Meet up that does a class once a month if you want a refresher. I haven't gone yet but might just to meet some other soapers and see where they are getting their stuff local.

 

[Marya]

Thanks Hazel!

Here are the percentages I used or came close to using before slight tweaking:

Coconut oil - 7.5%
palm kernel oil - 7.5 %
palm oil - 22%
olive oil - 35%
cocoa butter - 5%
shea butter - 5%
rice bran oil - 4%
avocado oil - 9%
castor oil - 5%
powdered coconut milk - 1 T. per total pound of oils

Now I just have to figure out if I want to replace the Palm and pko both with tallow or do some other variation.

Yeah, that is a lot of ingredients but it's interesting. I have dry skin so if I was using the same oils, I'd start with the percentages below because it looks like it would make for a mild soap with creamier lather. But you never really know until you make the recipe how it would turn out. I'd also probably use 8% lye discount if I didn't add cream or buttermilk for part of the liquid. Although, this is just my opinion.

25% olive oil
20% palm oil
10% pko
10% coconut oil
10% avocado oil
5% rice bran oil
5% shea butter
5% cocoa butter
5% castor oil

You could then fiddle with the percentages if it didn't turn out like you wanted.

 

[Marya]

Thank you Boyago! Nice to see another portlander here.

Are you a new soaper or do you sell it, or..? I'd love to make soap with someone. Always trying to get friends on board just for fun and they're not interested (bastards). The two places I used to buy all my stuff from were Liberty Natural and Essential Wholesale. Are there any other good companies around that you buy from, that have competitive prices as those ones do (or did, 9 years ago anyway!)?

Welcome Marya, I am soaping in Portland too. I'm still pretty new but let me know if you need any local source help and we can compare notes. Also there is a group on Meet up that does a class once a month if you want a refresher. I haven't gone yet but might just to meet some other soapers and see where they are getting their stuff local.

 

[boyago]

I'm a noob just giving my stuff away now. I get most my basic stuff from Essential wholesale to save on shipping. I'll probably check out the meet up meeting next month. There is also a lady who does soapmaking meets through Multnomah Librarys who I think runs a larger soap company out of Sellwood.

 

[Hazel]

Now I just have to figure out if I want to replace the Palm and pko both with tallow or do some other variation.

Decisions, decisions...

I plugged your percentages into soapcalc and that's a nice looking recipe. It would be more conditioning than the one I did. This is just my opinion but I wouldn't replace the PKO with the tallow since they have different properties. But then again, you could replace it if you want the soap to be even milder. You could try both ways - replace PO and PKO with tallow and in another batch just replace the PO to see if there is a noticeable difference.

 

[Marya]

Thank you for thinking about this! You're very kind!

What I really want to do is replace the palm and palm kernel oil with something else already in my recipe or else with tallow if it's better. I just don't want to use palm products anymore for reasons I won't go into here. So it may be that I could replace the palm oil with tallow and the pko with ... more olive oil? I don't have the list of oil properties in front of me.

I do want the soap to be VERY luxurious, but I also want it to be a brick. I know I can't have both, but I want to get as close as I can to this goal of a good hard bar. So yes I agree with you that I shouldn't make it so luxurious that I lose hardness. Hmm...