Although not written. Of recipes/designs that every newbie stumbles thru along the way to Soap University E Pluribus Unum. I (insert name), with spatula in hand, and stick blender on the ready. do here by .... getting kinda of late I guess.
Is there a list???
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artemis
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Yes, I feel like there are stages of newbie-ness. One such stage is, "can I soap with this." In which we try all kinds of additives. Another is the "How many oils can I squeeze into this recipe" stage. It's fun to play, and these practice batches teach you a lot about soaping.
Don’t forget the “how many fragrances can I use before they expire” or “how many ____ (molds, micas, recipes,etc) is too many” stages. Oh, and the “I could make a soap mold out of that” and “I’m sure my friends and relatives won’t mind getting only soaps for gifts again this year” stages.
and how many more shelves do I need to cure all my soaps on...
I don't think there is a single soap maker that hasn’t tried to run before they learned to crawl. And that includes the folks who carefully researched for months, or year or so before they took spatula in hand.
I started with Olive, Coconut, Palm and Castor Oils; makes a very nice soap. But I wanted to make a “special” soap, I wanted to be different (doesn’t everyone?) and so I bought Cherry Kernel Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Macadamia Nut Oil, Avocado Oil, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Mango Butter and I really wanted some Cranberry Butter, but OMG its expensive. One soap I made had nine different oils/butters it in...never again.
Can we talk about molds? I started with 10” Silicone Mold (2 lbs). Then I bought a second one, and two 1 lb molds. The latter was because I had screwed up several batches and disliked wasting so much money. Then came the two 4-cavity Round molds for Salt Soaps, followed by the three 15-cavity Round molds for sample soaps. Then there was the two 6-cavity molds I bought on clearance for kid size/travel-size soaps along with another 2 lb mold, this one was a wood mold with silicone insert and sliding bottom. Oh...cant forget the 2 lb mold I got from Hobby Lobby that I’ve only used twice. And the cute mold that I picked up on clearance for guest soaps. Then there are the two flower molds that I want to paint. And the four 6-cavity Bee molds for Lotion Bars. And the two 4 lb new-to-me RED molds and baskets I bought from another soaper.
Colorants I haven’t done too bad with...so okay I have three foot shelf double-stacked, but that’s only because a quarter of it has fragrance oils on it. Which is where I have really gotten into trouble and why I am in time out when it comes to buying scents. When I did and inventory last month, I discovered I was kind of out-of-control...I had just over 70 bottles and some were duplicates, triplicates and I even had four of one scent. In my defense, the majority of my fragrance oils are 2 oz bottles; hard lesson learned, I only buy sample quantities of scents until I try them.
I am happy to say that I haven’t gone crazy with the “additives”. I do add Kaolin Clay and Sodium Lactate to my soaps and Arrowroot Powder to my Lotion bars, but that's it.
ETA to The List:
No curing soaps long enough.
Not understanding that HP soap has to cure as long a CP soap.
Making illegal (in the US) 'cosmetic' and 'drug' claims.
Thinking you're going to get rich making soap.
I started with Olive, Coconut, Palm and Castor Oils; makes a very nice soap. But I wanted to make a “special” soap, I wanted to be different (doesn’t everyone?) and so I bought Cherry Kernel Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Macadamia Nut Oil, Avocado Oil, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Mango Butter and I really wanted some Cranberry Butter, but OMG its expensive. One soap I made had nine different oils/butters it in...never again.
Can we talk about molds? I started with 10” Silicone Mold (2 lbs). Then I bought a second one, and two 1 lb molds. The latter was because I had screwed up several batches and disliked wasting so much money. Then came the two 4-cavity Round molds for Salt Soaps, followed by the three 15-cavity Round molds for sample soaps. Then there was the two 6-cavity molds I bought on clearance for kid size/travel-size soaps along with another 2 lb mold, this one was a wood mold with silicone insert and sliding bottom. Oh...cant forget the 2 lb mold I got from Hobby Lobby that I’ve only used twice. And the cute mold that I picked up on clearance for guest soaps. Then there are the two flower molds that I want to paint. And the four 6-cavity Bee molds for Lotion Bars. And the two 4 lb new-to-me RED molds and baskets I bought from another soaper.
Colorants I haven’t done too bad with...so okay I have three foot shelf double-stacked, but that’s only because a quarter of it has fragrance oils on it. Which is where I have really gotten into trouble and why I am in time out when it comes to buying scents. When I did and inventory last month, I discovered I was kind of out-of-control...I had just over 70 bottles and some were duplicates, triplicates and I even had four of one scent. In my defense, the majority of my fragrance oils are 2 oz bottles; hard lesson learned, I only buy sample quantities of scents until I try them.
I am happy to say that I haven’t gone crazy with the “additives”. I do add Kaolin Clay and Sodium Lactate to my soaps and Arrowroot Powder to my Lotion bars, but that's it.
ETA to The List:
No curing soaps long enough.
Not understanding that HP soap has to cure as long a CP soap.
Making illegal (in the US) 'cosmetic' and 'drug' claims.
Thinking you're going to get rich making soap.
Last edited:
Using recipes other people made without running them through a lye calculator
Too many oils
Too many pounds of untested soap before making more
Too many fragrances that you didn't read the reviews on
Too many molds/colorants
Too many recipes that don't help you narrow down what you like or don't like (if you don't like high CO soaps, why do you keep making more?)
Too many oils
Too many pounds of untested soap before making more
Too many fragrances that you didn't read the reviews on
Too many molds/colorants
Too many recipes that don't help you narrow down what you like or don't like (if you don't like high CO soaps, why do you keep making more?)
Simple philosophy. Play cheap, Enjoy to the fullest.
Been lucky so far. Only one bad frag.
Not looking for a 10 oils, 3 butters, and a partridge in a pair tree recipe. Keep it simple 2/3 major oils, castor, butter of some type. (one that actually helps rather than just label appeal). Not much benefit in 1/2 oz of this, 1/4 oz of that.
Starting to learn what I should be focusing on. Rather than what I have been focusing on.
Been lucky so far. Only one bad frag.
Not looking for a 10 oils, 3 butters, and a partridge in a pair tree recipe. Keep it simple 2/3 major oils, castor, butter of some type. (one that actually helps rather than just label appeal). Not much benefit in 1/2 oz of this, 1/4 oz of that.
Starting to learn what I should be focusing on. Rather than what I have been focusing on.
Keep it simple. I tried many different oils, butters etc. Ended up with a pretty basic recipe and it's my main soap after testing a ton of them. I do use shea in it but otherwise it's easy to obtain oils. I do have a problem with colorants (can't stop) and fragrances & molds (most of which I do use). Storage can become an issue. I made a whole lot of soap without testing long term in the beginning. It wasn't bad soap in the end but it wasn't the best either. I ended up donating about 300 bars to homeless/women's shelters. I still donate sometimes if I have soap that just doesn't sell well or didn't turn out to my liking.
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