Milestones: I have my first staple recipe

[MrsSpaceship]

So being new to the art of soaping, this is a pretty big milestone that I wanted to share. That's not to say that I won't continue to tweak and experiment, but it's a reward for my testing trial and error.
I've been waiting for that "aha" moment where I could say that my handmade soap is better than the fragrant bottles I would get at the mall. Like everyone I went through the "Try ALL the oils!" phase where more is better and if it has umpteenbajillion different oils then it has to be awesome!
It takes a lot of self control to pare back and just use a handful of oils so you can learn what each one brings to the table for you personally. It's totally worth it though, my soap finally feels good (and that's without a full cure, so it should be awesome as it ages!

I'm curious though, I know that most of you have a handful of different staple recipes that you use, if you were to pick your top three, how different are they from one another and what does each of them bring to the table for you?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

What did you end up going with?

 

[Susie]

My top recipes all have a short list of oils:

Lard
Coconut Oil
Olive Oil
Castor Oil

I went through my umpteenbajillion oil phase also. I just discovered that I kept coming back to those oils as my favorites. The butters, milks, etc just did not bring anything I liked to the table that I could not live without.

 

[Dharlee]

I haven't tried lard yet, but have right much tallow to use first and found that my very favorite is like Susies except with tallow. I add shea at 5% for a nice butter addition. I can really feel that, but it's not absolutely necessary so I don't always use it. What did you go with?

Edited to add, I went through the same phase and yes, it's hard to tame that "must use it all" monster. Lol

 

[lionprincess00]

I have a basic recipe that works well. I still, over a year later,try tweaking it a little here and a little there. I only stray when I'm out of something. I once used up to, 20, maybe 25 or 30% butters when low on hard fats. My notes aren't in front of me so I can't say for sure. It doesn't lather as much as my typical, but it was quite nice considering the bad rap high butters often receive. I use on average 40% tallow, or a tallow lard blend, 6-7% castor, 18% co, and a blend of sweet almond and olive. I tried ditching the almond and didn't like it as much. I use the soft blend because sweet almond oil is pricey compared to olive. So to answer, I don't have a top three that are different, instead I have a 40% lard up to 50% because I'm out of tallow, 3% castor because I'm running low, olive because out of almond, and pko flakes (thanks for the sample smf friend) blended with co because I'm low on co

 

[snappyllama]

I'm like Susie. My base recipe is: Lard, CO, OO, and Castor. When I change it up, I just borrow a portion of some of that oil from one of the components.

Lard: Creaminess & Hardness (borrow from it for butters)
OO: Silkiness (borrow from it for hemp, pumpkin, sweet almond, sunflower, etc)
CO: Hardness & Bubbles (borrow from it for PKO)
Castor: Stabilizes Lather

 

[Kitty_Boots]

I'm like Susie. My base recipe is: Lard, CO, OO, and Castor. When I change it up, I just borrow a portion of some of that oil from one of the components.

Lard: Creaminess & Hardness (borrow from it for butters)
OO: Silkiness (borrow from it for hemp, pumpkin, sweet almond, sunflower, etc)
CO: Hardness & Bubbles (borrow from it for PKO)
Castor: Stabilizes Lather

That's useful information, snappy.. It's good to know which oils to sub with!

 

[MrsSpaceship]

Sorry everyone, I swear I'm not ignoring my own posts, it's a busy time of year and I don't get a whole lot of me time.

I am at 60% Lard, 20% Olive, 15% Coconut & 5% Castor. Dropping the CO has really made a difference

I've used it on three batches so far, ranging from two to 6 colors and it stays fairly fluid as well, at least for drop swirls, it doesn't give quite enough time for anything too involved.