My first batch of soap (by myself)

[IrishLass]

Ditto what the good Gent said. The smell of the camelina coming through doesn't mean it escaped saponification. That's just one of the many idiosyncrasies of soap, depending on how strong certain scent components are of the different oils/fats and/or other additives used in the formulation.


IrishLass

 

[hmlove1218]

The leaking oil may be from overheating. Give it some time and see if it reabsorbs

 

[jnl]

I think it was actually water, not oil
all moisture and ooziness was gone within in a couple hours

The leaking oil may be from overheating. Give it some time and see if it reabsorbs

 

[jnl]

here is a final pic of the soap after it dried a bit after cutting. looks pretty good. i will try one of the small soaps in a couple days.

i will chop all the big slices in half, but i want to do it over time to see how long it takes the insides to dry out. i cut one today, and the "dryness" went in about 3/16" around all the sides. I will cut the next in a few days to see how much farther the drying went in.

i got up the nerve to lick the white spot on the flower and no zap, so its soda ash, not lye



i did make a batch of yogurt soap yesterday
and after 12 hours i rubbed a wet finger on the top and licked it and i wouldn't call it a zap at all, but it tasted a bit salty and a bit sour. unlike the other soap that didn't taste of either salt or sour...

and then after 24 hours i took out out of the mold and the bottom seemed a tad wet on the surface so i licked my finger and i still wouldn't necessarily call it a "zap", but it was like a "sharp" sour....almost a zap
so does that mean its a little lye heavy? and still needs to sit more? or will it stay lye heavy?
the liquid is not oozing out at all, the surface just felt a little damp like with water (not oil).
it was superfatted 8%, so there should be more than enough fat for the lye to eat.

that one i had put into the freezer immediately (and had pre-frozen the mold) because the first soap i made gelled so much so fast
and it was in there for a few hours (i had gone out) before i put it into the fridge. does freezing it solid stop the saponification and wreck it?

the color of the block stayed very light tho unfortunately there is a small faint ring in the middle of the side and bottom that is darker, so it did start to gel a bit. i guess if its going to gel at all, might as well let the whole thing turn to gel then chill it to prevent a big crack, that way the color will be uniform.

 

[jnl]

i tested out one of the small soaps.

i dont think i have ever used a "real" soap before.

this was the first shower i have ever had where i was not dry and itchy after. it was like i had totally slathered up in lotion, except not greasy at all.

i even washed my face with it, and my face felt great and super hydrated all day but not at all greasy. and no lotion!!

it didnt lather a huge amount (its only a week old), but it did enough.
but it did make me "Squeeky". which scared me because any time I have ever been squeeky before in the shower i ended up being SUPER DRY and crazy itchy. is squeeky normal for real soap?

are all home made soaps this awesome? or is my recipe just amazing?
im thinking maybe the 5% camelina oil added at trace might be doing it. its as good for you as flax oil. and it soaks into the skin super fast and is not greasy.

the only thing i didnt really like was the oatmeal was a bit scratchy.
i dont think my bars will be nearly as scratchy because they gelled and the oatmeal "cooked". the oatmeal did not cook in the small bars that did not gel and are small hard looking pieces. but even if the big bars are as scratchy, its still not too bad. im just not used to any exfoliating at all.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Adding oils at trace does nothing. I can't count how often that has been said - what is it about it that you don't believe?

Cook some muffins in the oven - but leave one of them out of the oven for 1/48th of the cooking time and see how different it is at the end of the cooking time............

That said, a lot of home made soap IS that awesome - it's why people can get so addicted

 

[jnl]

Adding oils at trace does nothing. I can't count how often that has been said - what is it about it that you don't believe?

Cook some muffins in the oven - but leave one of them out of the oven for 1/48th of the cooking time and see how different it is at the end of the cooking time............

That said, a lot of home made soap IS that awesome - it's why people can get so addicted

im not saying it was not saponified at all. im saying that oil is probably the one making my skin so nice because its way nicer on the skin directly than any of the other oils (i tried all my oils on my skin alone to see how they would work and they were all greasy as f--- except the camelina oil).

 

[Susie]

How much oatmeal did you add to how much weight of oils?

 

[Susie]

im not saying it was not saponified at all. im saying that oil is probably the one making my skin so nice because its way nicer on the skin directly than any of the other oils (i tried all my oils on my skin alone to see how they would work and they were all greasy as f--- except the camelina oil).

The qualities of an oil rubbed directly on the skin are vastly different than the qualities of an oil that has gone through saponification. It is much more likely your superfat amount making your skin feel nice, or the simple lack of the synthetic detergents you were using for "soap". Handmade "true" soap is truly just that awesome.

 

[jnl]

The qualities of an oil rubbed directly on the skin are vastly different than the qualities of an oil that has gone through saponification. It is much more likely your superfat amount making your skin feel nice, or the simple lack of the synthetic detergents you were using for "soap". Handmade "true" soap is truly just that awesome.

i will find out in a few days when i try my yogurt soap that has only CO and OO and yogurt.

 

[jnl]

How much oatmeal did you add to how much weight of oils?

20g of oats in approx 2lb batch.

 

[Susie]

Looked like a lot more. Glad to hear it wasn't.

You do know that your soap truly does need 4-6 weeks cure time to be at its best, right?

 

[jnl]

Looked like a lot more. Glad to hear it wasn't.

You do know that your soap truly does need 4-6 weeks cure time to be at its best, right?

i know. if its this good at 1 week, imagine how good it would be at 4 weeks!
i have the most crazy sensitive skin
even just water makes me super dry and itchy
im even very allergic to aloe!


i think 20g was about 2 tablespoons (approx) of ground oats.
in the non-gelled soaps it looks like not a lot
but in the bars where it was "cooked" it looks like an excessive amount of oats lol

i cant wait to try the bars. they are still wet in the middle tho. i cut the blocks in half yesterday because they were too big, and its only dried about half way through.

 

[jnl]

i tried the yogurt soap which is 8% superfat (oatmeal is 5%)
way more drying than my oatmeal soap
my face is a little tight and dry
and my legs actually had a fine powder of dead skin on them
the rest of me feels fine
and even the dry parts feel less dry than with store bought "soap".

so my oatmeal soap does have a really nice oil combo
tho when in the shower it does feel slightly slimy....just the tiniest bit when all lathered up, but it totally washes away easy with no residue feeling
and it doesnt lather a huge amount, but that will hopefully increase over time
i may swap out some of the olive or avocado for sunflower next time i make it to help with lather