My First Soap!

[dragonblossom]

Alright. I finally made my first soap today. I think it may be successful, it's wrapped up in towels for the day. Learned that my scale that I *thought* was good enough isn't. It measures in either full numbers or fractions. No decimals. >_< So.....we'll see how it turns out.

Recipe I used (which I ran through a lye calculator):

Coconut Oil: 16 oz.
Olive Oil: 8 oz.
Safflower Oil: 8 oz.
Water: 11.9 oz
Lye: 4.85 oz
Used two Eo's:
1 oz. lemongrass oil
1 oz. cedar oil

I had to go for 12 ounces of water and 136 grams of lye (as I had no idea what the lye would've been in eighths which is the highest my scale was reading at. 4.85 oz is ?? 17/20 can't remeber what the whole number was anymore.)

Hope I didn't just ruin the batch. when I was done pouring the soap into my mold the top looked like some of the oil might've been seperating out. *crosses fingers*

Also, any tips of clean up?? I just wiped off as much of the excess soap with paper towels as I could then washed everything in my sink like I would normal dishes.

Here's some pictures of the pour for you. ^_^

 

[Skatergirl46]

Does your scale measure in grams also? If so I would recommend using that measurement and rounding up for the oils, and rounding down for the lye. It's a more precise measurement than ounces.

 

[dragonblossom]

Skatergirl, yes it does. Only to whole numbers, which is why I measured my lye at 136 grams. 4.85 oz. is 137.49 grams but the scale didnt give me any decimals. Maybe I'll measureeverything in grams next time. Would I also round up with the water? Thanks for the tips!

 

[Skatergirl46]

Skatergirl, yes it does. Only to whole numbers, which is why I measured my lye at 136 grams. 4.85 oz. is 137.49 grams but the scale didnt give me any decimals. Maybe I'll measureeverything in grams next time. Would I also round up with the water? Thanks for the tips!

I round up on everything but the lye. I'm no expert, just telling you what I do.

 

[jenneelk]

Looks pretty!! I'm so loving white lately. Very nice.. cut pics next.

I do the same with rounding and use grams. If you're using grams you are getting precise enough IMO. I don't know many that do decimal grams but is that really needed? It's like 2 grains of lye. haha!

 

[TVivian]

It looks great! The top looks much smoother than my first batches that's for sure!!


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[dragonblossom]

Update: Peeked at it at 4:00pm EST. Looks like glycerin soap! It looks a lot like honey. Somewhat translucent and golden in color. Smells lovely! Hmm...can't wait to see it in 24 hours. I'll definitely post pictures when I cut it tomorrow. Thanks Jenneelk, I'm glad to know the decimals aren't needed for grams (or less needed). I think I'll do that next time. ^_^

 

[Aunt Polly]

I know you can hardly wait til tomorrow so you can see what you made!
I just clean up by wiping off as much as possible, then set it all aside and clean it up the next day when it has turned to soap. Feels so good on your hands!


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[moonbeam]

Great job! Can't wait to see the cut pix! With clean up there are a couple schools of thought, some folks let everything sit for 24 hours and then you have instant soap to clean up! Or, what I do is scrape out as much as I can and then use those thicker blue paper towels (they have them in the automotive section) to wipe things out and the wash, it's pretty easy. SO have you gotten the soap-making bug yet?

 

[sososo]

4.85 oz. is 137.49 grams but the scale didnt give me any decimals.

137 or 138 - is the same. (No joke)
0.51 grams plus or 0.49 grams minus is less than 0.26%. With a super fat of 5%, even if you put 138 g of lye instead of 137.49, you can be sure that all the lye will be consumed.
And for the water - the same.

 

[sososo]

I round up on everything but the lye.

I round up when I have more than 0.5 and down when is less than 0.5. With a superfat of 5%, as I use to use, everything is ok.

 

[jenneelk]

Clean up I just put on my blue gloves, grab a washcloth, and start wiping down. But I'm one who owned a cloth diaper store and uses unpapertowels so I like things I can reuse. lol Just the papers I use to line my wooden mold bothers me sometimes but the costs for some of the liners for them bothers me more. $55 for a liner is crazy. I save a tree here and there in other ways... paper is going in the wooden mold.
I actually like to rinse everything before it starts to set.. then it's just like wiping up thick lotion I think. When I have done it later without gloves it irritated my hands too much and stuck to everything, maybe just too much soap to clean at once? IDK.

 

[judymoody]

Update: Peeked at it at 4:00pm EST. Looks like glycerin soap! It looks a lot like honey. Somewhat translucent and golden in color. Smells lovely! Hmm...can't wait to see it in 24 hours. I'll definitely post pictures when I cut it tomorrow. Thanks Jenneelk, I'm glad to know the decimals aren't needed for grams (or less needed). I think I'll do that next time. ^_^

It's probably gelling. When saponification is complete it will look more opaque.

I use grams for all of my measurements, more accurate than ounces. As you rounded down for your lye, it should be fine.

EO at 1 ounce per pound is on the high side but I'm sure it smells potent and lovely. I generally use .5 oz per pound of oils.

 

[dragonblossom]

Moonbeam, I might have! It was a little nerve racking mixing up the lye, but otherwise not too bad. I found for a 2 lbs. recipe the pot I was using to mix the soap in was too large ( stock pot) so I may need to find a smaller pot to mix in until I feel comfortable making larger batches.

Jenneelk, I'm moving in that direction. Next time I'll use rags to clean up. I have plenty! Instead of paper towels.

Judymoody, my concern about the EOs was how much the scent might fade over the next 4-6 weeks. But my husband just called me and said our closet smelled highly lemon-y, lol and has left the door open to vent. So.... .5 oz. might have been enough. :-D. But at least it's a good smell! The cedar wood seems to be lost to the lemongrass.


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[jenneelk]

I do FO at 1 ounce PPO or less but shouldnt EO always be .5 at most? That's 3%.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Think the rule is why so many of us have issue with EO holding well.. We are limited.
Lemongrass though a super strong. Lol could do 1% and be ok. I can imagine your bar is bold and will def have smell in 6 weeks.

 

[savonierre]

Congrats on your first batch of soap, it looks perfect, cannot wait to see the cut soap.

 

[dragonblossom]

Jenneelk, Ooops! Well at least it will have scent, lol. Guess I didn't do enough research on EO part of soap making. As long as it doesn't irratate the skin and the bar gets hard enough, I'll be happy. ^_^

savonierre, thanks!

 

[dragonblossom]

Alright! Pictures of the completed soap are now available. ^_^ I posted them in the Photo Gallery:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=357028#post357028

Thank you everyone for the support and stopping by to comment and check things out.