need some advice

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McGraysoldtowngifts

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Hello all

I am looking for a stable recipe using coconut milk , Olive oil, Coconut Oil and Lard , Sunflower oil and caster oil are the oils I have available to me. I am planning a 48 oz batch. I have been searching for a decent recipe that is going to produce a soap that is bubbly with a good conditioning value. I have been messing around with soap calc a lot but I want to get a true tested recipe to base it off of so i know that i am working with a good base start.


Todd
 
One of the standard recipes that gets shared here is:
55% lard
25% olive oil
15% coconut oil
5% castor

5% SF

I've made this many a time and it's a great recipe. You could absolutely substitute your coconut milk for some or all of the water in the recipe. It's lovely and creamy and conditiony and lathery.

Edit: and on behalf of the lardaholics, thank you for choosing lard.
 
Last edited:
My favorite recipes fall in the following ranges. Any ratio you choose of lard and OO within the ranges is fine. I could suggest that you start at one end of the range and make a batch, then change 5%, make another batch, and repeat til you reach the other end. This way, you find what is right for you two. And if you really want a great bar, substitute 20% or so of tallow for some of it, and add 1 tsp sugar PPO to boost bubbles. I would do all of this before adding CM to avoid not knowing what you loved about a recipe. Once you find your preferred ratios, then add your CM and trial and error until you find your preferred amount of that.

Lard 55-80%
OO 15-25%
CO 10-15%
Castor Oil 5%
 
With coconut milk, off the bat it's easier to do the 50/50 method with it. You won't have to freeze your coconut milk that way. using 100% coconut milk in your recipe would require you to freeze your milk.
 
With coconut milk, off the bat it's easier to do the 50/50 method with it. You won't have to freeze your coconut milk that way. using 100% coconut milk in your recipe would require you to freeze your milk.

Not necessarily. I normally make 100% milk soaps with the 50/50 split method by fortifying my coconut milk with enough powdered coconut milk to bring the total milk concentration for my batch up to 100%. Works like a charm.


IrishLass :)
 
I'm sorry, but this will sound harsh.

You could have found this information already, as these recipes are posted almost daily. Especially as you are looking to take these ideas and sell the soap. You spoke before about researching, but asking for a solid recipe to base yours off of is not research. If it was a book, it would be called plagiarism.

People are of course free to give you a leg up when you ask, but I find the asking decidedly cheeky when you consider that you are just looking to make a quick buck.
 
I'm sorry, but this will sound harsh.

You could have found this information already, as these recipes are posted almost daily. Especially as you are looking to take these ideas and sell the soap. You spoke before about researching, but asking for a solid recipe to base yours off of is not research. If it was a book, it would be called plagiarism.

People are of course free to give you a leg up when you ask, but I find the asking decidedly cheeky when you consider that you are just looking to make a quick buck.

The questions I have asked are because the posts I have read give portions but are not clear enough for me to just mix a bunch of liquids together and call it good. I want to understand what is happening when I add the Milk and when to add it properly so not to end up in a mess.

Why do you seem to have an issue with me it seems no matter what I do here on this forum you seem to find a way to insult me or put me down in a public manner. I am not in any way selling anything at this point I am trying to learn the proper way of crafting soap that will be safe and eventually lead to a business in the future. You seem to have me pegged as a low life person who is only out to steal a buck.

Let me inform you I am not I happen to be a very professional person and very reasonable but I have come to a point where I am not going to get pushed around like the new school kid on the block.

I hope I have been clear enough so there will be no further issues with being called out when there is no reason to do so.

Todd
 
The questions I have asked are because the posts I have read give portions but are not clear enough for me to just mix a bunch of liquids together and call it good. I want to understand what is happening when I add the Milk and when to add it properly so not to end up in a mess.

Why do you seem to have an issue with me it seems no matter what I do here on this forum you seem to find a way to insult me or put me down in a public manner. I am not in any way selling anything at this point I am trying to learn the proper way of crafting soap that will be safe and eventually lead to a business in the future. You seem to have me pegged as a low life person who is only out to steal a buck.

Let me inform you I am not I happen to be a very professional person and very reasonable but I have come to a point where I am not going to get pushed around like the new school kid on the block.

I hope I have been clear enough so there will be no further issues with being called out when there is no reason to do so.

Todd

All recipes should only be given in proportions, as you should always use a lye calculator even if the lye amount is given. Often people find that there are printing mistakes or, as is the case on the forum, typing errors, which is why you will hardly ever see someone give a recipe in anything other than proportions so that the part that can be dangerous is less so.

I'll say the same thing that I always say - if you want a firm foundation, read back at least 10 pages in the Beginner, CP, Recipe Feedback, and Soap Making Recipes sections. Or even 20 pages. THAT is research. There you would see that the methods for adding milks and so on, and countless instances of the recipes above in varying guises.

I do hold you to a higher standard. Whether or not you agree with that is by-the-by. You are not learning to soap for the joy of soaping alone, for the hobby aspect. Your goal is to sell and you want free help from people to allow you to get to the stage where you can sell. All questions that you ask are couched in that - you are not asking about milk soap because you want to make a milk soap. You want to make a milk soap that you could one day sell. So I do expect more from people who sell or who plan on selling than I do from those who started out just as people wanting to make soap and who may or may not at some point sell.

I know many people don't agree with me, but there it is. It's not because you're new at all, rather that I dislike the fact that if there was no money to be made from soap, if it was illegal for small operations to sell soap, you would not be looking at making soap.

If you decide not to post, just because of me, that would be a shame for you. As you say, you are a professional and have had many successful businesses and so on, so I imagine that you have a thicker skin than that.
 
Not necessarily. I normally make 100% milk soaps with the 50/50 split method by fortifying my coconut milk with enough powdered coconut milk to bring the total milk concentration for my batch up to 100%. Works like a charm.


IrishLass :)

True, I forget about milk powders a little more than I'd like. :mrgreen:
 
With coconut milk, off the bat it's easier to do the 50/50 method with it. You won't have to freeze your coconut milk that way. using 100% coconut milk in your recipe would require you to freeze your milk.



Ok I have read 5 posts on making a 50/50 mix but I am still a little confused.

I understand the concept of splitting the water and coconut milk in half. From what I have read you add the coconut milk to the oils and stick blend it in. Then add the Lye to the 50 % water solution.

Now here is where I am confused. Do you halve the amount of Lye you add to the water or do you add the full amount of the lye to the 50% water mixture as you would with 100% water?

Todd
 
Now here is where I am confused. Do you halve the amount of Lye you add to the water or do you add the full amount of the lye to the 50% water mixture as you would with 100% water?

Todd

Todd,

Never change the amount of lye from your calculator.

You would mix the full amount of lye into the water. Just make sure that the weight of the water equals the weight of lye.
 
Ok I have read 5 posts on making a 50/50 mix but I am still a little confused.

I understand the concept of splitting the water and coconut milk in half. From what I have read you add the coconut milk to the oils and stick blend it in. Then add the Lye to the 50 % water solution.

Now here is where I am confused. Do you halve the amount of Lye you add to the water or do you add the full amount of the lye to the 50% water mixture as you would with 100% water?

Todd

Ditto what Kchaystack said. I really need to stop referring to the method as 50/50 and just use the term 'split method' instead. Shame on me. I apologize for any confusion.

I add as much water as will dissolve my recipe amount of lye (which is a 50/50 solution), and then add the rest of my liquid amount as milk to my oils.


IrishLass :)
 
The 50/50 is using a 50% lye solution. Equal parts lye and water. Do remember when figuring out your need lye you will double this because you now have 50 % lye 50% water. Deduct this water amount from your needed liquid amount and add that amount in Goat's milk into your oil mix. This is why some of also use milk powders to bring up the milk to the full amount
 
Ditto what Kchaystack said. I really need to stop referring to the method as 50/50 and just use the term 'split method' instead. Shame on me. I apologize for any confusion.

I add as much water as will dissolve my recipe amount of lye (which is a 50/50 solution), and then add the rest of my liquid amount as milk to my oils.


IrishLass :)

I'm just as bad. I agree.
 

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