New: First trymaking soap today.

[Mothi]

I have done some reading for maybe 2 weeks before jumping into making my first batch of soap. The reason for making my own soap was that I wanted to bath my dog in something not loaded with chemicals and things I can't pronounce, much less guess what it is. I do plan to use the soap myself as well. Below is the information to my first try.

Equipment
glass 2-cup measuring cup (oil mixture cup)
glass 1-cup measuring cup (lye mixing cup)
small spatula
oz scale
4 quart crock pot (oil mixture warmer)
safety gloves and eye wear
infrared thermometer
2 shot glasses (for extra oil and essential oils)
stick blender
lye cup and spoon (for measuring the powder out)

Recipe (one I made up after researching and sticking through a calculator)

Oils
5.0 oz Olive Oil (2.5 oz was infused for 1 week with Lavender and Calendula)
3.0 oz Coconut Oil
2.0 oz Palm Oil
0.5 oz Sweet Almond Oil (0.3 oz saved for at trace)

Lye/Liquids
2.0 oz Goat's Milk (not added into lye solution)
1.7 oz bottled water
1.5 oz lye

Other
0.2 oz Lemongrass Essential Oil
0.1 oz Lavender Essential Oil

Basically, I melted the oils and heated them up by pouring oils into the 2-cup glass measuring cup and placing that into the 4 quart crockpot which had water in it. I had it set to low. Almost like a double boiler system. I measured out all my ingredients (excluding lye) and prepared the mold while the oil warmed up. I also put the milk into the oil mixture.

I had the water in the freezer in the 1-cup glass measuring cup until it was a little frozen.

After the oil was warmed up, I removed the glass cup from the crockpot and set on table. I put on my safety gear and mixed the lye solution.

When the both mixtures were close to 100F, I poured the lye solution into the oil mixture while stirring. After stirring for a few minutes, I used the hand blender. I pulsed it a few times until the mixture was thicker. Then I hand stirred until trace.

Then I mixed my remaining amount of sweet almond oil and essential oils. Then I poured into the mold. I didn't cover the mold, but placed a lid loosely on it. I read that the sugars in the milk can burn.

An hour or two later, I saw it was gelling. It didn't gel all the way to the outer edge though. I also do see micro droplet sweats on the parts that didn't gel.

It is now at least 4 hours and is opaque again. So I guess I will wait until tomorrow to unmold it and cut. I plan to shred some of it to mix with water and hopefully make liquid soap. The rest I will let cure for 3+ weeks.

I am infusing some more Olive oil using the crock pot this time to make the process quicker. I am hoping to use Aloe juice instead of water for the next round and also adding in ground up lemongrass. Maybe eventually adding powdered goat's milk to make it 100% goat's milk.

What I wonder is, if you grate a 1-day old soap and then mix it with water. Will it be cured enough to use or would that be too harsh? When you rebatch, does it cure faster when it is reheated?

Thanks for reading. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. This is my first time making soap after all.[/b]

 

[Tabitha]

Hello!

I am not a CP soap maker. I do bath & body. I just wanted to make sure you knew most all essential oils are deadly for cats and many are very harmful to dogs as well. I couldn't tell you which ones but your vet could.

Lavender is safe, I have used it in M&P dog soaps in the past. I have read in a couple places lemongrass is too & may even be good for clearing skin conditions such as mange. I did not clear either of those through a vet, just my own research.

Best of luck to you!

Oh- BTW: I add oatmeal to my doggie shampoo, it eases skin itch. Just a thought.

 

[Mothi]

Thanks for the heads up. Yes, I am aware EOs are BAD for cats. I also researched what EOs would be okay for dogs and chose accordingly. In the future though, I may cut down on the EOs a bit more. Depends how this one turns out. Dog's noses are a lot more sensitive.

EDIT: If I recall there was one website calculator that was saying .7 oz of strong EOs per 16 oz of oil. My oil comes out to 10.5 and I used a total of .3 oz of EOs. That would be less than their recommendation, but it still smelled strong. But I will wait to see how it really is as EOs scent can fade during curing.

 

[Tabitha]

I edited above to add: I have read in a couple places lemongrass is safe too & may even be good for clearing skin conditions such as mange. I did not clear either of those through a vet, just my own research.

 

[Tabitha]

Lemongrass & Lavender eo's are a couple that are VERY strong. My Lavender I literaly use drops of in lotion & such and I mean 2-3 drops for 1# batch and it still knocks you over.

 

[Tabitha]

I make a dog mist (parfume if you will) with Lavender in it too. It helps cover up odors when there is no time for a bath but you need to do something! I don't have any dogs of my own. I am a cat person but my mom fosters dogs & always has a houseful!

 

[Mothi]

I planned to use a apple cider vinegar wash after her bath and then a conditioning spritz that is basically rosemary tea. Although with rosemary, you don't want to use it (apparently) with dogs who have seizures.

I don't have cats. Just 2 small dogs. I know with tea tree oil I have to be careful not to use TOOO much.

 

[Guest]

Yes, wonderful process and procedure. You are doing wonderful. I cant wait until you cut it.. perhaps post pics for us! Congrats!

 

[Mothi]

Here is a picture of my soap set in mold.

Here is a picture of it an hour or two later gelling.

Here is it as of now. Note: The color distinction shown in the image is not as noticeable in real life. You can see a slight distinction where it gelled and where it didn't.

 

[Guest]

beautiful.. I love fresh soap!

 

[Soapmaker Man]

As a goat milk soapmaker, your batch here, in your new journey into CP soaping, looks very good indeed! Welcome to the SMF! I've been busy lately and have not been hare as much as I normally am to help, but light is at the end of the tunnel. Great job!

Paul.... :wink:
I'm In The TOG House Now!

 

[Tabitha]

Ah, my mist is an apple cider vinigar and tea combo. Yours sound nice!

 

[dragonfly princess]

I have a big ole' great dane/black lab mix, there is no way I could use a bar soap when she is getting a bath. Does anyone have a liquid soap recipe for doggy soap?

 

[NEASoapWorks]

Nice!

Beautiful! How exciting it must be, to make your very first batch!

 

[Mothi]

I am hoping to shred some of this soap up today and adding more water to it to make liquid soap. That is the plan at least.

I am also going to try making another batch of soap after that experiment. My last batched weighed 15.5 oz when poured into my plastic container of a mold. For now my experiments are going to be close to 1 pound each.

The next experiment will hopefully have aloe juice instead of water and if I can locate powdered goat's milk as well. I will cut down the EOs and I have been infusing Olive Oil with Caledula and Lemongrass (using a double boiler way of warming the oil with the help of the crockpot and glass measuring cup sitting inside it. Temps are 100-110F. Been doing this since last night.)

Anyone here ever tried handmilling 24 hour old soap to make liquid soap? Does remilling soap make it cure faster? Should I be worried about the pH in the liquid soap I will be attempting to make? Some recipes for making castile soap into liquid soap have glycerin added. Why?

I recall seeing one site and I think they had 1 part shredded castile soap to 2 parts water. Well, tonight I should find out...

 

[Mothi]

Well, I couldn't resist it any longer. It beckoned me until I attacked it with a chopper. It is 3 hours shy of 24 hours, but I can't take it anymore. I had to see if my soap was solid or if there were any interior problems.

It did stick a little to my stainless steel chopper, but was not mushy. Here is a picture of 2 bars I cut out and the scraps. The scraps will be shredded to test run making liquid soap.