New Here!!

[crafty86]

I've been trying to make my own lotion here lately. So I've come here and now I wanna make some soap! Haha! Where should I start CP or HP? I don't really WANNA do melt and pour I want more of a "challenge" I guess you could say. Could ya'll give me any advise on where to start...what to start buying...my "budget" for my hobbies is $25/week. So I need to go ahead and start getting things together Basic ingredients would be nice. Can't wait to try it and show you ladies!! I've been reading all through you posts and I just can't wait!!!

 

[ToniD]

What do you own from lotion making? scale, stickblender, etc You will need to get your very basic equipment together--scale, stickblender (optional, but very helpful and timesaving) a soaping pot, a lye mixing container, spoon suitable for stirring lye (stainless steel is great), spatula, goggles, gloves, mold (a cardboard box lined with freezer paper works to start) Its very possible I missed something, but I am sure others will post.

Read the basic process until you can walk through all the steps in your head, and feel like you have a good grasp on how to do it.

Learn to use a lye calculator. I like the one at soapcalc, but Brambleberry has one and MMS.

Then you can choose a basic recipe, run it through the lye calc, make soap and enjoy the results of all your preparation. It is fun and the anticipation is exciting.

BTW, I am not ignoring your question. Just didn't know where you might be in the process, so I started at the beginning. An easy soap to start with would be 30% Coconut oil, 70% Olive oil, Distilled water. all often available in the grocery store. Lye is sometimes available at a hardware store depending on where you live. I personally think cp is easier.

HTH Have fun.

 

[crafty86]

Whats the difference between CP and HP?

I have scales, I don't have a stick blender though...Ive been using my hand held blender that I use for cakes and such. <- Haha I know. So should I actually invest in the stick one? I have shea and cocoa butter and a little beeswax. For oils I have, sweet almond, jojoba, wheat germ, kukui nut, avocado, some type of Aloe...it's just a water type aloe, I'm guessing aloe juice, and sunflower oil. Then of course I have stearic acid, E-wax and some kind of perserver - Liquid Germall Plus. And I have some vitamin E oil.

Whats a soaping pot? I have a big stainless steel 5 qt pot..does that count?
Whats a lye mixing container? I have lots of bowls, containers, ect. I'm sure I might have something. I hope I have a stainless steel spoon, spatula, goggles and gloves. And the mold...this might sound weird...but I have one of those silicone cupcake molds...would that work til I can get a wooden one? Or I could try the cardboard whichever you think would work better.

Thanks in advance..I'm so excited I might just have enough stuff to make a small batch this weekend! And lye-which part of the hardware store would I look...Im in NC so Lowes or Home depot is what we got!

 

[margarita]

Just remember that you shouldn't use your soapmaking equipment for food.

I would definitely invest in a stickblender. It doesn't splash and makes my life a lot easier You can find them for a really good price too.
Stainless steel pot will do great for soapmaking, but 5 qt is something around 5 litres, right? I think it will be slightly too big for a beginner.
I mix my lye in a sturdy plastic pitcher. I would avoid glass, it might shatter from the lye.

Almost every soap recipe calls for coconut and/or olive oils, so you will probably need to get some of those.
I can't help you with the lye, but I'm sure someone will chime in and help you with that.

Oh, and sorry for my english. It's sort of rusty I don't get to use it very often out here.

 

[crafty86]

OK...so all the stuff I use I shouldn't ever use it for food again!? That's good to know! :wink: So I could def find a stick blender this week!! And about the coconut oil....I have some that I bought for cooking at wholes foods. Then I bought some on Ebay thats not as dense. It's more like a coconut oily lotion it's creamy the stuff I bought at the store is harder. Which one should I use for soaping? And olive oil....like we use for cooking? Just the cheap stuff or do I need extra virgin? I'm super excited! Not sure my husband is LOL!! But i AM!!!!!

 

[spicyjem]

Like Margarita said above, the 5qt. pot is going to be way too big if you're planning to make small beginner batches. I was in the same boat as you a couple weeks ago, and when I measured out my ingredients, I realized that it barely would take up any room in my 5 qt. pot!

So on the recommendation of another member, I just used a regular plastic BOWL to mix things in.

This is basically what I did:

- I had one plastic bowl/measuring cup to mix my lye and water.

- I had my main plastic bowl that I put all my oils and butters in. I ended up using the microwave to get them all liquidy.

- When I was ready to "soap", I simply poured the lye/water from it's container directly into my main plastic bowl that contained all my oils & butters. This is the same bowl I took out of the microwaved

- I had a THIRD bowl which I used to keep my measured fragrance oils. This was set aside so I could easily pour it into my soap when it started to trace.

So all in all, you could potentially get away with only using 3 bowls AND NO POT. It all depends on your setup and what works best for you.

I was making a 16 ounce batch, so the above setup worked fine for me.

I do recommend a stick blender (I got mine at Walmart for roughly $24.00 but you could find them cheaper). It doubles as a spoon, because when it's not "on", you can use it to stir the soap around, but then with a push of a button, it injects some major stirrage into the pot and gets everything nice and mixed!

 

[ToniD]

the silicone cupcake molds work great! But one 6 cupcake holder will not hold much soap. You might want some extra space. Disposable coffee cups work great. Not styrofoam, the heavy paper type. I am just suggesting you can use some molds from household items till you can afford and know what you want. Once you make soap several times you get more of an idea. what type mold you like, IMO


A big 5 quart pot can work, but may not be the best size. It can be unweildy and also a bit big for some batch sizes. You want to have enough soap in the pot that you can cover the bell of your stickblender so that you are not splashing or working air into your soap.

Look in the plumbing section or household cleaners section for Lye. Its sold as drain cleaner. You must be very careful to get 100% lye. Not all drain cleaners are lye.

A lye container is whatever can safely hold the lye while you mix. I use stainless steel.

Cheap Olive is fine. Again, make sure it is olive oil and not a blend. Blends can mess with your lye calculation.

I am glad you are so excited. Soapmaking is a great hobby. May I suggest though that you really make sure you are ready before you try that first batch. It can be dangerous and definitely a real disappointment if the the first batch does not go well. Have fun and be careful.

 

[kelleyaynn]

OK...so all the stuff I use I shouldn't ever use it for food again!?

That's not totally true. Anything that is made of stainless steel, as long as it is washed very well, can be used again (I do). The metal does not absorb anything. You do need to make sure it is cleaned very well, but you should do that anyway or you risk contaminating your next batch of soap. I use food bowls and measuring cups to weigh out my oils, because those oils are edible to begin with. I scoop out solid oils with soup spoons.

Anything plastic that you put lye or raw soap in should only be used for soap.

Of course, it is BEST to keep soaping supplies separate, but for cost and storage issues, unless I start making enough soap to sell, I double-duty some items.

 

[jennikate]

I dont have a stickblender but I hear makes life easier.i started CP and have recently switched to HP . There are pluses and minuses to both so some things to consider. Are you a right now person or is waititng for several weeks ok with you? Cp you stir till trace put in mold leave 24 hours or so remove and than needs 4-6 weeks to cure. HP more labor intensive to make due to it cookes in double boiler or in crockpot for about 2-3 hours being stired once in a while. Goes into mold thicker not quite as pretty as CP but is ready to use right away once it cools down .I like cure week or 2 but can be usd once cooled and cut. i figured would focus more on that part of your question cause everyone else covered what you need very well. HTH

 

[margarita]

OK...so all the stuff I use I shouldn't ever use it for food again!?

That's not totally true. Anything that is made of stainless steel, as long as it is washed very well, can be used again (I do). The metal does not absorb anything. You do need to make sure it is cleaned very well, but you should do that anyway or you risk contaminating your next batch of soap. I use food bowls and measuring cups to weigh out my oils, because those oils are edible to begin with. I scoop out solid oils with soup spoons.

Anything plastic that you put lye or raw soap in should only be used for soap.

Of course, it is BEST to keep soaping supplies separate, but for cost and storage issues, unless I start making enough soap to sell, I double-duty some items.

Thank you for claryfying this. I wasn't sure about the stainless steel ones, so I kept them only for soapmaking

 

[crafty86]

OK. Wow. I just went on that soapcalc.net and Im not sure what all I should put in. Like what kind of lye...my percent or my hardness. I dunno I just wanna make a simple soap for my first soap. Anyone have a simple recipe that will fill up like a loaf pan? And what kind of frangrances should I use? Where do you girls buy yours from? I'm going to make some Saturday! I went and bought Olive oil last night and I'm going to get some lye at lunch!!

 

[spicyjem]

OK. Wow. I just went on that soapcalc.net and Im not sure what all I should put in. Like what kind of lye...my percent or my hardness. I dunno I just wanna make a simple soap for my first soap. Anyone have a simple recipe that will fill up like a loaf pan? And what kind of frangrances should I use? Where do you girls buy yours from? I'm going to make some Saturday! I went and bought Olive oil last night and I'm going to get some lye at lunch!!

Crafty - If you want, I can email you an eBook I have on soap making which I really found helpful. It has lots of information about the process, as well as recipes and information on SoapCalc.

Just send me a PM with your email.