Soap intro

[desireerenoir]

Hi,
I am avid lurker of this forum, but only from last month ( sept 2023) active member.

Back story - How I got into soap hobby?
I have goats, and one of old goats had very little milk, udder clogged, anyway story for different times. The point is, I had little frozen pieces of goat milk in freezer. And for some reason, I remembered I have lye from 10 years ago. As teenager, I tried making soap, failed, and looking my stinky (soaped at to high temperatures) tought, never again. But that changed. I made goat milk soap, and in first try I succeed. I could not believe my eyes, it way so beautiful caramel color. I think I used cow butter at the time in the recipe. Lovely.

Present - What I am doing now?
For a year now, I made soap. Different colors and scents, my main thread is trying to be simple, and use ingredients that I can get from locals. That said, sunflower oil. Lavender. Bee s wax. I used animal fat, but so many times, people are horrified by lard and cow fat, so I gave up. Now for my main solid fat, I use soy way ( special thanks to ResolvableOwl idk his/her name on Soapmakingforum, for all advice, including soy wax as main source of stearic fatty acid.)

I also make scalp peeling, cleaning sprays, I really want to make lube from flaxseed, but that is big challange as it needs perservatives and all that high tech cosmetics formulation.

 

[Savage Daughter]

Hi,
I am avid lurker of this forum, but only from last month ( sept 2023) active member.

I also make scalp peeling

Scalp peeling?? Scalping? Sorry, trying to translate / understand this & I'm finding humour in it....and my humour is often subjectively labeled as 'inappropriate' Never take my jokes personally

cleaning sprays, I really want to make lube from flaxseed, but that is big challange as it needs perservatives and all that high tech cosmetics formulation.

Yes, flax seed gel is some beautiful stuff, but preserving it is frustrating, especially if you wish to keep the gel as non-toxic as possible. Lube full of stuff which will grow horns & alien children on your nether-bits ain't too much fun

Nice to meet you

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I made goat milk soap, and in first try I succeed. I could not believe my eyes, it way so beautiful caramel color.

Good for you! I'm doing the Happy Soapers Dance for you...

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

That said, sunflower oil. Lavender. Bee s wax. I used animal fat, but so many times, people are horrified by lard and cow fat, so I gave up. Now for my main solid fat, I use soy wax

Welcome! I also followed @KiwiMoose ‘s advice, and started using soy wax with a high oleic sunflower oil recipe. I love the results! I use beeswax in many of my soaps, too, but recently cut the amount down to 3% to keep it from feeling waxy and to get better lather. I think beeswax soap leaves a good feeling on the skin. Everyone here will be happy for you to share pictures of your soaps as you make them.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Welcome! Yes I seem to be the main soy wax aficionado now that others have left. I had the idea passed down from others on here.

 

[Savage Daughter]

Welcome! Yes I seem to be the main soy wax aficionado now that others have left. I had the idea passed down from others on here.

I've got a honking bag of soy wax which I initially bought for emergency candle making a couple of years ago, can't remember the type so need to dig it out. I will have to give it a try, especially since I never did make candles with the stuff I'm hoping it's the golden wax stuff which I keep hearing people say they like for soap.

I do know that soaps I have tested with beeswax - other soap makers' soaps who live in my area - were an absolute for me.....hard, huge NO. The lather was seriously underwhelming & the overall feel of the soap was that of a much lower quality product. I found out later that local soap makers have been following each others' habits and were adding beeswax thinking they could cure their soaps for far less time, which is a big mistake. I hear people buying these soaps complaining about the fact that they disappear very quickly once they get wet.

My neighbours have also mentioned these soaps as ones they don't like, without me saying anything about them myself. These are unsolicited, independently shared reviews & comparisons regarding my products & others' products in our area. I have access to beautiful, raw, local beeswax - which I use in all of my salves, balms etc - but still would not use it in soap.

My personal preference. But never say never....I may one day try a soap with beeswax in it which changes my mind....I am kinda hoping I love soy wax, but we shall see

 

[AliOop]

Welcome! I also followed @KiwiMoose ‘s advice, and started using soy wax with a high oleic sunflower oil recipe. I love the results! I use beeswax in many of my soaps, too, but recently cut the amount down to 3% to keep it from feeling waxy and to get better lather. I think beeswax soap leaves a good feeling on the skin. Everyone here will be happy for you to share pictures of your soaps as you make them.

Good call! Whether one likes beeswax or not in soap seems to depend greatly on how much is used. My very unscientific survey of various forums, blogs, etc., indicates that anything above 3% results in negative feedback, in regards to both the production phase (fast tracing, spots, etc.) and the actual usage of the soap (reduced lather, waxy feel).

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I do know that soaps I have tested with beeswax - other soap makers' soaps who live in my area - were an absolute for me.....hard, huge NO. The lather was seriously underwhelming & the overall feel of the soap was that of a much lower quality product.

Me too! I had to convince a wholesale customer to ditch the beeswax in her "Bible Soap". Once she did that, it was a much better bar and sales picked up.

I have access to beautiful, raw, local beeswax - which I use in all of my salves, balms etc - but still would not use it in soap.

Ditto. Locally sourced beeswax & honey sourced locally, when I can find it, is the best in lip balms, healing balms, cuticle balm, Baby Bum Balm and salves.

.I am kinda hoping I love soy wax,

I tried it early on but was not terribly impressed. One thing I can say about @KiwiMoose 's CP is that she not only makes a hard bar that lathers up easily,it rinses off clean without any tightness, and it also seems to retain scent well. I received a gift-with-purchase from her recently. I'm using it daily and I must say, I'm impressed.

Here's a thread about Soy Wax Use in Soap
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/soy-wax-use-in-soap.82437/

 

[desireerenoir]

Scalp peeling?? Scalping? Sorry, trying to translate / understand this & I'm finding humour in it....and my humour is often subjectively labeled as 'inappropriate' Never take my jokes personally



Yes, flax seed gel is some beautiful stuff, but preserving it is frustrating, especially if you wish to keep the gel as non-toxic as possible. Lube full of stuff which will grow horns & alien children on your nether-bits ain't too much fun


Nice to meet you

Hi,
Yeah I had quite bad case of dandruff, so i formulated exfoliaton cream for scalp. It is very easy: sugar, body butter, kafra and teatree oil. After peeling I shampoo my hair as usual, so the oils from exfoliation are rinsed of.

The perservatives are big black box for now, that I just made soild stuff or oil based. When I broaden my product portfolio, I will try to find out if there is a posibility how to make perservative at home. I try to make most of my ingredients localy.

Thank you for reply

 

[Savage Daughter]

Hi,
Yeah I had quite bad case of dandruff, so i formulated exfoliaton cream for scalp. It is very easy: sugar, body butter, kafra and teatree oil. After peeling I shampoo my hair as usual, so the oils from exfoliation are rinsed of.

The perservatives are big black box for now, that I just made soild stuff or oil based. When I broaden my product portfolio, I will try to find out if there is a posibility how to make perservative at home. I try to make most of my ingredients localy.

Thank you for reply

Oh wow, that sounds incredibly uncomfortable That will be being caused by something internally, inside the body. Anything you apply to your skin / hair / scalp externally is just a temporary way of squelching the symptoms you're experiencing.

There are more & more preservatives coming out which are based on lichen, trees, ferments of different types. I have been testing Leucidal SF Max combined with AMTicide at 4% each for several formulations based on water decoctions which I make. I am having problems sourcing testing kits where I live however, so even my home testing is being rather delayed.

Being as I live in a place where I have access to a lot of these lichens which are being used in these commercially manufactured preservatives, I have been thinking of using various types of lichen directly in products I use at home to see how well this would work for product preservation - at least for my own products, until I can get things properly tested. Based on what I know plants are capable of, I am guessing this will be quite effective. Using the whole lichen - cleaned of course - also allows the 'plant' to act on its own, kind of like a time release, but significantly more complicated & much more involved on the plant's part than this. Getting into all the details here would probably trip a lot of people out way past their restrictive 'comfort zones' so I'll leave it at that


Anyways, good luck with your scalp issue. There are many different types of doctors & natural health care practitioners which can help you with something like this. I am currently taking massive doses of milk thistle, magnesium, B vitamins of all types, EFAs, homeopathics etc to help clear 40+ years of garbage out of my body....I am very grateful for being able to choose to take control of my own health.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I will try to find out if there is a posibility how to make perservative at home.

There are essential oils (Almond EO for example) and also rosin that are said to "contain preservative qualities" that can be used to make soap. Because it's difficult use, I melt rosin with coconut oil and pour into discs that I then freeze -- ready to go when needed. Read about rosin here:

Zany's Flaxseed Shampoo

As for "leave on" products, every "natural" preservative I've tried smelled off at 6 months. To be safe long range, (i.e., 3 years!) I stick with Liquid Germall Plus -- it's the most effective at the lowest Use Rate: 0.1 - 0.5 %. NOTE: I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from formulating their own natural preservative; just sayin'.

And then there's this... something to think about? I have not tried it.

SLIPPERY ELM VS. OIL RANCIDITY

 

[Savage Daughter]

As for "leave on" products, every "natural" preservative I've tried smelled off at 6 months. To be safe long range, (i.e., 3 years!)

Yeah....I don't wish for my products to be shelf stable for 3 years That's one of the reasons why we have so many problems with mass-manufactured products, whether skin care, food, whatever....they're loaded with stuff that will keep things 'shelf stable' for years. This is not a plus. It's a big negative for our health, as well as the health of the planet. I'm perfectly ok with 1 year at the outside for the very few products I make which might require a preservative. if making a cream means I have to load it up with all sorts of preservatives I am not ok with using, I simply will not make the product. Health first, truly.

I also stick with small, independent business owners who are buying & reselling my product, so I don't need to be cranking out thousands of units of product at a time.

I am perfectly ok with stating on my labels: USE PRODUCT WITHIN 8 MONTHS OF PURCHASING & printing an expiry date on the label. I can work this into marketing in a very positive manner.

And then there's this... something to think about? I have not tried it.

SLIPPERY ELM VS. OIL RANCIDITY

Yes, that's right....I followed one hell of a trail of breadcrumbs the last time you posted that link, was reading for days, bouncing from website to website....love people like this guy with this herbalism website.

Dr Christopher's website is pretty cool as well. That's where I was first able to confirm for myself - because I knew it was a lie based on personal experience - that the 'ban' on comfrey in products to be used internally is complete & utter horse. The type of comfrey they 'studied' was a completely different type from the one they banned! This is why I don't trust 'scientists' to do 'research' when it comes to plant medicine. They're incapable of even developing a proper study when it comes to plants (using WHOLE plant medicine in doses which are normally used), and they are far from 'independent' as they're beholden to various corporate entities - directly or indirectly - via corporate funding, the labs they work for being linked to corporate entities, the universities they work in taking in corporate money etc, giving us nothing but biased & twisted 'research', and not just with plant medicine. /rant

Anyways....yeah....slippery elm....I need to order myself some slippery elm. One of the few plants I don't have on hand, ironically I have not been a fan of it since I was a child - that slippery texture in my mouth gagged me even then Not everyone jibes with every plant. In fact, nobody does. I'm glad to find out it can be used in this way, no gagging required!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Just an FYI, I also put "Expiration Date: 6 months"on my lotions. Some things aren't always under our control, however. The reason I mentioned "3 years" is because that was how long it had been when I visited a friend, after gifting her some Lotion. When I went into the guest bathroom, there was the bottle of my lotion sitting next to the sink. Imagine my surprise when I used it and it hadn't gone south at all. BUT. I did take it home with me with a promise to replace it as long as she used it up within the EXP date.

 

[Savage Daughter]

Just an FYI, I also put "Expiration Date: 6 months"on my lotions. Some things aren't always under our control, however. The reason I mentioned "3 years" is because that was how long it had been when I visited a friend, after gifting her some Lotion. When I went into the guest bathroom, there was the bottle of my lotion sitting next to the sink. Imagine my surprise when I used it and it hadn't gone south at all. BUT. I did take it home with me with a promise to replace it as long as she used it up within the EXP date.

Yes, for sure, I get that. There are many factors which we can't control.

That said, I don't feel comfortable adding potential toxins to my products to make up for someone's stupidity or absence of common sense. Hence the expiration date and / or the 'USE WITHIN X MONTHS OF OPENING' instructions.

If someone insists on using the product past that date, it is on them, much like it would be on them if they got a stomach ache after drinking milk which has passed its expiration date.

But again, as I have said before, if I am in doubt regarding safety in relation to product ingredients or shelf stability, I simply do not make the product until a better option for raw materials / least toxic preservatives become available. It's a pretty easy choice for me. Just because I CAN make something, doesn't mean I SHOULD. This is also why I make certain things, including herbal medicines which might cause a careless fool to drop like a fly, only for myself.