Yup. Complete waste of time and effort for me. I don't sell, so I don't need the "label appeal" factor. I did a blind test using milks, and no one in my family could tell anything changed. Even using 100% milk substituted for water. Goat milk, coconut milk, cow milk, evaporated milk, all the same. But I am not telling you what you and your family will enjoy. If you like it better, use it. That is what matters. I only ran the test because I found no improvement in using the milks. I did, however, find we all liked higher lard percentages better than lower ones.
When you first started soaping......
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Yup. Complete waste of time and effort for me. I don't sell, so I don't need the "label appeal" factor. I did a blind test using milks, and no one in my family could tell anything changed. Even using 100% milk substituted for water. Goat milk, coconut milk, cow milk, evaporated milk, all the same. But I am not telling you what you and your family will enjoy. If you like it better, use it. That is what matters. I only ran the test because I found no improvement in using the milks. I did, however, find we all liked higher lard percentages better than lower ones.
RobertBarnett
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I have been soaping for sometime. I follow the book to the letter, but then I wrote the book.
Robert
Robert
I no longer wear my full-on, makeshift Hazmat suit. LOL. Gone are my shoes, long-sleeves, long pants, and kerchief for my hair. The only 'must's' remaining are my mask to protect my lungs when mixing my solution, and my gloves and goggles.
I no longer make a fresh batch of lye each time I soap like I used to (master-batching is this soaping lass's best friend);
I no longer use aloe juice alike I used to, i.e., as my main liquid instead of water (I stopped when I saw that it made no difference in my formulas);
I no longer obsessively save my beveling scraps for future confetti soaps that I'll never make.
Instead I smoosh them into indy molds when still soft/pliable in order to make pretty guest soaps out of them.
I'm pretty much the opposite to y'all when it comes to minding my temps. I started off not paying too much attention to them .........until I started adding hydrogenated PKO to my formulas, which made my formulas trace right quick and gave me stearic spots in my finished bars. That made me stand up and take more notice. I learned through trial and error that as long as I mind my temps with my formulas that contain lots of hard ingredients such as hydrogenated PKO and butters by keeping them from going too much below 110F, all is good. If my temps with those are brought down too much lower than that, sure enough, I get fast trace quicker than you can say Bob's your uncle, and my soap will exhibit stearic spots in them.
I no longer go to the trouble to juice fresh carrot juice like I used to in order to use as an orange colorant in my soap (goes a bit rusty/tan over time). I now use the awesome orange that Nurture's Soap Supplies sells.
I'm sure there's more I could add. but those are the ones foremost in my mind right now.
IrishLass
I no longer make a fresh batch of lye each time I soap like I used to (master-batching is this soaping lass's best friend);
I no longer use aloe juice alike I used to, i.e., as my main liquid instead of water (I stopped when I saw that it made no difference in my formulas);
I no longer obsessively save my beveling scraps for future confetti soaps that I'll never make.
Instead I smoosh them into indy molds when still soft/pliable in order to make pretty guest soaps out of them.I'm pretty much the opposite to y'all when it comes to minding my temps. I started off not paying too much attention to them .........until I started adding hydrogenated PKO to my formulas, which made my formulas trace right quick and gave me stearic spots in my finished bars. That made me stand up and take more notice. I learned through trial and error that as long as I mind my temps with my formulas that contain lots of hard ingredients such as hydrogenated PKO and butters by keeping them from going too much below 110F, all is good. If my temps with those are brought down too much lower than that, sure enough, I get fast trace quicker than you can say Bob's your uncle, and my soap will exhibit stearic spots in them.
I no longer go to the trouble to juice fresh carrot juice like I used to in order to use as an orange colorant in my soap (goes a bit rusty/tan over time). I now use the awesome orange that Nurture's Soap Supplies sells.
I'm sure there's more I could add. but those are the ones foremost in my mind right now.
IrishLass
These are good things to know, I'm not selling, I'm just making soap but I really hate running for goatsmilk, coconut milk and I like the cream in my coffee. In fact my high lard soap was very basic, water four oils and I'm loving it. A year ago the list of junk I was putting in my soap is now almost embarrassing. It is much more fun soaping basic. I'm going to quit using milk and see how it goes.
Thanks
SuzieOz
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I'm relatively new still like TeresaT, so I'm experimenting with recipes now and trying out the expensive oils. You can tell me all you like how unnecessary they are but I have to find out for myself.
As for goat milk, my absolute favourite soap so far is a goat milk and honey. It's utterly glorious - rich and silky - but I don't know if it's the milk or the honey yet that makes it so glorious. More experimenting is in order ...
As for goat milk, my absolute favourite soap so far is a goat milk and honey. It's utterly glorious - rich and silky - but I don't know if it's the milk or the honey yet that makes it so glorious. More experimenting is in order ...
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I agree with SplendorSoap. You'll find your "style", give yourself time to see what works for you, what you're willing to experiment with and what your priorities are.
When I started soaping out determined to use only ingredients that were safe to consume. Two and a half years later I'm pretty much the opposite! I won't use Himalayan sea salt or other such quality salts because we should eat them for their mineral content, saving the cheap sodium chloride for salt bars.
Botanical colors or food items in soap? I've done it, got over it.
My first non-botanical colorants were micas from Nurture and loved them so much I rarely tried anything else.
I think animal milk did add a little something when I used palm oil, but didn't like messing with it. Switched to lard....'nuff said.
I was so paranoid about soap batter splattering around the kitchen I soaped my first few batches outside on the patio, then switched to only mixing the lye outside. Now I do everything inside.
Oil and lye temps? Never after the first batch. I look to see if the oils are clear or cloudy, that's all.
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Oh this thread is wonderful!:smile:
I love gel, but now almost everything is CPOP, so into the oven it goes.
The thermometer hasn't seen daylight in a very long time.
Nothing gets measured to a gnat's butt hair anymore. (Wish I had the time back getting oils to the EXACT specs of soapcalc.)
Annato and cocoa power are my only "botanical" colorants.
Anything with a swirl only gets blended to emulsion.
No more 'fancy' liquids - except almond milk for my Sis - she swears there's a difference.
Any speedy FOs are not getting a pretty swirl, the best they might get is an in-the-pot.
I like the artistic aspects, still with a good foundation, a lot more now.
I still follow safety rules closely. Too many times I've seen or heard of accident's when the safety rules are forsaken - none of them in soap making though.
Pretty much what's been said. I keep 4 or 5 oils on hand now. Nothing fancy or too spendy. I stick with mostly the same recipes with lower cleansing values than I would have 6 months ago but ohh the lather and smoothness....
If you could post which numbers are which, we could help more. Most of us no longer soap "by the numbers" as we have learned what feels good to us. Yet another thing that I no longer do.
Susie, superfatting is very hard for me. What I am asking is for a soap with a cleansing number of 9 where would you put your superfat. I know that it is all personal, but it would help to have a starting point and I can go from there. If I were to guess I would put it at 3 or 4. I think that with the milks that I have been adding my superfat has been too high. I'm trying not to strip my skin of oils to begin with. So I am going to make some changes and probably too many at once.
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I have dry skin, so my bar soaps have a minimum of 5% superfat. My husband has oily skin, and 5% superfat is too much for him. I also use no more than 15% CO for me, where he likes more like 25% minimum. You are going to have to make a lot of soap to figure out what is right for you.
If you are an absolute beginner, I would start with 5% superfat. Then try going up or down 1% depending on how you like that. You will eventually find your magic number. But remember that your CO plays a large part in how your skin feels, also. Change that by 5% at the time to find your magic number on it, also. Just make your changes one at the time, so you know which change was the correct one.
If you are an absolute beginner, I would start with 5% superfat. Then try going up or down 1% depending on how you like that. You will eventually find your magic number. But remember that your CO plays a large part in how your skin feels, also. Change that by 5% at the time to find your magic number on it, also. Just make your changes one at the time, so you know which change was the correct one.
Navaria
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Honestly, when I started I followed ALL the rules. When I read something that someone said I should be doing, I did it. Which got kind of tough when I got conflicting "advice". Now the only rule I consistently follow (besides gloves and goggles) is to add the lye to the water and not the other way around lol. I'm very much a "I have to try for myself" kind of person. Mainly because I've tried it the way people told me to and it didn't work, or I did something and got great results but everyone else says it didn't/wouldn't work. I've only lost 1 batch so far "doing it my way" so it works for me. Don't get me wrong, I still ask for advice and will try it bit I don't take someone else's word as gold any more. I've learned SO much by experimenting!
^ That's exactly right! You have to make lots of soap to learn. There is no substitute for personal experience.
I agree, experimentation is what I did as well until I landed on something I liked then tested on family and friends. Though I can say I never tried many of the exotic oils etc. The only oil I tried and loved was avocado in my soaps along with some PKO. I do like milks and silk. Otherwise a pretty basic recipe. I do use other specialty oils in my other products though.
penelopejane
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Yes except it is way easier to learn a few lessons by others mistakes rather than try and reinvent the wheel every single time.
The biggest problem is everyone's skin is different. And everyone's sense of smell is different too.
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LisaAnne - Not knowing what oils you're using makes it tough. Just my opinion, with a low cleansing, and moderate to high conditioning and creamy, I would keep the superfat to 5% or less. Probably start with 3% and see how that feels. Soapcalc defaults with a 5% superfat/discount, so check that you're not already at a 5%. As this thread suggests; to each his/her own.
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Two of my early "learned the hard way" lessons --
Soaping too cool.
Not masterbatching lye.
Many soapers soap cool, and there's a mystique about doing that. Of course I had to try it too. Problem is I usually make recipes high in solid fats. I learned right quick that even the smokinest hot lye solution cannot possibly melt all that lard ... just ain't gonna happen. And to make matters worse, I was getting those annoying little freckles of harder stearic soap dotted throughout my soap.
I went back to warming the fats until they are just clear and not milky looking and then I add room temperature lye that I have masterbatched. Not making lye solution every time is lovely and keeps my temps down. And I'm getting few or no stearic spots. Win-win!
Soaping too cool.
Not masterbatching lye.
Many soapers soap cool, and there's a mystique about doing that. Of course I had to try it too. Problem is I usually make recipes high in solid fats. I learned right quick that even the smokinest hot lye solution cannot possibly melt all that lard ... just ain't gonna happen. And to make matters worse, I was getting those annoying little freckles of harder stearic soap dotted throughout my soap.
I went back to warming the fats until they are just clear and not milky looking and then I add room temperature lye that I have masterbatched. Not making lye solution every time is lovely and keeps my temps down. And I'm getting few or no stearic spots. Win-win!
dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
I've ditched the expensive oils for soap, but my fav soap recipe actually has 6 oils in it - lard, coconut, olive oil, rice bran oil, sunflower, and castor. Olive oil is expensive. Pomace is cheaper, but it can add a weird color. IMO, the olive oil, rice bran and sunflower work together and make a better (and cheaper) soap than if I used just olive.
I still check temperatures like crazy but that's cause I'm impatient and I like to soap at as low a temp as possible. Plus, I seriously love my IR thermometer. I use it EVERY time I cook. Whether I'm heating something in the microwave or baking it.
Adding fragrances at trace is one that I used to think I had to do.
Another is reading "you can use any oil and make soap". Even though it may be fundamentally true, I always wondered why no one used the cheap vegetable oil if that was the case. It only took my first batch to learn why...
That hot process doesn't need a cure- that one was all over the Internet (still is). I just read a post of a soaper (not here) that made me so mad saying her customers at the farmers markets would stop by and go "no, I don't need any soap from you today since yours lasts so long!". She wanted to start formulating recipes that dissolve away faster and don't last as long ect. The worst part was that some people AGREED with her. Isn't that what we're trying to get away from...? Sometimes it can be frustrating but I take that as a compliment!
Adding fragrances at trace is one that I used to think I had to do.
Another is reading "you can use any oil and make soap". Even though it may be fundamentally true, I always wondered why no one used the cheap vegetable oil if that was the case. It only took my first batch to learn why...
That hot process doesn't need a cure- that one was all over the Internet (still is). I just read a post of a soaper (not here) that made me so mad saying her customers at the farmers markets would stop by and go "no, I don't need any soap from you today since yours lasts so long!". She wanted to start formulating recipes that dissolve away faster and don't last as long ect. The worst part was that some people AGREED with her. Isn't that what we're trying to get away from...? Sometimes it can be frustrating but I take that as a compliment!
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