Where do i start.. help!

[Sunflower95]

Ive just discovered the world of soap making. Both my little ones have eczema and im desperate to make soap that wont dry their skin out and is very gentle. I decided i want shea butter to be the main ingredient as i already use this.. i understand that shea butter is very conditioning but doesnt lather. Does this mean that it wont cleanse the skin? Also know that coconut oil is very cleansing but harsh . Is it possible to make a soap from just shea butter or would i need to mix with other oils. If so what oils wouldnt be harsh but still cleanse? What is the max percent of shea i could use if i cant make a single oil soap? Thank you any advice would be apprciated

 

[AliOop]

Hello there! Many of us here started soaping because of skin problems - our own, or those of our loved ones, or both. So you are in good company.

You can certainly try a high-shea bar, but they do need a long cure. Also, shea is not usually the best oil or butter to use when making a soap for someone with eczema. The qualities of the butter are changed as it goes through the saponification process, i.e., becomes soap, and it can be a skin irritant for sensitive folks.

I recommend starting with one or both of these formulas:

1. Castile bar soap made with 100% olive oil. You can search the forum for "Zany's No-slime Castile" to find a recipe that doesn't require a one-year cure like normal Castile soap will need.

2. A high-lard bar soap. The composition of lard is very similar to the oils on human skin, and it seems to retain many skin-loving properties even after becoming soap. My family members with eczema love this soap - it is so gentle! They are able to tolerate it with about 10-20% coconut oil, which helps it lathers better. But to be on the safe side, you might want to start with no coconut oil at all. You can try 75% lard, 20% olive oil, and 5% castor oil. This soap will benefit from curing for at least eight weeks. The lather gets a lot better as it cures longer.

For either recipe, keep it unscented for now, since many scents (even essential oils) are skin irritants. You can increase lather by adding some form of sugar. I love using goat milk powder for that. Powder is easier for a beginner than liquid goat milk, and the sugars in the milk powder will help your soap lather a bit better. Colloidal oats can be nice, too. However, some folks with eczema can't tolerate either of those ingredients.

It can be quite a long road of experimentation to find out what works for your loved ones. Then again, some people find that almost any handcrafted soap is fine for their skin - more because of what it doesn't contain, rather than what it does. You could always try purchasing a bar or two of high-OO or high-lard soaps, and see how they do with it. Then you can make a similar soap, knowing that it is likely to work for them.

Good luck, and happy soaping!

 

[Sunflower95]

Thank you! The olive oil recipe looked good. Would you suggest starting out i go with hot process or cold process. Im more drawn to hot, but im cant work out which im less likely to have problems with.

The only reason for shea butter is i already use it daily so i know my kids skin like it and its easily found online.. do you mean once made into a soap it might not agree with them because of the change in the properties of the shea

 

[artemis]

I do think that Shea can add something nice to soap. However, soap is a wash off product, so any Shea that survives the lye isn't going to be on the skin long enough to matter.

My kids occasionally suffer from eczema patches. I do like you and apply the Shea directly to the skin.

 

[Sunflower95]

Ahh okay that makes sense .. so im guessing thats the purpose of superfatting to provide something left on the skin

 

[artemis]

Ahh okay that makes sense .. so im guessing thats the purpose of superfatting to provide something left on the skin

Yes but you can't really control which of your oils the lye will leave alone. We call him the lye monster and he eats what he wants to eat. Some people like to do hot process soap making for this reason because they have more control over which oil is left at the end.

 

[Sunflower95]

Okayy.. which would you consider a better one to start off with , hot process or cold, since ive never made soap before

 

[AliOop]

Thanks for the additional info! Since you already know that shea agrees with your kids' skin, then it is probably a good choice for the soap, as well. But as noted previously, don't expect that it will act the same in soap as it does in a lotion or body butter. Lye changes everything.

Regarding the CP or HP question, I'll say that I only did HP for years, and then switched to CP a couple of years ago. Based on that, my opinion is that CP is actually easier for a beginner. There are less steps to follow or get confused about. There is no heavy pot or crock to clean up, either.

With CP, you basically just mix, pour, cover, and then wait for it to harden enough to unmold and cut. With HP, you do all of those things, plus after mixing and before pouring into the mold, you also cook it and watch for certain stages. And since all correctly-made soap will "cook" (saponify) itself if left alone for enough time, the cooking step isn't actually necessary.

HP is safe to use when fully cooked; CP soap is safe to use within 24-72 hours. But both types should be cured for about 4 weeks, or much longer if you are doing a high-shea bar. Search the threads here for high shea recipes; there are a few, and they do make nice soap.

 

[Zing]

Welcome! This is a great group and you've already gotten excellent responses from knowledgeable folks. I'll just add a couple of things.

I got into cold process because of the creativity. I had no idea what an incredible difference it made on the health of my and my family's skin. I used to apply a prescription several times per day -- and now it's several times per year. Now when I use store bought soap -- even Dove Sensitive -- it feels caustic. I don't know your little ones but I'm fairly confident that any recipe will be better than store-bought.

I like coconut oil because of the bubbles and typically use 20-30% -- but it can be drying which doesn't affect me. Many members here use it in the teens to low 20s. When I've used high amounts of shea, the lather is "lotion-y" and not bubbly. Also, all soap is cleansing.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Sunflower95]

Thanks everyones given me some really good info.. i feel more confident about starting. Thats good to know that all soap are cleasnising.
I found a cold process recipe thats use 50% olive oil 20% coconut oil 20% shea butter and 10% castor oil.. so ill have to put my coconut oil phobia aside for now

I guess once ive made at least one soap i can play around a bit with ingredients. Thank you again

 

[Zany_in_CO]

2. A high-lard bar soap. The composition of lard is very similar to the oils on human skin, and it seems to retain many skin-loving properties even after becoming soap. My family members with eczema love this soap - it is so gentle!

This would also be my "starter" soap for you. Lard makes the best all around good soap, easy to source locally and it's inexpensive to make. I make it for a geezer-pal with 10% coconut and 5% castor to add more lather. No other "foam booster" necessary.

Since you have shea butter on hand, you might want to try this recipe. It's one of my faves:

67% Shea Butter CP INS 155

You may want to get a few batches under your belt first before trying ZNSC, but here's the recipe.

Zany's No Slime Castile

ZNSC YouTube Video

 

[Susie]

I developed eczema and could no longer tolerate the only commercial soap for sale. I decided to try making soap so that maybe I could make a soap that I could tolerate. It worked. My firm opinion is that it is not what is IN the soap, but what ISN'T in the soap that makes the difference. My basic recipe was the result of a couple of years of tweaking recipes.

65% lard-you can substitute palm, tallow, or a combination, but my skin prefers lard
15% coconut oil
15% olive oil
5% castor oil

I do add sugar at about 1 Tablespoon PPO to boost the lather.

When I lived where there was soft water, I used 5% SF, but now that I live where there is hard water, I use 2 % and EDTA for chelation.

 

[Becky1024]

I’m another one who got into soapmaking because of my eczema and homemade soap sure makes a difference! You might want to make several recipes and see which is best for your family. Just make small batches and let them fully cure for at least a month before testing.