Soap Making??

Hey everyone,I want to make soap. (vegan soap) I was wonderring if anyone here had a good recipe, advice for beginners?
updated by @jo: 02/14/15 05:28:01AM

soap making aint easy u handle some harsh chemicals and need to be carefuli dont have recipies i just have heard it takes some studying to learn how to donot trying to discoyrage you at all just saying u mat need more research then u might finbd by just asking you can take courses and adapt to vegan once u learn the basicswell this might help?


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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I have made soap.If you follow the directions and use safety precautions it isn't hard just technical and time consuming.You need some safety goggles, thick rubber gloves, a tall stock pot, heavy glass bowl, metal long stemmed spoon, molds and candy thermometer as well as your additives, fats and oils.Soaps made by weight are more accurate but soaps by other measurements like cups etc work out fine.You melt your fats(eg: veggie lard) and oils (eg:avocado oil or olive oil) in the stock pot on the stove you mix your water and caustic soda in a metal or heavy glass high bowl.Both mixtures have o be the same temperature you add your lye (caustic soda) carefully and slowly into the stock pot.You stir occasionally for about an hour to and hour and a half or more, basically until your mix reaches trace (thick creamy consistency that leaves a trace)You then add your essential oils and stir and pore the mixture into your pre-greased molds.You cover the molds and store them for about 24-48 hours of which time you gently remove from the molds and then cover them again for three to four weeks so that they set and cureLye aka caustic soda is a chemical compound made from ashes.In the old days people would set up a drip system to make them.Now we by it at the hardware or farm and feed store, it is used for clearing drains.It is highly caustic and can burn holes into your skin or cause blindness if it gets into your eyes. Thats why we cure it for 3-4 weeks to transform the molecules and evaporate the caustic substance.I have some recipes but will have to dig them up and post them later.If you are serious and want to try making soap start by gathering your supply's.Inexpensive ingredients are best to start with in case you don't like making soap or until you get the hang of it.It would be awful to waste a batch of costly, ingredients.The soaps will still be high quality and luscious.Mint essential oil or any other EO's that are under 10 dollars and veggie lard are good bases.Well theres some food for thought and I'll come back with a recipe or two.

moved to productsbut dont anyone go blindand isnt there a non lye way to do it?


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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Haven't found any other way besides melting pre-made glycerins or pre-made soaps, which have the lye too.You melt and pour basically which could be fun too but it's not really soap making, more like re-batching. Re-batching is good for left over soap slivers.Not sure though if you find a way let me know, I'm always up for learning new product methods.I know you can clean your body in a tub with baking soda and lemon but thats not soap as we know it. soaringeagle said:

moved to products
but dont anyone go blindand isnt there a non lye way to do it?

actualy i havent used soap in..hmm i dunno how long 6 months i found when i dump the baking soda over my head enough gets all over my bodty that i havent needed soap at all.. i used to use soap ewhile the baking soda was soaking then got lazy a couple times and realized i just didnt need it at alli swore i heard of soaps made without lye but i cant seem to find info.. Island Mamma said:

Haven't found any other way besides melting pre-made glycerins or pre-made soaps, which have the lye too.
You melt and pour basically which could be fun too but it's not really soap making, more like re-batching. Re-batching is good for left over soap slivers.

Not sure though if you find a way let me know, I'm always up for learning new product methods.

I know you can clean your body in a tub with baking soda and lemon but thats not soap as we know it.

soaringeagle said:

moved to products
but dont anyone go blind
and isnt there a non lye way to do it?

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Ya Baking Soda is pretty great.I have been using home made under arm deodorant and it works better than any store bought I've ever tried.It's baking soda, corn starch and coconut oil with my mix of EO's, I love the scents of jasmine, orange and clove together.The store boughts were giving me awful rashes and a foul oder so I tried some "natural" products and the same thing.But this mix with the baking soda is the answer!All this baking soda talk around here reminds me of the movie "My big fat Greek Wedding" and every time they have a problem they use windex to fix it (ew btw) but we use baking soda here! LOL

awesome advice guys!I have experience dealing with chemicals and bad things (like E.Coli) We used to use such stuff at school. I was taking Environmental technology except I dropped out to start a family. But anyways, dont worry I wont blind myself LoLAlso the other day, I finally found a local supplier for Dr Bronners. I love it!!!! Cleans EVERYTHING including the toilet better than any chemical can. So far I've used it as a house cleaner and a hand soap. I'm going to try it as a shampoo once I run out of my shampoo now. Also I got Dr Bronners Baby bar soap, and it works really really well on my daughter. She has really sensitive skin and gets eczema and since using it she hasnt broken out in it at all.Sorry about the little ad there for Dr B's LoL but I've been raving about the stuff to anyone that will listen, and some that wont LoL

I know what you mean about the lye, it is used to join (saponification I believe its called)together the water and fats and solidify them into a bar.Off to read about E Bronner now Sister Rags said:

I've done rebatching and it was fun, so rewarding, but always wanted to do the "real" thing by starting from scratch. I've looked around quite a lot for years and it seems that there isn't a way to make soap without using lye. Although, when I think about it, it does seem odd that we use such a caustic substance to create soap. Seems there would be some kind of alternative. I wonder what, exactly, the purpose of lye is? Why would lye be any more effective than baking soda as a soap base?

On their website, it says you can use the peppermint kind to brush your teeth with! I havent tried it, I have the almond one right now I cant wait to run out of it, so I can try a different one! And I think I will do some googling about Dr Bronner! Sister Rags said:

Hey, no problem on your praise of Br. B's. The stuff is amazing and I've never found anything that holds a candle to it. It's inexpensive, there's a wonderful variety of scents now, they include hemp oil in the soap now...I just wish I could brush my teeth w/ it 'cause I;d use it for that, too.

The most important thing to remember with regard to Br. B's is to dilute it with water. I had been diluting about 6 parts water/1 part soap, but I think SE says 12/1 and I'm finding that works fine.

Fortunately, I have easy access to a number of suppliers for Dr. B's around here, but I do believe that if you order $20 or more from their site, shipping is free.

By the way, if you have the chance, read the history of Emmanuel Bronner. It's incredible.