Soapmaking Links now found under Sustain Tab

Soapmaking Oils

Common soap making oil descriptions
Shelf life & description of carrier oils
Description and fatty acid properties of some soap making oils
Carrier Oil Comparison Chart by SwiftCraftyMonkey
Emollients - oils, butters & esters (lots of articles)
Fat content & composition of seed oils
http://curious-soapmaker.com/a-big-test-of-100-one-oil-soaps-after-15-months.html
http://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm
http://thesoapdish.com/oil-properties-chart.htm
aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/oil-properties & usage rates
gardenofwisdom Shelf Life of Oils
Grapeseed oil
Pomace Olive Oil Info
http://www.sustaincreateandflow.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-rosehip-seed-oil/
Shea Butter Information & Properties

Natural Colorants

http://www.lovinsoap.com/2011/07/color-soap-naturally-testing-herbs-and-spices-for-ph-stability/
http://crafty.dyskolus.com/coloring/coloring.html
http://www.lovinsoap.com/2011/07/natural-soap-colorants-gallery-spice-and-herbal-powders-at-trace/
http://www.mullerslanefarm.com/soapcolors.html
http://www.lovinsoap.com/2011/08/natural-soap-colorants-gallery-clays-added-at-trace/
http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soaprecipes/a/claysoapcombo.htm
natural-colorants-for-cosmetics
http://www.annelwatson.com/soapmaking/creative/november/naturalcolorantssoap.html
http://www.diynatural.com/natural-soap-colorants/
http://www.soap-making-resource.com/annatto-seeds-soap-making.html
http://www.azerbaijanrugs.com/natural_dyes_sources.htm

Not necessarily all soap safe

Fragrance Info

http://www.essentialoils.co.za/fragrance-notes.htm
Soapqueen Vanilla content chart of various FOs
http://roberttisserand.com/2011/06/essential-oils-in-soap-interview-with-kevin-dunn/
http://www.crunchybetty.com/21-things-you-should-know-about-essential-oils
Are Fragrance Oils Good for the Skin?
http://www.wingsets.com/blogs/blog/6161604-fragrance-oils-versus-essential-oils-which-is-better
http://blog.bulkapothecary.com/combining-scents-the-fragrance-wheel/
Blending Essential Oils for Beginners
Soapqueen on10x orange essential oil
Robert Tisserand on re-distilled essential oils
Robert Tisserand. How to extend the Life of Your Essential Oils
Give Your Essential Oils More Staying Power
Understanding Essential Oil & Fragrance Guidelines
Common & Uncommon Essential & Carrier Oil Questions

Make Ingredients & Tools at Home

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Aloe-Vera-Juice
Making Mango Butter & other things to do with the seeds
http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/09/do-it-yourself-homemade-rice-milk.html
Make your own Essential & Infused oils
how-to-make-bamboo-charcoal
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Soap-Stamp/?ALLSTEPS
Easy Apple Cider Vinegar Recipe
How to Extract-Lanolin-from-Sheep's-Wool

Plants & Herbs

Multi Herb/Plant
http://www.herbs-info.com/list-of-herbs.html
http://varenya.hubpages.com/hub/Decorative-and-therapeutic-flowers-and-herbs-for-making-soaps
http://www.natural-soapmaking.net/natural-skincare/herbal_skincare_chart.html
A Modern Herbal by Mrs M Grieve (read online)
http://www.netplaces.com/soapmaking/herbs/common-soapmaking-herbs.htm
Drying & Storing Herbs
Infusing Oils & a list of herbs & their uses
Calendula - http://personalcaretruth.com/2011/02/calendula-in-skin-care/
Carrot - Carrots, Carrot Juice, Carrot seed oil, Carrot oil,
Chamomile - http://www.herbslist.net/chamomile.html
http://www.simplysetup.com/simple-living-2/wild-chamomile-finding-identifying-and-using.html
Chickweed - http://www.thepracticalherbalist.com/herbal-library/herbal-encyclopedia/chickweed-skin-rejuvenator/
Dandelion - http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.html
Health Benefits of Dandelion
English Ivy - http://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/english-ivy-herbs.html
 Grapes - http://grapes.greab.info/useful-properties-of-grapes/remedies-of-oriental-medicine.html
Horsetail - http://wellnessmama.com/8592/herb-profile-horsetail/
Jewelweed - http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Jewelweed.html
Lavender - Lavender, parts to use
Licorice - http://www.annmariegianni.com/ingredient-showcase-licorice-root-the-natural-option-for-treating-eczema-psoriasis-and-hyperpigmentation/
Ginger - http://www.ehow.com/facts_5107899_benefits-ginger-skin.html
Plantain - Plantain weed
Pomegranate - http://allusefulideas.com/top-powerful-health-benefits-of-the-pomegranate/
Rosemary - http://wellnessmama.com/5193/herb-profile-rosemary/

Skin Conditions

http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/problems/treating/uses-for-vinegar-beauty-and-relaxation-ga.htm
http://www.essenceofwellbeing.com.au/Essential-Oil-Selection-Guide
Acne - http://www.herbs-info.com/herbs-for-acne.html
Eczema - http://www.herbhedgerow.co.uk/20-best-oils-for-treating-eczema/
http://www.herbhedgerow.co.uk/20-skincare-herbs-for-treating-eczema/
http://www.aworldofaromatherapy.com/essential-oils-eczema.htm
http://www.bewellbuzz.com/wellness-buzz/essential-oils-for-eczema/
Ingrown Hairs - http://www.humblebeeandme.com/banish-ingrown-hairs/?ref=featured

Other Additives

http://www.modernsoapmaking.com/lather-lovers-additive-testing/
http://blueorchidbc.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/adding-fruit-to-soap/
Add Salt to Your Soap to Increase Hardness

Troubleshooting

http://cavemanchemistry.com/DreadedOrangeSpot-Dunn.pdf
candleandsoap.about.com on DOS
removing-soda-ash-efficiently
physicsforums on ash
http://millersoap.com/trouble.html
http://www.lovinsoap.com/troubleshooting/
Gracefruit Troubleshooting HP

How to Make Soap

I'm going to make soap this weekend and I'm pretty excited about learning a new craft :)

http://lizardladysoapinfo.blogspot.com/

  There are a couple of things I would like to recommend to you before you make your first soap.  No matter what you decide to make, the quality of your first soaps will be a bit wanting when compared to soaps you make in a month or more.  Test batches are GREAT!  All my batches are about 1# of oils.  That makes enough bars to test & a couple to give away or save to see how they develop.  No need to make big 5 or 10# batches.  You won't have enough space to make more! :D  The more you practice, the better you get.  You can resize ANY recipe you find using soapcalc.  If you enter any recipe it will give you the % of each ingredient.  Write them down & put the % back into soapcalc with the weight of the batch size that you want in box 2?.  I think that's the right box.

  You don't need a collection of expensive, exotic oils to make soap.  100% coconut oil makes great laundry soap & a lot of people like it for body soap when superfatted correctly.  Lard, Olive oil, Shortening, Canola, Corn, Soy, Palm are other oils easy to get at your local grocery or Walmart.

  You need lye.  Lye & drain cleaner are not necessarily the same.  It needs to be ALL Sodium Hydroxide or NaOH (same thing).  It is available in different areas at different places.  Hardware stores are a good place to buy your first lye.  I can buy 1# of lye at Ace Hardware for $3.99.  Rooto Crystals 100% lye.  It's good stuff & since I make those small batches, it lasts me a while, too.

  The BEST thing to mix your lye & water in is stainless steel.  Some people use plastic & some use glass.  The heat generated & corrosive nature of the lye shortens the life of both of these materials.  As a result, they may crack at an inconvenient time.  My first batch of soap, I used a tall plastic pitcher that had a crack in the bottom of it.  I didn't know it had a crack.  I was kinda scared of what the lye was going to do so I had the pitcher inside a plastic bucket.  Some people mix their lye in the sink, just in case.  I like to mix it on my porch or outside.  There are fumes, but not like a big chlorine gas cloud.  Try not to breathe the fumes (that's why I like to mix mine, outside).  The fumes dissipate quickly.  ALWAYS add your lye to the liquid not the other way around.  Stir until dissolved.  If you have crystals in the bottom the lye has not dissolved.  If you have scum on top of the liquid, that can be contamination in your pitcher (I used to get it from washing my pitcher with soap), or contaminants in your lye.  Just run it through a strainer if it bugs you.  A little dust or scum isn't gonna hurt my soap, so I usually just dump it in the oils.

Make sure you wear your safety equipment!  Eye protection or face shield, chemical resistant gloves, apron, clean work space, no dogs or kids underfoot.

Making soap is not rocket science.  Ok, maybe making the BEST soap is, but don't worry about that, yet.  You don't need a fancy education or pricey soap making course to make soap.  The more you educate yourself the better your soap will be, however.  You find that there is a lot to learn about such a simple endeavor, but you can still make a good soap on your first try.

Keep it simple!  I have been on Facebook boards long enough to see all the new soapmakers that want to start off with milk & beer for their lye liquid, add their favorite medications, in other words, add all kinds of things that will mask the basic experience of making soap.  You really will benefit by making a plain soap as your first batch to see how the soap acts.  If you are making HP (Hot Process) you want to know about how long it takes to cook & what stages it is going through.  I recommend this, as a lot of times a fluid different than distilled water for lye, or an additive as simple as milk will make the whole batch temperamental.  You need to know what "normal" is before you deal with problems like seizing, separating, not tracing, so you are better able to recognize that you have a problem & how to deal with it.

Do not use aluminum when making soap!  You can mold in almost anything.  Plastic butter, yogurt, cottage cheese cups, cardboard boxes, wooden boxes, PVC tubes, silicon baking molds.  Remember you have to get your soap OUT of the mold, too.  Lining the mold (see video link below) will make that real easy.  Plastic is flexible & that usually helps, too.  One of my favorite molds is the end cut off of a medium priority mail box.  Of course, you can purchase professional molds made for baking or soap, too.

If I think of anything else (or you have any suggestions)  I will add it.

Getting Started

http://www.lovinsoap.com/2012/10/getting-started-in-soapmaking-without-spending-a-ton-of-money/

Soap Making Equipment, what you need to get started

http://bethannecreates.blogspot.com/2012/07/common-soap-making-terms-and-acronyms.html

http://saponifier.com/an-open-letter-to-new-soapmakers/

http://www.lovinsoap.com/2014/02/ive-made-my-first-batch-of-soaphow-long-until-i-can-sell-it/

How to Crock Pot Hot Process Soap

http://soapingforsanity.blogspot.com/2013/08/tutorial-red-eye-hot-process.html

Modern Procedures & Tips for Cold Process

Comparison of pH test strips used for testing soap

http://milesawayfarm.wordpress.com/2013/12/06/soaping-newbies-12-common-questions/

http://blog.thesage.com/2013/01/31/curing-soap-2/

Primitive Soap Making

"The soap making booklet was originally prepared for Christians in Burma living in mountainous regions who for one reason or another were cut off from being able to use industrial chemicals, and needed to make soap to help stop the spread of certain common and tropical diseases."  By Paul Norman
You can download this 24 page booklet or read it in PDF on the web
Traditional Soap Making based on old Pioneer Recipes

Making Soap from Wood Ash Lye

Soap Mold Info

Perfected Method for Lining a Soap Mold with freezer paper

How to Make a Soap Mold out of Coroplast

Soap Calculators

http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp

https://www.thesage.com/calcs/LyeCalc.html

http://www.saffireblue.ca/shop/liquid-cream-bar-soap-calculator.htm

http://www.summerbeemeadow.com/content/advanced-calculator-solid-cream-or-liquid-soaps

http://www.soapguild.org/soapmakers/resources/lye-calc.php

Soap Calculator Directions
If these pages don't help you understand Soapcalc, there are LOTS of tutorials on youtube.  One of them is bound to help you figure it out.  It is very important that you learn how to use this tool (or at least SOME calculator).  It helps you check recipes you find to make sure they will work.  It will help you resize a recipe, allows you to design your own recipe & gives you all the information you need to analyze the qualities your recipe will bring to a bar, things like hardness, cleansing, conditioning, bubbly, etc.

http://www.soapcalc.net/info/helptext.asp

Kim McNutt's video describing how to use Soapcalc

April 3, 2013 

Happy Homesteading: Making Homemade Soap

 This episode of Happy Homesteading is all about making homemade soap!
This one took a whole lot of research to figure out. I read and learned how they used to make it during the 1800′s.  And then I talked to a local soap making artisan and asked her for some advice on best places to order products. This was by far one of the most interesting projects I have done thus far, and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be, although somewhat dangerous.

History

Soap made from scratch consists of 2 main ingredients. Animal fat (tallow or lard) and lye. They would make tallow by slow cooking beef fat for 3-4 hours on low, remove any cooked meat bits and strain it. Then let it cool and you have homemade tallow. I do plan on making some of this soon.

Homemade lye is made from wood ashes. There is a process of basically using straw, pouring the ashes over the top in a barrel, then pouring water over them. After a few days the liquid is lye. I would love to try to make homemade lye myself too. I am just a little bit nervous though since I have kids around and this stuff can burn skin.  But they usually had kids around too back in the olden days. If they can do it so can I. 
Images are from childrens book: Pioneer Children of Appalchia

Making Homemade Soap for the first time

After talking to a local soap artisan about how to get started making soap, she recommended this kindle book called Basic Soap Making – you can download it on Amazon. At that time this ebook was FREE  but now it’s up to $10.99.   I downloaded it to my Android phone and read the whole thing in less than an hour. It’s a great book with LOTS of pictures to help you when you are getting started.  I am a visual person so I love all the pictures. There are some recipes and ideas to make all kinds of interesting bars as well.   Definately worth reading if you want to make soap.
I followed the directions to make the Basic 4 Oil Soap recipe in this book and I think it turned out really well. Just remember to follow the directions and safety protocols when using lye. It is a chemical and I read through a few horror stories while doing my research of kids grabbing the lye water mixture and burning themselves badly. Not worth that little bar of homemade soap for a blind kid..just keep that in mind. I decided to do my recipe when all the kids were gone to school for the day.

INGREDIENTS:

Supplies:

• rubber gloves
• digital scale
• mold of some sort
• plastic mixing bowls
• thermometer
• immersion blender
• freezer paper

Ingredients for 4-oil soap recipe from Basic Soap Making book

• 4 ounces coconut oil (solid)
• 3 ounces canola oil
• 4 ounces olive oil
• 4 ounces safflower oil
• 2 ounces lye – (you can buy this at Ace Hardware store)
• 5 ounces distilled water

You need quite a lot of supplies to safely make homemade soap. I found a nice little strange egg container at a thrift store with a lid that I knew would be perfect shape for making soap, and it only costed me $3.00.
DIRECTIONS

First thing I did was to tare the digital scale and measure out distilled water in a plastic dish.

Next I measured the dry lye crystals in a plastic dish.

I then added the WATER first to an old plastic ice cream bucket. Then I slowly added in the lye crystals. Note: NEVER pour water into the lye, always add lye crystals to water.  Oh and make sure you don’t splash.
The lye and water got REALLY HOT, it was a chemical reaction. I noticed some steam and horrible smelling vapors, so I opened the window.
I started stirring the lye & water mixture gently until the lye crystals were dissolved. Then I set it aside to cool (we want it to cool to around 100 degrees).
Next was measuring out the oils.

I placed a plastic bowl on the scale, tared it to say zero and started adding in the coconut oil. If I added to much I would take some away until it said 4 oz. Then I melted it in the microwave.
I did this with all the other oils as well. Measuring them out with the scale. You have to be really exact with soap making.
Next I gently mixed all the oils together into a bowl. Then once the lye solution cooled to 100 degrees I added in the lye/water mixture, being careful not to splash. I used my spatula to gently stir the mixtures together for a minute until it became slightly opaque.

Then I took out my immersion blender and started blending being careful not to splash, and keeping the blades near the bottom of the mixture. I did this for around 2 minutes maybe…not really sure. And I didn’t have any of my photographers (aka kids) to take my pictures this time because I wanted to make this when they weren’t home. So no pictures of me using the immersion blender for now. When it started getting nice and thick I turned off the immersion blender and mixed by hand until it reached trace.
Since this was my first time trying to reach TRACE I wan’t exactly sure what it was. Its when the soap mixture is ready to pour into molds. You can tell its reached trace when the soap mixture falls from your spatula leaving a trail of soap on the surface of the mixture for a few seconds before it disappears into the mixture.

I then poured the mixture into my plastic mold. I didn’t add a freezer paper liner since my container is made of plastic and I heard that it would just pop right out when dry. I put the lid on, covered it up with two towels, let it rest to complete its saponification process for 24 hours.

PS – you have to wait for 24 hours to clean all your tools too, so just leave your tools out to dry. After 24 hours my soap looked great! The only problem was that I should have used a freezer paper liner, because it did not want to just pop out of my plastic container.

I had the worst time trying to get it out of the container and instead had to take it out in strange shards. I was really sad about it, hoping for beautiful square bars. Some I just rolled into a ball and cut into rounds. I then cut what I could using my pampered chef waffle cutter. Here are all the strange pieces I was able to get out of it.

And lastly, you have to dry your soap for awhile. It’s best to cure it for about a month or even 6 weeks. The longer you air dry it the longer it will last when you use it.

It’s been a month now and my bars of soap have dried.

This recipe works really well, it lathers great and has no fragrance. It’s a really nice clean soap. I rather enjoyed making soap for the first time, and will be making more for the fun of it.

WORTH THE COST FOR THIS RECIPE? NO  - if you are an Ivory soap user. Ivory soap cost’s less to buy at Walmart than making it yourself. But if you like the more artisan or fancy brands of soap than this recipe is more cost effective.  Later on  I will be making a tallow/homemade lye recipe and will be doing a cost comparison on that one which I think will be more cost effective – stay tuned.

WORTH THE TIME? NO, but it was fun to make! Making homemade soap takes time, there is risk involved when working with lye, and then you have to let it cure for a month or longer. So buying the store bought Ivory soap is a quick affordable easier option.  But I still had a blast making it…and will be making more for fun. 

Price Breakdown (note: I ended up making a double batch because my container was big):

Lye ( found at Ace Hardware) $3.99/16 oz. = $0.99/4 oz used
4 ounces coconut oil (solid) ($4.99/14 oz) = $2.85 for 8 oz.
3 ounces canola oil ($2.24/48 oz.) = $0.28 for 6 oz.
4 ounces olive oil ($2.99/16 oz.) = $1.50 for 8 oz.
4 ounces safflower oil ($3.98/32 oz) = $1.00 for 8oz.
5 ounces distilled water ($1.00/gal) = $0.07 for 10 oz.
Final cost: $6.69/ 2.2 lbs.   2.2 lbs of soap = 35.2 oz.

Lets compare this homemade soap recipe to a 6 pack of Dove soap which costs $6.88 for a 6 pack at Walmart. Each bar is 4 oz.  To get 32 oz. like in my homemade recipe it would cost around $9.17 worth of Dove soap.
Ivory soap is one of the least expensive brand of bar soap, so I wanted to compare them as well.   A 3-pack of Ivory soap is $1.27 at Walmart. To get 32 oz. like in my homemade recipe it would cost around $6.45 for 32 oz. Ivory soap is a teeny bit less expensive than making soap yourself at home.

Final thoughts on making my own Homemade soap.  I like that I know all the ingredients that went into making my own soap, and it was a really fun project!   But it was a little bit stressful and dangerous. I could have burned myself with lye, so there is risk involved. I like that I learned how to make it and am really excited to try other recipes too. I think science is fun! 
Stay tuned for me making homemade soap with homemade tallow and homemade lye in the future. I’m guessing this will be even more cost effective, but who knows!
http://happymoneysaver.com/happy-homesteading-making-homemade-soap-2/