Adventures in Soaping

More About the Herbs I Use...

More Herbs I like to use in my soaps and bath and beauty products are Green Tea and Aloe Vera as well as Hibiscus and Rosemary.

Aloe Vera is a desert plant that is famous for it's healing properties.  It has been used for it's skin rejuvenating properties for over thirty-five hundread years.  It helps to soothe sunburns, other minor burns and skin irritations.

Green tea is naturally chalked full of antioxidants and has free radical fighting power.  The tea is also a great anti-inflamatory.  It's also said to rejuventates old cell tissues.  Green tea is also anti-bactierial which makes it good for fighting acne. It's not only good for the skin it's also great for the hair. It is full of panthenol and antioxidants which may help strengthen hair and make it healthier.  And some studdies have shown it to help with hair loss.

Hibiscus is another one of those teas full of anitoxidants.  So it helps fight free radicals in our body.  Also it is full of Vitamin C.  When I use this on my hair I notice an instant change.  My hair is softer and more managaable and I love the red tint that it brings out in my locks.

Rosemary is an anit-inflamatory and anti-bacterial.  It also promotes hair growth.  It is said to improve memory and mood as well.


I use all of these herbs at once in my shampoo and conditioner.  Here is a video of me making my green tea and hibiscus shampoo.

The Making of a Soap Recipe

Step 4 of making a new soap recipe

I adjusted both recipes 1 and 2 to take out the stearic acid.  I am hoping that will mean no lumps in the soap.  When soaped at room temperature.  Although I'm thinking if the soaping temperature was raised to perhaps 125*  there would be no lumps.   Also I'm hoping that the adjustments will increase the lather in the vegan bar.  As for the lard bar it was prefect except for the lumps.  So I'm hoping to try these out real soon once I get some new coconut oil. It's in the mail as we ...write.  :)

Experimental Recipe 1A 

25% Coconut oil                                                    Hardness - 40
30% Palm oil                                                          Cleansing - 17
10% Castor oil                                                       Conditioning - 56
35% Corn oil                                                          Bubbly - 26
                                                                                Creamy - 32
                                                                                 Iodine - 68
                                                                                 INS - 142

Experimental Recipe 2A

20% Coconut oil                                                    Hardness - 38

8% Castor oil                                                         Cleansing - 14
28% Corn oil                                                          Conditioning - 56
44% Lard                                                               Bubbly - 21
                                                                               Creamy - 32
                                                                               Iodine - 67
                                                                               INS - 140


I also read somewhere a question that someone asked if they could use Crisco, mixed with sunflower oil and other oils to make soap.  So I decided to try and make a soap recipe using Crisco shortening as well since it is local and not very expensive it fit into the category I wanted for this experiment.  So let's call it Experimental Recipe 3.  So the thing is with using Crisco.  It has a higher Iodine value than the other less expensive solid oils that we can use in it's place like Lard, Palm and Tallow.  It has a significantly higher Iodine value than the more expensive butters that we could use in it's place.  So in order to use it and keep within the boundaries of our given numbers.  I had to use a small amount of it and I had to use Olive oil as my soft oil, which is more expensive.  Lest to say this will not be an inexpensive bar because of those factors.  The first of these two recipes is the best one.  I would soap it at a higher temperature to avoid the lumps that I believe stearic acid  was the cause of  in my two other experimental recipes. Also you can have even better numbers for hardness, bubbly, creamy and Iodine if you add 5% more to the coconut oil amount and take 5% away from the Crisco amounts.  I didn't do that here because if the cleansing number gets above 17 for me my skin gets itchy and dry.

While experimenting I've also noticed that if you want to use soft oils like Sunflower, Canola, Safflower, Corn oils and similar oils.  You need to use a high number of low iodine solid oil to counteract that number so that your bar of soap will not expire too soon. Like Coconut oil, Palm oil, Tallow and Lard. for the purposes of this experiment.   This bar of soap is not really as inexpensive as I'd hoped it would be.  I'm not sure if I'm going to try it out. The other two recipes are much less expensive with and work really well already.  I just thought I'd put them out there for anyone that may have been wanting to try Crisco for a recipe. Let me know what you think.  If you want me to try it out and see what it's like or if there are any other oils that you'd like me to try and make a recipes with or without just comment below.  I'll  answer all comments.

Experimental Recipe 3

25% Coconut oil                                                   Hardness - 34
10% Castor Oil                                                     Cleansing - 17
15% Crisco new w/palm                                        Conditioning - 63
48% Olive Oil                                                       Bubbly - 26
2% Stearic Acid                                                    Creamy - 26
                                                                               Iodine - 69
                                                                               INS - 141

Experimental Recipe 3A

25% Coconut Oil                                                  Hardness - 32
10% Castor Oil                                                     Cleansing - 17
15% Crisco new w/Palm                                       Conditioning - 64
50% Olive Oil                                                       Bubbly - 26 
                                                                              Creamy - 24
                                                                              Iodine - 70
                                                                              INS - 139

Remember to run these threw a lye calculator.  I use an 8% Supper fat.  

The Making of a Soap Recipe

Step Three of making a new recipe

This is the part where I try out the different recipes and see how they work.  I also want to try out some new fragrance oils at the same time since that is what these recipes are for.  I must say I'm already feeling a preference for the lard soap.  Personally I like that I can use less coconut oil and still get a good iodine number.  I also like that I can purchase the lard at my local grocery store for cheap.  I believe out of the two it is the least expensive recipe.

Experimental Recipe 1

25% Coconut oil                                                    Hardness - 42
30% Palm oil                                                          Cleansing - 17
8% Castor oil                                                         Conditioning - 54
35% Corn oil                                                          Bubbly - 24
2% Stearic Acid                                                     Creamy - 32
                                                                                 Iodine - 66
                                                                                 INS - 144

Experimental Recipe 1 -  I'm making a 1lb batch of 8% Super fatted soap. I'm using Natures Garden Fragrance Oil 'Apples and Oak'.  I am making it with a red and green swirl.  I'm going to try and make a nice red by mixing both Merlot mica and melon red lab color.  I'm using chromium green (grass green) oxide for the green.  I will leave the bulk of the soap it's natural color to see if there is any discoloration of the soap.    I am using a wooden box I purchased at the dollar store that I believe will make a nice 1 lb mold or possibly a 2 lb mold if needed in the future.   

Here is my video of the making of Experimental Recipe 1                   
                                                           

                                                                       
So far so good the fragrance I used accelerated on me a bit.  The corn oil didn't turn the soap a yellow color which I was worried about.  It was a very easy to work with recipe.  I would recommend it to anyone wanting to try it.  I am going to try it again without the stearic acid since I had little white specks in my soap which I think may have been stearic acid that re-solidified. not sure.  I was soaping at room temperature. So I am going to adjust this recipe and take the stearic acid out.  And do another soap just to see if I get specks again.  Also the lather was ok and creamy.  I wasn't impressed with it but I'm sure that it will get better as it cures.

Experimental Recipe 2

20% Coconut oil                                                     Hardness - 39
8% Castor oil                                                          Cleansing - 14
28% Corn oil                                                           Conditioning - 55
42% Lard                                                                  Bubbly - 21
2% Stearic acid                                                       Creamy - 33
                                                                                   Iodine - 66
                                                                                   INS - 141

Experimental Recipe 2 - I'm making a 1 lb batch of 8% Super fatted soap.  I'm using Natures Garden Fragrance oil 'Hot Cocoa'. With this one I am leaving some soap natural and swirling it with a bit of soap mixed with cocoa powder.  This is to see if the cocoa powder gives it a prettier brown than what the natural soap will look like when it's done discoloring.  This fragrance does discolor.  I am also reserving some unscented soap for white. just so I can see what the natural color of this soap recipe is.  I'm told that lard soap makes a pretty white soap.  I'm using a wooden box I purchased from the dollar store of a different size than the other that I believe will make a nice size bar.  For a 1 lb recipe only.  

Here is my video of me making Experimental Recipe 2

This recipe worked really well.  It didn't accelerate on me at all. I love the white color of the natural soap.  I felt I had lots of time to play with it.  And the numbers for this recipe are more right up my alley.  I would recommend it to anyone wanting to try it.  I did get white specks in this recipe as well.  I am going to remake the recipe without the stearic acid to see if that rectifies it.  I was soaping again at room temperature.  The lather on this soap was excellent.  I liked the creaminess and it had a some big bubbles.  Pretty awesome for not having a ton of coconut oil in it.  And it will only get better as it cures.  So I guess there will be a step four...

Until next time..... Happy Soaping Everyone!  ;0)

The Making of a Soap Recipe

Step two in making a new soap recipe

The least expensive oil I could use would be the canola but since it makes a super soft bar I decided against it. They also had corn oil. I hadn't researched that oil at the time but apparently it is a good choice.  Corn oil may not have all the antioxidants and stuff that some oils do but it's good for reducing the cost of making soap.  So since I want an inexpensive bar for experimenting with Fragrance Oils it's a good choice for me.  It also has a lower Iodine value than soybean oil so it works better in the recipe.   They didn't even have  rice bran oil for which I was really disappointed.

After deciding on the oils I had to run it through the lye calculator and make some adjustments to the recipe.  Here are the final recipes that I'm going to try out.  For the value Hardness I want a number between 29-54.  For Cleansing I like 14 but 17 is also acceptable but they should be between 12-22. Conditioning between 44-69 but the higher the better for me. Bubbly 14-46 again the higher the better. Creamy 16-48 the higher the better for this one as well.   Iodine 41-70 this number determines how fast your soap will expire so lower is best. And INS between 136-165  I don't think this value really determines any of the properties of the final bar of soap.  It calculates the compatibility of the oils in the soap.

Experimental Recipe 1

25% Coconut oil                                                    Hardness - 42
30% Palm oil                                                          Cleansing - 17
8% Castor oil                                                         Conditioning - 54
35% Corn oil                                                          Bubbly - 24
2% Stearic Acid                                                     Creamy - 32
                                                                                 Iodine - 66
                                                                                 INS - 144
                                                                                  

                                                                             

Experimental Recipe 2

20% Coconut oil                                                     Hardness - 39
8% Castor oil                                                          Cleansing - 14
28% Corn oil                                                           Conditioning - 55
42% Lard                                                                  Bubbly - 21
2% Stearic acid                                                       Creamy - 33
                                                                                   Iodine - 66
                                                                                   INS - 141

If you don't want to add the stearic acid then I suggest just adding the 2% value to either the palm oil or the lard amounts.

So there we go the final recipes.  I'll have to try them out and let you know how well they work.  But from just looking at the numbers they should be a good bars of soap for sure. 

The Making of a Soap Recipe

Step One In Making a New Recipe

Well I'm working on a recipe these days to bring the cost of my experimentation down.  I'm trying to make a recipe that is similar to my favorites but doesn't cost to bloody much.  I have lots of fragrances I want to test out but don't know what they are going to do.  My experimenting is going to put me in the poor house.  lol..   So what I look for in a bar of soap is a cleansing number that is on the lower end of the scale.  12-16.  I like lots of bubbles though so you will always see Castor oil in my recipes.  The bubbles and creaminess have to be in the 20 range 30 is best.  And the hardness I like to be around 40 if I can make it that high and still have what is the most important factor to me the conditioning number.  It has to have high 50's to 60 or over is good.  This is what I've come up with so far. These recipes haven't been tested yet they are just being formulated.  This is only Step one...finding out what's important to you and then finding the right oils to do the job.

Experimental Recipe 1

20% Coconut oil -I don't have a cheaper substitute for this oil because it's already economical on it's own. It's for cleansing and bubbles 20% keeps this cleansing number at a 14

20% Palm oil -I use slightly more in this recipe than I usually use because it makes the bar harder. It makes it a vegan recipe. Offers Hardness, creamy lather, and some bubbles.  Can dry out skin hence the 18%

8% Castor oil -I don't know of any cheaper oil that will give the emollient qualities that this one does..plus bubbles woot woot.  it makes lots of bubbles and makes them creamy.  Makes a softer bar.

50% Soybean oil -This is my olive oil substitute. It's less expensive I think and still has the moisturizing qualities. Rice bran oil would also be good if they have any at a good price. These oils are mostly for the moisturizing or conditioning number the higher this amount of oil the more conditioning the bar will be.  Too much makes a too soft bar.  You can use canola or sunflower as well but that puts the hardness qualities of the bar to the absolute lowest number within the range. It's a little dangerous going that low your soap may not come out of the mold for days.

2% Stearic Acid Since I actually have some I may add some stearic acid to this recipe to make it a bit harder.  If you don't want to add this then add an additional 2% to the Palm oil to make your 100%. You could also use Sodium lactate at 2% but you don't have to calculate it into the lye calc.

Experimental Recipe 2

20% Coconut oil -Again it's economical on it's own

8% Castor oil -Bubbles, bubbles bubbles must have bubbles

30% Sunflower oil, soy oil, canola oil or rice bran oil. I haven't made up my mind yet but soy and rice are in the lead until I find out how much they cost.

42% Lard (so unfortunately this recipe isn't vegan) Palm oil substitute.  This oil has hardening, creaminess and moisturizing qualities that it adds to the recipe  I'm curious to see how it works out.

May add 2% stearic acid to this bar too but I haven't made up my mind yet.


This is what a few days of reading and running numbers through SoapCalc have gotten me.  I'm getting close to what I really want.  I am going to try both experimental recipes because I want to see how the Coconut/Palm combination compares to the Coconut/Lard combination.  I want to see if one is going to be dryer than the other since I followed my own rules closely with the first recipe and not with the second.  As you can see there is a significantly more lard than palm oil  which should be fine if it isn't a drying oil.  I may even increase that so we'll see.  I haven't tried either of these recipes yet.  This is just step one.

Step two ...coming soon! Modifying the Recipe 

Going to the grocery store and seeing how much all these ingredients cost in comparison to my regular oils to make sure I'm actually going to be saving money.  And making the final changes to the recipes to reflect that new knowledge.

Until then Happy Soaping Everyone!

The Making of a Soap Recipe

Making Oatmeal, Milk & Honey (or buttermilk in my case)

I think that every soaper out there has a version on this recipe.  No soapers repertoire is finished without it.  lol And I'm a little hesitant to share but I'm going to anyway because it's a good thing to do.  I love this soap.  I make this one in a hot process style. That's important to know before making because some of the ingredients will not transfer over to a cold process recipe.  For instance I use 1 Tbsp of local honey per pound of oils.  In hot process I can do that but not in cold process because it heats up the recipe and not only will my milk and honey burn I will end up with brown spots in the soap.  So for cold process I only use 1 tsp per pound of oils.  I added buttermilk powder mixed with a small amount (1oz/pound of oils) of distilled water (amount is subtracted from the water used to mix lye.) Now in hot process I can add this to the soap after the cook and don't have to worry about burning it.  In cold process you can add this at trace but in order to avoid burning or overheating I would put my soap in the freezer or fridge.  (Remember Honey makes soap get really hot)  I also get steel cut oats and grind it in my coffee grinder and add the ground oats to the hot process soap after the cook.  Note: Adding sodium lactate to your recipe makes this a more fluid mixture once it's done cooking so it makes it easier to incorporate a large amount of oats like I do here.  In cold process it can be added at trace.   Now you don't have to use buttermilk you can use whatever milk suits your fancy.  I prefer buttermilk because I like the way it feels on the skin and smells in the soap.  You can even use cream if you want.   If you want to do this recipe cold process be aware that it may volcano because of the heat generated by the honey.  I suggest making it hot process it's easier and you can add more of the good stuff. If you have any questions please ask.  If I know the answer I will let you know and if not perhaps I can find one for you.  Or find someone that knows the answer.  :)

Here are my videos of me making and cutting this soap.  Recipe is at the bottom.

Angela's Oatmeal, Buttermilk & Honey Hot Process Soap

3% Beeswax (preferably organic as it has a natural honey scent)

8% Castor Oil

20% Coconut Oil

10% Mango Butter

32% Olive Oil

10% Palm Oil

10% Shea Butter

7% Cocoa Butter

Superfat 8%

Additives

1 tsp Vitamin E/pound of oils

1/8 cup Ground oats/ pound of oils

1/8cup buttermilk powder/pound of oils mixed with distilled water to make fluid

2% sodium lactate (I use 2% of the oil measurement just to be safe)

1Tbsp Honey/pound of oils

Well here it is.  It's one of my favorite recipes.  Happy Soaping Everyone!  

Adventures in Soapmaking

Using Herbs

I absolutely love herbs.  I use to wild craft and find my own healing herbs in the woods.  Can you just see me with my guidebook tramping through the woods, with one of my best friends my mother-in-law Mary-lee, looking at all the different plants identifying them.  Researching what we found to make sure that our guidebook was accurate as well as discovering what healing jewels we had in the back yard or right around the corner.  It was awesome!  There is a plethora of healing herbs all around us at any given time.  I'm not the end all be all when it comes to herbs but it is one of my passions.  If I have an ailment I would prefer to use flowers and berries to help ease my symptoms rather than pop pills.  That being said using herbs too often can be troublesome.  Like ingesting St John's wort to much can make you light sensitive.  That type of thing.  So always do your research before you ingest herbs or put them on your skin.  Weather it's something your making for yourself or even something that you buy. 

So I of course have to find a way to use herbs and other natural ingredients in my soaps for healing.  Although I can't make any claims on my soap as you all know.  I can however tell you about the herbs that I use in my soaps and what I have discovered from my research.  If you've been watching my videos for some time you probably know what two herbs I'm going to discuss first.  Calendula and Chamomile are my all time favorite herbs.  

Calendula is a beautiful wild marigold flower.  I am someday going to have fields of this flower that I shall dance in.  :) ) It promotes skin regeneration.  It has astringent properties which most herbs do. It also has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties.  All these make it an effective remedy for healing a variety of wounds, burns and abrasions.  It is the most recommended herb for skin ailments such as eczema.  Calendula is also so gentle that it's used in diaper creams and for people with sensitive skin.  It can be taken internally as well for ulcers and ear infections. Always consult a professional before taking an herb internally. If your pregnant avoid. Picture taken from this site http://soulfude.com/tag/calendula/    

Chamomile is a tiny daisy like flower  that comes in a variety of species.  There is Roman, German and a wild variety that is also called pineapple weed that's flowerless.  I like the German variety for topical applications.  Mostly because it is a powerful anti-inflammatory. So it's good for reducing redness. It has been used for generations for a variety of ailments.  Most common of which are skin conditions like diaper rash, eczema, psoriasis, chicken pox, abscesses and internally for insomnia, anxiety, gastrointestinal upset, and menstrual problems.  I drink Chamomile tea everyday.  (And my chamomile field will be right beside the Calendula one so I can joyful dance from one to the other lol.  )

Image take from this website http://www.cnseed.org/german-chamomile-matricaria-recutita.html

Using Herbal Oil Infusions

My most recent video is of me making a Calendula and Chamomile Soap.  I infused the Calendula and Chamomile separately in Olive oil for three weeks.  Although I prefer to do a double infusion I only did one this time.  I filled up two jars one with Calendula and one with Chamomile left about an inch of space in the jar.  I then filled the jars with olive oil.  I used the same type of Olive Oil I use for soaping to make it easier to predict what the final soap will do when I make it.  If I had used Extra Virgin it would have affected my soap recipe differently and I didn't want that.  This is a cold infusion so I put them in a dark location (because sun and heat does damage the delicate herbs as well as make the oils go rancid faster)  I shook it everyday for three weeks.  Two weeks is sufficient I just didn't have time to strain it till it had been in there for three weeks.  Then I made my Triple Butter Soap Recipe except I replaced the regular olive oil with half Calendula infused Olive oil and half Chamomile infused olive oil. I also added my Oat milk concoction to my lye water.  Oatmeal is good for reducing itching.  (Also a warm bath in the Oat milk is excellent for really crazy itching just an FYI)

So in the end you have a bar of soap that is chalk full of anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-septic ingredients.  As well as some that may help calm itching.  I use this bar when I have a really bad outbreak of eczema. But I'm not making any claims here.  lol   And yes I do bath in Oat milk when I get really itchy although my outbreaks are few and far between since I discovered making my own soap.  :)

Making Calendula and Chamomile Soap