Post-School Update: Supplies & Etc

SO!

Finally got around to getting some of my “basic” supplies. Picture time!

1. A scale. Of course! It measures up to about 10 pounds, I think, and it does it in 1/8 of a pound increments. Kind of weird, if you ask me, but it was convenient and cheap ($30 at Bed, Bath and Beyond) and best of all? I didn’t pay shipping on it! It zeros out, yay, so I can just stick a Pyrex glass on the thing and voila, insta-oil-or-lye measurer. The 1/8 of an ounce thing is going to be a little strange; it means I have to round to .125, .250, .375, etc. Not too bad. Not quite 1/10, but close enough, better (MUCH better) than rounding to the nearest ounce.

2. A stick blender! Yaay! Cheap-o $10 one from WalMart. I didn’t expect it to be so HUGE! I have tiny hands, so I think in order to control this sucker I will need to use both of them. The handle is really thick. Woo. So this means I can reach fairly fast trace! Yay.

3. Essential oils! Very essential. They were $6 at Hobby Lobby which is fairly expensive because they’re only 1/2 a fluid ounce. I don’t know how this compares to real 1-weight-ounce bottles, or 2 ounce bottles, but I know I can order them offline for cheaper because that’s how the internet works. The stuff next to them is rice, not salt, but I did get some sea salt for about $7 for 6 (7?) pounds at Hobby Lobby. Good price. It wasn’t the highest quality, but it was good enough!

4. Oils! I have extra virgin olive oil in the pantry, so no worries there (I know extra virgin isn’t the best to use, pomace is better because it’s cheaper, but this is my first batch so I’m not too worried about buying in bulk/overall cost/etc). Pictured here is lard & Luana Coconut Oil. The coconut oil is fairly substantial. It’s about 3 pounds, I think (31 fluid ounces, and coconut oil weighs a lot). It feels way heavier than the lard, at least, which is definitely 16 ounces. It was about $4. Good price. About $1.50 per pound or so, better than shipping it even at bulk prices. I will be using this. I hope it’s good enough quality.

So I have most of what I need (not pictured here–I got a spatula, cheapo, for hand stirring and scraping, and I also have a meat thermometer sitting somewhere in the utensil drawers). I just have to convince my dear woodworking father to help me make a break apart mold and a cutter with piano wire. He’s already agreed to do it, it’s just a matter of timing. (He’s in and out of town the next couple of weeks!)

And I am well on my way to becoming a soaper!

Cheers!

Prices, Prices, Prices!

Well, crap!

With prices on the rise–the American dollar just isn’t worth what it used to be, and that’s more true now than it was a couple years ago!–it’s going to be hard to find “cheap” oils. A batch of soap may literally double in production cost. That’s okay for me, I guess, considering I have no plans on selling the soap and therefore there’d be no reason for me to hike up my prices. But it’s bad for other soapers in the countr. At some point, they won’t be able to compete with big-name companies like Dial or Dove or Lever, simply because they can’t produce in the mass quantities that these companies can for the low prices. And most of consumer America, especially now in this time of financial crisis, aren’t willing to spend $6 or $8 on a bar of soap just because it’s “handmade”, “natural”, or even better for your skin.

Argh! I’m going to have to buy out all the cheap soapies now, because I want to try other people’s creations alongside my own (when I get around to making them–I swear it will be soon, because my last final is in the morning and I will be home again in a few days). I want to see what the hype is really about. If I spend years soaping, will my soap ever be…worth it?

Okay, I got sidetracked. My main issue with the lowering dollar + rising prices? Oils! They are jumping up in price daily. What was once less than a dollar a pound is now two, three dollars a pound. It’s fine for me because I don’t buy for huge batches and I don’t care so much because I’m not selling. But it’s also very hard on the wallet. I may have to pass up on the luxury oils–which, sadly enough, will be oils that weren’t luxuries two years ago. Sigh. Once again, I’m just going to have to stress to myself that it doesn’t affect me. Damn you ethanol!!

Time to run off and study some more for my exam in the morning! Tata!

Fragrance: Natural Or Not?

I’m not entirely sure what type of fragrance I will use in my soaps. The two options are, of course, essential oils and fragrance oils. For those who don’t know, essential oils are basically just extracts from various herbs and natural sources, such as lavender, eucalyptus, and ylang ylang (to name a couple). Essential oils contain the properties of the herb/whatever they are extracted from, and are used widely in aromatherapy to treat various ailments (as well as for their healing properties, a good example of this would be lavender). Fragrance oils are man-made, and don’t have any of the “properties” that one would find in essential oils. They are simply scents, though some can be surprisingly complex.

With essential oils, one can claim that their soap is “natural”. (Which probably isn’t true, unless they extracted their own lye from ash!) I’d really like to go for a “natural” approach, and I want to see if the properties of these oils really do come through in the soap. So where’s the beef? Well, it’s cost. While some essential oils are priced fairly well and nearly rival their fragrance oil counterpart (like eucalyptus, sweet orange, white pine and tea tree), others can be outrageously expensive (such as lavender, patchouli, ylang ylang, and sandalwood)!! For a potential hobbyist, these prices are downright frightening. $60/lb for a popular (lavender) scent? And for what? Though it is potent, I just don’t know. I may find myself buying some in the future, in small amounts, but I don’t think I could ever buy more than a few ounces without feeling outright guilty.

Fragrance oils come in every kind of pleasant smell your nose can dream of, including some that are less-than-pleasant. They are generally affordable, usually ranging anywhere from $9-$50/lb, and $50 is incredibly high. They’re also easy to get, though not necessarily body-safe ones (always be sure to make sure the FO you are using is skin safe!!). Still, they are considerably cheaper and more widely available.

But personally, I have this…thing…about using fragrance oils. I mean, for fun blends, I’d probably go with it. (Like Honey & Oatmeal in an Oatmeal/Honey bar so that it amplifies the scent a hundred fold. And maybe for stuff like tropical fruits, like mango, because there really isn’t mango essential oil.) But I absolutely couldn’t live with myself if I copped out and bought some Lavender fragrance oil instead of going ahead and getting a wee bit of the essential stuff.

Ah, well. I guess that’s the perfect middle ground: A blend. Fragrance oil for those whimsical bars, and essential oils for when I need something a bit more fresh and light. I have a little bit of lavender, eucalyptus and tea tree to use up at home anyway.

Buying Fragrance Oils

WSP (in my links list) has some well-priced “economy” fragrances from $9-$16/lb. I will probably use them at a 1or 1.2 oz/pound of fats rate, mostly because at such a cheap price, they probably won’t come through all that strong. While costing more money in the long run, this at least gives me an idea of what kind of scents I like and allows me to use up my samples (I will order 5 or 6 2oz bottles to test) without having to spend big bucks and wind up with something I hate. WSP also has some higher-priced fragrances, so I may look into those as well.

Day-Star (also on my links list) has some delightful fragrances that, according to other soapers’ reviews, behave beautifully and are very strong in soap. I will maybe order a sample back from them (5 different scents, $22.50), but only when I get the money.

For essential oils, I will hunt down the very bestest deals possible, cut corners wherever I can!!

Note: It’s a good idea to purchase stuff from people close to you rather than across the country. Shipping is going up and will only get more expensive in the years to come as oil prices rise!

First-Time Long Research Post

For a brief and not-so-sweet introduction: Hi. This is my first post. On this blog, I will be making soap. Yup. I am a complete soap-making newbie (with the exception of trying melt and pour once…boy, that didn’t work too well).

To delve into the real juciness:

This is all of my personally compiled research. After several weeks, I have finally decided on what I will purchase as my supplies for a first-time soaping experience. I have tried tofind an economical as well as newbie-friendly way to approach buying soaping supplies. This includes cheapest oil prices, cutting corners on equipment as well as what oils and supplies to get for a first-time batch. It’s overwhelming when you see all the possibilities!!

• First-Time Questions: What, How much, and Where?

I have been searching around and comparing prices for the last month and a half, wondering what I should buy. A lot of people actually recommend that I start out with a “simple, no-frills” recipe in order to get into the process. Okay, that’s all fine and good. But what is “simple, no-frills”? Is it a 100% lard soap, or a lard/olive/coconut mix, with all the ingredients (lye and distilled water too) purchased from local stores such as Home Depot and Super Walmart?

To hell with it. I have no idea what to buy, so I will just buy the most “common” ingredients. That includes the short list of: Lard, Olive, Coconut, Palm, Shea Butter and perhaps some Castor and Grapeseed, but not much. About half these ingredients can be found in my supermarket. The other half I will have to order online…so I may just end up ordering everything but lard online. I don’t feel comfortable shipping lard. I don’t know why. “50 Pound Cube” just doesn’t sound at all appealing!! (Available from Columbus Foods.)

Once I’ve decided on what to get, I have to ask, how much oil should a “newbie” buy? No matter how hard I search, I can’t seem to get a good answer to this question. I hear the veteran soapers talking about how they buy oils in thirty, forty, fifty pounds–I most certainly do not need that much. I don’t want it going rancid before I have a chance to use it! Because this will only be a part-time hobby, I only intend on making a few two-pound batches to start. If I find I love it, I may buy more. But man, I just know I’m going to end up with more soap than I know how to handle!

It’s so tempting to buy 7 pound bottles. Why? Because it’s so cheap. Buying a single pound of coconut can be fairly expensive, and I know it will get used up fairly fast. Buying two pounds may be a better idea, but cost! 7 pounds seems like a perfect deal, yet I can’t bring myself to justify buying that much of something. Especially not if it’s a lesser-used oil, like Castor Oil or Grapeseed, which goes rancid quickly. I have finally decided on the following amounts for my “first recipes”:

1. 7lbs Olive Oil, Pomace (Columbus Foods, $16.59)
2. 7lbs Coconut Oil (Bubbles ‘n Beyond, $11.00)
3. 7lbs Palm Oil (Bubbles ‘n Beyond, $9.50)
4. Arbitrary amounts of Lard, Local
5. 1lb Grapeseed Oil (Bubbles ‘n Beyond, $3.40) This goes rancid quickly, so I figured I’d try my luck with only a pound of the stuff.
6. 7lbs Castor Oil (Columbus Foods, $14.70) I realize of course that this is a large amount of oil for something that is used in such small percentages (5-10% in soap). However, it is supposedly a good stand-alone oil with a decent shelf life. Hence, seven pounds!
7. 1lb Refined Shea Butter (Bubbles ‘n Beyond, $6.00 OR Texas Natural Supply, $7.50, depends on if BnB restocks soon) Refined Shea Butter supposedly loses a lot of its healing properties. That’s okay. I only want it for the moisturizing ones, I think. Plus I have no idea how the unrefined smells.

That puts me up to a total of around $65 in oils, not including shipping. It’ll probably cost about $100 when shipping is added. That’s a LOT of money, but I think I can squeeze by with it, especially because these oils should last several batches of soap. (And I can do experiments with the ones left over — maybe a 100% Coconut Oil, 20% superfat salt bar?) It’s also infinitely cheaper than buying wee bottles of Extra Virgin Olive Oil constantly at Walmart or the grocery!!

• The Final Frontier: Equipment

What on earth should I use to start with? Shoot. This question didn’t seem a big issue at first, but then I read all of the “How To Make Soap!” articles and my heart (plus my wallet!) just about broke. You probably can’t create good soap from stuff you have lying around in your home, unless you have an affinity for strange things.

A basic list of what you need to make soap is as follows:

1. Something to mix the lye water in.
2. Something to melt hard oils & mix the oils/lye water in.
3. Something to stir the batch with.
4. Safety equipment!!!
5. A mold for the soap
6. A cutter of some kind

What to mix in? For lye water, I hear that a plain, heat-resistant pitcher (like the ones you see at the grocery for lemonade or iced tea!) works great. No need to get all fancy-shmancy. Just something that can hold up to the high temps of the chemical reaction. I think you can probably pick one up at the grocery or Walmart for about $5-15 dollars, depending on the quality of the product.

For your soap, I asked around, and I got the response that yes, it is safe to mix it in the pots you cook in. Just makes sure that you wash them rigorously! I have some good sized pots at my home, and I think I can get away with just mixing the soap in these…As long as they aren’t aluminum. Lye and aluminum react, so make sure to use stainless steel or something similar!

For stirring: Don’t use plastic or wooden spoons that you intend to use later. You can pick up a cheap-o spatula (make sure it is heat resistant) or spoon from Walmart or your grocery for really cheap, or you can use your metal spoons/spatulas at home. It doesn’t really matter what you stir with if you are hand stirring.

Alternatively, (and this is the method I will be using), you can use a stickblender. I had no idea these suckers existed (I don’t cook much) before I started reading up about soap, but apparently they make it a lot faster and easier than hand stirring for hours on end. You can purchase one of these from Walmart, Walgreens or CVS for about $10. Affordable, and I have read good reviews on these, because they are easily replaced and some people have had them last years.

Safety Equipment: Safety is important!!!! When working with lye (I have taken a few chemistry labs/courses, so I know the danger of caustic chemicals!) you should always wear some form of gloves and eye protection. Goggles and heavy-duty rubber gloves work fine. I am going to buy mine from Home Depot or Walmart for cheap, because I don’t see the point in ordering them online. (Or use my old chem lab goggles…heh heh) Also, it’s a good idea to have vinegar on hand, as it more or less kills the effects of lye.

Mold/Cutter: I will be making my own, for money reasons. My home has lots of scrap wood available, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. I will also be lining with freezer paper purchased from Walmart.

The end! I will later update my progress on buying the supplies and making my own mold…hmmm!