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”:
- 7lbs Olive Oil, Pomace (Columbus Foods, $16.59)
- 7lbs Coconut Oil (Bubbles ‘n Beyond, $11.00)
- 7lbs Palm Oil (Bubbles ‘n Beyond, $9.50)
- Arbitrary amounts of Lard, Local
- 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.
- 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!
- 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:
- Something to mix the lye water in.
- Something to melt hard oils & mix the oils/lye water in.
- Something to stir the batch with.
- Safety equipment!!!
- A mold for the soap
- 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!
Tags: newbie, soap, Soap Making, supplies
