Made my first batch of soap last night

Discussion in 'Soapmaking & Lotions' started by moviemaniac, Mar 26, 2009.

  1. moviemaniac

    moviemaniac Tool Time

    No, I haven't tried it yet - I have to wait at least another three weeks... :(
     
  2. harlekin

    harlekin New Member

    Olive oil is pretty common for soaping, classically speaking. Soaps made with all olive oil are called Castile soap. Olive tends to make the soaps a bit on the soft side and some people don't like the feel of the lather. It tends to have a bit of a "slimy" feel to it. I think most shave soaps have a bit of olive oil for that very reason, but not too much as the particular fatty acid makeup of olive oil doesn't make the right kind of lather for shaving.

    I started making soap very recently (about a month or two ago now) and I use a crock pot to cook the soap. The soap doesn't need to cure before use that way. It still needs a couple weeks to harden up though.
     
  3. rodd

    rodd Knotty Boy

    All right Klaus, time for an update. :) I assume you have tried it. How did it work out for you?

    Also, would this be an expensive hobby to get started in if I just wanted to make my own bath soaps?
     
  4. harlekin

    harlekin New Member

    It's not an inherently expensive hobby, but like the *ADs you can sink a lot of money in it if you want. All you need to make soap is water, lye, oil, something to mix it in (stainless steel is best), and something to use as a mold. Color and fragrance are optional, but you can have a lot of fun with those.

    One of the online resources that people usually point to for first time soapers is www.millersoap.com as there are basic techniques and a lot of recipes there. There's a lot to be said for looking around and talking to people who have done it too. I'm lucky to have a decent soap and candle supply shop locally, but there are plenty of places online that sell the harder to find ingredients. (You'd be amazed how hard it is to find lye locally these days, it used to be in all of the hardware stores until the meth makers screwed that up along with cold medicine)
     
  5. moviemaniac

    moviemaniac Tool Time

    Oh, yeah, you're absolutely right!

    I've been using my soap for several weeks now and I really, really like it - it turned out great!

    Expensive? Nah, not at alla few bucks for the ingredients is all it takes.
     
  6. Etoyoc

    Etoyoc Backwards

    Sounds like a summer project! Thanks

    I bet the daughter would enjoy making her own soap.
     
  7. rodd

    rodd Knotty Boy

    Awesome! I am glad it turned out so well! I am working out a recipe now. I am going to have to give it a try.

    Hopefully I can find the oils and lye locally...


    One thing to note is that the lye is extremely dangerous. Not sure how old your daughter is, but make sure she is aware.
     
  8. Etoyoc

    Etoyoc Backwards

    good point. However, she might like the chance to wear lab aprons and safety goggles. I would pour the lye and let her pour other things. She loves to follow recipes.
     
  9. harlekin

    harlekin New Member

    A lot of people are scared of lye, as it can cause a lot of damage if mishandled. It's really not that bad if you treat it with respect though. A couple of important notes though. NaOH has a significant "heat of solution" which means that it gets really hot when you dissolve it in water, so add the lye to the water and not the other way around (if you add water to lye, like acids it will cause the water to boil instantly and possibly spray you with caustic liquid.) It lets off fumes while you dissolve it as well, so add it to the water outside or in a well ventilated area. Stir the solution until all of the lye is dissolved or you'll have a difficult lump of rock hard lye in the bottom. Let it cool off in a safe place.

    Keep unused lye in a dry and safe place, well labeled. Never leave a lye solution sitting unattended where someone might stumble across it not knowing what it is. Watch out for your pets when working with lye.

    Just follow these few rules and take the proper safety precautions. Lye is really no worse than many of the other chemicals around your house (bleach for example). Just treat it with the appropriate care. Most of the horror stories come from people doing really stupid things, like mixing it in a drinking glass and leaving it on the counter.
     
  10. ChemErik

    ChemErik Mr. Personality

    I'd argue that soap making lye is more of a hazard, but only due to concentration. If you had 50 wt% chlorine bleach it would be more of a hazard than 50 wt% lye. That's why we buy diluted bleach. When you get pure NaOH crystals, you can make very concentrated solutions. The real danger is the initial mixing step.

    Also, the adding lye to water only applies during the initial mixing. Once you have a solution, you should follow the AA principle of chemistry - Add Acid. In this case, water is more acidic than the lye solution, so add water to the lye solution.
     
  11. harlekin

    harlekin New Member

    That approach to acid-base theory was fairly foreign to me until recently, but it does make sense. I think it's probably the heat of solution that causes the problem in the initial mix.

    The dangers of bleach are different than the dangers of lye, and I probably wasn't clear on that. The danger we're talking about with lye is that it is caustic. The things that scare me about bleach actually has more to do with reactivity and release of nasty chlorine compounds.

    One last note on lye safety. The granules that it typically comes in are very light and very static-y. The lye granules will stick to plastic things and can easily spread around. This isn't very dangerous as long as you know to expect it. You just don't want to have some lye sticking to a plastic bag and transferring itself to you (and a lot of places sell lye in plastic bags).

    A clarification on the storage of lye: Lye is extremely hygroscopic. It absorbs moisture very quickly. If left in open air it will actually absorb water until it's a very strong liquid solution. It will even absorb moisture from silica gel, so silica gel packets are of no use for keeping your lye dry. Keep it in a sealed, air tight container. I use a plastic flip top jar (the kitchen type with the metal latch on the outside) with warnings written on the outside with a sharpie.
     

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