I have listed some good internet sources to access if you would like to start making your own soap. Another good source is your public library. You may also like to join an internet group at yahoogroups.com. Check under the hobbies and crafts section for some good groups to join. I belong to quite a few and haved learned a lot through them. Here are some good sources to get you started::
"Scent is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived."
- Helen Keller -
Here are some basic soap recipes that I have used and have had good success with:
Goatsmilk Soap
Most recipes will have you weigh everything on a scale, but this is the only one that I have found where you can measure your ingredients. This is the one I started out with and the soap has turned out great everytime.
1 cup melted lard
1 cup melted coconut oil (can be obtained at Walmart or health food stores)
1 cup goatsmilk (can be obtained at Walmart)
1/4 cup lye ( can now only be found on internet sites)
1/4 cup distilled water (very cold)
fragrance (about 1/2 ounce)
(Read & research soap making first before attempting. Use all safety precautions) Pour lye into the cold water, stir well. Prepare oils. When lye/water mixture is 125 - 130 degrees, stir in very cold goatsmilk. ( I usually put it in the freezer for a while. If it's not really cold, the lye will burn the milk too much.) When oils and lye mixture are both between 110-120 degrees, pour lye mixture into oils and stir, stir, stir. When this is well blended together, use a stick blender to bring it to "trace", or you can stir it by hand which will take a lot longer. ( I have learned the stick blender is a very worth -while tool.) Add fragrance oil at trace, blend well, pour your soap into your mold or molds. Leave in molds 32 - 48 hours. Remove from molds. If you have trouble removing soap from molds, pop them in the freezer for a while and they can be removed much easier. Soap is ready to use after curing 4-6 weeks.
Basic Soap Recipe
7 ounce olive oil
4 ounce palm oil (can sometimes find this in health food stores.)
5 ounce coconut oil
6 ounce distilled water ( or you can use all or part goatsmilk.)
2.25 ounce lye
Follow same basic instructions as above recipe. Add lye mixture to oils at about 120 degrees.
Oatmeal Soap
10 ounce palm oil
4 ounce coconut oil
2 ounce olive oil
2 ounce lye
1 cup cold distilled water
1/4 cup regular oatmeal (not instant) ground up in food processer or grinder.
1/2 ounce fragrance oil
Mix lye and water, set aside to cool. Melt palm and coconut oils together, add olive oil and set aside to cool. When the lye mixture reaches 100 degrees and the oils are at 120 degrees, pour lye mixture into oils and stir by hand or with stick blender until mixture reaches "trace". Add oatmeal and fragrance oil, blend well. Pour into molds. Leave in molds for 32 - 48 hours before removing. Cure for 4 - 6 weeks .
Here are some of my soaps, the "Hope" soaps I give away to some of my cancer patients.
Welcome, I'd like to share with you my soaping passion. I've been doing this for about 8 years, and I'm hooked! I started out making them as gifts for friends and family , but then started getting into selling them at craft shows and making up baskets for a realtor.
I particularly became interested in goatsmilk soap, as a former co-worker was making them and selling them at work. I noticed it was helping a skin problem I was having, some sort of itching and redness on my legs. Nothing else that I had tried was helping. But as I continued to use the goatsmilk soap, it was making the skin problem clear up. So, I learned and started making the soap myself. I have been making my own cold process goatsmilk since then.
Why homemade soap? Homemade soap is "real soap". Glycerin is produced in soap and help draws moisture into the skin. Commercial soap manufacturers process the soap to take out the glycerin and sell it as a by-product. Handmade soap is a wonderful moisterizing soap that naturally draws moisture into your skin. Commercial soaps are harsh detergents, not "real soap".
Why goatsmilk? Goatsmilk contains many nutrients and has special qualities, some, not even fully understood. Some of the qualities that I could find out were: vitamin A, amino acids and zinc which encourages moisture retention. It is a natural source of alpha-hydroxy acids which help rejuvinate the skin.
