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Marie · Joined: 10 Jul 2009 Posts: 43 Location: Galway

Have any of you made your own soap. Would like to start making some with our own goats milk, lavender and other herbs. I have been looking for lye, but that is hard to get it seems.
If anybody has any good recipes which are gentle for babies or know a good website that i can buy the basics from . cheers Very Happy

blowin · Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:19 am Post subject:

Pardon my ignorance but what is lye ?

phil · Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:37 am Post subject:

Marie have a look on MrsL's site they do all that sort of stuff.

MrsL · Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:54 am Post subject:

Thanks phil, we certainly do Laughing

If it's OK to put a link in here (if not, feel free to remove it), it'll save me doing the whole picture thing again:

http://creativeliving.10.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=670

The main thing with homemade soap is to give it ample time to cure - 4 - 5 weeks in a dry palce, warmish. For babies, I'd recommend a recipe made with oils rther than the solid fat, they tend to be creamier and more gentle feeling, although the basic soap in the post I linked to should be fine. Go easy on teh essential oils if making baby soap, though; I quite often make it with no scent or colour, just plain soap, does the job well.
I use caustic soda for the lye, the type sold as granules for drain cleaning (caution required, but safe to use with common sense). Genuine lye is rainwater leached through wood ashes over a period of days, strong enough to float an egg in, then it's fit for use for soap making. I've not got around to trying the proper lye yet (MrL a bit Shocked

, but you think he'd be used to me now.....).
The soap is basically a mixture of lye and fat, warmed and mixed until thickened, poured into a mould, cut, then left to cure.
Fats I use are lard, solid vegetable cooking fat in blocks, pig/sheep fat left from butchering; oils are coconut oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, almond oil, etc. Caustic soda can be bought from DIY stores, ironmongery type places.
Hope this helps, shout if you need some more info and I'll try and help. Very Happy

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Marie · Joined: 10 Jul 2009 Posts: 43 Location: Galway

Hadnt any problem finding the lard, but the caustic soda! was puzzled as to where i'd find that. will try a hardwarestore. your blog was very helpful

chook · Joined: 14 Mar 2007 Posts: 305 Location: North Clare

Hi Marie,
I have been making goats milk soap since last year. Learned almost everything from a German soapmakers forum (my first language) the rest with experience; there must be English language forums out there too.

see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/3101...7229949/in/set-72157615542296411/
I use mostly olive oil (wholesale from Irish Independent Healthfoods) with some castor oil for better foam, and occasionally added wheatgerm oil, sunflower oil, almond oil, or Nigella oil for psoriasis sufferers, plus lots of essential oils (except for the eczema/psoriasis soap of course).
Lye is hard to get. I order it in from a German supplier for 4-5 Euro/kg. Chemists can get it, at more than 1000% (! I kid you not) mark-up over continental prices. I'm not sure about the stuff from the hardware shop (drain cleaning, paint stripping) as it says 98% sodium hydroxide. What is the other 2%?
To use goat's milk or any milk in soap it is very wise to freeze it first (in ice cube containers) as otherwise it gets too hot when the lye is added, turns orange and smells very unpleasant.
Another important thing is to VERY CAREFULLY calculate your recipes (there are on-line calculators). Too much lye and it'll take your skin off if you have free lye left in the soap. Too little and the soap will be oily with too much unsaponified oil/fat. Also note that calculations are done with mass, not volume. 1 litre of oil is not the same as 1 kg of oil. Get a good, accurate weighing scale for the lye (0.00g) and stick to all the necessary precautions (kids and pets out of the room; goggles, gloves).
It's great fun, creative, useful, and makes handy little presents with some nice packaging (my nieces currently smell of mint-chocolate Laughing

)

BTW, the molds are from the US (Milkyway Molds and some others); can't get them here as far as I know.

Enjoy,
chook

Marie · Joined: 10 Jul 2009 Posts: 43 Location: Galway

Chook did you make the soaps in the picture??? im shocked that you're able to make it so beautiful after only doing so for a year. Woow, very impressive. I'll have our advice. Do you have a link that i can buy lye from?
Marie

chook · Joined: 14 Mar 2007 Posts: 305 Location: North Clare

Hi Marie,
yes I did, but the beauty is simply due to the molds. They are available from
http://www.milkywaymolds.com/
and http://www.suppliesbystar.com/soapmolds.html
I have dealt with both and both were fine to deal with. The $$ exchange rate helps too Wink

The reason I use molds is that milk soaps should be made with the cold-process method, otherwise they can whiff quite badly. If you make a block it tends to heat up, whereas in the individual molds it stays cool enough. Also, of course, they look much nicer IMHO.

The NaOH I buy from a small company in Hamburg:
http://www.sheabutter-naturcreme-shop.de/shop/index.php?cPath=32
They have good raw materials as well. The only trouble is that postage is rather dear. Are you in Galway Co. or city? Perhaps we could 'join forces'.

There is also an American lady nearby in the Burren who makes goat's milk soaps. I keep meaning to make contact with her, apparently she sells at the farmer's market in Ballyvaughan.

chook

MrsL · Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:34 pm Post subject:

Nice moulds. Very Happy

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Marie · Joined: 10 Jul 2009 Posts: 43 Location: Galway

Im in Galway Co between tuam/athenry. I'd love to join forces Wink

and borrow all your tips. Do you sell yours, im still shocked at how good they are, i've never seen soaps look so good.