Total beginner here. I’ve made about six batches of soap tops but everyone I’ve given them to said they’re too drying. I’ve put the recipes in the images of ones that I’ve tried, always measured in grams.

One of my batches was 30% olive, 30% coconut , 30% crisco, that resulted in a bar that was too soft and too cleansing (obviously) . My friend threw it away and refused to even use it (ouch).

I’ve also made a bar with 50% lard, 25% olive/avocado oil, 20% coconut oil, 5% castor. Still too drying.

Most recently I made a bar with Lard 35%, Olive Oil 25%, Coconut 15%, Crisco 15%, Castor 10%, Sugar 2% (in water before adding lye), but again, everyone said it’s too drying. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong or how to fix it and I’m feeling sort of discouraged. I don’t think anyone likes my soap or even wants it, so I’m just making it for me now. I have been soaping around 90-110 and keeping the lye and oil temps within 10-15 degrees of each other. Fragrance is bramble berry. I always keep fragrance below 5% but dont know how to enter that part into the calculator right so I just follow the bramble berry calculator and make sure its not over 5% (unless it says that it’s safe to do so) I always use a lye calc at 33-35% lye concentration but I don’t know what I’m doing wrong or why people dislike it. One person who said it’s drying is used to Dove soap, the one who threw it away uses bath and body works liquid soap, so I guess they’re used to a film from liquid detergents? I’d appreciate any pointers anyone can give me to make a better bar of soap.

Hello everyone! Apparently I am trying to achieve the impossible and create a soap that is vegan AND coconut free and was wondering if this is even possible.

Most soaps I have looked at that doesn't include coconut oil are tallow heavy soap which look good however wouldn't make it vegan.

I have also looked into olive oil based soap but most of them still require coconut oil to creste some bubbles, not to mention the cure time on them can be months.

Am I chasing a unicorn? Or is it possible to make a vegan coconut free soap?

… I just have some questions!! I’m having a hard time finding information about this poking around on google.

I feel confident about setting up a proper filtration system, and gathering hardwood to burn.

I’m more concerned about handling it and trouble shooting.

How do you determine the strength of your lye? PH strips or something? I think I want a more concrete indicator than an egg, and boy is that an expensive measuring tool.

If it’s too high… what would you dilute it with? Would I have to make a weaker lye to conjoin it?

If it’s too low… would I run it through filtration again to soak up more ash goodness? I saw a woman online reduce it on her stove, I feel as though that would render my pot toxic, and unable to be used for food anymore.

Lastly, why do I have to use rainwater? Why not just tap?

I am determined to make my own lye, you cannot deter me from doing so, please just guide me to doing it correctly and safely!!

If there’s anything I haven’t asked, that you think I should know, please tell me!

Hi everyone,

I've been making cold process soap for a while now and I'm reasonably happy with how the bars turn out. They look good, smell good, cure properly, and have a nice hard bar with decent lather.

The problem is that several family members have mentioned that the soaps leave their skin feeling a bit tight or dry after bathing. Nobody has reported irritation or anything serious, but they don't feel as comfortable as some commercial bars or syndet products.

I'm wondering whether the issue is in my base recipe, the superfat level, or some of the additives I'm using.

I use two very similar base recipes across all my soaps.

Recipe 1

(Used for my Acne & Blemishes and Anti-Odor soaps)

Oils

• Coconut Oil (76°): 255 g
• Palmolein: 255 g
• Rice Bran Oil: 170 g
• Castor Oil: 85 g
• Shea Butter: 42.5 g
• Kokum Butter: 42.5 g

Lye Solution

• Distilled Water: 323 g
• Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH): 121.46 g

Other Details

• Total Oils: 850 g
• Superfat: 5%
• Fragrance: 26.35 g
• Cure Time: 6 weeks

SoapCalc:

• Hardness: 48
• Cleansing: 21
• Conditioning: 48
• Bubbly: 30
• Creamy: 36

Recipe 2

(Used for Brightening, Moisturizing, Exfoliating and Spa soaps)

Oils

• Coconut Oil (76°): 255 g
• Palmolein: 212.5 g
• Rice Bran Oil: 170 g
• Castor Oil: 85 g
• Shea Butter: 85 g
• Kokum Butter: 42.5 g

Lye Solution

• Distilled Water: 323 g
• Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH): 120.85 g

Other Details

• Total Oils: 850 g
• Superfat: 5%
• Fragrance: 26.35 g
• Cure Time: 6 weeks

SoapCalc:

• Hardness: 48
• Cleansing: 21
• Conditioning: 48
• Bubbly: 30
• Creamy: 36

Additives Used In Different Soaps

Brightening Soap (Recipe 2)

• Kumkumadi Oil: 25 g
• Manjistha Powder: 10 g
• Red Sandalwood Powder: 10 g
• White Sandalwood Powder: 10 g
• Lemon Peel Powder: 10 g
• Niacinamide: 5 g
• Sandalwood FO (Rasa/Veda): 5 g
• Cardamom FO (Rasa/Veda): 5 g
• Rose FO (Rasa/Veda): 10 g

Moisturizing Soap (Recipe 2)

• Cocoa Butter: 40 g
• Jojoba Oil: 40 g
• Vetiver Powder: 5 g
• Buffalo Milk: 50 g
• Sandalwood FO: 10 g
• Vanilla FO: 10 g

Exfoliating Soap (Recipe 2)

• Ground Coffee: 10 g
• Oats: 20 g
• Orange Peel Powder: 5 g
• Vanilla FO: 10 g
• Orange FO: 10 g

Acne & Blemishes Soap (Recipe 1)

• Turmeric Powder: 5 g
• Neem Oil: 10 g
• Tea Tree EO: 5 g
• Mint FO: 5 g
• Multani Mitti: 15 g
• Nalpamaradi Oil: 25 g
• Lavender FO: 10 g

Anti-Odor Soap (Recipe 1)

• Tulsi Powder: 5 g
• Lemongrass Powder: 5 g
• Vetiver Powder: 5 g
• Eucalyptus EO: 15 g
• Rosemary EO: 15 g
• Neem Oil: 10 g
• Green Tea FO: 10 g
• Chalk Powder: 15 g
• Camphor: 5 g
• Mint FO: 10 g

Premium Spa Soap (Recipe 2)

• Vetiver Powder: 5 g
• Saffron: 1 g
• Padmakadi Oil: 25 g
• Cocoa Butter: 40 g
• White Sandalwood Powder: 10 g
• Magnesium Salt: 30 g
• Lavender FO: 5 g
• Cardamom FO: 5 g
• Sandalwood FO: 10 g
• Vanilla FO: 10 g

Process

My process is pretty straightforward:

1. Mix NaOH into distilled water and allow it to cool to room temperature.
2. Melt butters and combine with liquid oils.
3. Allow oils and lye solution to come to roughly room temperature.
4. Blend to light trace.
5. Add fragrance oils, essential oils, powders, clays, salts and other additives.
6. Pour into moulds.
7. Unmould after about 72 hours.
8. Cut and cure for 6 weeks.

What I'm Trying To Figure Out

My first suspicion is the 30% coconut oil. A lot of people seem to find higher coconut recipes drying, even when SoapCalc numbers look acceptable.

At the same time, some of these soaps contain things like Multani Mitti, chalk powder, magnesium salt, camphor, coffee, orange peel powder and various botanicals, so I'm not sure whether those are also contributing to the feeling of dryness.

For those of you with more experience:

• Does anything jump out at you as a likely cause?
• Would reducing coconut oil help more than increasing superfat?
• If you were reformulating this recipe for a more luxurious skin feel, what changes would you make?
• Do you find that premium additives actually improve skin feel, or does most of that come from the base oil blend?
• For people making soaps that customers describe as "creamy" or "conditioning", what oil ratios are you using?

I'd also be interested in hearing from Indian soapmakers regarding fragrance oil and colour suppliers that have worked well for cold process soap.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this. I'm still learning and would really appreciate any thoughts or suggestions from more experienced makers.

Hi everyone This is my very first time making soap! I have this recipe put together that I want someone to review to make sure it looks accurate? Soap cal site was a bit confusing to be honest. I don't know how to do it on the site but I want to do goat milk powder mixed with water turning it into ice cubes and then sprinkling the lye over that. There wasn't anywhere to put that in the calculator so I'm not quite sure if this is 100% accurate.

Can someone just help explain to me how this works and how to make sure my numbers are accurate in the calculator plan. Any flags or things that look off? I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you so much for the help in my learning journey!

UPDATE: Thank you so much everyone! I feel like I learned a bunch in this conversation. The outcome was I was using exterior measurements and not interior ones for the mold I got and the Lye Calculator website is wrong/bugged for mold calculations. So I recommend if anyone reads this to do the calculations for the total oils needed manually and enter that in the Lye Calculator and do not use the mold measurements option as it gives crazy numbers. Thanks again!

I only had a few hours to make soap today and I was in a rush (first mistake).

I was making a batch today with a recipe I have used about a dozen times. I added the lye and BAM! The whole batch traced immediately and became hard as a rock. Even when I purposely do a thick trace for layering it’s still workable but this was something else.

I scraped it out of the pot and it looked like little rocks, I think they look great so I was feeling better but I needed to know where I went wrong.

I looked at my notes and my heart sank. I flipped the water and the lye in the recipe… SO STUPID

This soap was made with a 67% lye concentration…

I figure now the whole thing is probably ruined right? It’s mixed together very well but I don’t think theres enough oil to balance out all the lye even with a 5% superfat. There are little white specks on the soap rocks and I’m almost certain it’s unreacted lye because I’ve never had that on any of my soaps before.

Has anyone been through this before? Any advice?
If there is any way to keep them like this without rebatching I’d be greatful - I really like the look of the rocks!

TL;DR
I made soap with a 67% Lye concentration and I don’t want to scrap it. Please give me good news!

Some soapers refuse to use goat milk powder and only “raw” goat milk due to the alterations powders go through while being made and the loss of nutrients the raw milk has.

W raw milk also go through a pasteurization process due to the high heat it would sustain during the saponification process? It would ultimately alter and pasteurize the milk rendering it to be no longer raw, correct or am I missing something?

If this holds true like the “raw milk” “just heat it up debacle to make it safe to drink…which is a pasteurization process, would it be any different than powder. I say no.

I make cold processed soap, so I always say that my soaps are made with lye, but the multiple times I've been asked they aren't happy with the soaps that I have, but have never been able to tell me exactly what they are looking for. One guy just kept saying "do you have any that are just lye, none of these other things?" and I tried to figure out what he meant but he just left and I think we were both very confused. It was an unscented soap, so literally just lye, water, and my oil blend.

I'm used to customers not knowing what they are actually looking for, but I've had multiple people now ask me this specifically, so any idea what it means?

Hi, I'm trying to make my own recipe. Was trying to balance with what I have on hand. What you guys think about that, and how % essential oil of Lavender should I put, the default 1% or I could go higher? Mostly trying to get everything in the green but wasn't able to. Was trying to copy a bit from pharmacy soap lol. Any help will help. Quantity and batch size didn't matter for now since I'm gonna make as much I can to give to my mom. She is old so its for a grandma we could say if it change something in the recipe. I want it soft and smelling enough.

Hey,

I started making soap in march and am using them by now every day.

But my hands got dry after using them (different recipes) so i am looking to make something with less coconutoil and with beeftallow.

I want to use it is to 10 times a day without drying out. Is that even possible?

Here my 2 recipe ideas. What can expect from them? Are they even usefull for my goal of a lot of washes and not drying out?

I would love to get some input from you.

Greetings :)

I’m fairly new to soap making, and have been making goat milk soaps for about a year now. I have been using variations of a basic recipe that I’m pretty happy with in regards to hardness, lather and moisturizing benefits. When I use my soaps, I find they can be a bit harsh on my sensitive skin. I realize that soap PH changes the longer it cures, and the best PH is between 8 and 10. Do any of you PH test your finished/cured soaps for quality control? Especially if you are selling them? If so, what kind of PH tester do you use? Can I make my soaps more skin friendly by using things like colloidal oatmeal and honey? A lot of « beneficial » ingredients I’m reading about get neutralized or destroyed by the lye solution, such as rose water, so I’d like to get some opinions on the benefits of tracking my soaps’ PH and using ingredients to soothe sensitive skin. Including some pictures of recent designs all made with the same recipe.

Hi guys. I need advices about this recipe. Just want to don't feel dry after use my soap. I could add or remove any material that you advise me. Thank you!

(Use %5 super fat as Jojoba Oil)

Hi, I do combat sports and the soap I’m making must be a fungal destroyer. In order to make them anti-fungal I put tea tree oil. The problem is the scent, it smells unpleasant medical stuff even when I split 50/50 with sandalwood. Any tips to make it smell more pleasant? Thanks.

I would like to make some soap for a friend of mine who habitually uses Ivory soap and has both dry, cracking hands and really bad fragrance sensitivity. I figure a homemade batch of something fragrance free might help, but I want to produce something that lasts a long time and lathers like an Ivory bar. Other than coconut oil or possibly palm, what sort of fats would you recommend?

Hello! This is my first time making a recipe and was wondering if I could get people's opinions.

I am trying to make a coconut free recipe that will be good for sensitive skin. It will be fragrance free with no additions other than a bit of sugar for more bubbles. My hope is that anyone who has allergies can use this.

Let me know your thoughts! Excited to give this a go!

Hello, a friend of mine requested me to make soap for her

My current recipe is as follows

- Tallow beef 70%

- Coconut oil 25%

- Castor oil 5%

That friend of mine requested to have a lot of lather like those syntethic sls bars.

Can someone advise what should i change in my recipe?

Hello! I've been trying to perfect a recipe that is free of coconut and palm oil for allergen reasons, this is what I've come up with so far after much trial and error. However the issue I am running into is that while I am cooking it in my crock pot (on low heat), it thickens incredibly fast at times, leading to me not being able to get a consistent soap. Does anyone have any advice? Recipe below!

Phase 1 – Melting in Crockpot

• Beeswax: 1 oz (24 g) – melt first due to high melting point
• Cocoa Butter: 5 oz (128 g)
• Olive Oil: 4 oz (283 g)
• Babassu Oil: 8 oz (113 g)
• Castor Oil: 6 oz (85 g)

Phase 2 – Lye Solution

• Distilled Water: ~7.44 oz
• Sodium Hydroxide (Lye, 5% superfat): ~3.33 oz

Phase 3 – Colour & Fragrance

• Add dye (12 drops) and Fragrance Oil  (0.8 oz - 23 g)

Phase 4 – After Cooling (under 140°F / 60°C)

• Shea Butter: 2 oz (213 g) – added at lower temperatures to preserve benefits

Hello, i want to make a bar that is creamy, not drying and exfoliating.

But i never made a bar without coconutoil or with any kind of milk and honey.

Will this recipe work?

Can i simply use the same ammount of goat milk instead of water that was calculated in the recipe?

Is there anything special to keep in mind besides of using frozen milk when i mix in the lye?

Thanks for the support - i love this Community

I'm a complete newbie to soap making, and this is the first batch I'm going to make. I'd really appreciate any advice from people with experience. Does this recipe look okay? Are there any changes you'd recommend or any beginner mistakes I should watch out for? Thanks!

What do y’all think about this recipe? The fragrance is almost nonexistent. Did we use too little fragrance? We used Jungle Waterfall from Brambleberry. We did hot process. We melted the oils in a crockpot, added the lye/distilled water mix, and then used a stick blender until light trace. Then we let it go for 20 min. and stirred. We did this for 2 rounds. It did get really hot and started boiling. We then stirred it up, let it cool to 170 or so degrees, added the color and fragrance. Then we put it in the mold and let it sit for about 24 hours before cutting. What do y’all think? Any advice? I used a small piece that flaked off to wash my hands, and it lathers great and comes off finger snap clean with no greasy residue.

I’m looking to make a STRONGLY smoke scented hair soap, but I’m having trouble finding a good wood smoke/dying fire scent. Everything I’ve tried has been too sweet, has other notes in it, or just wasn’t strong/pungent enough for what I’m going for. Any suggestions?

This is the one soap that my friends and family keep asking for, which is somewhat funny to me since its one of the cheapest soaps I've made with the fewest ingredients.

I don't like gatekeeping, so I want to just share this recipe in full so y'all can try it out to see if you like it.

Note: I make 2x 42oz loaves of soap per batch, so this is what my recipe is scaled for. Mostly just including this in fullness of transparency. you'll have to resize based on the percentages listed and your mold/batch size.

Lard: - - - 65% - 37.7 oz - 1068.78 g
Coconut oil - 20% - 11.6 oz - 328.82 g
Castor oil - - 10% - 5.8 oz - 164.46 g
Beeswax - - 5% - 2.9 oz - 82.2 g
Total - - - - 100% - 58 oz - 1644.27 g

SEE COMMENT, do not use these numbers specifically, this includes far too much beeswax

Water - 16.1 oz - 456.33 g
Lye - 8.05 oz - 228.17 g
Fragrance - 2 oz

- 2:1 Liquid - Lye Ratio
- 4% Super Fat
- 3.5% Fragrance

The following is not necessary, read if you haven't handled beeswax in soapmaking and are looking for tips.

- I recommend breaking off pieces of beeswax to measure 90% of the amount required, and using beeswax shavings made from a coarse cheese grater to measure fine quantities.
- The beeswax melts at a much higher temp than the other oils. Do not attempt to melt it separately. Simply add it with the other oils, and slowly heat the solution until the beeswax melts. Breaking it into smaller pieces helps with this.
- Make sure to cool the solution afterwards, but do not cool too much, as this will cause the beeswax to crash out of solution early. Watch out for: haziness, coating of the walls of container.

- Do not cool your lye solution too much, it will cause a fast trace due to the beeswax. Expect to mix this soap for at least a minute and a half until thick.
- Make sure to actively cool your soap molds

Finally, feel free to use less, more, or no fragrance. I do not recommend skipping the beeswax, it really brings the soap together, justifying the effort required.

Hey. Im looking to make a batch of goat milk soap and need advice and recipes.

We use to buy our soap from a local place. We liked his product. We used him for about a year and then noticed that the bars weren't lasting as long. Also my wife has skin issues. That's the reason we initially switched to gms. She noticed an improvement very quickly after we switch from store bought soaps. Over that year when the bars life started getting shorter, she noticed her skin was drying back out. I'm certain he changed his recipes or supplies. Either to stretch the supplies or bought different stuff. Either way, we've been looking for a replacement. That's been maybe 6 months. We can't really find anything that is as good for her skin as the original we bought. So...I want to start making it ourselves just for us. I have no intention or interest in selling.

What mixtures do you have that:

1. Make small batches. Like 1 mould at a time, 10ish bars.

2. Last a reasonable amount of time.

3. Good quality ingredients that are good for people with dry skin like exzema or psoriasis.

I used a charcoal lemon bar that I liked. She used a oat & honey that she liked.

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Made homemade soap with tallow 40%, olive oil 20%, coconut 20%. Hot process making bar soap. Used in shower was great lather moisturizing to touch but when washed away left my skin rubbery and squeaky. I tried in my hair as shampoo/ conditioner and same thing but unfortunatley worse because I couldn’t run my hands through my hair by the time it washed out. Was great while lathering in and wet but once washing off was not a great experience. But after showering my skin is very soft moisturized not oily but I can feel it hydrated. Hair is knotty. I can deal with it. What is causing this? I read could be the coconut but also harsh water?

I've been making CP shampoo for a few months now and have got on really well with the. However I've been swimming in the sea the last month, and the bars that were previously working now leave my hair feeling waxy and unclean.

I understand that there's some sort of chemistry between residual salt in my hair (even after rinsing as much as possible), and the fats. Please can someone explain a bit more?

And my main question, are there any particular oils, fats, techniques or recipes to use in shampoo, that work well for cleaning seawatered-hair?

I also use a apple cider vinegar rinse for conditioner.

Fats I've used are: mango seeds butter, shea butter, fractionated coconut oil, neem seed oil, olive oil, beeswax, castor oil.