Thursday, July 29, 2010

Soap Making 101: A couple recipes

O.k. I'll admit it, I'm already thinking about canning- which has completely removed my mind from soap making. Sorry about that. I've got my water bath canner going right now and I'm literally giddy about all the things I get to share in August and all the canning I get to do!
The giddiness will probably last through the month of August (good for all of you) and die off somewhere in September when I still have 6 bushells of green beans and 50lbs of apples to can.

But for now, it is still July, right? So let's get to a couple recipes for soap so that you can make your own. (If you haven't already looked up recipes and tried them after getting tired of waiting on me!)


First, I found this recipe on the internet and while I haven't yet tried it, I SO want to. My problem is that I have about 40 bars of soap in my laundry room waiting to be used and hubby would probably frown on me making yet another batch so soon. I will be doing this recipe though at my next batch!

Oatmeal and Honey Soap
32 oz. cold water (4 cups)
12 oz. lye
2 oz. beeswax (melt with fats)
4 pounds lard (64 oz.)
12 oz. olive oil
8 oz. coconut oil
4 oz. cocoa butter

Add at trace:
2 T. - 1/4 cup honey
1 - 2 T. bitter almond fragrance oil (you might prefer to use some cinnamon oil and/or ground cinnamon, or clove oil)
1 cup rolled oats

Just a note* this recipe said that it was for a 7lb loaf. So don't go trying to fit in your 5lb loaf!
**ALSO! Since I render my own lard, I don't need to buy it but if you don't have access to a bunch of pig fat then you can buy lard. I actually have seen it at both of our grocery stores Ray's and Safeway. It's in a green and white box (or bucket) with LARD written in red.**


Here's what I generally use for soap:
Homestead Soap

10 oz water
9 oz goats milk (or you can just use another liquid or water entirely)
8.1 oz lye
2.3 oz shea butter
14.8 oz coconut 76
16.1 oz palm oil
7.8 oz canola oil
6.6 oz apricot kernel or sweet almond oil
9.8 oz olive oil

Add at trace:
2 oz fragrance oil
Any additives such as an exfloiator

If you try either of these I'd love to hear about how it all came out!

7 comments:

Farmhouse Blessings said...

They both sound delightful! I can hardly wait to give it a try.

Kim said...

You crack me up! I completely understand your giddiness over canning season~I can't wait until the kitchen is done so I can start soap...next to the green beans!

Anne-Marie said...

It's always fun to see new cold process recipes and I can't wait to see posts on your apples and green beans! My mom loves canning too!

Anonymous said...

I have SO got to try this. I love homemade soap.I'm down to my last bar and really don't want to order more. I guess I better get busy, huh?

Heather's Blog-o-rama said...

Both of those recipes sound really great...If you made another batch for giveaways or to sell, would your hubby mind then? I still have about another three weeks before my soaps are finished curing. I want them to be nice and hard so they'll last a long time!!!! I'm patient and I don't mind if you take breaks from soapmaking to talk about canning..I"m interested in both topcis :) :) Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)

Unknown said...

Is the top pic of your own soap? Lovely!! I can't wait to try these recipes. I've convinced myself to buy wood mold - just as soon as I have enough cash!

Gina said...

Thanks for sharing your recipes. I tried making soap several years ago and was not real successful - but now I'm excited about trying again! We butcher are own pork so I have lots of lard to work with. Have you ever made soap with only lard as the fat?

Gina

Related Posts with Thumbnails