Learn2Soap - We Never Stop Learning

Perhaps you are an experienced soap maker and you stumbled upon a soap calculator that expresses the hardness, cleansing, conditioning, lather, iodine, and INS numbers for your soap.   If you did and you started doubting your soap recipe, you’re not the first soap maker to have this happen.  There are several things to think about, consider and keep in mind about soap quality numbers.  But, the most important thing to do right now is to quit doubting yourself.

Even if you get the perfect numbers, what does it mean?  Absolutely not a thing if you ask me.  There are so many factors involved from the water that is available in the area where the soap is used to how humid it is in the geographic area.  You know, a soap that works really well in Biloxi, Mississippi, will not work the same or even be a soap you may want to use in Houston, much less West Texas or even Arizona.

And there are even more factors than those listed above.  Many, many years go I participated in a soap swap where we all made the same soap recipe.  The results was that everyone’s soap was different.  How could that be?  Well, I like to think that we all have different ways of doing things and we all put a little of ourselves in the things we make.

Additionally, numbers are just numbers because with each season, with each batch of oil and fats that are pressed from seeds or somehow rendered, the oils and fats will be unique from time to time, batch to batch and will have different exact sap numbers and iodine numbers due to growing conditions and things like that.  So the numbers are just guidelines, they are not exact.  The chances of an oil you have on the shelf having the exact same characteristics as the numbers listed in a calculator somewhere are very slim.  It’s just not something that you can be exact about unless you send the oil to a lab to be analyzed.  And then there goes your budget if you know what I mean.

The harder the soap bar, the lower the solubility and the less lather you have.  Some people like lots of lather, some don’t and some have no preference, they just want the soap to clean.  So, numbers are still just numbers.  You know what you like, so don’t go second guessing yourself. 

Like when you use the MMS calculator, you go with what you already know, stuff that you learned along the way in your soap making journey and you draw from that knowledge when you plug in the numbers for the amounts of oils.  The truth is you know a lot more than you think you do. 

The only really crappy bars of soap that I’ve seen have been either soaps that were way too superfatted, were way under-cured before they were wrapped, or were one oil soaps like 100% cottonseed oil soaps.  100% cotton oils soaps suck!  LOL  They go rancid very fast.

Further, everybody’s opinion of what the perfect soap recipe is will be completely different no matter what the numbers are.  Opinions about soap are like finger prints, everyone has a different one, but we all have them, unless we don’t. LOL  But that’s not all bad.  So, take what you learned about oils from Soap Calc and at some point in time I bet that even without know it you’ll use some information you learned there and use it in a future soap recipe without even knowing you’re actually using it.

If you’re subtituting rice brand oil in your recipe for the more expensive olive oil and are worried about the soap ending up too soft, then toss in a little stearic acid or castor wax to make the bar harder.   How much?  Well, not a lot or the it would make the soap too hard.  So I’d start with about an ounce per pound of rice brand oil used and go up from there if you’re not pleased with the results.

Soap making is science, but not rocket science and it’s not meant to be.  Use what you know, use your intuition, relax and have some fun.  I say numbers are just numbers.  If you like your soap, I bet others will too.  If don’t like it, well, that’s just part of the spice of life.  We all have different ways of doing things, our products end up different… and just think how boring it would be if we all made things that were identically the best. 

So, don’t forget that knowledge comes from experience, numbers are just guidelines, and guidelines are no substitute for knowledge gained thru experience.

When using alkanet, I put about two ounces of alkanet in an glass pint canning jar (16oz jar) and then fill the jar the rest of the way with whatever liquid at room temperature oil I’m going to use in my recipe.  Carefully skake the jar and let it set for a week or until the oil is colored by the alkanet.  During the waiting period you can shake it ever now and then.   The longer you wait, the better the color.  Your mileage may vary.

When I get ready to make the soap I use about 8 ounces of this oil in a 3 pound recipe.   You will either want to pour the oil off the top of an undisturbed (unshaken or settled jar) or use a coffee filter or cheap paper towel to strain the oil bits of alkanet from the oil before you add the colored oil to your other oils in the recipe.   I usually use the cheap paper towel method.  LOL   The paper towel has two layers which I separate and just use one layer because it seems the oil drips thru that a little faster than it does two layers or the coffee filter.   Sometimes I run the alkanet colored oil through a layer of paper towels twice to be sure all the tiny bits of alkanet are removed.

The more colored oil you use in your recipe the darker the soap will be.  You may have heard that you can get blue from alkanet, the blue color has to do with pH.  Alkanet is sort of a pH indicator (but not really.)   I’ve hot processed or cooked an alkanet colored soap and during the cook at one point the soap is a beautiful blue color, but it doesn’t stay blue.  When the pH of the soap drops to a certain level then the alkanet colored soap turns a purplish color.  Blue is a very elusive color when you’re trying to color soap with herbs.  Most likely blue soap obtained by using alkanet is either not totally cured; perhaps even has a bit too much lye in it; or maybe you are just extremely lucky.  However, I would be willing to bet it is something other than luck.

After using the alkanet colored oil from the jar more oil can be added and the alkanet will color the oil again.  I’m not sure exactly how many times you can do this, but you can certainly use the alkanet more than once.  The soap may be a little lighter the next time, but you may not even notice it.  However, you may want to add a little extra alkanet powder to the jar.  If your oil is going to sit and infuse for some time between batches I wouldn’t worry about a color difference.

The same method can be used for annatto seeds.  You can use them over and over again.

You can find alkanet root powder and many other herbs at www.EllensEssentials.com

When it comes to fading, the simple truth is that you need to protect your products from UV rays.   Not only does the sun cause fading, but florescent lights also give off UV rays.  However, florescent lights are much slower acting than the sun. 

The sun is particularly cruel to both natural color additives and dyes.  So whether you are outside or inside, it’s possible that some fading may happen.  Your best bet is to protect your products with packaging. 

There are bottles and jars that are treated to resist UV rays, and then you have the good old brown paper bag approach to things.  Sometimes a decorative opaque container can be just as or even more attractive than a clear container.  It just depends on your marketing niche and how you want to present your products.

I have been asked about the glycerin content of soap made with various oils.  Here is some information that might be helpful in figuring this out. 

First of all the glycerin recovered from commercial soaps is 80% (that does not mean that soap contains 80% glycerin, but that the recovered glycerin isn’t exactly pure.)  After glycerin is recovered from commercial soaps, it is distilled into a purer form.

Okay, that said, here is a list of the available percentages of 80% glycerin contributed to soap by some of the different oils which may be used in the making soap making process according to Modern Soap and Glycerin Manufacture, by E.T. Webb.

18% - Coconut
18% - Palm Kernel Oil
13% - Cottonseed Oil
13% - Soy Bean Oil
13% - Olive Oil
13% - Lard
12.5% - Tallow
12.5% - Castor Oil
12% - Palm Oil (bleached)

When figuring out the percentage of glycerin in your soap you will also have to take into account the percentage of lye, water, and any other additives like herbs, color or fragrance used in the recipe and some how figure how much water evaporates from your soap.

You can figure out how much water evaporates by weighing your soap at the end of the cure period.  Water weighs the same in volume as it does in weight, so 4 liquid ounces of water will weigh 4 ounces.  Whatever amount of weight your soap loses during the cure period, you will have to subtract that from you recipe to get the correct percentages for the ingredients of the recipe or formula.

Sorry, you’ll have to do your own math. 

Also remember that these numbers will simply give you an idea of how much glycerin is in a particular soap.  Just like saponification numbers of various oils, glycerin percentages will also vary from crop to crop depending on growing conditions and other things.   So, your milage may vary.

Sorry it’s been a while since we’ve written anything new.  We’ve been quite busy here and time seems to fly.

We’ve have however added some new pages to the blog which detail the cold process soap making method. 

A lot of our readers already know how to make soap, but just incase some newbies stop by we’d like to share the info with them.  The instructions can be found by clicking here and following the links.

We’ll be adding more information the near future for both newbies and experienced soap makers, so stop back by when you can. 

And if you’re looking for soap making supplies, stop by Ellen’s Essentials.

 
Aren’t they pretty?  They’re all colored with herbs too!  We had lots of fun experimenting.  Sometimes you never know what you’ll get when you color soaps with herbs.  Sometimes the result is quite surprising, especially when the resulting color of the soap looks nothing like the herb that was used.

You can view the results for the individual herbs used the soap swap HERE, along with the method used for coloring the soap.

If you’re wanting to try your hand at coloring with herbs, stop by Ellen’s Essentials.

NO, it’s not cheese, it’s soap.  But it looks delicious! 

This soap was made with annatto seeds for color.   Annatto is a natural color additive that is used by the cheese industry to get that wonderful golden cheddar color.  It’s also on the FDA’s approved color additive list for use cosmetics.

In our recipe (below) we infused 2 tablespoons of annatto seeds in 6 ounces of canola oil.   We added the seeds to the oil and let is sit for a week before we used it.  

This infusion can probably be sped up by adding the oil to a skillet and adding the seeds and heating it up a little bit to get the seeds to release the color, but we decided to let time work for us.  After the oil was infused we strained out the seeds.  We did not add the seeds to our soap. 

The great thing about annatto seeds is you can use them over and over again, several times.  Once the oil is strained out, add more oil, put it back on the shelf, and you’ll have oil ready to use next time.

At trace the soap looked like banana pudding.  But once the soap sat overnight in the mold and we cut into it, the color was even more spectacular. 

This is the test recipe we used.

4 oz. Coconut Oil
6 oz. Shortening
6 oz. Canola Oil (infused)

6 oz. water
2.2 oz. NaOH

 This isn’t the best recipe there is, but it’s a good test recipe.  We wanted a recipe with ingredients that could be found by most anyone at the grocery store.  This recipe has a nice lather, and it’s even better if you boost is some with a little castor oil.  Not everyone likes using these oils.  It all comes down to purpose and personal preference.  You can use what you like your own soap recipe.  If you use annatto seeds too, we’re positive you’ll love the color no mater what you use.

This annatto soap looks like sharp cheddar, but we’re thinking it would be nice with an orange or tangerine scent.  If you’d like to use fragrance oils, then maybe a mango fragrance or even a good peach if you can find one.  Don’t forget about floral scents, daffodil and rose would go really good with this color too!

Ellen’s Essentials Yahoo Group is hosting a Naturally Colored Soap Swap.  Each participant is using herbs to color their soaps.  It’s really going to be interesting to see all the different soaps colored with herbs.  As soon as the swap is complete I’ll post some pictures of the soaps and some information on the herbs used. 

In the mean time, feel free to come join Ellen’s Essentials Yahoo Group.  We’ve been posting about the swap over there.  Some of the herbs we’ve used in the swap presented some very interesting results.

Spirulina is a blue green algae.   It contains loads of protein, vitamins, minerals and amino acids.   Here it is used in a cold processed soap recipe which produces a white soap bar.   1/2 teaspoon of Spirulina was used per pound of oils in this soap recipe.  The soap is a bit dark, but the lather is still creamy and white. 

A hint of blue may be seen when the soap is first cut into bars, but that hint of blue quickly disappears.  What you end up with is green soap.  And the green color of the spirulina seems to last a very long time. 

Spirulina cost a little more than other herbs or plant material that produce a green in soap.  But considering the color you can get from a very small amount, and the length of time the color lasts, it’s well worth the price.  As you can see, a little Spirulina goes a long way.    

Recently a soap maker asked us how she could use mint
leaves in soap without getting those nasty brown areas around them in her
soap.

Here’s How:
Steep the mint leaves you intend to use in hot water (like making tea).
Then strain out the leaves.

Next spread the leaves on a paper towel and let them dry.

Once dry, you can use them in soap and you won’t have any brown spots.