MyAngelEyez~C~U
Well-Known Member
This is just one recipe I found, but I am curious about the lye used to make it, is it needed to make a bar soap? I guess I equate lye with relaxerserplexed...Has anyone ever considered making their own batch?
From The Soap Kitchen
"A solid shampoo is simply a soap bar made from a base of oils chosen specifically for their hair and scalp care properties. The majority ingredient that differs from most soap bars in Castor oil. Also it is helpful to include oils such as Sweet Almond and Jojoba. This makes them more expensive to make than a simple soap. Our advice is to familiarise yourself with the techniques of soap making before moving into more complex recipes such as for shampoos.
YOU'LL NEED.....
1) Two good sized stainless steel or enamelled saucepans
2) One heat-proof glass measuring jug
3) Accurate kitchen scales
4) Utensils for stirring etc. i.e. Wooden or stainless steel spoons, a balloon whisk or rubber/wooden spatular, or similar
5) Two (preferably) cooking/brewing thermometers (although 1 can be used fairly successfully)
6) A mould to pour the liquid soap into whilst it sets. A wooden or cardboard tray or box lined with grease-proof paper is great
7) Eye and hand protection (safety glasses and rubber gloves)
8) A blanket or large towel
INGREDIENTS
12 oz (340g) of cold, clean water
125g of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) beads or pearls
8oz (227g) olive oil (preferably pomace grade but virgin or extra virgin will do)
8oz (227g) coconut oil (hard variety)
6oz (170g) palm oil (hard variety)
6oz (170g) castor oil (B.P. grade)
3oz (85g) sweet almond oil
1oz (28g) jojoba oil
HOW TO.....
Measure out 12 oz (340g) of cold clean water into the jug
Weigh (accurately) 125g of sodium hydroxide beads (or pearls)
Carefully add the sodium hydroxide to the water, pouring slowly and stirring with a spoon or spatular. Be careful not to breathe the vapour that is initially given off, so hold your breath and stir until all the sodium hydroxide has dossolved and there are no lumps stuck to the bottom of the jug. The solution will heat up to nearly 200oF and will need to be left to cool. Place one of the thermometers into the solution and leave to one-side. If you want to speed the cooling, place the jug in a large bowl of cold water, being careful not to 'float' it.
Meanwhile, measure out exactly 8oz (227g) of coconut oil and 6oz (170g) of palm oil into one of the saucepans (the smaller if there is one) and gently melt it on the stove. Don't overheat it, just melt it. When there are tiny pieces of solid oil still left to melt, turn off the heat and leave until completely liquid.
Whilst the solid oils are melting, measure out the remaining oils (8oz (227g) olive oil (pomace grade is best): 6oz (170g) castor (B.P. grade): 3oz (85g) sweet almond: 1oz (28g) jojoba.) into the other saucepan (this will be the soap-making pan).
Once melted, pour the combined coconut and palm oils into the olive oil and place the other thermometer in the pan.
NOTE: What you now need to do is keep watch on the temperatures of both the oils and the sodium hydroxide solution (lye). If you haven't two thermometers you'll need to move one between pans ensuring it is washed between each pan. Depending how fast you are working it may well be beneficial to make use of the hint above about placing the jug of lye in a large bowl of cold water. This is because it starts off hotter than the oils and has more cooling to do. Once both oils and lye are at near similar temperatures they can be combined. Don't let everything get too cool. As a guide a minimum of around 80oF and a maximum of around 130oF are ideal limits of temperature. As long as oils and lye are both at similar temperatures between these limits your soap should turn out just fine.
When at the correct temperatures, slowly and carefully pour the lye into the oils, stirring (preferably with a hand (balloon) whisk) all the time. Once all the lye is poured, put the jug aside and concentrate on stirring your solution. You should stir throughout the mixture fairly briskly. You will notice the solution start to turn more opaque and as the minutes pass it will start to thicken. The stage in the process you have to wait for is known as the 'Trace'. This is when you can drizzle the mixture from the whisk (or spoon/spatular) onto the surface of the solution and it leaves a trace before sinking back into the rest. To pour the soap too early will probably end up in the mixture separating, which will ruin your efforts. Once the mixture traces simply pour it into your lined mould. To reach a trace may take just 5 minutes or as much as 50 minutes depending mainly on the grade of oils you use.
Once poured, the mould needs to be covered and insulated to keep in the heat. Towels or a blanket work perfectly well. Don't let the towel or blanket touch the surface of the soap, put something over it first. Then leave aside for around 24 hours for it to set solid.
After around 24 hours, remove the soap slab or block from the mould. It should be hard enough to cut into whatever shapes you have in mind, although it still has some hardening to do. Whether you choose to cut it now or later, it needs to continue 'curing' for somewhere between 2 and 4 weeks to be absolutely ready. During this time it gets progressively harder and looses some of the water that was put into it in the making.
If you're using this recipe as a base for a shampoo you're adding your own fragrances to, take a note that in your early attempts at natural soap-making it is far easier to fragrance a soap using pure essential oil/s. Avoid most fragrance oils as they are almost all alcohol based (something like dipropylene glycol) and virtually all forms of alcohol will cause 'siezing' in a soap mixture. This is when the mixture starts to set solid very rapidly, before you have a chance to pour it, ruining all your efforts.
For a slightly improved recipe, substitute 1oz of the sweet almond oil for 1 oz of kukui nut oil, leaving the remaining oils as they are above..."
From The Soap Kitchen
"A solid shampoo is simply a soap bar made from a base of oils chosen specifically for their hair and scalp care properties. The majority ingredient that differs from most soap bars in Castor oil. Also it is helpful to include oils such as Sweet Almond and Jojoba. This makes them more expensive to make than a simple soap. Our advice is to familiarise yourself with the techniques of soap making before moving into more complex recipes such as for shampoos.
YOU'LL NEED.....
1) Two good sized stainless steel or enamelled saucepans
2) One heat-proof glass measuring jug
3) Accurate kitchen scales
4) Utensils for stirring etc. i.e. Wooden or stainless steel spoons, a balloon whisk or rubber/wooden spatular, or similar
5) Two (preferably) cooking/brewing thermometers (although 1 can be used fairly successfully)
6) A mould to pour the liquid soap into whilst it sets. A wooden or cardboard tray or box lined with grease-proof paper is great
7) Eye and hand protection (safety glasses and rubber gloves)
8) A blanket or large towel
INGREDIENTS
12 oz (340g) of cold, clean water
125g of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) beads or pearls
8oz (227g) olive oil (preferably pomace grade but virgin or extra virgin will do)
8oz (227g) coconut oil (hard variety)
6oz (170g) palm oil (hard variety)
6oz (170g) castor oil (B.P. grade)
3oz (85g) sweet almond oil
1oz (28g) jojoba oil
HOW TO.....
Measure out 12 oz (340g) of cold clean water into the jug
Weigh (accurately) 125g of sodium hydroxide beads (or pearls)
Carefully add the sodium hydroxide to the water, pouring slowly and stirring with a spoon or spatular. Be careful not to breathe the vapour that is initially given off, so hold your breath and stir until all the sodium hydroxide has dossolved and there are no lumps stuck to the bottom of the jug. The solution will heat up to nearly 200oF and will need to be left to cool. Place one of the thermometers into the solution and leave to one-side. If you want to speed the cooling, place the jug in a large bowl of cold water, being careful not to 'float' it.
Meanwhile, measure out exactly 8oz (227g) of coconut oil and 6oz (170g) of palm oil into one of the saucepans (the smaller if there is one) and gently melt it on the stove. Don't overheat it, just melt it. When there are tiny pieces of solid oil still left to melt, turn off the heat and leave until completely liquid.
Whilst the solid oils are melting, measure out the remaining oils (8oz (227g) olive oil (pomace grade is best): 6oz (170g) castor (B.P. grade): 3oz (85g) sweet almond: 1oz (28g) jojoba.) into the other saucepan (this will be the soap-making pan).
Once melted, pour the combined coconut and palm oils into the olive oil and place the other thermometer in the pan.
NOTE: What you now need to do is keep watch on the temperatures of both the oils and the sodium hydroxide solution (lye). If you haven't two thermometers you'll need to move one between pans ensuring it is washed between each pan. Depending how fast you are working it may well be beneficial to make use of the hint above about placing the jug of lye in a large bowl of cold water. This is because it starts off hotter than the oils and has more cooling to do. Once both oils and lye are at near similar temperatures they can be combined. Don't let everything get too cool. As a guide a minimum of around 80oF and a maximum of around 130oF are ideal limits of temperature. As long as oils and lye are both at similar temperatures between these limits your soap should turn out just fine.
When at the correct temperatures, slowly and carefully pour the lye into the oils, stirring (preferably with a hand (balloon) whisk) all the time. Once all the lye is poured, put the jug aside and concentrate on stirring your solution. You should stir throughout the mixture fairly briskly. You will notice the solution start to turn more opaque and as the minutes pass it will start to thicken. The stage in the process you have to wait for is known as the 'Trace'. This is when you can drizzle the mixture from the whisk (or spoon/spatular) onto the surface of the solution and it leaves a trace before sinking back into the rest. To pour the soap too early will probably end up in the mixture separating, which will ruin your efforts. Once the mixture traces simply pour it into your lined mould. To reach a trace may take just 5 minutes or as much as 50 minutes depending mainly on the grade of oils you use.
Once poured, the mould needs to be covered and insulated to keep in the heat. Towels or a blanket work perfectly well. Don't let the towel or blanket touch the surface of the soap, put something over it first. Then leave aside for around 24 hours for it to set solid.
After around 24 hours, remove the soap slab or block from the mould. It should be hard enough to cut into whatever shapes you have in mind, although it still has some hardening to do. Whether you choose to cut it now or later, it needs to continue 'curing' for somewhere between 2 and 4 weeks to be absolutely ready. During this time it gets progressively harder and looses some of the water that was put into it in the making.
If you're using this recipe as a base for a shampoo you're adding your own fragrances to, take a note that in your early attempts at natural soap-making it is far easier to fragrance a soap using pure essential oil/s. Avoid most fragrance oils as they are almost all alcohol based (something like dipropylene glycol) and virtually all forms of alcohol will cause 'siezing' in a soap mixture. This is when the mixture starts to set solid very rapidly, before you have a chance to pour it, ruining all your efforts.
For a slightly improved recipe, substitute 1oz of the sweet almond oil for 1 oz of kukui nut oil, leaving the remaining oils as they are above..."
Last edited: