Hi all :)
I'm faith, 26, live in the NYC area...

Just wondering if anyone else makes soap? About two years ago I started making clear soap with toys in it...rubber poodles, plastic babies, etc.
Then I started experimenting with "loaf" style soaps (the kind that have designa through a whole loaf of soap and you cut slices).

Glitter soaps are alot of fun, too. I may try shampoo and body lotions next.

Anyone else make soap/toiletries?

a couple years ago i found an article on making cheap presents for the holidays.. i began to make glycerine soaps.... i put fake flowers, glitter, marbles and anything else i could find into them. very cool presents. i used little cake tins and plastic eggs for molds.
i also made 'lotion'.. i bought a HUGE thing of natural unscented lotion at a health food store, bought a small bottle of essential oil- rose, because it was the cheapest, and i colored the lotion with crayola water colors. poured it into hobby lobby glass bottles and viola. instant chrizanika. (what we here refer to the holiday season as).

i have made soaps in the past by grating bars of pure castille soaps, melting them down and then adding ingredients like crushed almonds, dry milk, orange peels, etc. after everything is melted together, then you can poor the liquid into molds. i like to pour everything into large caserole dishes -- let it dry for a couple of days -- and then cut our big clunky bars. they make really nice gifts.

Here are some soap recipes I've acquired from a gothic craft website, enjoy!

Castille (Olive Oil) Soap

source: Majestic Mountain Sage
contributed by: Pauline

mild and moisturizing to skin

¥ou need:

16 oz. pure olive oil
2 oz. Red Devil Lye (can be found next to Drano in the supermarket)
6 oz. water
0.5 oz. fragrance or essential oil
Warning- Keep children away! DO NOT use any aluminum utensils. You can use stainless steel or glassware. Wear rubber gloves and eye goggles (or even shades) when handling lye. Also try to cover the mouth and nose with a cloth when you're stirring the lye and water because you don't want to breath the fumes, or you'll start coughing like crazy. If you do get lye water into your eyes, wash them with water for 20 minutes. if you get any on the skin, wash it with vinegar. The solution is high in base and should be handled carefully because it can corrode your skin. However, when it's turn into soap and allowed to cure, it's not harmful to your skin. All soap is made this way.
Pour COLD water into a non-aluminum bowl or glass jar. Carefully pour the lye into the water while mixing it. Mix it until the solution turns clear. The solution will get hot. Leave it there to cool around 125 degree F. Once it reaches to that temperature, heat the oil between 110 and 125 degrees F. The object is to get the oil and lye solution between 110 and 125 degrees F. Pour the lye solution into the oil and mix it. Mix it every 15 minutes for about 5 minutes. Look for a trace or when it has thicken up like pudding. Tracing takes several hours or even days. You want a trace so the soap and oil mixture won't separate. Keep a check on it. When it has reached the tracing stage, add your fragrance or essential oil and stir. If you want a black and exfoliating soap, you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of ground coffee. Other ingredients you can add are grounded oatmeal, and herbs. Pour the thick liquid into a mold or rubber tupperware. Allow it to become solid for 24 hours or 3 to 4 days. When the soap does not make an impression when you lightly press on it, it's ready to be taken out of the mold. Cut the soap if you used a large mold and allow 4 to 8 weeks to air dry or cure. The powdery film on the soap is potash, nothing harmful. Just brush it off. Once you finished, you made your own soap.



Soap 1

source: the Complete Soapmaker/ Home Matters
contributed by: GothFaeri

¥ou need:

6 oz. soap noodles (grated white soap)
4.5 oz. water
1 tsp. scent
1 tsp. bits of matter (depends on scent)
spoon
pot
soap molds
benzoin (depending on what matter bits you use...)
place the soap and water in a pot over low heat. do not stir. let them set this way for 5 minutes. fold gently. then let it sit over the low heat for 10 more minutes. fold in the scent and the matter bits. pour into molds and freeze for an hour or more. pop the soap out of the molds, and place it on plastic needle-point mesh for 6 weeks.

the molds can be anything from tupperware, to old jello molds, cookie molds, milk carton bottoms, etc. the matter bits: for my soaps, i made a coffee scented soap using coffee instead of water, adding some grounds, and a few whole beans. my tropical soap contained a blend of several oils, mostly citrus and coconut, with dried and crushed bits of that foam-like stuff between the peel and the sections on grapefruits. i also made cinnamon soap, adding no oil, but 1 tsp. of cinnamon. if you use a fruit (kiwi is lovely), you'll need to add benzoin to prevent spoilage.

[this soap recipe sucks in a sense, because you have to make the soap 6 weeks before you want it ready. the soap will also shrink to about 1/2 it's original size, maybe even smaller. my soaps ended up funky, so i strongly reccomend the second soap recipe for beginners, or small or detailed molds. this method is worth the try, and experimenting, and i got some nifty looking rugged soaps from it, but i was left pretty unimpressed.]



<Soap 2 (Glycerine Soap)

source: GothFaeri
contributed by: GothFaeri

¥ou need:

glycerine soap (unscented or scented)
glass, pyrex, or microwavable dish
microwave
molds of any material
sharp knife
scent (if unscented)
bits of whatever
with the knife, cut the soap into chunks, about an inch across. put the chunks in the dish, and place in the microwave. cook for 10-30 seconds. if the glycerine isnt liquified, cook in 10-30 second intervals until there are no more chunks left. [im serious about these times! it only takes a bit of time! and if it's not pure glycerine soap, freaky things will happen. some green appple soap i bought wasnt pure glycerine, and i got this big frothing green mass spilling out of the bowl after 15 seconds.] now add your scent and if you'd like, your bits of matter. pour into molds, and let it set. for faster set-up, cool in fridge or freezer. pop out of molds and voila! [good stuff about this type of soap is that you can make it right before you have to use/give it. it will hold any detail in the mold exactly. i have several bat molds, which make wonderfully goth soaps. i often use these molds with a good brown, spice scented glycerine soap. i pour about 1/2 the mold full, let it cool a bit, lay down a few cloves, and then add the rest and cool completely. the soap is transparent, and the clove contains its own strong oils, so you see the suspended cloves, with a little dark halo around each one! i also add little black plastic bat confetti, ground up seeds or pits for an exfoliating soap, glitter, dried flowers (ooh! a dried mini-rose in the middle of rose scented soap might be nifty!), herbs, hey maybe even a note, or a fortune! (waterproof ink? or maybe inside a bit of plastic, sealed...experiment!)... crystals, pebbles, and just about anything you can imagine adding to the inside for either decoration, or for function.

there is a really great book called "the natural soap book". it has tons of recipes for plant based soaps. (i don't know if any of you are vegetarians or not but most glycerin is made from animal by products, unless the label specifically states that it is vegetable glycerin.) i personally have never tried to make soap, i don't have enough space. but the recipes are super simple.

I have this book. It is great and I have made the olive oil soap.
I haven't made soap in a few months and I haven't tried out very many soaps from this book, but it is the way to go. I haven't bought soap for a couple of years now and one batch can last me a couple of years (unless I give a lot of it away). I tried to handmill my last batch for Christmas presents, but it didn't work very well. I've decided to stick to my plain soap. I would like to learn how to make glycerin soaps.

hey guys... i just started makin soap (i used glycerine) and it was really fun and awesome. i wanna use the soap (i think it's called coconut soap) to make loaf soaps. can anybody help me out? i like the soaps with the swirly patterns, too, so if anybody can help, i'd appreciate it!

Does anyone know how if you can alter the strength of soaps? A co-worker of mine would like to make some strong garden/work soap with some lemon verbena from his yard... Any suggestions?

I just have a couple questions also;

what types of things could I use for molds? especially loaf molds

what kinds of things can I add to the soap? I read suggestons of orange peel, and dry milk, any other things that add texture/color? I'd really like to make natural,textures,colorful looking soap for xmas prez's, I have the glycerine, but cant afford to buy the soap colors and scents, so any suggestions of other stuff from around the house I can use would be greatly appreciated.

loaf soaps: bread molds work great. spray with oil before molding soap or line with cling wrap (but this will leave a pattern in the soap). when it hardens, you just take it our and slice...

also, for soap that looks like it was made in a loaf, without the cutting, i use individual loaf molds. i got mine at a cooking store--it looks like a cupcake sheet, except shaped like tiny bread loaves. it works wonderfully, nice generous bars of soap.

other additives: cinnamin, adds color, but not much in the way of fragrance. vanilla extract, or any other extract you have. although it might smell alcoholy depending on how much you use. other spices that won't irritate skin: tumeric, a bit of paprika. avoid peppers or things like that.

alos, for coloring, you can use a tiny amount of food coloring. anything more that a hint of color risks dying the users skin, though, so be careful...

also, you can put in tiny toys, flower parts, real or not, laminated pieces of paper (i saw a horoscope soap suggestion somewhere else on the boards) or pictures.

have fun!
heather

yummy things to add to soap you can find around the house, (or at least around the grocery store)
i open herbal tea bags and use the leaves (or use plain old lipton, the black and orange pekoe has antioxidants) oatmeal, wheat germ, shredded loofah, dried spices like rosemary, eucalyptus, mint, sage - depending on the brand, you can get nearly whole leaves, honey (not too much, or it will leave the soap mushy:) i also LOVE to add chunky salt - it sinks to the bottom of the mold, making the top of the soap sort of an exfoliant, dried flower petals look beautiful (everyone had dred flowers around) you might, tho, end up having to buy the scents anyhow, since while all of these look nice, they don't do squat for the smell:)

recipes for garden soaps that i've seen are no stronger, soap-wise, but usually have an abrasive ingredient added to help clean the dirt and grime off your hands, etc. Ex: pumice, bits of loofah. and it sounds like, if he's using fresh plants to make his soap, he'll need a preservative. otherwise, it'll turn brown and get rancid.

i was going to make melt & pour soap and put dried flowers in it - will that work? i don't want it to turn icky and brown.
thanks!

unfortunately, most most all dried things in m&p will eventually go brown.

except calendula flowers (marigolds), they seem to hold up the best.

at the unitarian summer camp i work at, we made soaps for our annual social action fundraiser, and they went over big time! the only problem was that the glycerin was hugely expensive. i'd like to make them again for gifts, but it seems like too much money. unless anyone knows of cheaper ways to get clear glycerin?
jessie

if you only want to make a few bars, just buy a few bars of clear glycerine soap, they're about $1 each, if you don't plan to make a whole bunch, then you don't really need to spend all that $$$.

You can buy 40 pounds of soap base for $85 from www.sweetcakes.com (don't forget to weigh in the shipping costs).

Since most soap bars are only 3 to 6 ounces, you'll have enough to make tons of soap for this year and maybe even next :)

-faith

i was thinking about putting fortunes from fortune cookies in some glycerine soap so that once the person uses the soap they will come upon their fortune. i think i need to protect the fortunes somehow--laminate them? any other more interesting ideas would be appreciated.
gbk

i found some tiny christmas ornaments at a store today and plan to make holiday soap for people i don't know very well, but still want to give something to.

If you wanted the fortune to just be on the surface of the soap you could always decoupage it on the bar of soap a touch of using melted beeswax instead of glue. :)

Emedding it into the bar so that it's in the center might be a little tough because it's so light it would probably float up to the surface, even if you laminated it with clear packing tape.

-faith

Craftopia (they sell the fortune soap kit) says to pour glycerine to fill the mold about halfway, let cool for about 2 minutes, then put the fortune or item in, and fill the rest. That should prevent anything from floating, though I haven't tried it out yet.

thanks to both of you! i didn't even realise that there was such a kit. oh well, day late dollar short and all that. at least i didn't have to dig way down into the swamp for that one. (ha!--okay that was obnoxious, but i couldn't resist!)

i had to make a gift the other night for my freinds mom. While I was at it. I had some left over so i made on e for my brother.
I used a translucent natural dried out leaf and snd some dried lemon granuals(which have a natural antibiotic effect) and two tiny reamic dragonflies.
HONESTLY! I bunged them in a tiny tuperware in the microwave for a minute and then stirre the granuals a little and put it in the freszzer,
IT TOOK A MATTER OF MINUTES. i can pump them out.

for my Bro,
I shaved some orange soap and put a bunch into the melted clear soap which ended up looking like MACARONI AND CHEESE .So I added some of those letter beads and wrote "MAC 'N CHEESE"
He cracked up

oops..did i say antibiotic?
I'm a little frazzled today, i meant antibacterial.

PS my flatmates were amazed how quickly I made the soap. i was literally going out the door to catch a train. I also wraped it up in some thin felt and ribbon.

I am so crazy into soapmaking right now. I've been checking the web for good deals: www.craftexpress.com has 40 lbs of melt and pour glycerin soap for $49.50, both white and clear. I have seen 10 lb slabs for sale there for $18.95, but didn't find them today. www.tkbtrading.com sells good quality glycerine soap in four varieties, 2 lb blocks for $6.
If you want to make big blocks of soap and cut them into bars, these worked for me: for round soap, use an empty round shampoo or other plastic bottle. cut off the top, then slice it cleanly down the sides (I used an xacto knife). Use packing tape to tape up the sides before you pour in the soap, so it doesn't leak. When the soap is solid (30-60 minutes), peel back the tape and release the soap so it can be sliced. For square molds, I've used cardboard milk containers, which work fine but don't last long ... my best "free" block mold to date is a clear flexible plastic box that used to contain little christmas ornaments.

Gretchen