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Create Soap Recipes
For Blender Soap and Beyond
Learning
to create soap recipes is where the creativity really begins.
And,
once you start adding some of the additional know how about herbs
... well, the possibilities are almost endless. A friend of
mine calls this, "cooking without the calories."
There are only a few things to remember when working with blender soap:
1. Your Fixed Oils MUST have a total
weight of 13 ounces.
2. You will ALWAYS use 5 ounces of water
if you use 13 ounces of oils.
3. Always go light on additives.
4. You MUST calculate the SAP Value (more
in just a moment) for each Fixed Oil Separately.
With those things in mind, let's dig in and learn how to create soap
recipes!
When
you
create soap recipes for Blender Soap, your Fixed Oils MUST have a total
weight of 13 ounces.
Your weight of oils and butters has much more freedom in other soap
making. However, with a blender, you must stay at 13
ounces. And, you could go less then 13 ounces (see water
below as well). This amount developed because 18 ounces (13
ounces of oils and 5 ounces of water) is
the maximum amount that most blenders will handle without putting to
much stress on the machine. You could use one Fixed Oil at 13
ounces or you could use 13 Fixed Oils each at an ounce (heck, you could
even use 26 Fixed Oils all at a half ounce each, lol).
Basically, you can use any combination of any oils you like, so long as
the total weight, all together, is 13 ounces.
When
you
create soap recipes for Blender Soap, you will ALWAYS use 5 ounces of
water.
If you use 13 ounces of oils, you will always use 5 ounces of water (or
in some cases other liquids like juice or milk). It doesn't
matter what oils or additives you use. That's an easy
one. If you get daring with the amount of oils in your recipe
the calculation of water to oil is 38%. Calculating on 13
ounces of oil gives you 4.94 ounces of water. Round it and
you get 5 ounces. Another way people calculate oil to water
is that for every 3 ounces of oils, fats or butters you use 1 ounce of
water. Doing it this way your water amount for 13 ounces of oils would
be 4.33 ounces. Either calculation method works, use whatever
method you like.
Some people like using less water in their soap recipes - the soup
cures a little faster. However, with Blender Soap using less
water will make the soap firmer in the blender - making it harder to
get out of the blender cup and that is the main reason for using 5 oz
of water with 13 oz of oils.
When
you
create soap recipes for Blender Soap, always go light on additives.
One of the biggest mistakes, many soap makers make, is putting too much
of something in. Go into a bath shop sometime and watch as
people pick up bars of soap, sniff them, make a face and put them back
down. Yes, it might be because they don't like the scent,
however - more often then not, it IS because the scent is too darn
strong. One time, as I was watching people, I got up the
nerve to ask a lady why she put the soap back down. She said,
"I love roses but geez - that hurts my nose!" From that day
forward I started going light on scent and herbs - and - from that day
forward my soaps were MUCH better.
Fragrance oils and/or essential oils
can be measured by volume. In your own recipes you can even
convert these to measuring spoon amounts. 2 tablespoons = 1
ounce, 1 tablespoon = 1/2 ounce, 1 teaspoon = 1/6
ounce. A good rule of thumb is that 2
teaspoons of a fragrance oil is generally plenty, 1 teaspoon of an
essential oil is generally plenty. Use your own
nose. If the fragrance or essential has a strong smell, use
less. I measure these right into the blender. The
big exception is with Lemon, Lime and Orange (or any citrus) essential
oil. These evaporate fast and you really need to use a lot
more in the beginning, about one quarter to one half ounce.
For the most part, all herbs should be
powdered. This can be done with a mortar and pestle if you
like, however a coffee grinder works much better and faster.
You will find that most people do not like the feeling of chunky herb
in their soap. There are a few exceptions, such as oatmeal or
cornmeal that can be used as exfoliates (made to take off dead
skin). Weigh your herb, powder it, then weigh it
again. Then dump it in the blender. As with
essential or
fragrance oils - a little bit of herb goes a long way. They
will
also change the color of your soap (and often not what you expected).
In general 1/4 of an ounce is all you need. If you
are
working for a color (such as flower petals) make sure you remove all
the green parts as they WILL discolor your end result.
Last but not least, the big one . . .
When
you
create soap recipes for Blender Soap, you MUST calculate the SAP Value
for each Fixed Oil Separately.
Vegetable
and nut oils are made of fatty acids which need a certain amount of
alkali (lye) to change them into soap, or saponify them. I've
done my best to put together this
SAP value chart
with as many oils, butters, and other ingredients as I can
find.
The chart will help you calculate the saponification value (SAP Value)
for the oils you are using, therefore showing you how much lye to
use. Use NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide) for hard or bar soap, and
KOH
(Potassium Hydroxide) for liquid soap.
I found
this company during a search for a good supplier of lye.
No matter where you buy your lye
from ALWAYS ask to check the data sheets
and be
sure to read their terms for shipping - because this is a hazardous
matterial
the
shipping of this can be expensive.
When purchasing from Essential Depot most soap makers use
the Food Grade Lye.
Here's the formula to use when using the SAP Value Chart:
Oil (in
ounces) x SAP value (from chart below) = Amount of lye needed (in
ounces)
(Oil multiplied by SAP Value = Lye Needed)
If
you are using more than one type of oil in a single recipe, do the
above step for each oil and total your results together to get the
total amount of lye needed.
Very few of us have a scale that can
measure lye in the kinds of decimal ounces listed on the SAP Value
Chart, so round it off to the nearest .2 of an ounce if you have
to. Example: If you are using Sweet Almond Oil, 10 ounces,
you
would need 1.37 ounces of lye - round this to 1.4 ounces. The BEST option, for PERFECT
soap, is to get a scale that will measure the exact amount.
Let
me go into a bit more detail on how to use the SAP Value
Chart.
Let's say you are making a soap using two oils on this list; Almond,
Sweet, and Apricot Kernel. And, you decide to use 7 ounces of
Almond, Sweet and 6 ounces of Apricot Kernel. Here's what
your
calculation should like:
Almond
Oil,
Sweet (7 ounces multiplied by .137 = 0.959)
Apricot Kernel (6 ounces multiplied by .134 = 0.804)
0.959 plus 0.804 = 1.763 total lye (Sodium Hydroxide) needed.
So
what's a good soap recipe to start with?
The lye is going to be the hardest thing to aquire, with that
in
mind here's a good basic recipe that you don't have to also hunt for
the oils. The two main ingredients can be found in most
grocery
stores.
Olive oil is available in almost all grocery stores now.
You don't need to get the most expensive grade or brand for
soap
making. Just a good Olive oil will do nicely. Lard
may be a
little harder, so ask your store clerk (or the butcher's department).
Lard is still used to
make wonderful pie crusts so it's very common.
Basic
Olive Oil / Lard Soap
Lard: 10 oz
Olive Oil: 3 oz.
Water: 5 oz.
Lye (Sodium Hydroxide): 1.8 oz.
Follow the soap making instructions here on this website.
I
love this soap because it's such an easy soap to make and so very kind
to the skin. It lathers wonderfully and leaves you feeling
clean
and moisturized. This soap can be used for all your soap
needs
from bath - daily clean up.
If you would like to add a little herb or fragrance, go right ahead.
This recipe holds scent very well.
Did you
find what you
were looking for?
Original
Text
Copyright © 2004, by Sandy Marie deFerbrache, Second
Printing 2007, Web Site Adaptation 2009. Original Photographs
Copyright © 2004, by Sandy Marie deFerbrache, New Photographs
2007. All Rights Reserved.
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All
information, shared on
this web site, is for enjoyment and study only and is NOT meant to
diagnose or treat any medical condition. Only your
health care professional is qualified to diagnose or treat medical
conditions. Do not risk your health! Just because
something is 'natural' does NOT make it safe. Do not, under
any
circumstance, ingest or use herbs in any form
without consulting your Doctor. If you do, you do so
at
your OWN RISK.
Web Site
Content (text, graphics, look and feel) are Copyright Protected © All
Rights Reserved 2009 - 2010, Sandy Marie.
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What I can harvest
and offer is limited by my area and season. The only other supplier I
trust is
Mountain Rose Herbs.
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This
website is made
possible & successful
because of Site Build
It
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