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Soapmaking
 Hints for Additions to Soaps
All info posted to site in 1998. Updated in Sept. 2004. |
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Reducing amounts of liquid:
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I have taught for years now to use only 33% as the total water or other liquid
in making soaps. This was taught to me back in 1996 by a very nice lady I met
on the first soapmaking list. Until recently some people wanted to say that this was a bad
thing and now everyone is doing it and going even further with their reductions.
Below you will find a bit of info on reducting your liquid and a link to another
section of our site with other info and helpers with calculating your lye amounts as well.
It is a very simple method of taking the total ozs. of oil and dividing by 3. This gives
you 33% of your mix as your liquid. This is a 4%
to 6% reduction of what most recipes / formulas use in many of the books. I have
now modified it to use 30% of liquid in my formulas. But all formulas that are
listed free on the site are at the 33% amount of liquid.
Formula Section
To get the 30% I take the number of ozs. of oil
and multiply by 30%, that gives me the amount of
liquid I need for my recipe / formula.
This can be taken even further, but should not
be attempted till you have made several batches
using the different levels of liquid to see what
you like. If you then feel that you want to go
further with the reduction of liquid, then you
can use 27% and 25% in your calculations. These
will work best with soaps that are made with
water as the most part or whole part of the
liquid. If using 1/2 water and 1/2 milk you
really need to use no less than the 30% liquid
measure. If you wish to use the lesser amounts,
you will need to use less milk, as you need a
few extra ozs. of water to make sure that the
lye is dissolved completely. Milk is best added
to the mixture of oil and lye water, without lye
added directly to the milk.
Sap Values and
tips of liquid reduction and calculating lye
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Herbs and Spices for coloring:
To infuse the herbs into the oil you will need a
stainless steel or enamel pot, make sure that
the enamel pot has no chips in the pan. You do
not want rust to contaminate your oils. You can
use 1/4 to 3/4 cup of whole herbs for 16 oz. of
oil, this again is really according to how
strong you want the herbs to be in the soap,
ointment or cream. You can use more if you like.
I have found that adding the powdered herb to
the oils as they are warming or taking some of
the dried herb and soak it in a bit of the
water, warmed, that I subtract from my liquid,
let it sit and add at trace, helps to add even
more color than just adding at trace. This works
for most all herbs and spices. I like adding the
herbs to the oils also because I think that it
imparts more of the goodness into the soap. Kind
of a mini infusion and then you can add your
Essential Oils for more help in the soap.
Also making a strong tea with or without making
and oil infusion will add some color to the
soaps. Remember when using herbs that the color
will be an earthy tone and not a sharp color as
a synthetic coloring will give.
Below are some herbs and spices that can be used in giving an earthy color to your soaps. You will have
to experiment with how much to use because each combo of oils used in a soap formula can make a
difference in how the color comes out. But these will give you some idea of the color that can be
achieved from each spice or herb listed. Remember to powder the herb or spice very well and sift it
before using and yes you can add the herb in the soap. Start with something like 1/2 tsp. per lb. of oils
in your soap formula to find out how much color it will release into the soap formula you are using.
Brown or Brown/Black
Cinnamon (red brown), Cocoa powder, Coffee Powdered, Powdered Comfrey Root
Green
Seaweeds (Spirulina), Powdered Sage, Chlorophyll, Super Blue Green Algae, Powdered Parsley, Powdered Peppermint
Orange
Annatto seeds, Paprika, Turmeric, Curry Powder, Carrot juice
Purple
Alkanet Root, Red Sandalwood
Red/Pink
Paprika, Cinnamon (red brown), St. John's Wort flowers , Madder Root.
Cranberry added with Rose Petals and/or Rose Hips (this added to Handmilled soaps only) all very finely powdered.
Yellow
Annatto Seeds, Turmeric, Ginger Root, Mustard Seed, Chamomile, Calendula
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Adding Sugar:
Adding the sugar products does add to the lather
of the soap, very much so. By sugar products I
mean Honey, Molasses, Cane Syrup, Natural or
Granulated Sugar or any sugar product you can
think of. It adds a creaminess and lasting power
to the lather and is especially good in a water
based soap. Since milk has natural sugars in
them, this is one of the reasons that Milk Soaps
give off such a creaminess to the lather. If you
use Castor oil along with Palm Kernel or
Coconut, there is not need for the sugar unless
you want the creaminess in the lather. The combo
of Castor, Coconut or Palm Kernel or all 3 does
make a great lather. The use of all 3 of the
lathering oils I have named "The Trinity of
Lathering Oils" and now use these in all my
recipes. But if you want to use sugar and just
have one of these lathering oils, the most
common oil used is Coconut, 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp
per lb. of oils of your sugar item can be used.
This will make the soap a tan to dark tan
according to what you use. And if you use more
it will make the soap darker in color which is a
very warm brown color.
There are several ways to add this. You can add
it to the water you are going to add the lye
too, just make sure that it is dissolved before
adding the lye to it if it is granulated sugar.
You can take a bit of the water out and warm it
and dissolve the sugar and add to your oils
after adding the lye water and stirring it in.
You can add the sugar to the milk you will be
using, dissolve it and add to the oils after
adding the lye water. With the liquid sugars you
can just add them to the mix after mixing the
lye water and oils. Either way works well. But
do add it at the beginning of the mix so it will
fully saponify into the soap so you will get
that creaminess from the lather.
Simple Syrup:
This is great for sweetening drinks or putting over a cake to moisten it or to add lather to
your soaps. :-) Yes adding lather to your soaps. :-) It is not a replacement for using 1 or more of the lathering oils, but a very nice enhancer that adds creaminess to the lather.
You can add things like fresh Peppermint, Spearmint, Ginger, Cinnamon Chips, Cloves, etc., adding it to the syrup as you are cooking it and strain from the syrup after it has cooled and pressing out the syrup. Or a bit of Grand Marnier, Brandy, Snopps, etc. to give it a bit of flavor for your drinks.
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup (optional)
1. Mix water, Sugar and the Syrup if you choose to use it, in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. If it seems that the sugar is not dissolving completely, add 1 Tbsp. of water and stir and if it needs more add another Tbsp. of water till the sugar is dissolved. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes after it starts boiling. Take from the heat and cool to room temperature. This can be put in a jar or dispenser container in the refrigerator.
Mix sugar, corn syrup and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 2
minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely at room temperature. Pour into a covered container and refrigerate.
2.Can be stored for several weeks in the refrigerator.
Makes about 2 cups.
Adding Salt or Stearic Acid:
First there is no need to add salt to a recipe
that has mostly harder oils. This is just to let
you know what I did and how it worked for me and
if you wish to experiment you can. My conclusion
is that if a larger amount of liquid oils are
used, it is best to use Stearic Acid to add to
the hardness of the soap so that the soap will
not be drying to those that might find that the
salts dries their skin.
This has taken a while because of the different
types of salt. I found that using "plain salt"
works best when you want the soap harder.
Since high Iodine is a problem with
un-saturated oils and hinders in the
saponification process, it is best to use a salt
that has no Iodine. I started with using 1 tsp.
per lb. of oils, but have found that 1/2 tsp.
works better. And this is according to the oils
that are used. More salt was needed for soaps
with 50% or more liquid oils. I do recommend
that if you use salt that you have your soaps
superfatted at 10% or higher because it can be
drying to some peoples skin.
With the larger amount of salt, 1 tsp. per lb. of oil, I would have
problems with soda ash, sometimes right in the
mold and sometimes after cutting and letting
them cure. So the 1/2 tsp. seems to work the
best, but I still found that sometimes I would
still get that soda ash. I add the salt as I do
the sugar, I add to a bit of the water that I
have separated out of the water for my lye or
add to the milk. I then add it after adding the
lye water to the oils. It makes a wonderful hard
bar and works best when using a liquid
reduction. Also I have found that when adding
salt for hardening the soap, that is also makes
GM soap whiter in color.
If you don't want to add the salt because of the
drying that it can cause to some, for your
mostly liquid oil soaps you can add Stearic Acid
to make them harder. This will not cause the
soap to be drying or the soda ash problem that
salt can cause. About 3% to 5% is what seems to
work best and again that is according to the
oils used, so you would have to experiment with
it.
All info posted to site in 1998. Updated in 2004.
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