# trying to come up with an all purpose soap recipe



## Amylb999 (Jan 28, 2007)

I'm certainly not an expert at making soap. I've made it just a few times for our family. I'm trying to come up with a basic recipe that I can then add scents, colors, etc to for a variety of soaps. I wanted a mainly lard recipe with a few other fats to get more lather and moisturizing qualities. I appreciate everyones opinions on the recipe I've come up with:

3 lb batch -

6.5 oz lye
17 fl oz water
32 oz lard
6 oz coconut oil
10 oz olive oil

How does this recipe seem? Anyway it should be adjusted?


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## Amylb999 (Jan 28, 2007)

I'm going to throw another question in here, lol. I'm thinking of making some soap with a little tea tree oil. How much should I add to a 3lb batch?


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## DQ (Aug 4, 2006)

I'm a complete newbie but I made soap with tea tree oil a week ago. I made a 1 lb batch and put 1tsp teatree oil. it is almost too strong for my "smeller". it obviously hasn't completely cured and I don't know if it will mellow a bit with time.

I also am looking for a good basic recipe. It appears that the possibilities are endless as far as recipes go and so I have been experimenting to find out what I like. I have made 11 batches so far I have two more planned and then I will just wait ffor them to cure, use them and see what I want to use or modify. every time I do a batch I use a different recipe and different scents and coloring.


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## Amylb999 (Jan 28, 2007)

hmmm, I was thinking of putting 1 Tbsp in the 3 lb batch, looks like I better rethink that. Thanks.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

ANALYSIS:

Original: 

32 oz lard
6 oz coconut oil
10 oz olive oil
6.5 oz lye

INS: 148
IV: 54

Lauric 7.16%
Myristic 3.68%
Linoleic 3.29%
Oleic 57.71%
Palmitic 22.53%
Stearic 5.62%

my take on your recipe and the reasons I change a few things.

Your base recipe is a good one, but if you want better lather (men love the lather), you'll have to increase you coconut oil (lauric). As an almost 50, I like a higher linoleic % to offset the possible dryness of the lauric. Your original recipe is pretty low on linoleics. For teens and younger women, Oleic is the key, although it doesn't quite offset the lauric like an oil higher in linoleics will.


*Modified #1*

Lard 29 oz
OO 5 oz
Coconut 10 oz
Corn 4 oz

Lye 6.65 oz

INS: 151
IV: 52

Lauric 11.77%
Myristic 5.38%
Linoleic 7.62%
Oleic 48.88%
Palmitic 21.16%
Stearic 5.18%

To increase your lather and moisturizing, I opted to decrease your lard & olive, increase your coconut and add corn oil (a commonly overlooked oil in soaping - easy to find and rather inexpensive especially compared to OO!)

*Modified #2*

Lard 29 oz
Coconut 10 oz
Corn 9 oz

Lye 6.66 oz

INS: 151
IV: 55

Lauric 11.6%
Myristic 5.31%
Linoleic 13.09%
Oleic 43.91%
Palmitic 20.98%
Stearic 5.11%

Since Olive oil is so expensive (and I'm pretty frugal), in the 2nd modified recipe, I removed the olive and replaced with the corn oil.

results: a less expensive recipe, great lather and great moisturizing capabilities.

ETA:

Tea Tree EO. This is a strong essential oil that I use only .3 oz (or 8 grams)PPO (per pound oil) (sorry I don't know how many teaspoons .3 oz is!)

I usually combine it with equal part lavender or litsea.


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## Amylb999 (Jan 28, 2007)

Wow Cyndi thank you, that's just what I needed. I'm pretty frugal myself so your second recipe with the corn oil is right up my alley. I was trying to be careful with the coconut oil because I read it could be drying if you use too much. I wasn't sure how much _too much_ would be.
I'll weigh the tea tree oil to make sure I don't use too much. I just bought a digital scale  so I can measure everything out properly.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

too much is subjective.

I react less to the lauric fatty acid (that creates bubbles) than I do to the palmitic fatty acid - what I mean is I can't use soaps with palm oil - it sends my skin screaming!

By using an oil high in linoleics (safflower, evening primrose, passion fruit see and high LINOLEIC sunflower are the oils highest in linoleics) to offset the lauric, I can get both lather and moisture!

The one thing about corn oil I should probably mention. It is a 'darker' oil so your soaps won't have a white base when you go to add colorants. although the same holds true for some extra virgin olive oil).


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## Amylb999 (Jan 28, 2007)

A slightly darker color is no problem for me. I'm making it just for my family,,and maybe some as gifts if they come out good. DH certainly doesn't care if it looks pretty, lol.


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## sunnygrl (Sep 27, 2006)

another cheap oil to use is soybean, usually marked as vegetable in the grocery isle. And I totally agree, on limiting the amount of tea tree oil, that and mints ( which you didn't ask about, but that is what I mix in with my tea tree)


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Soybean is another good soaping oil. It has about half as much linoleic that corn oil, but more than a lot of other oils!


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## bowdonkey (Oct 6, 2007)

Cyndi, I use 2 oz. of OO per lb. What would be the difference if I substituted with corn oil? The recipe I use is 4 oz coconut, 1 oz castor, 2 oz olive, and 9 oz of Wally World meat based shortning.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

First thing I'd recommend is going with a larger soap recipe, especially starting out. If you want to stick with only using 1 lb of oils, convert it to grams. There is much less room for error when making small batches.

With OO:
Lauric	Myristic	Linoleic	Oleic	Palmitic	Ricinoleic	Stearic
13.19%	7.24%	2.76%	33.13%	21.36%	7.57%	14.75%

With Corn Oil:
Lauric	Myristic	Linoleic	Oleic	Palmitic	Ricinoleic	Stearic
12.98%	7.14%	8.97%	27.81%	21.14%	7.45%	14.51%

Your lathering will go down slightly (Lauric), but your moisturizing would go up tremendously (Linoleic)

http://www.soapcalc.com/calc/soapcalc.asp is a lye calculator that has a wonderful analysis ability.

To find out more about the fatty acids, visit Cathy Miller's site: http://millersoap.com/PDF/OilProperties.pdf


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