# making your own soap??



## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

well my mom had a bit of experiment this weekend... she made laundry detergent!!! i was so impressed... we put it in jars and have about 60$ worth of store bought detergent sitting at home that only cost us $20 bucks... including jars and all the ingredients.

i did my first load of laundry with it..testing on towels of course and it did great and had a lovely smell to it  have my clothes in now hopefully i get the same results..

her next experiment is making body soap and face wash.

anyone else hear make soap??


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## Lockwood (Nov 8, 2011)

Although it has been a while because I buy organic cleaners now, I've made household cleansers and laundry soap before.
I've also made goat milk soap and got my close friend started in it as a business. She makes and sells soap, lotion, creams, shampoo, and lip butters.

Why did I turn it over to my friend?? 
Because I'm too busy making goat milk fudge. 
Which makes more $$$ :wink:

At any rate, it is amazing what you can make at home that you would have never thought to do while standing there staring at the container/carton/jug/bar at the store.


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## EmilyJoy (Dec 30, 2011)

Yup! I made homemade soap...Not only did it smell fresh and clean but it lasted a LONG time....

There's a recipe out there, where you melt down previous homemade soap and add coffee (grounds?) Idon't have the recipe...I'd love to try that though...
I would choose the best smelling coffee...mmmm


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## Lockwood (Nov 8, 2011)

EmilyJoy said:


> Yup! I made homemade soap...Not only did it smell fresh and clean but it lasted a LONG time....
> 
> There's a recipe out there, where you melt down previous homemade soap and add coffee (grounds?) Idon't have the recipe...I'd love to try that though...
> I would choose the best smelling coffee...mmmm


It works very well! 
You can put used coffee grounds in it and it will make a soap that not only looks and smells good, but takes funky odors off your hands. 
Onions, garlic, fish, or weird barn smells like hoof odor, smegma odor, and general barn funk that you don't want people to notice when you are not in the barn.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

oh very interesting ..lockwood do you know of a site or a book that would have more receipes for this soap making fun


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

This reminds me of a stand in the NZ mall that I tried to walk past. All organic handmade soaps.. crickey they were the craziest combos ever and they smelled dreadful.. I'm talking chocolate and lavender.. both are nice separate but combined.. YUCK!

OP I believe it's easy to make your own soaps just don't go making ones without making sure the scents blend well  Or if you go scentless that they aren't bigger than a brick. 

I used to carve soaps when I was little  It was really fun and made my hands smell pretty. Now coffee grounds in soap? Sounds interesting..


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## EmilyJoy (Dec 30, 2011)

Lockwood said:


> It works very well!
> You can put used coffee grounds in it and it will make a soap that not only looks and smells good, but takes funky odors off your hands.
> Onions, garlic, fish, or weird barn smells like hoof odor, smegma odor, and general barn funk that you don't want people to notice when you are not in the barn.


 Can you put the coffee liquid in instead of the grounds? Don't the grounds make it gritty?

Wouldn't that smell be lovely? Specially if you got french vanilla x caramel or something... 


Here's a recipe I found off the web... Where... In the world do you find coffee fragrance oil????


Here is a basic soap recipe that adds the scrubbing power and odor eliminating benefits of coffee grounds. This recipe makes 3 pounds of soap.
*Prep Time: 1 hour*

*Total Time: 1 hour*

*Ingredients:*



8 oz. palm oil
8 oz. coconut oil
8 oz. olive oil
2 oz. castor oil
9 oz. water or 50:50 combination of water and coffee
3.7 oz. lye
1.2 oz. coffee fragrance oil
2 tbs. of already brewed coffee grounds
*Preparation:*

Mix your lye solution first and set it aside to cool. Make sure you understand how to make a lye solution with liquids other than water. Measure and heat your solid oils until completely melted. Measure and add the liquid oils to the melted solid oils. When both the lye and the oils are at about 100-120 degrees, slowly pour the lye solution into the oils. Stir with a stick blender, alternating short blasts with the blender and stirring. Mix the soap until it reaches a light trace. Add the fragrance oil and coffee grounds. Mix them into the soap thoroughly. Pour the raw soap into your mold and let it sit for 12-24 hours until it has cooled off completely and is hard enough to cut. Remove it from the mold and slice into bars. Let it cure an additional 2-4 weeks.


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## Lockwood (Nov 8, 2011)

Skyseternalangel said:


> This reminds me of a stand in the NZ mall that I tried to walk past. All organic handmade soaps.. crickey they were the craziest combos ever and they smelled dreadful.. I'm talking chocolate and lavender.. both are nice separate but combined.. YUCK!
> *EWWWW!*
> *I'm all for interesting combos, but yeah some people go a lit-tle bit overboard. *
> 
> ...


*Yep, not sure you will find a chef's kitchen without it.*
*It is also exfoliating which is great when you garden too.*


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## Lockwood (Nov 8, 2011)

kait18 said:


> oh very interesting ..lockwood do you know of a site or a book that would have more receipes for this soap making fun


Pfftt, do I ....

Here are some books that I own that are very good and rate well on Amazon-
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Soap-Makers-Workshop-Natural-Homemade/dp/1440207917/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337349843&sr=1-4"]http://www.amazon.com/Soap-Makers-Workshop-Natural-Homemade/dp/1440207917/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337349843&sr=1-4[/ame]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Body-Care-Recipes-Formulas/dp/1580176763/ref=sr_1_17?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337349886&sr=1-17"]http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Body-Care-Recipes-Formulas/dp/1580176763/ref=sr_1_17?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337349886&sr=1-17[/ame]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Making-Natural-Liquid-Soaps-Conditioning/dp/1580172431/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337349843&sr=1-9"]http://www.amazon.com/Making-Natural-Liquid-Soaps-Conditioning/dp/1580172431/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337349843&sr=1-9[/ame]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Soapmaking-Book-Techniques-Creating/dp/1598692291/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337349843&sr=1-6"]http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Soapmaking-Book-Techniques-Creating/dp/1598692291/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337349843&sr=1-6[/ame]

And here are some tutorial and supply places-

http://www.brambleberry.com/
http://teachsoap.com/
http://soapchix.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/how-to-make-cold-processed-soap-in-13-steps-a-tutorial/
http://www.bulkapothecary.com/soap_supplies.htm

And, for those who don't wish to work directly with lye, but want to do more than just rebatching (melt and pour) there are saponified oils available now that take the lye step out but leave the rest for you to do.

Ok, can't get it to print right... sorry


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## EmilyJoy (Dec 30, 2011)

Here's another one that sounds better.. Then my previous posted recipe.

Anyone who just loves the scent of coffee will love this coffee soap recipe. But it's also great for cooks because the coffee absorbs odors like garlic and fish.To make this Coffee Soap recipe - 


Start with a Basic Soap Recipe.
Substitute double strength coffee for your water in the lye-water solution. (Be sure you understand how to make a lye solution with liquids other than water.
At trace, add in 1-2 tsp. of the used coffee grounds for every pound of soap in your recipe.
You can add a coffee fragrance if you like, though the coffee scent will come through lightly even without it. I've also made it with a bit of peppermint essential oil as well - a lovely combination.
Enjoy!


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## EmilyJoy (Dec 30, 2011)

Here's a link...

Cold-Process All-Natural Handmade Soap


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## dbarabians (May 21, 2011)

I have only had one experience with handmade soap.
A well meaning neighbor of mine purchased handmade soap while touring the Smokey Mountains a few years ago.
She gave them to me and my Aunt and Uncle who is a Rabbi.
I did not know they were made with lard and my religion forbids me to touch them. 
My uncle though reads every label before allowing anything in his home.
I am glad to see that there are handmade soaps safe enough for all of us.
I have a friend that makes her own and will pass on the recipe. Shalom


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

dbarabians said:


> She gave them to me and my Aunt and Uncle who is a Rabbi.
> I did not know they were made with lard and my religion forbids me to touch them.


Yikes :/ that was a close call!



Lockwood said:


> *Yep, not sure you will find a chef's kitchen without it.*
> *It is also exfoliating which is great when you garden too.*


I have their "soap menu" somewhere around here.. may scan it if I find it. They were dreadful.. lol

But how cool!


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## EmilyJoy (Dec 30, 2011)

I think different blends would be nice, but my mom nor I have ever figured out when to add the oil/fragrance so it smells nice...

We have "Osborne" heritage days here in Iowa every year, and one of the times went we bought some homemade soap. 
Oh did it smell good! And talk about varieties! They had "fisherman's" soap, harvest smelling soap (looked very pretty, kinda deep rich pumpkin brown/gold and sparkly),poison ivy soap, a turquoise color soap, rose soap (which is what I got) all sorts of kinds..One of those days when you wish you could buy all of them so you didn't have to make up your mind! lol

I've never made glycerine soap (the kind that's clear) but I'd like to sometime!


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

oh goodness cant wait to start helping her  its nice knowing others either make homemade soap or enjoy homemade soaps


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## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

I am definitely interested in this idea. I make my own laundry detergent and a lot of my household cleaners. My glycerin soap has got really expensive so I may look into the cost of making my own. *Now if I can just pull another 2 hours a day out of my backside for time AT home I will be good to go*:lol:


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