New to soap making?

Question

I am new to soap making. Some of the simpler recipes I have found don't call for any scents or coloring. I was wondering if I could add coloring and scents to any recipe. Or If any one could tell me how to it make using things you find at the supermarket like shorting, olive oil, or vegetable oil?

Answer 1

Hi, When I started making soap 3 years ago, I found a great site that helped me the entire way. Heres her link: http://millersoap.com/#Soap%20Contents

She sells soap, has a ton of recipes and info all on her link on how to make it. Plus a lye calculator when you start to make your own recipes.

It answered most all of my questions I ever had on soap making. I copied a ton of it and bought a binder to keep it all in so if I needed to I could look it up while I was in the kitchen and not have to jump back online to look it up. I hope I was some help to you. Good luck and happy soaping.....

Answer 2

There are many additives that you can get at a supermarket: milk powder, oats, honey, coffee, almond oil, etc. You can extract colors from many easy-to-find ingredients, too.  Here's a link to how to do that... but it might be easier to just buy already-prepared colorants.

Answer 3

Welcome to the world of soapmaking!

Scent and color can definately be added to any recipe. Essential oils work very well and if you use fragrance oils, be sure to use ones that are suitable for cold process soap making. Any other kind and you could have quite a mess on your hands.

Color can be all sorts of things ranging from the completely natural to lab colors.

Soap made with supermarket vegetable oils like shortening, olive oil and lard are made in the same way as those with tropical oils.

Always put your recipe through a lye calculator before making it....any mistakes in the printing of the recipe will result in a lost batch of soap for you.

I would suggest doing some more research and visiting sites like the following.

http://www.soap-making-essentials.com

http://www.soapcalc.com/calc/SoapCalc.as...

Good luck!

Answer 4

Shortening, olive oil, and vegetable oil is used in what is called Cold Process or Lye soap.  Do a search for "Soap Making" and you'll get more recipes for soap than you'll know what to do with.

Elaine White is well known for her cold process soaps and these are the recipes I used when I first started making soaps.  She has excellent instructions.  Here's a link:

http://members.aol.com/oelaineo/soapmaki...

Now, to answer the question about the scent and coloring.  You can add scents and coloring to any soap recipe.  If using scent, you want to add it at trace, and the general suggestion is approximately 2 oz. of scent per batch of soap.  You can use your own judgement though, it depends on how strong you like the scent.  The coloring can be bought from many sources that sell soap making supplies.  I recommend that you buy colorant from a place like this and make sure it is safe to put in soap.  There are other colorants out there, such as what you'd use in candle making, but not all of these are safe for soap making.  You can also add different spices to your soaps to give them color.  For instance, if making a chocolate soap, use chocolate fragrance oil, and use cocoa as a colorant.  

Good Luck and Happy Soaping!!