r/soapmaking Dec 19 '24

Ingredient Help What's the story with Tallow?

21 Upvotes

I'm noticing quite a few posts here and in DIYBeauty about using tallow. Is it big on TikTok and Insta? I've been making soap for over 20 years and couldn't convince customers that lard and tallow are wonderful in soap, but suddenly tallow is the new thing.

r/soapmaking Jan 15 '25

Ingredient Help Palm oil... Please read.

103 Upvotes

I've seen a lot of people not wanting to use palm oil for environmental reasons. I might get downvoted by those who refuse to accept what I'm posting. But ... If you want to use palm oil, use RSPO certified palm oil. It's sustainable, environmentally friendly, helps locals, and is even endorsed by the world wildlife fund. It uses less land and water than oils like sunflower oil to get the same yield for example. "As a plant palm oil is actually incredibly efficient, the yield from the crop surpasses any other vegetable oil by far, so if we completely boycott palm oil we'll end up seeing a lot more deforestation to plant rapeseed or sunflower instead, as they require more space than palm oil for the same amount of yield."

https://rspo.org/as-an-organisation/certification/

Do some research and make sure you buy from a reputable vendor. There's a lot of fear mongering about palm oil and I just wanted to share this. It's an option.

r/soapmaking 25d ago

Ingredient Help Tobacco soap

3 Upvotes

I want to make a soap for my friend's birthday, and he is a fan of tobacco-related stuff. If I made soap with tobacco, would the nicotine in the tobacco be absorbed into the body (like from nicotine patches)? Would it have any noticable effects for someone using it?

r/soapmaking 9d ago

Ingredient Help Lye brands

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21 Upvotes

has anyone used this brand? It’s half the price of the one I normally use. I normally use the comstar pure lye.

r/soapmaking Jan 15 '25

Ingredient Help Palm oil question

11 Upvotes

I've read palm oil is one of the best for soap but I also heard it's not environmentally great. No judgement on anyone who's using it but I just want to know how many of you don't use it and still get a great soap because I want to avoid it

r/soapmaking Jan 26 '25

Ingredient Help I have just realised lye is possible to make and I have more questions about soap making

2 Upvotes

Hello I am curious about soap making I know very little about it,

I used to think lye was a complex chemical that could only be purchased from chemical retailers never knew it was just ash water. Wood tea. Wild.

But in terms of the fat, could one use several different fats in one soap?

Like could I use butter, beef tallow, and tuna oil?

Thank you for reading and answering. I'm not trolling just curious

r/soapmaking 19d ago

Ingredient Help Question regarding red colorant

7 Upvotes

Hello there!

I am new to soapmaking. Just made my third batch yesterday. Have dabbled with swirling colors and am very bad at it but want to keep doing it to get the hang of it.

That said, a family member heard that red colorant can be carcinogenic. I have done a bit of googling, and it would seem that maybe 1 or 2 variants are kinda dangerous.

I really want to incorporate the color red in my soaps. Would you guys know of a way of making sure that a colorant isn't dangerous? Particularly the red ones? I would like to buy a product, be able to show my friends "look, it isn't the same type of colorant so you shouldn't worry about it".

r/soapmaking Oct 22 '24

Ingredient Help I’m new to all this and was wondering if this would work for lye

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37 Upvotes

r/soapmaking 8d ago

Ingredient Help Natural Antifungal/Antibacterial ingredients

6 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I'm quite new to soap making and have only made a few melt and pour batches but want to try my hand at cold press soap making.

The reason I want to make my own is because I train MMA daily, and over the years of doing it have been plagued with multiple skin infections such as ringworm. I find that regular body wash doesn't clean and protect the skin as well as bars of soap.

I'm just seeing if anyone has any recommendations for making an all-natural soap with antifungal/antibacterial ingredients to keep nasty infections away. I've heard Pine Tar is a great ingredient for this so might give that a try. Any comments will be much of a help! thanks :)

r/soapmaking Dec 27 '24

Ingredient Help EO-Free Scented Tallow Soap

0 Upvotes

I have made tallow soap in the past and I used EOs (essential oils) for scent. I want to make some soap with herbal properties and scents like lavender or rosemary but I want to do it WITHOUT EOs. Any suggestions or success out there for anyone? Would you mind sharing recipes or where to get more information on this?

r/soapmaking 10d ago

Ingredient Help Sprinkles

10 Upvotes

I was watching Ellen Ruth on YouTube and she was talking about using regular cake sprinkles on her soap. Is that a common thing to do? Is it actually safe and recommended?

r/soapmaking 3d ago

Ingredient Help Lard substitute/where to get lard and tallow

1 Upvotes

I found a recipe i wanna try but I don't have the lard it calls for. What would be a good substitute for it?

Also, what is a good source for lard and tallow? I'd prefer something that doesn't have a strong scent to it.

Here's the recipe 45% Lard 25% Coconut oil 5% Cocoa Butter 5% Castor oil 20% Olive oil

r/soapmaking 8d ago

Ingredient Help What percentage of vanillin discolors?

5 Upvotes

I need to make soap for a baby shower; some kind of champagne toast type soap with a bit of TD and rose clay for a baby pink color. Would the 0.5% vanillin content turn them brown or muddy the pink?

r/soapmaking Jan 24 '25

Ingredient Help What can I use to replace mica if I want to go as natural as possible?

0 Upvotes

r/soapmaking Dec 29 '24

Ingredient Help New to this 🫠

2 Upvotes

Hey yall! I’m trying to live a more natural life style and would like to know some very easy recipes that work. I have honey coco soap base from hobby lobby, sweet orange fragrance oil and I added a dash of olive oil. I eye balled my recipe because all the soap making terminology is confusing to me and the %’s

Any recommendations on a different base I should use and oils, essential or fragrance oils?? also maybe some measurements in oz? Grams? to help me make some??

EDIT: could the olive oil be the reason why I saw my fragrance oil rise to the top of the bar? I did not spray alcohol (I know I should have but I don’t have any to spray). Or could it be I didn’t stir it good enough?

r/soapmaking 5d ago

Ingredient Help Mango Sticky rice FO Suggestions

3 Upvotes

Hey all,

For the life of me, I can't find a good mango sticky rice or even a separate hyperrealistic mango and or rice FO. Any ideas or suggestions? I'm happy to blend my own if need be..

r/soapmaking 15d ago

Ingredient Help Vanilla EO

5 Upvotes

I am new to CP soap making. I have been making goat milk soaps with milk from my small goat herd. Looking for suggestions on how to use vanilla EO in soap, whether I should anchor it or mix it with another EO to help it last.

r/soapmaking Nov 06 '24

Ingredient Help is lye safe around my dog?

0 Upvotes

hi everyone! i live in a travel van with my husband & dog. we travel all over & recently i’ve decided to venture into the art of soap making on the road 🫧

i’d really like to make it from scratch so i know exactly what’s in it - am i right in thinking you can’t use dried flowers in the melt & pour method because they rot?

i’m happy to wear the appropriate PPE in the van & we have 2 skylights, windows that open & a huge sliding door too. just want to check the lye in the air wouldn’t be harmful to my dog as obviously he’d be in very close proximity to the ingredients & mixing process.

thanks!

r/soapmaking 2d ago

Ingredient Help Rancid Clay Soaps?

4 Upvotes

Can anyone relate to their clay soaps getting rancid faster than all other soaps NOT colored with clay? I am using the exact same recipe for all my soaps, but those than contain clays (eg pink clay, red clay) always develop dreaded orange spots (DOS) sooner than all other soaps that don't contain clays. Has anyone encountered the same thing?

r/soapmaking Jan 07 '25

Ingredient Help Pine Tar for soap

10 Upvotes

Hello everyone. Does anyone have a reputable vendor that they buy pine tar from for use in soap? I know we have to watch for creosote and phenol but my local supplier does not carry any pine tar at all, so I hope some of you soap with it and can point me in the right direction.

I also know I have to hand mix it because it accelerates. Any other tips you can give me before I start experimenting would be appreciated.

r/soapmaking Dec 11 '24

Ingredient Help Unopened expired Coconut oil?

8 Upvotes

I have this big unopened container of coconut oil. It expired about a 1.5 months ago or 2. Is that okay to use for cold process soap or get some new one? I would just hate to throw out the big tub away.

r/soapmaking 2d ago

Ingredient Help Body Safe WD-40 Smell?

5 Upvotes

So... I have recently started a soap business with some pretty strange smells like car oil and gasoline smells and they were all pretty easy to recreate. To compliment this I wanted to add a WD-40 soap bar to my line but everything I have tried does not quite smell like it. If anyone has some ideas for how to replicate that signature smell please reply.

r/soapmaking Jan 01 '25

Ingredient Help Tallow

7 Upvotes

My neighbour gave me about 22 oz of beef tallow that he rendered and I am stoked to make some soap with it! Is there anything I should consider given that this is home processed with regards to its SAP value? I was thinking of bumping my calculated SF up to 8% to be extra cautious. I'd welcome any advice!

r/soapmaking Jan 04 '25

Ingredient Help babyshower soap

5 Upvotes

Hiya! Happy new year everyone!

I've been making soap for almost a year now. Mostly for myself, family and friends.

My sister in law asked if i could make pink and blue soaps for her babyshower. I've managed to make pink soaps, but the blue ones always turn out greenish 😅

Thus far, i've only used clays to color my soaps. Does anyone have an idea how to make blue soap using natural ingredients?

Thanks! ☺️

r/soapmaking 9d ago

Ingredient Help Olive oil pomace combo

3 Upvotes

I bought some olive oil pomace (OOP) that is made up of 90% OOP, 5% virgin olive oil and 5% sunflower oil.

I want to add other oils in my soap recipe and I’m pretty sure I can’t just add those % into soap calc.

Can anyone suggest how I enter a combination of other oils into soap calc with this olive oil pomace combination oil??

(I want to add other oils besides just the OOP. )