From EWhiteVHP@aol.com Tue Apr 18 11:59:35 1995
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 1995 14:00:03 -0400
From: EWhiteVHP@aol.com
To: london@calypso-2.oit.unc.edu
Subject: FAQ Soapmaking

So, you want to make soap? Good! I'll try my best to tell you how. I'm Elaine
White, author of "Soap Recipes: Seventy tried-and-true ways to make modern
soap with herbs, beeswax and vegetable oils" These instructions are very
condensed and cannot possibly contain the details included in "Soap Recipes."
Nonetheless, I believe you will have a good overview after you read these
instructions. Once you learn basic safety precautions, soapmaking procedures
and termonology, you will be able to make soap from any recipe. The outline
for these instructions is:
A) Safety precautions in handling lye, lye/water and freshly-made soap
B) The equipment list
C) The procedure of combining ingredients and molding soap
D) Herbal soap
E) Superfatting soap
F) US Soapmaking suppliers
G) Soap recipes
---------------------------------------------------
A) Locating lye and safety precautions in handling it.
(The following may frighten you, but I promise that thousands of people make
soap everyday without mishap. You need to know all the dangers present in
order to avoid trouble. If you can get past the following warnings--you are
destined to make soap!) Look where drain cleaners are sold and buy 100% lye
(Red Devil is one brand). Don't bother looking at liquid drain cleaners and
don't try Draino (it contains metal). If you aren't sure the product is 100%
lye, then order lye from a soapmaking or chemical supplier (addresses
listed). Most good soap recipes list lye by weight for accuracy: lye in
granular form (drain cleaner) measures differently than lye in flake form
(the form of lye from chemical suppliers, pool chemical suppliers, etc.).
Scales are a necessary part of sucessful soapmaking and allows you to use any
type of lye. Lye can be nasty if handled improperly. Lye (sodium hydroxide)
is also known as caustic soda.
Upon opening a container of lye, the lye crystals absorb water from the air,
which can weaken the strength of the lye and cause it to form a solid lump.
When not in use, keep lye closely capped. Lye reacts with some metals: iron,
aluminum, zinc, and tin. Safe containers include heatproof stoneware, glass,
enamel, stainless steel and plastic. Lye can be fatal if swallowed. Always
keep it out of the hands of children. Lye can remove paint. If lye, lye/water
or freshly-made soap splatters onto a painted surface, wipe it off
immediately. Wash the area with water and detergent; wash it with clear
water, then wipe it dry. Lye, lye/water and freshly-made soap can burn and
irritate skin. Burns from lye are not instantaneous. It takes awhile for lye
to irritate skin. Chances are you will notice if lye splashes on you. You'll
notice itching before burning. Lye/water on skin is first noticed by a
slippery feeling. Rinse your hands with vinegar and immediately rinse them
with running water. Since lye can burn skin, you can imagine what it does to
eyes. It's difficult to rinse your eyes while they're burning and you can't
see. This painful and dangerous situation in entirely avoidable. Always wear
eye protection! You may wonder why anyone wants to bathe with soap that
contains something as harsh as lye. Well, the good news is that soap is
*made* with lye, but soap doesn't *contain* lye. Lye reacts with fats,
crating roughly three molecules soap and one molecule glycerin. The lye is no
longer presnet--only great soap and glycerin.
-------------------------------------------------
B) The equipment list
# one 4-to-6 cup mixing container made of lye-resistant material
  (I use a stainless steel mixing bowl)
# one heatproof container that holds at least 2 cups
  (I use a Pyrex measuring cup)
# stainess steel, plastic or wooden spoon or a rubber spatula
# two thermometers made of glass or stainless steel
  (candy and meat thermometers work well)
# eye protection (wear sunglasses if you have to!)
# rubber gloves (optional)
# scale to weight the fats and lye
# soap molds (any flexible plastic container works well)
# a clock with a second hand or other type timer
# wire whisk (optional)
# pot holders or oven mitts
# measuring spoons
----------------------------------------------------
C) The procedure
1) Put the fats in a lye-resistant container and place a glass or stainless
steel thermometer into the fats. Be sure the thermometer doesn't touch the
bottom of the container and give a false reading. Heat the fats and optional
ingredients to the temperature specified in the recipe.
2) Put on eye protection and rubber gloves.
3) Dissolve the lye in cold water (use distilled water if your water is
hard) and wait for it to reach the temperature specified in the recipe. Use a
heat-proof container to measure the amount of cold water (70 to 75 degrees F)
specified in the recipe. Cold water is important. If you add lye to hot or
boiling water, the water could "boil-up" out of the container; if you add lye
to *really* cold water, the lye/water might not reach the high temperatures
required to make some recipes. Stir the
water and slowly add the lye. The water will get hot and turn cloudy.
Continue to stir until the lye dissolves. Don't breathe or intentionally
smell the fumes coming from the cup because they are quite "chokey." If you
wait too long to stir the water, the lye could harden in the bottom of the
container. This is not a problem. You can still sitr it, but it will be more
difficult. Add a glass or stainless steel thermometer to the lye/water and
wait until it reaches the temperature specified in the recipe. Temperatures
for making soap aren't critical. For small one-pound batches, temperatures
from 120 to 150 degrees F usually work well.
4) When both the fat and the lye/water reach the temperature specified in the
recipe, add the lye/water to the fat. I's sometimes a balancing act to get
the fat mixture and the lye/water mxiture to specific temperatures at the
same time. Never place lye/water in a microwave (the cup could break). It
takes lye/water longer to cool than it takes fat to heat. Most soapmakers
wait for the lye/water to cool to about five degrees above the desired
temperature, then heat the fat. When both the lye/water and the fat are
within five degrees of the temperatures specified in the recipe, use a pot
holder and move the bowl to a sink (to contain splatters). Slowly pour the
lye/water into the fats while stirring.
5) Stir the soap until it "traces." When lye, water and fat first combine,
the mixture is thin and watery. Gradually, as the lye and fat react
chemically to form soap, the mixture thickens and turns opaque. "Tracing" is
a term to describe the consistency (thickness) of soap when it's ready to
pour into molds. To test for tracing: 
 a. Drip some soap onto the surface of the soap in the stirring bowl. It
should leave a "trace" or small mound.
 b. Draw a line in the soap with a spoon or rubber spatula. If a "trace" of
the line remains for a few seconds, the soap has traced.
Tracing is easy to recognize, yet it causes new soapmakers a lot of worry.
Relax and know that the soap will trace eventually. Just stir the soap
constantly for the first 15 minutes or so, then stir the soap every fifteen
minutes until it thickens and traces, no matter how long it takes.
6) After the soap traces, add up to one tablespoon essential oil (if desired)
and stir a few minutes longer to incorporate the oil.
7) Pour the soap into molds and wait for it to harden.
8) Unmold the soap, Soap is still harsh when it's time to remove it from the
molds. Put on rubber gloves and press the back of each mold compartment to
release the soap. It's a lot like removing ice cubes from a tray. Sometimes
the soap doesn't release easily from the mold. To overcome this problem,
leave the soap in a freezer for a few hours. Freezing soap causes it to
contract slightly, becom hard and release from the plastic mold.
9) Wait the time specified in a recipe for the soap to "age." (usually 3
weeks). During the aging time the pH of the soap decreased (the soap becomes
mild) and the bars harden. It's a good idea to write the following
information on a piece of paper and place it with the soap: the date you made
the soap, the date the aging time is over, and the recipe name.
10) Step 10 is *enjoy your soap!*
As soap ages, a fine, white powder may appear on the surface. This is soda
ash (sodium carbonate) formed by a reaction of lye with carbon dioxide in
air. This white powder is mostly on the surface exposed to air while the soap
was in the molds. Soap that contains wax develops little or no soda ash.
There are three ways to deal with soda ash: 
 a. Try to prevent it. Immediately after pouring soap into molds, cover the
soap with plastic wrap or waxed paper. Press the wrap or paper onto the
surface of the soap to prevent air contact.
 b. Cut it away. Overfill the molds slightly. Later, when the soap hardens,
take a knife and cut the soap level with the mold. This also cuts away the
soda ash.
 c. Wash it away. Wait until the soap ages and hardens. Wash the powder away
by rubbing the soap with your hands under running water or by rubbing the
soap over a wet dishcloth. Set the soap aside to dry----then, *enjoy your
soap!*
-----------------------------------------------------
D. Herbal soap
You can replace the water in soap recipes with herbal tea, but to be honest,
most of the properties (color and fragrance) are lost. The best way to use
herbs in soap is to add dry, finely powdered herbs to the fats before adding
the lye/water. Use anywhere from 1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup dried herbs to 1 lb
soap. Coarsly ground herbs should be restricted to about 1 or 2 tablespoons
per lb soap because they contribute a coarseness to the soap that sometimes
makes it uncomfortable during use. The nicest way to add properties of herbs
to soap is the addition of pure essential oils. Use anywhere from 1 teaspoon
to 2 tablespoons essential oil per lb soap (depending on the strength of the
oil). Color is an illusive thing as far as soap is concerned. Natural colors
can be obtained by adding 2 tablespoons red clay, calendula petals and
strong, true color can be obtained from Pourette's dye recommended for soap.
Use up to 1/8 teaspoon per lb soap.
---------------------------------------------------
E. Superfatting soap
The following recipes have the exact amount of lye to make soap that contains
very little excess fat. This soap leaves skin perfectly clean and smooth
feeling. Some people like excess fat in recipes. For this I recommend 2 to 4 
tablespoons castor oil added when the soap traces. Castor oil is emollient
and contributes to soap lather.
-----------------------------------------------------
F. Soapmakers supply list (United States)

Barker Enterprises, Inc.
15106 10th Ave SW
Seattle WA 98166
Telephone: 206-244-1870
retail/wholesale: waxes, molds and candle dye (which works for soap)

Chem Lab Supplies
1060 Ortega Way, Unit C
Placentia CA 92670
Telephone 714 630-7902
Fax  714-630-3553
retail: pH kits, electronic scales, lye

Hagenow Laboratories, Inc.
1302 Washington St
Manitowoc WI 54220
No telephone, correspond by mail and request catalog
lye, waxes, clays, essential oils, thermometers and pH kits

Liberty Natural Products
8120 SE Stark St
Portland OR 97215
1-800-289-8427
$50 minimum order retail/wholesale same price
essential oils, soapmaking fats, herbs, clays, etc.

K & W Popcorn
710 E 24th St
Trenton MO 64683
Telephone 816-359-2030
retail only: coconut oil 5 gallons (will ship)

Lorann Oils
4518 Aurelius Rd
Lansing MI 48909
Telephone 1-800-248-1302
retail/wholesale: essential oils, fats, candy molds, waxes

Pourette Soapmaking Supplies
6910 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle WA 98115
Telephone 206-525-4488
retail/wholesale molds, dye, wax (request *soapmaking* price list as it's
different than their regular catalog, which contains candle molds)

Sunfeather Soapmaking Supply
HCR 84 Box 60-A
Potsdam NY 13676
Telephone 315-265-3648
retail only: lye, fats, soap fragrance
-----------------------------------------------------
G) Now, the moment you've been waiting for--the recipes!
copyright 1995 in "Soap Recipes" by Elaine C. White
All rights reserved. All ounces (oz) are determined by weight unless
otherwise stated. Lye is "sodium hydroxide" granular or flake form.

Pure Soap
16 oz coconut oil
 2.8 oz lye 
1 cup water (8 fluid ounces)
Fat and lye/water temperature about 120 degrees F
Time in molds: 48 hours
Age: 3 weeks

Pure Soap II (softer style)
16 oz weight coconut oil
2.9 oz lye
3/4 cup water (6 fluid ounces)
Oil room temp
Mix and use lye
Estimated tracing 1 to 2 hours
When the soap traces, add 4 tablespoons castor oil to superfat the soap.
Makes a smoother texture. Leave the soap in the mold 24 hours, freeze 3
hours, then remove from the mold. Age: 3 weeks.

Soap III
6 oz coconut oil
6 oz olive oil
5 oz vegetable shortening
2.6 oz lye
1 cup water (8 fluid ounces)
Fat and lye/water temperature about 120 degrees F
Time in molds: 48 hours
Age: 4 weeks

Soap IV
9 oz vegetable shortening
4 oz coconut oil
3 oz lard
2.4 oz lye
3/4 cup water (6 fluid ounces)
Fat and lye/water temperature about 120 degrees F
Time in molds: 24 hours
Age: 3 weeks

Soap V
10 oz vegetable shortening
 6 oz coconut oil
2.4 oz lye
1 cup water (8 fluid ounces)
Fat and lye/temperature about 120 degrees F
Time in molds: 48 hours
Age: 4 weeks

Soap VI & VII
16 oz lard or beef tallow
2.3 oz lye
3/4 cup water (6 fluid ounces)
Estimated tracing 45 minutes
Fat and lye/water temperature about 120 degrees F
Time in molds: 24 hours
Age: 3 weeks

Soap VIII
Beeswax Castile 
13 oz weight olive oil
 2 oz beeswax
 1 oz palm oil
2.1 oz lye
1 cup water (8 fluid ounces)
(melt the beeswax with the fats)
Fat and lye/water temperature about 150 degrees F
Tracing time: about 12 minutes FAST!
Time in molds: 48 hours
Place the soap in a freezer for 3 hours, then remove it from the molds
Age: 6 to 8 weeks for the bars to harden

Beeswax Soap IX
(follow directions at "Soap VIII)
16 oz weight olive oil
 2 oz weight beeswax
2.2 oz weight lye
1 cup water (8 fluid ounces)
--------------------------------------------------------
I really hope you feel confident enought to prepare your first batch of soap.
Good luck and happy lathering.
Best regards,
Elaine C. White
--------------------------------------------------------
These instructions are condensed from "Soap Recipes:
Seventy tried-and-true ways to make modern soap with herbs, beeswax and
vegetable oils" Copyright 1995 Elaine C. White. All rights reserved.
International Standard Book Number 0-9637539-5-9
The book is available from: Valley Hills Press, 1864 Ridgeland Drive,
Starkville MS 39759 USA. In the US telephone 800-323-7102. Other countries
call 601-323-7100. Contact EWhiteVHP@aol.com for more information.
end

-=-=-=-=-
and here's some more:
-


(288)   Tue 15 Feb 94 10:50
By: Tom Keller
Re: Soap Making

  Someone queried here about soapmaking recently.  I found this:

"SOAP.  Making It, Using It, Enjoying It." by Ann Sela Bramson, Workman
Publishing Company, NY NY, 1972

  It talks about all sorts of soapmaking techniques, covers vegetable
oil based soaps as well as tallow based soaps, and offers excellent
safety tips.

  I have absolutely no idea if it is still in print.  Hope this helps.

 * Origin: Sonoma Online, HOMEPOWR Echo (707)545-0746-HST\V32b (1:125/7)


(328)   Sat 19 Feb 94 15:22
By: Kim Hay
Re: Home Made Products

I have a recipe for homemade soap:
     To: All Soapmakers
     Subject: Soap recipes

----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.00

      Title: Mild Coconut Soap; and Mild Milk and Honey Soap
 Categories: Tightwad, Crafts, Soap
      Yield: 30 bars

---------------------MILD COCONUT SOAP--------------------------
     47 oz Olive oil
     19 oz Coconut oil
     27 oz Vegetable shortening
 10 3/4 oz Lye
     32 oz Lye

------------------MILD MILK AND HONEY SOAP-----------------------
     44 oz Olive oil
     17 oz Coconut oil
     24 oz Solid vegetable shortening
           -like Crisco
 10 3/4 oz Lye (one can)
     32 oz Water
      1 oz Powdered milk
      1 oz Honey

          You will also need a large flat box lined with wax paper or a
  cloth; a long-handled wooden spoon and a thermometer that measures
  temperatures between 95 an 98 degrees accurately, like a dairy
  thermometer or candy thermometer.

          Put all the oils and shortening into a heavy enamel pot, not
  aluminum.  Heat over low.  When it is about half melted, take it off
  the stove.  It's hot enough that the rest will melt.  Now pour the ly
  and water into the jar.  It sizzles and bubbles and is dangerous!
  Don't get it on your skin.
          Now place the bottle of lye solution in a sink or pan of cold
  water and the pan of fats in a sink or pan of cold water.  Now you
  have to keep testing with the thermometer, watching to see when both
  the oils and the lye are between 95 and 98 degrees. Go back and
  forth, back and forth carefully.  When both are in that range, have
  someone pour the lye solution slowly into the pot of fats as you
  steadily stir the fats in a circular mothion.  You should be stirring
  as the lye is being added.  I pour in the lye myself as I'm stirring,
  but it's a little tricky so you should get some help the first time.
  Now kee stirring slowly and steadily until the soap thickens, which
  won't be long. To test it's readiness to pour, lift the wooden spoon
  out of the mixture and drip it back onto the surface.  Whenyoucn drip
  a little shape that stays there a moment before it disappears -- this
  is called tracing -- then the soap is ready to pour. Now por it inot
  your prepared box.  cover it with a towl, now , and leave it alone
  for about 24 hours.  You may peek gently once or twice!
          After 24 hours has passed, it is soap.  You can cut it into
  nice bars now.  But please wear rubber gloves because it still
  contains a lot of free lye which will burn your hands.  After
  cutting, allow the soap to age and cure for 2 weeks to a month.  Then
  it will be ready to use. Before you use it, wipe off the dusty powder
  that is on the surface of the soap, because it might damage your skin.
          The question people always ask me is, "Where do I get lye?"
  Lye is drain cleaner!  Look closesly at the little red white and blue
  can of drain cleaner you buy at the grocery store.  It says "100%
  lye"  Red Devil is the most common brand.
          Coconut oil is available in health food stores and through
  food coops.  It is also available throuwh Golden Meadows Herb Farm,
  address recources section.  It is an expensive oil compratively, and
  it doesn't look like oil, it is solid like shortening.  You cannot
  substitute one oil for another when making soap, because different
  oils saponify at different temperatures, that is, the temperatures at
  which the oil and lye become soap vary accorting to the type of oil.

  These are from the meal master series.

Thank you again moderator

Kim Hay


 * Origin: * Moonlight Cascade**RR#2 Perth Road**613-353-7369 * (1:249/133)
From nikki@trmphrst.demon.co.uk
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 94 18:39:13 GMT
From: Nikki Locke <nikki@trmphrst.demon.co.uk>
To: london@sunsite.unc.edu
Cc: m90856@cox.nsac.ns.ca
Subject: Re: information request: lambsquarters (fwd)

In article <9410221457.AA04250@sunsite.oit.unc.edu> you write:
> Hi! For my B.Sc. (Agric)- horticulture undergraduate project I am examining
> different seed treatments of lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album L.) in order to
> obtain information for a better method to increase harvestable yield of
> herbage. Yes herbage! 
>    I am examining this plant as it is a suitable potherb and there is a market
> for it (and it tastes good too!).
>    I am looking for information about:
> - edible uses, culture, other uses (ie. cover crop, forage) 

Here is what the "Plants for a Future" plant database has to say about it ...

Latin name: Chenopodium album
Botanical references: 17
Family: Chenopodiaceae
Common name: Fat hen
Habit: Annual
Deciduous/Evergreen:
Height:            0.9
Width:            0.2
Hardyness:
Range: Britain.
Habitat: A common weed of cultivated g
Soil: LMH
Shade: N
Moisture: M
Well-drained: 0
Nitrogen fixer: 0
pH: ANB
Acid: 0
Alkaline: 0
Saline: 0
Wind:
Growth rate:
Pollution:
Poor soil: 0
Drought: 0
Wildlife: 0
Woodland: 0
Meadow: 0
Wall: 0
In leaf:
Flowering time: 7 - 10
Seed ripens: 8 - 10
Flower Type: H
Pollinators: Wind
Self-fertile:
Known hazards: The leaves and seeds of all 
               members of this genus are 
               more or less edible. 
               However, many of the species 
               in this genus contain 
               saponins, though usually in 
               quantities too small to do 
               any harm. Although toxic, 
               saponins are poorly absorbed 
               by the body and most pass 
               straight through without any 
               problem. They are also 
               broken down to a large 
               extent in the cooking 
               process. Saponins are found 
               in many foods, such as some 
               beans. The plants also 
               contain some oxalic acid, 
               which in large quantities 
               can lock up some of the 
               nutrients in the food, but 
               they are very nutritious 
               vegetables in reasonable 
               quantities.  There is also a 
               report that very large 
               quantities of the leaves 
               have caused photosensitivity 
               in some people[74]. Only the 
               raw leaves can cause 
               problems, and then only if 
               large quantities are 
               consumed[172].

Synonyms: C. reticulatum.

Cultivation details: Succeeds on most soils, but 
                     dislikes shade[1, 200].  
                     Prefers a moderately fertile 
                     soil[200].
                     In moderate amounts this 
                     plant is a good companion 
                     for potatoes, corn and 
                     cucurbits[20, 54]. 
                     Responds directly to the Mg 
                     content of the soil so it 
                     can be used as an 
                     indicator[114]. 
                     Occassionally cultivated as 
                     a food crop,[46] there is at 
                     least one named 
                     variety[183]. Called 
                     'Magenta' in reference to 
                     the colour of its leaves, it 
                     is considered by some people 
                     to be the best tasting of 
                     all potherbs[183].

Edible uses: Leaves - raw or cooked[2, 4, 
             5, 9, 12, 20, 54, 62, 102]. 
             A very acceptable spinach 
             substitute[183]. The leaves 
             are best not eaten raw, see 
             notes at the top of the 
             page[74]. The leaves are 
             generally very nutritious 
             but very large quantities 
             can disturb the nervous 
             system and cause gastric 
             pain[74]. The leaves contain 
             about 3.9% protein, 0.76% 
             fat, 8.93% carbohydrate, 3% 
             ash[179].
             Edible seed - dried and 
             ground into a meal and eaten 
             raw or baked into a 
             bread[[2, 4, 12, 14, 54, 
             102, 183]. The seed can also 
             be sprouted and added to 
             salads[183]. The seed is 
             very fiddly to harvest and 
             use due to its small 
             size[9]. The seed should be 
             soaked in water overnight 
             and thoroughly rinsed before 
             it is used in order to 
             remove any saponins. Seeds 
             contain about 49% 
             carbohydrate, 16% protein, 
             7% ash, 5.88% ash[114, 179].
             Young inflorescences - 
             cooked[183].
Medicinal: Antiphlogistic, 
           antirheumatic, 
           odontalgic[172].

Uses notes:  A green dye is obtained 
             from the young shoots[99].
             The crushed fresh roots are 
             a mild soap substitute[106].

Propagation 1: Seed - sow spring in situ. 
               Usually self-sows freely in 
               most soils.

Cultivars: -
Heavy clay: 0
Last update:16/12/93
Record checked: -

-- 
Nikki Locke,Trumphurst Ltd.(PC & Unix consultancy) nikki@trmphrst.demon.co.uk
trmphrst.demon.co.uk is NOT affiliated with ANY other sites at demon.co.uk.

From Nicole_Okun@mindlink.bc.caTue Apr 18 13:31:50 1995
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 94 20:34:44 -0700
From: Nicole Okun <Nicole_Okun@mindlink.bc.ca>
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Re: Lye Soap

In article <__682kn@dixie.com>, jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond) writes:
>
> Msg-ID: <__682kn@dixie.com>
> Posted: Mon, 08 Aug 94 02:10:48 GMT
>
> Org.  : Dixie Communications Public Access. The Mouth of the South.
>
> Anyone have a good recipe/procedure for making lye soap?
>
> John
>
> --
> John De Armond, WD4OQC, Marietta, GA    jgd@dixie.com
> Performance Engineering Mag. Unsolicited email published at my sole
> discretion
> --
> The government has 3 new savings bonds:  The Steffie bond with no
> maturity,
> the Gore bond with no interest and the Clinton bond with no principle.


Here is a recipe for single bars of soap, so you can experiment with
different scents or added ingredients and not end up with forty pounds of
hateful stuff.



1/2 C cold soft water
2 heaping Tbsp commercial lye
1 C melted beef tallow

Slowly add the lye to the water, then bring both lye solution and tallow to
about body temperature.  Combine the two in a glass bowl and mix slowly and
steadily with an eggbeater until the consistency is that of sour cream.
Pour mixture into mold and cover with a blanket or cardboard.  After 24
hours,remove from the mold and let it age in open air for two to four weeks
before using.


I don't remember where this recipe came from (I wrote it into my recipe
book) and I have never tried it, but I do have methods and recipes for
making lye, rendering fat, and specialty soaps like grease remover,
vegetable soap (no animal fat), scented soaps, etc.  Let me know if you're
interested!

-- Nicole


From Nicole_Okun@mindlink.bc.caTue Apr 18 13:32:01 1995
Date: Mon, 15 Aug 94 20:37:13 -0700
From: Nicole Okun <Nicole_Okun@mindlink.bc.ca>
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Soap Recipes (finally!)

Well, several people have requested the soap recipes I alluded to in an
earlier post, so here they are.


Once again, my disclaimer: I haven't actually tried these myself.



A few notes to start:

1.  Use soft water (add borax to hard water, or collect rain water)

2.  Line molds with plastic or grease them with Vaseline

3.  Keep some vinegar handy in case you splash lye on yourself (it will
neutralize the lye)



The Ingredients


Castile Soap

1 lb 9 oz olive oil
3 lb 10 oz tallow
10 1/2 oz lye
2 pt water



Avocado Soap - same as above, but substitute 6 oz of avocado oil for 6 oz
of olive oil (this would be incredibly expensive in my part of the world!)



Coconut & Olive Oil Soap

1 lb 7 oz olive oil
1 lb 7 oz coconut oil
1 lb 7 oz tallow
11 1/2 oz lye
2 pt water



Standard Soap

13 oz lye
2 1/2 pt water
3 lb tallow
3 lb lard



Cold Cream Soap

Mix 2 oz of cold cream into standard soap just before pouring into molds



Lanolin Soap

Add 2 oz liquid anhydrous lanolin into the standard recipe before molding



Milk & Honey Soap

Mix 1 oz powdered milk, 1 oz honey into soap while still liquid



Rose Water Soap

Substitute 4 oz of rosewater for plain water when mixing the lye




The Method


Pour cold water into a non-metallic pot, then add the lye slowly while
stirring with a wooden spoon.  The reaction between the lye and water will
heat it almost to boiling.  Let it cool to room temperature.

Bring both the lye solution and the fat to 95 - 98F in separate pots.

Stir the fat, then add the lye solution in a steady stream while stirring.

The mixture will turn opaque and brownish, then lighten.  The consistency
should be like sour cream.

If the mixture separates, it can usually be reclaimed by slowly heating it
to 140F and stirring gently all the while.  Remove from heat and stir until
it turns into soap.

The soap is ready to mold if you let a few drops of it fall on the surface
of the mixture and they are supported for a moment or two before sinking
into the soap.

Add any scents, colours, extra ingredients now, then pour into prepared
molds.

Cover molds with cardboard and leave in a warm place.

After 24 hours, unmold the soap and leave it uncovered for two to four
weeks to age.




Scents


Cinnamon

6 tsp oil of cinnamon
1/2 tsp oil of bergamot
1/2 tsp oil of sassafras


Savon au Bouquet

4 1/2 tsp oil of bergamot
1/4 tsp oil of clove
1/2 tsp oil of thyme
1/2 tsp oil of sassafras
1/2 tsp oil of neroli




Grease Removing Soap

Mix 1 oz of almond meal, oatmeal or cornmeal to the castile soap recipe
before molding.




Vegetable Soap

2 lb 10 oz oilive oil
1 lb 7 oz Crisco
2 pt water
1 lb coconut oil
10 1/4 oz lye





OK, now everybody run off and make soap and let me know how it turns out!


-- Nicole


From maynard@oregon.uoregon.eduTue Apr 18 13:32:20 1995
Date: 19 Feb 1995 10:52:14 GMT
From: Tom Maynard <maynard@oregon.uoregon.edu>
Newsgroups: sci.bio, sci.misc
Subject: Re: Does soap need time to "work"?

Ed Zotti <ezotti@merle.acns.nwu.edu> writes:

>One more stupid question and then I'm through.

Yeah, sure.  We believe you, Ed...

>There's no instructions on soap, and I don't know who else I can ask. 
>Does soap need time to work?"

As a proud member of the "teeming millions" you (or Cecil) speak of in
such derogatory tones, I feel it is my duty to muddy the water with
another question:

What do you want the soap to do?

If you are using the soap as a *disinfectant*, the contact time is very,
very important.  Although normal soap would make a crappy disinfectant,
it would probably have some disinfectant qualities, and the effectiveness
would be directly proportional to the contact time.  Disinfectant soaps
(such as the antibacterial liquid soaps) often do have instructions which
recommend a minimum contact time.

If you are using it just to get the grime and film off your body, I suspect
that time is not as important.  Not that time doesn't matter at all: the
mixing of detergent and grease would be limited by diffusion, after all,
but the time needed for the soap which you are scrubbing on your body to
diffuse through a very thin layer of hydrophobic grease and grime should
be very short.  Unless, of course, you've been bathing in the tar pits
prior to shower time.  (Scrubbing, of course, is an effective way to speed 
up the diffusion rate)

If you are using the soap for some bizarre deviant purposes, you can
devise your own experiments, Ed.

And, since this is posted to sci.bio, if you're using detergents to
permeabilize a sample for immunohistochemistry or in-situ hybridization,
time is very important, as the rate of diffusion into and out of the
sample is a very important consideration.  Others should be consulted
about detergent uses in protein purification/analysis (such as SDS-PAGE)
or other extraction protocols.


>Let us avert our thoughts from the bizarre home life this young woman 
>has surely had. Let us also disregard the possibility that she is 
>putting us on. Is there anything to what her Daddy says? We're not
>talking about some sort of enzymatic reaction here. I always thought 
>business about the hydrophilic end of the soap molecule sticking to 
>the water molecules and the hydrophobic end sticking to the dirty was
>a pretty straightforward chemical proposition that might be 
>accelerated by scrubbing but didn't otherwise need time to do its
>stuff. Was I wrong and is Daddy right? 

Unless she's using that new Pancreatic Extract Soap, there shouldn't be
any enzymes involved.  But, as a (cough) Man of Science (cough), Ed,
you should know that chemical reactions aren't instantaneous.  They
may be measured in picoseconds instead of years, but they aren't
instantaneous.  In this case, the limiting factor should be diffusion,
which is pretty fast over short distances.


>For a newspaper column, as if you couldn't guess. -Ed 

Give my regards to Cecil.

--Tom Maynard (maynard@oregon.uoregon.edu)
    "We were poor, but we didn't know we were poor...
        We thought we were starving to death!"
       

From Nicole_Okun@mindlink.bc.ca Wed Aug 17 23:09:37 EDT 1994
Article: 11113 of misc.rural
Path: bigblue.oit.unc.edu!concert!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!deep.rsoft.bc.ca!mindlink.bc.ca!a9930
From: Nicole_Okun@mindlink.bc.ca (Nicole Okun)
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Re: Lye Soap
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 94 20:34:44 -0700
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Lines: 47
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <51222@mindlink.bc.ca>
NNTP-Posting-Host: mindlink.bc.ca

In article <__682kn@dixie.com>, jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond) writes:
>
> Msg-ID: <__682kn@dixie.com>
> Posted: Mon, 08 Aug 94 02:10:48 GMT
>
> Org.  : Dixie Communications Public Access. The Mouth of the South.
>
> Anyone have a good recipe/procedure for making lye soap?
>
> John
>
> --
> John De Armond, WD4OQC, Marietta, GA    jgd@dixie.com
> Performance Engineering Mag. Unsolicited email published at my sole
> discretion
> --
> The government has 3 new savings bonds:  The Steffie bond with no
> maturity,
> the Gore bond with no interest and the Clinton bond with no principle.


Here is a recipe for single bars of soap, so you can experiment with
different scents or added ingredients and not end up with forty pounds of
hateful stuff.



1/2 C cold soft water
2 heaping Tbsp commercial lye
1 C melted beef tallow

Slowly add the lye to the water, then bring both lye solution and tallow to
about body temperature.  Combine the two in a glass bowl and mix slowly and
steadily with an eggbeater until the consistency is that of sour cream.
Pour mixture into mold and cover with a blanket or cardboard.  After 24
hours,remove from the mold and let it age in open air for two to four weeks
before using.


I don't remember where this recipe came from (I wrote it into my recipe
book) and I have never tried it, but I do have methods and recipes for
making lye, rendering fat, and specialty soaps like grease remover,
vegetable soap (no animal fat), scented soaps, etc.  Let me know if you're
interested!

-- Nicole
