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 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 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 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 Newsgroups: sci.bio, sci.misc Subject: Re: Does soap need time to "work"? Ed Zotti 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