Teach Soap

I've been playing around with different recipes for a while...

I started with just plain 'ol castille soap and people wanted more suds. So I added some castor oil. Then, people asked for Shea butter...so I added that...then I added coconut oil....and cocoa butter....I sat down and figured out that between all of my oils (including essentials) that it's costing me around $2.50 per bar to make--which does not include my time or labor...and I am soooo terrible at math...that the first couple times I made soap I messed up with the addition of ounces of oils and then I had forgot to subtract the weight of the container when I was weighing stuff.

I'm looking for something very basic...a little bit cheaper and a little more forgiving, I guess? I don't work with FO's very much because I've had bad luck with them and I prefer to be more natural and work with essential oils.

So I guess my point/question is--what recipe do you use?

Why?

How's the feedback you've received on it?

My favorite recipes are olive, coconut, and avocado and then just coconut and avocado. Both make nice hard bars with tons of lather.

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Haven

I will always have castor oil, olive oil and cocoa butter in my batches. The others vary. Without any other additive my cost for 5 ounces is about 74 cents. Now with my other additives I think I would be near 1.70 for 5 oz. I am wondering if a good amount of your cost is the essential oil? I use mostly fragrance oils.
I use my soaps as gifts to family and close friends... so I take on all of the costs myself. But if I was to say bake a scrumptious dessert or a meal the cost can be more than that bar of soap.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Thank you guys!

Yes, I use mostly EO's and all organic ingredients--so that drives my costs up quite a bit. I'm thinking about doing smaller batches from here on out...I just did a 9lb batch this week and I almost ruined it...LOL So I'm going to steer clear of FO's for a while and stick to the EO's. They seem to be more forgiving (so far)...

I love Lard! will use it in almost every batch.

Where are you buying your ingredients? If you are buying at the grocery store or health food store vs from a supplier like Brambleberry, that will definitely drive up costs.

Also, if you have some cheap filler oils, that can cut down the cost. Some soy or canola. Rice bran oil is not quite as cheap as soy or canola, but it is cheaper than olive.

[quote="dixiedragon"]Where are you buying your ingredients?.[/quoteI buy all my oils from wholesale supplies plus just because I get larger amounts and shipping is usually a pain (especially from BB cause I live on the east coast) and WSP has free shipping and on all orders they round up the cost to the nearest dollar and the change goes to an autism awarness charity (my older brother has autism)

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Anna Rose @-}--
blog

If you are ordering in large quantities, try Columbus Foods. For example, 10 lbs of organic cocoa butter is $51.60. 10 lbs of cocoa butter (doesn't say it's organice) from WSP is $72.58. Columbus foods doesn't have free shipping, but their shipping rates are very good, especially if you bite the bullet and place a large order. For me, 10 lbs of cocoa butter costs only $7 to ship.

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Anna Rose @-}--
blog

Lard is a wonderful and cheap fat. Lard and Tallow bars as wonderful and cheap as well. If you check out the comparative information between cocoa butter and shea butter lard rates extremely similar in all values. I have been playing with gradually introducing lard with every batch I make (Xmas pressies and just a keen newbie learning ). The last 2 batches I made were 90% lard and 10% castor and the other one 100% lard with honey or sugar for suds. I have also been adding teas/clay/milk/oats/beer/yoghurt/stearic acid etc(not all in the same batch though). I also like the addition of rice bran oil for a sheen.
The lard bars are lush, nourishing and are the best carrier of EO or nutrients for your skin.
Only down side for me so far is a mild residual lard smell but I am hoping that in a few weeks that will go. I forgot to add the FO . So I suggest one uses even a little FO to each batch and you shall have a lush soap.
My advice is go small batches and don't be put off by the price tag( cheap ingredient I mean) and check out the refrigerated section of the grocery store as well as the oil dept. I get OO on sale at Woolies every now and then too.
Hugs Liz