Quote from Forum Archives on July 11, 2001, 4:12 pm

Posted by: Goatsnsoaps <Goatsnsoaps@...>

HI MaryLynn! Soap is very easy to make. You can use simple ingredients such
as oil oil and crisco, lard, tallow, sunflower, canola... to more expensive,
harder to get oils like palm, coconut, sweet almond etc... The first recipe
i used was from Lisa on this list, very good and simple

Start with 1/2 cup of warm water in a canning jar, and add 1/4 cup plus 2 tsp
lye, (red devil drain cleaner is what I use) stir until its almost clear and
let it cool a bit. Be very careful not to splash it on yourself. And always
add the lye to the water, not the other way around.

IN a blender (I don't have a blender, so I use a wire wisk or a stick
blender) mix 2 cups of oil (in any combination) with 1/4 cup goats milk.
slowly add lye mixture and blend until it traces or thickens a bit. pour
into molds and let sit for 24hrs, then cure for 3 weeks.

In this recipe you can add fragrance, aloe, vit e, coffee grounds, ground
oatmeal, honey... just about anything you want. If you don't have goats
milk, I imagine you could add whole cows milk or up the water but I'm not
positive.

I started making soap over a year ago, its very addicting and I've expanded
into making bath salts, bombs, massage/bath oils, lotion bars, lip balms, and
soon lotions. We have not bought soap in over a year, neither has anyone in
our families. Homemade soap is so much better than storebought. I have
played around with many different recipes, adding all kinds of different
oils. This is a small enough batch that you can make using different
combinations of oils. Coconut oil ( I first got mine at a health food store,
but its very expensive, buying off line is much cheaper, but the shipping
will be high if you only buy small amounts) makes a lot of lather, as does
palm oil, olive oil makes castile soap that is a harder bar but will be
brittle if you don't add other oils, crisco makes a soft bar that doesn't
lather very well and feels kinda slimy, sunflower, canola, corn oils make
softer bars too, but can be added with other oils, adding cocoa butter will
make the soap harder and really creamy plus its good for your skin, . Anyone
who likes herbs can add lavender, mint, sage, basil, just about any herbs you
want. The possibilites are endless. Marylynn when you have a free day, come
over and we'll make soap!

Jodi