General Notes On Soapmaking
(Page 3 of 5)
January/February 1972
By the Mother Earth News editors
Your druggist can supply or secure coloring ingredients for you, but never use perfumes or colors containing alcohol, as they will fade and may cause separation. (Ed.Note: The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture recommends small amounts of the following dyes each dissolved in about two tablespoons of water; Flourescein for yellow, Napthol Green for green and Rhodamine for red. Dye solution should be mixed with the soap just before it's poured into the molds.)
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All soap readily absorbs odors and can be inexpensively perfumed by being placed with a favorite flower or other source of perfume. With perfume and coloring from the horns garden, luxurious toilet soaps can be made at very low cost.
For example, a tea made with the leaves of rose geranium exudes a delightful perfume and may be colored by adding the extract of blossoms of pink roses or tulips. A green color can be obtained by pounding the tops of beets and extracting a few drops of the juice to add to the water.
Borax quickens the sudsing action of soap. Two tablespoons dissolved in the lye solution (for each can of lye) during cooling is sufficient.
It's an easy matter to make fine soap flakes and chips with lye soap. Rub three-day-old soap over a soap chipper or vegetable shredder and stir occasionally as it dries. To make powder, first flake or chip the soap and dry in a warm oven (150° F). When the flakes are thoroughly dry, pulverize them.
OTHER SOAP RECIPES
TALLOW SOAP: All-tallow soap is often referred to as "saddle soap" because it is so valuable as a cleaner and preserver of leather. Substitution of lard, coconut or olive oil for one pound of tallow will improve its lathering properties. Ingredients: one can of lye, 2-3/4 pints water, 6 pounds of mutton or beef tallow. Temperature: lye solution 90° F, fat 130° F.
COCONUT OIL SOAP: This soap gives a very profuse but thin lather . . . to thicken it, substitute tallow or lard for part of the coconut oil. Ingredients: one can of lye, 2-1/2 pints water, 4-1/2 pounds coconut oil. Temperature: lye solution 70° F, oil 110° F.
GLYCERINE SOAP: To make glycerine soap, add about 6 ounces of glycerine to any soap shortly after the lye solution has been poured in.
IMITATION CASTILE SOAP: A very high-grade soap which is, in many respects, superior to castile soap. Ingredients: one can of lye, 2 pints of water, 24 ounces olive oil, 38 ounces good grade tallow, 24 ounces coconut oil. Temperature: lye solution 90° F, fats 90° F.
COTTONSEED OIL SOAP: Saponification (uniting of lye and oil) is difficult in making this soap. The lye should be added in small portions and completely absorbed before more is put in. The resulting product will be a rather soft soap. For harder soap, substitute tallow for part of the cottonseed oil.
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