# GM soap making questions



## baileybunch (Oct 26, 2007)

Okay. I've read through suppliers sticky and printed all the recipes and read through them twice. Been to a soap making class and made non-GM soap on my own. 

Questions
What size mold (if you don't have "Martha Molds") do you need for the WalMart Recipe? Are soap recipes measure in pounds like cheese? 

When using goat's milk do you use all goat's milk or part milk/part water? Do you use frozen milk? How do you mix lye and milk? Same as with water? 

I want to use goat's milk but I haven't read any information on how to incorporate it into recipes. Or if it is in the recipe how to use it.

Also, my soap class recipe has me using a thermometer but I notice most of the recipes here and some from books don't use list temperatures. Can anyone clarify?

Also, who is the best supplier for scents (EOs)? And other soap making supplies. Especially fats and butters.

Ah, one more! A good soap making recipe book! I have read "Everything Soapmaking" which is what my soap making instructor had. Any others? Specifically goat milk types. I am also interested in making other GM products. I read about those books that weren't so good. They were on my wishlist too! Bummer.


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

I think most recipes refer to the total weight of the oils. I have never made a full WalMart recipe as it is something like 7 lbs isn't it? When I started out I prefered making smaller batches than that. You can scale the recipe down making sure to run it through a lye calculator for your lye amount.

GM can be substituted as some or all of the water portion of your soap recipe. When I use 100% goat milk I use frozen cubes. Weigh the cubes into a large plastic pitcher then sprinkle the lye over and stir until the milk is all thawed. When I am only using partial GM then I will mix 50/50 water/lye and add GM after that has been added and stirred into my oils.

I have never used a thermometer. I simply wait for everything to come to room temp or just very, very slightly warm. I feel the outside of the bowl or pitcher to test. LOL

I get my oils & butters from columbus foods. EOs and FOs from various places. I think everything you need to know can be found on-line as opposed to buying a book. Some books you just aren't sure about. Check the millersoap website....lots of info and recipes. And ask here.


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## sunnygrl_ks (Oct 30, 2007)

baileybunch said:


> Okay. I've read through suppliers sticky and printed all the recipes and read through them twice. Been to a soap making class and made non-GM soap on my own.
> 
> Questions
> What size mold (if you don't have "Martha Molds") do you need for the WalMart Recipe? Are soap recipes measure in pounds like cheese? If you don't know how much soap your mold holds you should figure it, so when it is time to pour you will know what to expect. Here is the formula for figuring mold size ..... length x width x depth x .4 = amount of oz it will hold
> ...


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## kidsngarden (Oct 28, 2007)

www.soapmakingessentialoils.com for good EO's on a presell basis.
www.brambleberry.com
www.aromahaven.com for FO's - but some are great some not.
www.the-sage.com

I too have never found a book as great as a forum. I like this one of course, but second to this is www.craftserver.com

I make masterbatches of lye solution and oils so they are always room temp which I think is the best temp to soap with GM (or just to make soap by my view). I do not use a thermometer for soaping - never have.


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2008)

Just like everyone else said, as far as temps I never take them and I never even feel the side of the pots, once my oils are soft or melted and lye is mixed, i just pour together and mix with stick blender.. soap within minutes usually with a stick blender... Now if I had to stir by hand i might take temps as it would be harder to force the molecules together... 
Barbara


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## baileybunch (Oct 26, 2007)

Stick blender... I have to tell you when making my first batch of soap at home I was so cautious and was so careful and going slowly and then put the stick blender in but accidentally hit the on button and scared myself to death! I screamed and my daughter came running. No harm, just scared me because I wasn't expecting it!  Thanks for the info!


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Weigh your mold, put water into it at the level you want your soap bars and now weigh you mold again...that is the weight of you soap batch. Vicki


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## baileybunch (Oct 26, 2007)

I know my wooden mold holds the recipe from my soap making class. How do I figure the weight of a recipe though? Add up everything? I have several, like a one pound and seven pound (WalMart) and the one for my mold of which I don't know the weight. 

What I wanted to know was what size mold is needed for the Wal Mart recipe since I don't have "Martha" molds. That was all.


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## kidsngarden (Oct 28, 2007)

Vicki's method would require adding up the weights of every ingredient in the soap, water, GM oils, lye, etc.

If the walmart recipe is 7 pounds of oils, then you would need a soap mold for seven pounds of oils only, which how do you figure that? To me it's easier to make the mold and adjust the recipe to fit.

I prefer soapcalc for my recipe calculations, but if I'm using a new mold I like www.summerbeemeadow.com for thier recipe resizer feature


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

A box 15 and 1/2 inches long...11 and 1/2 inches wide and at least 2 inches deep  That will hold all the soap in the recipe. Vicki


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## baileybunch (Oct 26, 2007)

Thank you! I think my mold box is about that size.


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