# How to Blend oils and butters?



## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

Yes, I know about the Walmart recipe BUT from there where do you go or how do you go about...
How do you know which butters and oils to mix, blend, or adjust to make that perfect recipe? And how do you know which ones to change for that great bar of soap you know you're going to make? And is there one recipe that you use primarily for most of your bars or is each soap variety a different recipe? Does it have to do with the cost of ingredients or availablilty of an oil or butter? What determines your choices? 
I'm beginning to feel like I should've been a chemist with all the choices of mixing this with that to get this...so confusing with the inevitable learning curve. lol Linda


----------



## Lynn_Theesfeld (Feb 21, 2010)

This is where the wonder tool of soap cal comes in. It gives you percentages of what this or that oil will add to your soap. You really just need to play with it and write everything down. I have tweaked down to 1 main recipe that I add this or that to to give it something extra. 

As for determining my choices I have played with the soaps I have made several different recipes from books,online and from concocting my own. I know I want a bar that will actually last, lather and wash away clean. The first rule I think in soap making is to make yourself happy I mean you will be using it the most  

As for cost it all goes along with it. Try to make something that is affordable and sellable, it doesn't make sense if you don't make a profit


----------



## Greylady (Mar 28, 2012)

:yeahthat Good reply, Lynn! I have one recipe I work with I like the best of three I came up with. Took some trial and error. I will probably still test other ideas I have. Always learning something new. That is the fun of it!


----------



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Yes, nice reply, Lynn.

Linda, take the data in the WM recipe. Do you love that formula? If so, sub-out/sub-in different oils and butters and percentages, still trying to keep a similar profile to the WM recipe. It's work, but it does help.

I have three basic formulas (one being lard so I needed at least one non-lard formula). I like them all for different reasons. I like what Lynn said, YOU have to like them. Also, send a bar or a sample to a long-time soaper. They'll give you valuable feedback.


----------



## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I've tried a lot of different recipes in trying to find that perfect one for me. I want a hard bar, one that lathers well, doesn't dry the skin, etc. I also want a bar that has a good profit margin, and that hopefully I can get many of the ingredients locally for. I have found that I can buy all of my liquid oils for my basic recipe at Sams club for the same price or even a little cheaper than soapers choice. I still buy coconut oil from soapers choice. They have regular olive oil for almost the same price as the pomace from SC, without the green. They also sell big boxes of canola, soy, veggie etc. These oils are inexpensive and I try to base my recipes around them, adding in smaller amounts of more expensive oils/butters to create the final product.


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

My Sam's can't beat the price of my local walmart, for soybean oil, and it's in smaller easier to handle gallons. Since the soap I make for Christmas bags is from soap class, I sub soybean oil for sunflower/olive/safflower in the recipes. Vicki


----------



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Vicki McGaugh Tx Nubians said:


> My Sam's can't beat the price of my local walmart, for soybean oil, and it's in smaller easier to handle gallons. Since the soap I make for Christmas bags is from soap class, I sub soybean oil for sunflower/olive/safflower in the recipes. Vicki


Do you list ingredients on your label? I know it's not required, but just asking. I would think maybe soybean oil would have no appeal.


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

My Christmas bars are wrapped in wire ribbon, and given in Christmas gift bags, we do about 2,000 of them now...no way am I spending money on labeling, I do on the lotion and body butter than goes in the bags with them. This gives me an outlet for all the classroom soap I make. It is not the soap I wholesale. Vicki


----------



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Ah, gotcha.


----------



## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

> I would think maybe soybean oil would have no appeal.


Cindy, you would think. But one of the other soapers at my market uses soybean oil as her first ingredient in her soaps, right there on the label, and she generally has no problems selling them. (They are pretty, with nice swirls and marketed attractively, so I'm sure that helps, too.)


----------

