Lavender & Chamomile Soap

This is the last of Deb Schmittel's lavender flowers from her garden.  I also finished up the olive oil that was infused with Deb's Russian Sage.  The addition of the chamomile flowers just makes this a wonderful remembrance of last summer's flower garden.  This soap set up well and is a beautiful creamy color in the mold.  I poured the extra into the rabbit molds so there are also 6 bunnies in this batch!

18 oz.  Olive Oil (some infused with Russian Sage!)
18 oz.  Coconut Oil
18 oz.  Palm Oil
6.3 oz. Castor Oil
3.8 oz. Safflower Oil

24 oz.  Water
  9 oz.  Sodium Hydroxide

 2 oz. Lavender Essential Oil
  .5 oz. Vitamin E Oil
1/4 C. Dried Lavender Flowers
1/4 C. Dried Chamomile Flowers

Honey Oatmeal Goat Milk Soap

My notes on this recipe indicate that I started making this one in May of 2000.  It's called Rhonda's Goat Milk Recipe and the comments say that it "works every time!"  I believe it.  I've never had this one NOT turn out great.  Now that I have a big pot, I made the full version instead of the half recipe and I also added a new scent.  With the combination of honey, cinnamon and apples with the oatmeal, it smells like breakfast!

42 oz. Olive Oil
28 oz. Coconut Oil
18 oz. Palm Oil

12.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide
33 oz. Goat Milk

1 C. Ground Oatmeal
4 Tbsp. Honey
1 Tbsp. Cinnamon
Vitamin E Oil
Apple Jack Fragrance Oil Blend (from Brambleberry)

Hops & Honey Beer Soap

I wanted to experiment with adding real hops to my soap so I used some Coors Light for this project.  I added dried, ground hops and honey with the Spicy Citrus essential oil blend.  For added interest, I lined the mold with bubble wrap, giving the exterior of the soap a "honeycomb" appearance.  It's awesome!

17.5 oz Coors Light Beer
5.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

17.5 oz. Olive Oil
12.5 oz. Palm Oil
10 oz. Coconut Oil

Honey
Hops
Vitamin E Oil
Essential Oil (Lemon, Lime, Ginger)

Comfrey & Tea Tree Loofah - 6 lbs.

I got a new pot for Christmas!  Now I can make larger batches of soap.  So tonight I'm making my popular Loofah soap.  I'm using the recipe I call my "butter blend" because of the cocoa butter and shea butter ingredients.  I'm adding ground comfrey leaves for a minty green natural colorant along with an essential oil blend that includes tea tree for it's anti-bacterial property.

27 oz. Olive Oil
27 oz. Palm Oil
27 oz. Coconut Oil
7.5 oz. Castor Oil
4.8 oz. Safflower Oil
1.8 oz. Shea Butter
.9 oz. Cocoa Butter

36 oz. Water
13.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

Comfrey Leaves (dried and powdered)
Vitamin E Oil
Essential Oils (tea tree, fir needle, lavender)

Mad Elf & JavaHead Soaps

Wow!  The soap is really selling at Troegs Brewery.  Made two more batches since Christmas just trying to keep up.  Mad Elf - 4 pounds - 3" rounds.  JavaHead - 3 pounds - rectangle mold.  I need to buy more beer!

Kitchen Coffee Soap

I made another batch of this popular soap.  Three pounds filled the wood mold and nearly filled one of the 2" PVC pipes.  I used the sample bottle of Christmas Spice from Brambleberry and enhanced it with Fir Needle.

Setting the timer for 30 minutes was perfect to come back and add a swirl to the surface.

Great soap.

Epiphany Soap

I ordered a sample kit of essential and fragrance oils that reflect the Christmas season.  I've been using them in small batches of soap or in combination with other oils.  However, I've been anxious to use the Frankincense & Myrrh oils and finally made that soap today.  This formula uses both cocoa butter and shea butter for a rich, luxurious soap that seems to pair well with the essential oils that were brought by the Wise Men.


 9 oz.  Olive Oil
  9 oz.  Coconut Oil
  9 oz.  Palm Oil
2.6 oz. Castor Oil
1.6 oz. Safflower Oil
  .6 oz. Shea Butter
  .3 oz. Cocoa Butter

12 oz.  Water
4.5 oz.  Sodium Hydroxide

  1 oz.  Essential Oil (Frankincense and Myrrh)
   .5 oz. Vitamin E Oil

Peppermint Tea Soap

Triple Peppermint!  Starting with Peppermint Tea, I added peppermint essential oil for fragrance and also real peppermint leaves as an additive for this festive holiday soap.  I used the soap calculator to make a 3 pound formula for my wooden loaf mold.  Smells like a candy cane!

13.4 oz Olive Oil (infused with peppermint) (28%)
13.4 oz. Palm Oil (28%)
13.4 oz. Coconut Oil (28%)
4.3 oz. Castor Oil (9%)
2.0 oz. Safflower Oil (4%)
1.0 oz. Cocoa Butter (2%)
0.5 oz. Shea Butter (1%)

18.2 oz. Peppermint Tea
6.8 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1.5 oz. Peppermint Essential Oil
1/4 C. Peppermint Leaves

Mad Elf & JavaHead Soaps

Tröegs is selling my soaps faster than I can make them!  I dropped off 50 bars on Friday afternoon so I made more Mad Elf and JavaHead today.  It's working out well to make 4 pounds of Mad Elf and 3 pound of JavaHead.  That's the quantity that fits well into the molds that I use.

Same formula!  Of course, now I'm nearly out of Palm Oil and Coconut Oil so I might need to run to Lancaster County for oils this week.

Holiday Goat Milk Soap

The Arts Barn in Schuylkill County is interested in my soaps!  I'm taking 30 bars there tomorrow.  I sold 20 today and have already sold 160 to Troegs.  This little project is working quite well.  Time to make more of my basic goat milk recipe.  I've added a holiday twist!


Goat Milk Soap

25 oz. Olive Oil
25 oz. Palm Oil
20 oz. Coconut Oil
5 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
5 oz. Avocado Oil


35 oz. Goat Milk
11 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

2 T. Essential Oil (Pine Needle)
1 T. Vitamin E Oil

Samuel Adams Beer Soap

Sam Adams East West Kolsh is what's on tap so that's today's beer soap base.  Using the popular Pumpkin Ale Soap recipe, I have full sized bars in the mold with just enough time to have them ready as Christmas gifts.


3 pound recipe.




18.2 oz. Sam Adams beer
 6.8 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

15.4 oz. Olive Oil
15.4 oz. Palm Oil
12.0 oz. Coconut Oil
 5.2 oz. Sweet Almond Oil

1.5 oz. Essential Oils (Spicy Blend: Allspice, Anise, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Orange, Cinnamon Leaf)
1/3 C. Spent Grain
2 Tbsp. Ground Cloves

Comfrey Loofah - 4 lbs.

Only three little chunks left of this popular soap so I'm doubling the recipe and making many more.  Tom says that the pieces are too small so I'm cutting the loofah into larger pieces and the price will now be $5.  I'm sure they'll sell quickly.

18 oz.  Olive Oil
18 oz.  Coconut Oil
18 oz.  Palm Oil
5.2 oz. Castor Oil
3.2 oz. Safflower Oil
1.2 oz. Shea Butter
 .6 oz. Cocoa Butter

24 oz.  Water
9 oz.  Sodium Hydroxide

2 oz.  Essential Oil (Fir Needle)
 .5 oz. Vitamin E Oil
1/3  C.  Dried Comfrey Leaves (ground finely)

JavaHead Soap - 3 pounds

The wood block mold that Tom made for me is designed to hold 3 pounds of soap that create nice rectangular bars.  Since JavaHead Soap will be one of my regular bars for Tröegs, I'm reformulating that recipe to also fit into the mold I'm using.


18.2 oz. JavaHead beer
 6.8 oz. Sodium Hydroxide


15.4 oz. Olive Oil
15.4 oz. Palm Oil
12.0 oz. Coconut Oil
 5.2 oz. Sweet Almond Oil


1.5 oz. Essential Oils (Spicy Blend: Allspice, Anise, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Orange)
1/4 C. Coffee Beans (finely ground)

Mad Elf - 4 pounds

My Mad Elf Soap is very popular this holiday season.  Tröegs is drawing large crowds to their new location in Hershey and the soap has become quite a popular gift item.  I've been making a 3 pound batch but have used the soap calculator to reformulate it for a 4 pound batch as that's what my mixing bowl can hold and also what my molds will hold.  However, we are nearing the end of Mad Elf season so these last few batches will be the end until next year!


24.3 oz. Tröegs Mad Elf Beer
 8.9 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

20.5 oz. Olive Oil
20.5 oz. Palm Oil
18.5 oz. Coconut Oil
 4.5 oz. Jojoba Oil


2 oz. Essential Oils (Christmas Forest blend)
1/2 C. Spent Grain

Comfrey Loofah Soap

The loofah idea is quite a hit.  I've decided to use the butter blend formula but add powdered comfrey from our garden.  What a lovely shade of minty green!


  9 oz.  Olive Oil
  9 oz.  Coconut Oil
  9 oz.  Palm Oil
2.6 oz. Castor Oil
1.6 oz. Safflower Oil
  .6 oz. Shea Butter
  .3 oz. Cocoa Butter

12 oz.  Water
4.5 oz.  Sodium Hydroxide

  1 oz.  Essential Oil (Tea Tree, Sweet Basil, Laurel Leaf, Peppermint, Rosemary, Ginger, Eucalyptus, Ravensara, Lemon)
   .5 oz. Vitamin E Oil
1/4  C.  Dried Comfrey Leaves (ground finely)

Lavender Butter Blend

Made with both shea butter and cocoa butter, this soap is full of lavender essential oil both with and without the lavender flowers.


18 oz.  Olive Oil
18 oz.  Coconut Oil
18 oz.  Palm Oil
5.1 oz. Castor Oil
3.2 oz. Safflower Oil
1.2 oz. Shea Butter
  .6 oz. Cocoa Butter

24 oz.  Water
  9 oz.  Sodium Hydroxide

  2 oz.  Lavender Essential Oil
   .5 oz. Vitamin E Oil
1/2  C.  Dried Lavender Flowers

Coffee Kitchen Soap

A good coffee soap is great to have in the kitchen.  It will take away the odors on your hands from working with onions or seafood.  This coffee soap is made with very strong black coffee by the College Coffee Roasters in Lancaster County.  It is a Castile soap and features a new fragrance I recently acquired:  Gingersnap!


28.8 oz. Olive Oil
9.6 oz. Palm Oil
9.6 oz. Coconut Oil
18.2 oz. Ethiopian Yrgacheffe coffee
6.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide
1 Tbsp. Essential Oils (Gingersnap)
Vitamin E Oil
Finely Ground Coffee Beans

Mad Elf & Trogenator

Today I'm making a batch of Mad Elf with spent grain and a lovely Christmas combination of essential oils in the round bars.  In addition, I'm making the Trogenator recipe with no additives but a full amount of the Forest essential oils.  This will go in the wooden mold that Tom made for rectangular bars.  The extra will go in the 2" PVC for sample bars.  The beer has been sitting in the refrigerator getting flat for two weeks. I'm falling into a rhythm now!

Custom Orders

I've received a few special requests so I'm making a batch of goat milk soap with lavender and pouring into several shapes to fill these orders.  Lavender certainly is the popular scent!

Sacred Heart Christmas Bazaar

I've never been a vendor at a craft bazaar before but Sharon Atland asked me to consider this for her church's holiday event.  It is this coming Saturday, November 19th from 9 AM - 3 PM in Hanover, PA.  If you know me well, you also know that my men's barbershop chorus has our annual dinner show on November 19th, too.  Yep, I'm going to do it all that day!  Hummelstown to Hanover to Lancaster and back.

I have 154 full-sized bars of various soaps ready to sell.  That includes goat milk soap, beer soap, wine soap, Castile soap, and some loofa soaps.  In addition, I have 133 sample bars of those same soaps that make great stocking stuffers.   This is my complete inventory, other than the three batches of soap curing for my next Troegs delivery.

I've been working on my display tables and it's coming along quite nicely.  This is very exciting and I am loving the idea that retirement in December will free me up to do even more with my soaps.  If I could get ahead of the demand, I could consider selling through a website.  At this point, I need time to get ahead of the demand.

I will be glad to sell these soaps (and more) to you for the holidays.  I'll let everyone know what is available after Saturday is over!

Restocking

Wow!  People are finding my soaps and the sales are really picking up.  I've made two more batches of goat milk soap with Lavender.

I also made another batch of Mad Elf for Tröegs.  In fact, I just delivered my third box of soap to them (30 bars in a box) so that's going quite well.

I need to make more lavender soap for the loofas and then even more lavender soap with the flowers added since I know that's quite popular.

Meanwhile, I need to have more beer soap ready for Tröegs as my soap is a popular item in their store.  JavaHead will be next with the coffee beans as an exfolient.  Tomorrow will be a busy one!

Lavender Loofah Soap

I've been wanting to try something new and purchased several loofahs to fill with soap.  They were quite compressed so I soaked them to return them to full volume.  I used the lavender recipe that I've used before but filling the holes in the loofah was trickier than I thought.  The loofahs were wrapped individually but the soap ran out a bit.  Interesting experiment.  I filled two of them and have several more to try so we'll see how this goes.

19.2 oz. Olive Oil  (60%)
6.7 oz. Coconut Oil  (21%)
5.1 oz. Palm Oil  (16%)
1.0 oz. Safflower Oils infused with Russian Sage  (3%)

12.1 oz. Water
4.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1 Tbsp. Lavender Essential Oil & Vitamin E Oil

Tröegs JavaHead Soap

I made this soap a few weeks ago and forgot to add it to the blog!!!

16 oz. Olive Oil
10 oz. Coconut Oil
 6 oz.  Palm Oil

12 oz.  JavaHead Beer
4.6 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1/2 C. ground coffee beans
1 oz. Essential Oils (Cedarwood, Juniper, Frankincense)


Yield:  9 bars of 3" Rounds, 4 square sample bars

Tröegs Mad Elf Soap

We stopped by the new Tröegs Brewery today for the opening at the Tasting Room.  It was awesome.  It was also really fun to see my soap for sale in their General Store!  What fun.  The gals told me that it's quite popular and to let them know when the Mad Elf Soap is ready.  I came home and quickly made another batch and will make a third batch when I get home from Indianapolis to keep it rolling in.


18.2 oz. Tröegs Mad Elf Beer
6.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

15.4 oz. Olive Oil
15.4 oz. Palm Oil
13.9 oz. Coconut Oil
3.3 oz. Jojoba Oil

Essential Oils ("Forest": Cedarwood, Juniper, Frankincense with "Ceremonial Blend": Sage, Sweet Grass, Cedar)
Spent Grain



It really smells like Christmas.

Lavender Soap

Lavender is more popular than I realized.  Looks like it's time to make more.

19.2 oz. Olive Oil  (60%)
6.7 oz. Coconut Oil  (21%)
5.1 oz. Palm Oil  (16%)
1.0 oz. Safflower Oils infused with Russian Sage  (3%)

12.1 oz. Water
4.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1/4 C. dried lavender flowers
1 Tbsp. Lavender Essential Oil

Two Buck Chuck Soap

28.8 oz (45%) Olive Oil
16 oz. (25%) Coconut Oil
16 oz. (25%) Palm Oil
3.2 oz. (5%) Grapeseed Oil

24.3 oz. Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon Wine
9 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1 Tbsp. Essential Oil (Lavender, Geranium, Rosewood, Ylang Ylang)

Tröegs Mad Elf Soap

Yes!  Soap made from Mad Elf.  I found a great Christmas blend of essential oils so that this soap will give you a complete holiday experience.  Watch for this one at the Tröegs Brewey Store in Hershey!

18.2 oz. Tröegs Mad Elf Beer
6.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

15.4 oz. Olive Oil
15.4 oz. Palm Oil
13.9 oz. Coconut Oil
3.3 oz. Jojoba Oil

Christmas Cheer Essential Oils
Spent Grain
Vitamin E Oil

Green Tea Castile Soap

This formula is quite popular.  This time, I used both green tea and chamomile tea and then added both lavender and tea tree essential oils.  I think folks are going to love it.  It's in rectangles as I used the new mold Tom built for me.




Green Tea Castile Soap

28.8 oz. Olive Oil
9.6 oz. Palm Oil
9.6 oz. Coconut Oil
18.2 oz. Bigelow Camomile Tea/Asian Gourmet Green Tea
6.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide
1 Tbsp. Essential Oils (Tea Tree, Lavender)
tea leaves and chamomile flowers

Beer Shampoo Bar

Adding body to your hair is enhanced with a beer shampoo.  Try this shampoo bar that has beer as the main ingredient!  It's for normal to oily hair.

20 oz.    Samuel Adams East West Kölsch Beer
6.6 oz.   Sodium Hydroxide

16.8 oz.  Coconut Oil
 8.6 oz.   Castor Oil
 8.6 oz.   Safflower Oil
 7.2 oz.   Palm Oil
 4.3 oz.   Jojoba Oil
 2.4 oz.   Cocoa Butter

1 1/2 Tbsp. Essential Oil Breathe Green Blend (Sweet Basil, Rosemary, Laurel Leaf, Peppermint, Ginger, Eucalyptus, Ravensara, Lemon)
1 tsp.   Vitamin E Oil

Shampoo Bar for Dark Hair (normal to oily)

I made Peppermint Tea as the foundation for this shampoo bar for dark hair.  The excitement for this project rested in the use of the new mold that Tom built for me!  It's awesome!  I will now have more consistency with the size and shape of the bars.




20 oz.    Peppermint Tea
6.6 oz.   Sodium Hydroxide

16.8 oz.  Coconut Oil
 8.6 oz.   Castor Oil
 8.6 oz.   Safflower Oil
 7.2 oz.   Palm Oil
 4.3 oz.   Jojoba Oil
 2.4 oz.   Cocoa Butter

1 1/2 Tbsp. Essential Oil Breathe Green Blend (Sweet Basil, Rosemary, Laurel Leaf, Peppermint, Ginger, Eucalyptus, Ravensara, Lemon)
1 tsp.   Vitamin E Oil

Chardonnay Soap with and without colorant

It's time to try a colorant.  I'm not a fan of "fake" soap colors but I think people expect a wine soap to be purple.  The color of the wine completely changes during the chemical reactions in soap-making, so I've purchased a colorant and am giving this a try!  This is the formula for a 2 pound recipe.

14.4 oz. Olive Oil
  8 oz.  Coconut Oil
  8 oz.  Palm Oil
1.6 oz. Grapeseed Oil

12.1 oz. Chardonnay Wine
4.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1 Tbsp. Essential Oils (Lavender, Geranium Rosewood, Ylang Ylang)

Half of the batch was left in the natural color  We added a purple colorant to the other half but it certainly doesn't look like purple!  It's rather brown.  Interesting experiment.

Troegenator Double Bock Soap

Reverting to my favorite beer soap formula (35 % Olive Oil, 30% Coconut Oil, 30% Palm Oil, 4% Castor Oil, 1% Cocoa Butter), I made a 4 pound batch and poured it into the remaining milk cartons and small PVC rounds.  We decided that since this is a heavier beer, we needed a heavy combination of essential oils.

25.2 oz. Olive Oil
21.6 oz. Coconut Oil
21.6 oz. Palm Oil
  2.9 oz. Castor Oil
   .7 oz.  Cocoa Butter

27.4 oz. Troegenator Double Bock Beer
10.4 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

2 Tbsp. Essential Oil Blend (Cedarwood, Juniper, Frankincense)

Willow Creek Pumpkin Ale Soap #2

This recipe is identical to the first Willow Creek Pumpkin Ale Soap except for the cooked pumpkin.  When I made the first batch, the addition of the pumpkin interfered with the saponification process.  I ended up rebatching it.  Since then, I've learned that rebatching is also called hand milling or French milling.  I thought I was just fixing a mess!  Ha!  Anyway, I've repeated this recipe without the pumpkin.  It still took a long time to saponify and, again, once I put the additives in the process seemed to reverse.  This time I put the blender back in and kept up the stirring.  Looked good when I poured it into the molds.


12.5 oz. Olive Oil
12.5 oz. Palm Oil
10 oz. Coconut Oil
5 oz. Sweet Almond Oil

17.5 oz. Willow Creek Pumpkin Ale
5.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide
1 Tbsp Essential Oils (Allspice, Anise, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Orange, Cinnamon Leaf, Cloves)
1 Tbsp Coarse-Ground Whole Cloves
2 Tbsp Spent Grain
1 Tbsp Vitamin E Oil
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Mr. Gibbons' Chemistry Class Soap Recipe

Ted Gibbons at John Harris High asked if I would make soap with his 3rd period Chemistry class.  The kids were great!  They were really engaged in the process and loved the chance to choose their own specialty mold for their personal bar of soap.  This is the recipe that I used with them.

11.2 oz. Olive Oil
11.2 oz. Coconut Oil
8 oz. Palm Oil
1.6 oz. Cocoa Butter

12.1 oz. Water
4.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1 Tbsp. Vitamin E Oil
1 Tbsp. Essential Oil (Allspice, Anise, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Orange)


This small batch made about 12 bars of lovely white soap.

Tröegs Flying Mouflan

Flying Mouflan is ready to go!  Time to make some more beer soap.  I'll make this batch without the spent grain but with all of the wonderful essential oils that seem to be attracting people to my soaps!  I am sticking with squares for the beer soaps so I'm using the milk cartons as molds.


12.5 oz. Olive Oil
12.5 oz. Palm Oil
10 oz. Coconut Oil
5 oz. Sweet Almond Oil

17.5 oz. Tröegs Flying Mouflan Beer
5.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1 Tbsp Essential Oils (Lavender, Geranium, Rosewood, Ylang Ylang)
1 Tbsp Vitamin E Oil

Shampoo Bar for Light Hair (normal to oily hair)

We are enjoying our first batch of shampoo bars so I've decided to research this new product and start experimenting with various recipes for different types of hair.  This one is for normal to oily hair and uses green tea with lemon juice.

18 oz.    Twinings Green Tea with Camomile
  2 oz.    Lemon Juice
6.6 oz.   Sodium Hydroxide

16.8 oz.  Coconut Oil
 8.6 oz.   Castor Oil
 8.6 oz.   Safflower Oil
 7.2 oz.   Palm Oil
 4.3 oz.   Jojoba Oil
 2.4 oz.   Cocoa Butter

1 1/2 Tbsp. Essential Oil Breathe Green Blend (Sweet Basil, Rosemary, Laurel Leaf, Peppermint, Ginger, Eucalyptus, Ravensara, Lemon)
1 tsp.   Vitamin E Oil

I used the 3" PVC pipe as a mold for a substantial sized shampoo bar for using in the shower.  I'm excited for this new recipe and will use this basic formula for other variations next weekend!

Willow Creek Pumpkin Ale Soap

Willow Creek Brewery is our own homebrew moniker.  Tom has made four homebrews now and I used some of his latest one for this fall soap.  Pumpkin Ale, complementary essential oils, and real pumpkin make this soap a great fall choice.


12.5 oz. Olive Oil
12.5 oz. Palm Oil
10 oz. Coconut Oil
5 oz. Sweet Almond Oil

17.5 oz. Willow Creek Pumpkin Ale
5.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1/2 C. fresh cooked pumpkin
1 Tbsp Essential Oils (Allspice, Anise, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Orange, Cinnamon Leaf, Cloves)
1 Tbsp coarse-ground Whole Cloves
2 Tbsp spent grain
1 Tbsp Vitamin E Oil
1 tsp ground Cinnamon

Tröegs HopBack Amber Ale Soap

Something old with something new.  I used my favorite goat milk recipe and made adjustments to create an autumn version.  This blend of oils is enhanced by essential oils of allspice, anise, cinnamon, patchouli and orange with actual coarse-ground whole cloves mixed with ground cinnamon and spent grain from Tom's homebrew.  Wow!

12.5 oz. Olive Oil
12.5 oz. Palm Oil
10 oz. Coconut Oil
5 oz. Sweet Almond Oil

17.5 oz. Tröegs HopBack Amber Ale
5.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1 Tbsp Essential Oils (Allspice, Anise, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Orange)
1 Tbsp coarse-ground whole Cloves
2 Tbsp spent grain
1 Tbsp Vitamin E Oil
1 tsp ground Cinnamon

Lavender Soap with real lavender flowers

Using water, I made a castile soap (predominately olive oil) with the following ingredients:

19.2 oz. Olive Oil
 6.7 oz. Coconut Oil
 5.1oz. Palm Oil
 1 oz. Safflower Oil (infused with Russian Sage)

 4.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide
12.1 oz. Water
1/4 C. ground Lavender Flowers
1 Tbsp. E. O. (Lavender)

Additives and Infusions

Many people seem to like additives in soap so I spent some time preparing a few new ones today.

I have already used spent grain from homebrewing, ground coffee, and tea leaves.  I was fortunate to get fresh lavender from Deb Schmittel so that is now in the food dehydrator.  I will then put it through the food processor to grind it.  I bought whole cloves and coarse ground them today.  I think they will go well in a fall/spice combination.  I also have some herbs de provence to grind.

Deb also gave me some Russian Sage flowers.  I heated safflower oil in the double boiler and added the flowers.  After two hours, I strained them using cheesecloth.  The oil is quite fragrant.  Safflower Oil infused with Russian Sage will be a nice additive in a floral soap recipe.

I guess I'm now on the lookout for things to plant that I can use in soapmaking!

Wine Soap #2

Using some of Sand Castle Winery's Cuvee Blush, I made another batch of wine soap with an essential oil blend of Lavender, Geranium, Rosewood and Ylang Ylang.

11.5 oz. Olive Oil
11.5 oz. Palm Oil
11.5 oz. Coconut Oil
4.8 oz. Castor Oil
3.4 oz. Safflower Oil
2.4 oz. Grape Seed Oil
1.4 oz. Beeswax
1.4 oz. Shea Butter

18.2 oz. Sand Castle's Cuvee Blush Wine
6.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide


1 Tbsp. Essential Oils (Lavender, Geranium, Rosewood, Ylang Ylang)

Spicy Beer & Butter Bar

Using the same recipe as the Beer & Butter Bar, I've changed only the essential oil blend to create this new version that features a combination of shea and cocoa butter along with 5 vegetable oils, spent grain, and essential oils of allspice, anise, cinnamon, patchouli and orange!  Enjoy!

18 oz.  Olive Oil
18 oz.  Coconut Oil
18 oz.  Palm Oil
5.1 oz. Castor Oil
3.2 oz. Safflower Oil
1.2 oz. Shea Butter
  .6 oz. Cocoa Butter

24 oz.  Samuel Adams East West Kölsch Beer
  9 oz.  Sodium Hydroxide

  2 oz.   Essential Oils (Allspice, Anise, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Orange)
   .5 oz.  Vitamin E oil
1/2  C.  Spent Grain

I used the square cake pan mold with the milk carton molds for the extra.
I didn't fill the cake pan to the top as I search for the perfect shape for a nice 4 oz. bar of soap.

Current Inventory of Soap - Ready to Use or Give as a Gift

I've been busy making soap all summer and have been selling samples and full-size bars to various customers.  My Goat Milk Soap is now at three farmer's markets and my beer soap will be at the new Tröegs facility in Hershey.  If you are interested in trying any of my all natural soap, let me know and I'll bring some along when I see you.

Soaps that are available in stores are really detergents.  The ingredients list is full of chemicals and the "soap" strips the skin of all natural oils.  Handmade soap is much more gentle to the skin and are a healthy option to the harsh bars in the grocery store.

I use all vegetable oils in the old fashioned, traditional method of soap-making.  These bars are superfatted to give your skin a clean feeling with plenty of moisturizing oils.  My soaps lather nicely and are great at the kitchen sink, guest bathroom or for your daily shower!  The ones with additives such as ground coffee beans, oatmeal, or spent brewer's grain add an exfoliant for a fresh feel.  All fragrances are from pure essential oils (EO).  Some soaps are unscented for a more natural bar.

Full-sized bars are all $4.  I do have $1 and $2 sample sizes of some of the soaps.  Read the list below and let me know if something interests you.

$1 Sample Mini-Bars (15 on hand and probably not making any more)
6 - Beer Soap with Patchouli EO
1 - Beer Soap Unscented
8 - Beer Soap with Lemon, Lime and Ginger EO

$2 Sample Rounds and Ovals (38 on hand)
5 - Pale Ale Beer Soap with Spent Grain and Orange, Tangerine, Lime and Rosemary EO
8 - JavaHead Beer Soap with Ground Coffee and Rosemary, Lemongrass and Patchouli EO
7 - Goat Milk Soap with Red Grapefruit, Lime, Lemon, Basil, Lavender, and Cedarwood EO
9 - Green Tea Castile Soap with Chamomile Tea Leaves and Lavender EO
9 - Concord Wine Soap which includes grapeseed oil but is naturally unscented

$4 Full Sized Bars (93 on hand)
35 - Goat Milk Soaps with Ylang Ylang EO  (3 horses, 1 goat, 3 cats, 3 roses, 5 bee on honeycomb, 7 hearts, 1 rabbit, 6 sun/moon sets, 3 dove sets, 2 angel sets, 1 sun/dove pair)
8 - Honey/Oatmeal Goat Milk Soap with Cinnamon Leaf EO  (3 hearts, 2 bee on honeycomb, 1 rose, 1 goat, 1 horse)
7 - Pale Ale Beer Soap with Spent Grain and Orange, Tangerine, Lime and Rosemary EO
11 - JavaHead Beer Soap with Ground Coffee and Rosemary, Lemongrass and Patchouli EO
4 - Goat Milk Soap with Red Grapefruit, Lime, Lemon, Basil, Lavender, and Cedarwood EO (rectangular bar with "goat milk" on the surface)
8 - 100% Castile Olive Oil Soap with Lavender (note:  with only Olive Oil, this soap is extremely gentle on the skin but will not produce lather)
10 - Green Tea Castile Soap with Chamomile Tea Leaves and Lavender EO
10 - Concord Wine Soap which includes grapeseed oil but is naturally unscented

Beer & Butter Bar

I've been told that I should name some of the soaps I make so this new combination features not just beer but also both Shea and Cocoa Butters.  This combination of natural vegetable oils will create a well-balanced bar of soap.  Great moisturizing qualities along with stable lather.  Ready to enjoy in 4-6 weeks!

13.4 oz. Olive Oil
13.4 oz. Palm Oil
13.4 oz. Coconut Oil
  3.8 oz. Castor Oil
  2.4 oz. Safflower Oil
   .95 oz. Shea Butter
   .48 oz. Cocoa Butter

18.2 oz. Beer
  6.8 oz Sodium Hydroxide

1 1/2  Tbsp. Woodsy Essential Oil Blend (Cedarwood, Cypress, Rosewood, Juniper)
 1 Tbsp. Vitamin E oil
1/3 C. Ground Spent Brewers' Grain

Soaps for Sale

I finally started tracking the cost of my supplies and the income I am receiving.  Since I started expanding my varieties of soap, I went all out and ordered a lot of supplies.  I am now set with the following:

Oils:  Olive, Palm, Coconut, Castor, Grapeseed, Safflower, Avacado, Almond, Canola
Butters:  Cocoa, Shea
Additives:  Bentonite Clay, Glycerine, Oatmeal, Spent Brewer's Grain, Coffee Beans, Violet Colorant
Essential Oils: 7 different blends (Bloomers, Bouquet, Spicy, Spicy Citrus, Forest, Woody, Breathe Green) along with Tea Tree, Lavender and a bunch of other small samples
Molds:  PVC pipes, silicone baking pans, lots of Milky Way shape molds

My favorite mail order suppliers are Soap Goods and Essential Wholesale.

Now, I just need to sell my soaps!  Actually, in the past 4 weeks I've brought in $133 in soap sales.  It will take a while until I break even, though.

Soap Books

I've decided to invest in a few books about soapmaking.  Most of my recipes have been from online resources and my own experiments using a soap calculator.  But I've read so much about Susan Miller Cavitch's book that I just had to get them.  So I just purchased:

The Natural Soap Book, Making Herbal and Vegetable-Based Soaps by Susan Miller Cavitch

The Soapmaker's Companion, a Comprehensive Guide with Recipes, Techniques & Know How by Susan Miller Cavitch

Soap Maker's Workshop, The Art and Craft of Natural Handmade Soap by Dr. Robert S. and Katherine J. McDaniel

Now I just need to take time to read!!!

Beer Soap in a Baking Pan

Now that I've been at this for a few months, I am settling down with favorite combinations.  I had a bottle of Straub's Dark Beer and returned to a recipe that I liked before to try it out using my new molds.  I've finally purchased a soap making book and it's widened my vision of molds to use.  I went to the kitchen store at the Hershey Outlets to purchase the silicone bake ware.  I bought a loaf pan and a square cake pan to use as soap molds!  I also threw out my wooden spoons and switched to new stirring utensils that are all plastic and made to withstand the high temperatures.  I popped it out of the pan in less than 24 hours and the corners stuck.  Next time, I'll be a little more patient.  Even so, it looks and smells great!

Beer Soap with Straub's Dark Beer

6.5 oz. palm oil
6.5 oz coconut oil
7.5 oz. olive oil
1.3 oz. castor oil
8 oz. Straub's Dark Beer
3.1 oz sodium hydroxide
1 Tbsp. Spicy Citrus E.O. (Lemon, Lime, Ginger)

Castile Soap

Castile soap is a very old recipe from France where they first started to make soaps from olive oil instead of animal fat.  True Castile soap is 100% olive oil.  It is a very gentle soap.  All olive oil makes a soap that does not lather much at all but it does get you clean and it's quite moisturizing.  Today, I made two different Castile soaps.  One I made only one pound (8 bars).

Pure Castile Soap

16 oz. Olive Oil
6.1 oz. Water
2.1 oz. Sodium Hydroxide
1 oz. Lavender E.O.


The other "Castile" soap meets the guidelines of being called Castile even though there are other oils involved.  I used 60% olive oil and then split the other 40% with equal amounts of palm and coconut oil. To make it interesting, I used Camomile Green Tea instead of water.  To add even more interest, I used the tea leaves as an additive at the end.  I created a 3 pound batch as that seems to fit well in my pots and molds.  Fun!


Green Tea Castile Soap

28.8 oz. Olive Oil
9.6 oz. Palm Oil
9.6 oz. Coconut Oil
18.2 oz. Twinings Camomile Green Tea
6.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide
1.5 oz. Lavender E.O.
5 tea bags of tea leaves

Fun!  I'm excited about these soaps!

Concord Wine Soap

Using a bottle of Cassel's Concord Wine, I decided to try making soap with wine.  I spent a lot of time creating a recipe from scratch.  I am just learning how to do this to get the kind of qualities I want in a soap.  This combination should be really creamy and have great conditioning qualities.  The astringent nature of grape seed oil is balanced by the moisturizing qualities of shea butter.  The chemical reactions were amazing, most likely due to the sugar content in the wine.  I saved a bit of the wine and boiled it down to a concentrate that I added after trace to hopefully get some of the color back.  That didn't work.  This soap is dark brown like a chocolate bar!  We'll see what color it ends up being after curing.  No fragrance was added.  I had no idea what to combine with wine!  I used the soap calculator to create a 3 pound batch which fit nicely into the 2" PVC pipe and the 3" PVC pipe to create full size bars and samples.

11.5 oz. Olive Oil
11.5 oz. Palm Oil
11.5 oz. Coconut Oil
4.8 oz. Castor Oil
3.4 oz. Safflower Oil
2.4 oz. Grape Seed Oil
1.4 oz. Beeswax
1.4 oz. Shea Butter

18.2 oz. Cassel's Concord Wine
6.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

Coffee Beer Soap

This is a great soap for the kitchen or workshop.  A few folks have tried my first batch of Coffee Soap made with Tröegs JavaHead Stout and told me that the ground coffee bits were a little too rough.  This time I ground the whole coffee beans in the coffee grinder and then put them in my little food processor for a second grind.  I've decided to mold the beer soaps in PVC pipes and cut them with my new wavy cutter.

32 oz. Olive Oil
21 oz. Coconut Oil 12 oz. Palm Oil


9.8 oz Sodium Hydroxide

24 oz. JavaHead Stout


1/2 cup ground coffee beans

Essential Oils:  Rosemary, Lemongrass, Patchouli

My Favorite Soap

Today I made another batch of my favorite soap:  Goat Milk

This is the soap I've been making for about 11 years.  However, I don't usually have Sweet Almond Oil and so I just substitute Olive Oil.  Now, I'm keeping all of my oils in stock here so I had everything on hand.  In addition, I'm trying a new essential oil blend and I think I'm going to like it.

Here's the recipe:

Goat Milk Soap

12.5 oz. Olive Oil
12.5 oz. Palm Oil
10 oz. Coconut Oil
5 oz. Sweet Almond Oil

17.5 oz. Goat Milk
5.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1.5 T essential oil (Red Grapefruit, Lime, Lemon, Basil, Lavender, Cedarwood)


This saponified nicely and set up great!  I bought a new mold that will make 8 bars that say "goat milk" on the surface.  After that was filled, I poured the rest into a 2" diameter PVC pipe to make trial sizes for the farmer's markets.  You can now find my soaps at Roots, Green Dragon, and Leesport markets.

Thanks, Irene!

Packaging

I'm never quite sure how to package my soaps.  I've seen handmade soaps in little boxes but that seems to be a waste of cardboard.  I've seen them in cloth bags but then you can't see the soap and it doesn't get as much access to air to continue to harden.

When I use a fancy mold, I wrap the soap in white or ivory netting and tie it with hemp or raffia.  The soap can then be easily viewed and it's open to the air.  Some folks tell me they like to use the soap with the netting on as a built-in scrubbie.

For the rectangles and circles, I'm thinking of a plain paper band with a sticker.  I just worry about the band falling off of the round shapes.

Feedback appreciated!

Honey Oatmeal Goat Milk Soap

This soap is quite popular in the winter and not usually  much of a seller in the summer.  I recently had a few requests for some and have only a few bars on hand, so honey oatmeal goat milk soap it is!  The new twist today?  I added some Cinnamon Leaf E.O.  Nice.  I started using this recipe in 2000 and love how it feels on the skin.  It takes a bit longer to trace than other recipes but I know not to worry about that.  It works best to have both the oils and the milk less than 100 degrees before combining to saponify.  I cut this recipe in half today as it makes a lot at one time.  Even the half recipe yielded 16 bars.

Honey Oatmeal Goat Milk Soap

42 oz. Olive Oil
28 oz. Coconut Oil
18 oz. Palm Oil

33 oz. Goat Milk (nearly frozen)
12.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1 C. ground oats
4 T. honey
1 oz. E.O. (optional)

New Logo

Thanks to Jill Alexander for designing a logo for Willow Creek.

Beer Shampoo Bar (with Tröegs Troegenator)

After analyzing several shampoo bar recipes online, I decided to make my own formula.  Troegenator is a rather dark beer and avocado oil is a rather dark oil.  So these shampoo bars are darker in color than some I've seen.  I used the same essential oil blend that is in the Shaving Soap so that they can be paired as a set. I didn't have much beer for this batch so I used SoapCalc to get the formula right.  Therefore, I have only 8 bars.

4.8 oz Olive Oil (24%)
4 oz. Castor Oil (20%)
4 oz. Coconut Oil (20%)
3.2 oz. Palm Oil (16%)
2.8 oz. Acocado Oil (14%)
1.2 oz. Shea Butter (6%)

7.6 oz Tröegs Troegenator Beer
2.7 oz Sodium Hydroxide
0.5 oz. Essential Oil (cedarwood, juniper, frankincense)

Beer Shaving Soap (Tröegs Flying Mouflan)

Tom loves shaving the old fashioned way with a blade and a good soap in a mug.  I found a terrific recipe and decided to go for it.  Actually, I found three different recipes but went with the one using Shea Butter and Avocado Oil for the creaminess and froth.  I poured some right into mugs and the rest as "pucks" for someone who already has a shaving mug.  I'll get some brushes and set these up as gift sets.  The Bentonite Clay adds "slip" to the soap for a clean shave.  I chose an essential oil blend called "forest" for that woodsy smell that men would like.  I plan to make a shampoo bar with the same fragrance as a complete gift set for that special guy in your life.

Beer Shaving Soap with Tröegs Flying Mouflan

14. oz. Coconut Oil
26 oz. Olive Oil
2 oz. Castor Oil
12 oz. Avocado Oil
4 oz. Shea Butter

22 oz. Tröegs Flying Mouflan
8 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1 Tbsp. Bentonite Clay
1 oz. Essential Oil (Forest: Cedarwood, Juniper, Frankincense)

This mixture was really dark.  The beer is a dark beer and the avocado oil is also quite dark.  However, after all chemical reactions were done, it seems to be setting up as a light brown color.  Tom is anxious to give it a try!

Spent Grain in the Soap (Tröegs Pale Ale #5)

I had one more bottle of Pale Ale ready to use in the freezer so I decided to make one more batch before leaving for our vacation.  This time, I wanted to use up a few ounces of Jojoba Oil which it really a liquid wax.  This ingredient provides a great conditioning element to the soap.  In addition, Tom saved the spent grain from his first home-brewing adventure and it was ready for us in my soap.  I took some of the grain and put it in our food dehydrator.  Then I ground it in the food processor to make the particles a bit more fine to add as a gentle exfoliant in the soap.  By the way, the rest of the spent grain was saved wet and used to make some Trobot Brot (German spent grain bread).  Yum!

This recipe was designed to create 3 pounds of soap.

14 oz. Coconut Oil
17 oz. Palm Oil
17 oz. Olive Oil
4 oz. Jojoba Oil

20 oz. Tröegs Pale Ale
7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide

1 oz. Essential Oils (Citrus Blend from Nature & Heaven including Orange, Tangerine, and Lime with Rosemary added for balance)
1/3 C. Ground Spent Grain

I read that Jojoba Oil will speed up trace so I waited for a lower temperature to blend the ingredients.  I added the Jojoba Oil at light trace followed by the Essential Oils.  Success.  I poured as much as I could into the 3" PVC pipe mold and the rest into the oval molds.

Rebatching

Sometimes the soap just doesn't turn out the way you want it to.  I've never tried to rebatch before but I apparently didn't wait for the temperature to be just at 100 degrees with my latest batch of goat milk soap so it didn't go through the gel phase properly.  For the first time in 11 years, I tried to rebatch to save the project.

I used the crock-pot method.  I simply put a slow-cooker liner in my crock pot and then cut up the soap into  chunks.  I set it on medium heat and let it sit for an hour.  When I came back, it was melted nicely.  After a gentle stir, I poured in back into the molds.  After popping them out of the molds the next day, I could barely see a difference between that rebatched set of bars vs. a regular set of bars.  Awesome!

While I hope I don't have to rebatch too often, it's good to know that I can do it and it works.

Purchasing Soap Making Supplies

I should start carrying soaps in my car!  I shopped at three places in the Harrisburg area and could have made three sales!  I purchased some PVC piping at Home Depot to try a new mold shape.  I purchased more beer at Tröegs.  I purchased essential oils at Heaven & Nature store.  I need to drive to Honeybrook (or Leola) to purchase my 5 gallon buckets of oils and will do that next week.

Meanwhile, I did some comparison shopping online for the other supplies that I need. I placed an order with Soap Goods for some of the more exotic oils and butters.  They also have a great price for the sodium hydroxide.  Then I placed an order for essential oils at Essential Wholesale.  I'm ready to get stocked up for sales.  The tough part is that the soaps must sit for about 4 weeks or more to really harden and be best for use.

Patience.  Patience.   Back to the kitchen to make another batch.

Troegenator #1

This double bock beer is quite hearty and dark in color.  I searched for just the right combination of essential oils and am pleased with the combination.  But I decided to try a "crisco" recipe and am not pleased with the consistency of the soap at pouring.  Time will tell how it will turn out in the end.  Tom helped me with a new mold format and we used a 2" PVC pipe this time.

7.5 oz. Coconut Oil
7.5 oz. Olive Oil
15 oz. Crisco (hydrogenated soybean oil with palm oil)
11.4 oz Troegs Troegenator beer
4.2 oz. Sodium Hydroxide
1.8 oz. Essential Oils (mixture of Sandalwood, Sage, Petitgrain, Clove and Patchoili)

Love the smell and color of this combination.  Seems a bit lumpy in consistency at pouring.

Soapmaking Oils: What Do They Do?

There are several qualities that are desirable in a good bar of soap.  Having a good blend of oils will incorporate all of the properties into a great product.  I use at least one oil from each of the following four categories in every batch of soap that I make.

Here is a simple guide to the contributions that the various oils make to a bar of soap:

Hard, Stable, Long-lasting:
     Palm Oil  (nicknamed "veggie tallow")
     Beef Tallow (makes hard, white bars)
     Lard  (makes hard, white bars, adds moisture)

Lather:
     Coconut Oil  (keep under 40% to prevent drying skin)
     Castor Oil   (humectant.  5%-8% in soap, 10%-15% in shampoo bars)
     Palm Kernel Oil  (adds hardness, provides rich lather)

Moisturizing, Conditioning:
     Olive Oil  (100% Olive Oil is called Castille Soap)
     Canola Oil  (will slow trace rate therefore good for adding color swirls)
     Rice Bran Oil (alternative to Olive Oil, adds conditioning)
     Sunflower Oil  (works well with Palm and Olive oils for extra lather, too)
     Soybean Oil  (use Crisco!  It's a blend of Soybean and Cottonseed oils)

Luxury Oils/Additives:
     Cocoa Butter  (skin softener, keep under 10%)
     Shea Butter  (great for dry, aging or damaged skin)
     Sweet Almond Oil  (limit to 5%-10%, emollient, softens skin)
     Jojoba Oil (actually a liquid wax and will speed up trace rate, great moisturizer)
     Lanolin  (emulsifier)
     Avocado Oil  (soothing, emollient, adds vitamins)
     Grapeseed Oil  (creamy lather, rich in Vitamin E, astringent)
     Stearic Acid (hardens soap, counter balances Castor Oil in shampoo bars)

Goat's Milk Soap

This is my old standard and, actually, my specialty.  I first made this recipe in February of 2001 and have stuck by it ever since.  I usually double it and it fits perfectly in the pots that I use.  I set this one up in the fancy molds (rabbit, horse, cat, honeycomb, heart, etc) and it makes about 30 bars.  Love it.  This time, I really added the Ylang Ylang to give it a firm scent.  As usual, I squirted in a bit of Vitamin E oil for good measure.

12.5 oz olive oil
12.5 oz. palm oil
10 oz. coconut oil
5 oz. sweet almond oil
17.5 oz. goat's milk
5.5 oz sodium hydroxide
1.5 Tbsp essential oil (Ylang Ylang)

Troegs Pale Ale Soap #4

I finally took the time to learn how to use a soap calculator (online) and adjusted my recipe by percentages. I certainly won't go back to just using someone else's recipe from now on!  So this is the new formula:

9 oz. palm oil
9 oz. coconut oil
9 oz. olive oil
3 oz. castor oil

11.4 oz. Troegs Pale Ale
4.3 oz. sodium hydroxide

.4 oz. Eucalyptus EO
.4 oz. Peppermint EO
.2 oz. Rosemary EO

I love how this traced and set up.  I put the essential oils in with the other oils instead of adding them at trace.  That was much easier.  I was a little short on the castor oil so I made up for it with the olive oil.  I would have added more essential oil but that was all I had of those particular ones.  However, I'm not sure I like a heavily fragranced soap so I think I'll stick with this formula for now.

This soap has a beautiful pale amber color and it looks like it will set up very nicely overnight.  According to the soap calculator, this formula scores high in cleansing, conditioning, and creaminess in addition to being a hard soap.  It's only mid-scoring in bubbly.  There is a trick to getting a soap to have a lot of bubbles without getting slimy.  I'd rather have less bubbles than slime in my soaps!

I'm meeting with Irene tomorrow about getting some of my soaps at a stand at Root's Market.  That could be exciting.  Once I have several samples ready, I'm headed to Troegs to see if they like them for their store.

Troegs Pale Ale Soap #3

I'm getting caught up with recording what I've done before I start making anything new!

This was the last soap that I made with what materials I've had on hand for my general soapmaking adventures.  Although I just shaved the ash and cut the bars a few minutes ago, I already LOVE the fragrance.  This is a hard bar due to the balance of of palm oil to the other oils.  But I don't like a soap that "melts" too quickly when you start to use it.  However, it's my favorite combination, so far.

6.5 oz. palm oil
6.5 oz coconut oil
7.5 oz. olive oil
1.3 oz. castor oil
8 oz. Troegs Pale Ale
3.1 oz sodium hydroxide
2.5 tsp. Spruce EO
2.5 tsp. Red Cedar EO
.5 tsp. Lavender EO

The combination of the evergreen essential oils with the lavender give the bar a very masculine scent that is not too harsh.  I think this might be a good hit.  Of course, I'm out of those evergreen oils and will need to order more rather quickly!

Troegs Pale Ale Soap #2

Now that I'm a bit more comfortable with getting the beer ready for soapmaking, I've looked for a better recipe to bring out the qualities of the beer.  I decided to use a four-oil recipe this time and greatly increase the amount of essential oils.  This recipe is intended to enhance the citrus elements found in Troegs Pale Ale.

6.5 oz palm oil
6.5 oz. coconut oil
7.5 oz. olive oil
1.3 oz. castor oil
8 oz. Treogs Pale Ale
3.1 oz sodium hydroxide
1 tsp. Ylang Ylang III EO
1 tsp. Tea Tree EO
1 tsp. Lemongrass EO
2 tsp. Sweet Orange EO

I really like the blend of essential oils.  It gives a great fragrance to the soap.  This recipe creates a "harder" bar nearly right away.  I should have cut the large block into bars sooner than I did as some of them cracked due to how quickly it is curing.  This recipe also creates a little more ash than my others but I like how it sets up.

Troegs JavaHead Soap

My second attempt with a beer soap was with JavaHead Stout.  This beer has a strong blend of coffee and oatmeal with local coffee from St. Thomas Roasters in the brew.  I decided to add some actual coffee to the soap as a gentle exfoliant in the form of freshly ground whole beans.  I used the recipe that I have used before when making an oatmeal soap.

21 oz. olive oil
14 oz. coconut oil
9 oz. palm oil
6.4 oz sodium hydroxide
16.5 oz. JavaHead Stout
1/4 cup ground coffee beans
Patchouli E.O.

I divided the batch so that some of the bars were just plain beer soap with the Patchouli essential oil and the others had the coffee additive.  When I added the coffee, an additional layer of oil immediately surfaced and I guess it's because the coffee was fresh.  I assumed that was the natural oils from the coffee.  I will try this recipe again with spent coffee grounds.  In addition, I did not add nearly enough Patchouli to bring out the scent I wanted.  After more research, I realize that I have not been adding nearly enough essential oil to my recipes.  Time to purchase more!

Troegs Pale Ale Soap #1

For my first attempt at beer soap, I used my favorite milk soap recipe as follows:

17.5 oz olive oil
12.5 oz palm oil
10 oz coconut oil
17.5 oz Troegs Pale Ale
5.5 oz sodium hydroxide
E.O.  omitted to discover the natural scent of a beer soap

Results:  I didn't allow the beer to be quite "flat" enough and had it a bit too frozen when I added the sodium hydroxide so the temperature didn't rise as high as I expected.  Trace was nearly immediate and I worried about how it would set up.  However, one week later, the bars look, smell and behave like soap.  The color is a light tan.  Excellent lather.  Clean feeling.

Next time:  Allow the beer to be really flat.  Thaw to a thin slush.  Start adding essential oils.

The Summer Challenge

While I have been making homemade soap for eleven years, I really only use three tried-and-true recipes as a routine.  I love the goat's milk recipe that I use and it is quite popular with many people.  Folks also like the addition of honey and oatmeal as a gentle exfoliant in the winter.  The traditional white soap is also popular since it is also made with all vegetable oils.  I have made cucumber soap for oily skin and also chocolate soap and peanut butter soap just for fun.

However, I have decided to spend my summer days experimenting with new recipes, especially ones using beer.  After reading many websites for advice, I have started with some basic plans using Troegs Pale Ale. That's what Tom has on tap so it's easy for me to use!  The first thing I've learned is that the beer must be really FLAT so patience is the key.  I've had little containers of beer sitting around getting flat for several days.  It helps to use the stick blender and whip them up on occasion to speed up the process.  Once flat, they go in the freezer.

My blog posts will feature each recipe and lessons learned.