Field Trips in Fiber

Reformulated Lotion Recipes

I have been using the same lotion recipes since I started making lotion - probably more than 10 years ago. I've been making up soap recipes for a while but recently also started doing some research into creating lotion recipes. I'm also taking an on-line chemistry class so I can understand the chemistry behind these actives and fabric dyeing so I can get more predictable results. All of this has led to reformulations of both of my lotion recipes. I did this over a week ago but wanted to test them out before posting them.

First I want to talk about 3 new ingredients:

Conditioning Emulsifier- This is supposed to be a better Emusifier. This and Emusifing Wax are interchangeable in any lotion recipe.

Hydrovance - This is an alternative to glycerin and is supposed to provide much better long term moisturizing than Glycerin.

Allantoin - This is an optional additive to lotion. It is an FDA approved ingredient for protection from minor cuts and burns, chafing and skin irritation.

I specifically wanted to try the allantoin to see if it helped my eczema and for my pregnant friend whose skin has become a mess! I can report that both recipes are an improvement over the originals. I'm not sold on any difference using Hydrovance or Conditioning Emulsifyer but I do think the Allantoin has helped my skin a bit and my pregnant friend likes it too. I get very itchy spots (allergic reactions) on my face and this lotion seems to cool it down. I've been able to cut back on the amount of hydrocortisone that I was using.

General Instructions:

Weigh all ingredients into a clean container. Microwave the mixture until all of the ingredients are melted. Do this at 30 second intervals so that you do not over heat the oils. Pour the mixture into a blender or mix with a hand mixer or immersion blender for 15 second or more until the mixture is blended well. Mix a couple more times as the mixture cools enough to pour into bottles.

If you are NOT adding Allantoin you can pour the mixture into containers while it is still quite warm and liquid. Shake the containers periodically until the lotion is thick.

If you are adding adding Allantoin you must wait until the mixture cools to less than 90F before mixing in the Allantoin powder. Mix in the powder very well and then spoon/pour the lotion into containers.

These lotions contain NO PRESERVATIVES so they will go rancid if contaminated. Keep unused lotion bottles/containers in the refrigerator until you use them. If the lotion develops a smell or gets pink or black spots toss it out and open a new container. This stuff is so much cheaper than commercial lotion that you can afford a little spoilage. Using squeeze bottles, I don't have much of a problem with lotion going bad.

Here are the recipes:

Shea Butter Cream (makes approx 10 ounces)

• .1 oz Citric Acid (yes, that's 1/10 of an ounce)
• .4 oz Glycerin or Hydrovance
• .35 oz Stearic Acid
• .35 oz Emulsifying Wax or Conditioning Emulsifyer
• 2 oz Shea  Butter
• 6.7 oz (up to 8 oz for a thinner cream) Distilled Water (Distilled is important)
• Optional: .1 oz Allantoin

Coconut Oil Lotion (makes approx 21 ounces)

• .15 oz Citric Acid
• 1 oz Glycerin or Hydrovance
• .75 oz Stearic Acid
• .75 oz Emulsifying Wax of Conditioning Emulsifyer
• 2.5 oz Coconut Oil
• 16 oz Distilled Water (can use up to 20 oz for a lighter lotion)
• Optional: .1 oz Allantoin

If you try one of these let me know how it works for you! I have a few other recipes that I am working up to try soon.

Hemp Soap

Yesterday I made two batches of soap. I made the Shea Butter because it's everyone's favorite and I made another new recipe because I love playing around with new oils.  I added some ground up raspberry seeds to a sample of the Shea Butter to see if I liked having an exfoliant added to my soap.

The new soap is made with Hemp Butter and is a 36 ounce recipe for my larger mold. The hemp butter has a green tint and I thought it might add some color to the soap. It didn't. I have more new recipes planned too! I added Aloe Butter and Walnut Oil to my stockpile of oils. I'll report in the success of this one in a few weeks.

Hemp Soap

Hemp Butter 3 oz.

Sweet Almond Oil 4 oz.

Coconut Oil 7.5 oz

Palm Oil 9 oz.

Palm Kernal Oil 10 oz.

Stearic Acid 1 oz

Castor Oil 1.5 oz.

Lye 5.4 oz

Water 13.6 oz

Jojoba Mango Soap

What do you do with a lovely wood box that once held a bottle of liquid gold? That was my question as I was cleaning out a cabinet last night. I hate to toss a nice wood box away. After studying it I decided that it might make a nice soap mold! I was right, it's perfect because it has a hinged lid to protect the soap under the blankets during the curing process. I lined it with freezer paper. This box is larger than my normal mold (it holds 48 ounces) so I had to make a larger recipe. Most of my recipes are made with 32 ounces of fats. This one is made with 36 and has an additional 13.5 ounces of water added. It fills the mold perfectly.

My original Jojoba Mango made a nice lathery bar but it was a bit too soft. It dissolved very quickly. Last night I modified the recipe to make the bar harder but also try to maintain good conditioning properties. Only time will tell if it worked.

***Updated May 17: Another good soap but I'm going to add stearic acid to the next batch and reduce the palm oil. The lye ratio will have to be recalculated. 

Ruth, tell your husband not to worry, there are more of these boxes that are full!

Do you remember when I painted paper a couple of weeks ago? Here's what I did with them. I cut them into 2 1/4" x 10" strips and then printed the name of the soaps on colored paper and cut them into 5/8" strips. A little wrapping and a little glue and I have fancy soaps for my friends!

On to the recipe:

Jojoba Mango Soap

2 oz. Jojoba Oil

5 oz. Mango Butter

7 oz. Coconut Oil

14 oz. Palm Oil

7 oz. Palm Kernel Oil

1 oz. Castor Oil

5.15 oz. Lye

13.7 oz Distilled Water

Almond Avocado Soap

Another new soap recipe! I expect it to be similar to the Almond Mango or Shea Butter soaps. I made this one up because I had the Almond butter and Avocado oil that I needed to use. I'll post the results in a few weeks.

Almond Butter 4 oz.

Avocado Oil 4 oz

Coconut Oil 10 oz

Olive Oil 4.5 oz

Palm Oil 8 oz.

Stearic Acid .5 oz

Castor Oil 1 oz.

Lye 4.6 oz

Distilled Water 12.15 oz.

Almond Mango Soap

I tried a new soap recipe today. It will be 3 weeks, minimum, before I can try it and see if it's worthy but here's the recipe so I don't lose it. If you are into soap making my Shea Butter soap is really poplular with my friends. I designed this recipe to have similar qualities (hardness, lather, conditioning) as the Shea Butter.

***Updated March 2008 - this one did turn out to be similar to the Shea Butter. It has a very soft and thick lather.

Almond Mango

Sweet Almond Oil 3.5 ounces

Mango Butter 4.5 ounces

Coconut Oil 9.5 ounces

Palm Oil 8 ounces

Olive Oil 5 ounces

Stearic Acid .5 ounce

Castor Oil 1 ounce

Lye 4.6 ounces

Water 12.15 ounces

"Cocoa Butter" and "Basic" soap recipes

Today I made two new batches of soap. I've made both of these before but I made modifications to the recipes. So don't try them yourself until you see me post a results update in a few weeks. With these recipes I also calculated the approximate cost per bar. 

***Updated: December 2007 - the Cocoa Butter recipe worked out great. I like the changes and will make this one again. I haven't tried the Basic soap yet.

***Updated March 2008 - the Basic Soap recipe has a terrific lather. I think I need to give it a sexier name so people will be enticed to make it!

Cocoa Butter Soap (2 lbs. = about 10 bars) - $12.50/batch

8 oz. Coconut Oil

5 oz. Olive Oil

8 oz. Palm Oil

5 oz. Cocoa Butter

5 oz. Jojoba Oil

1 oz. Castor Oil

4.2 oz. Lye

12 oz. distilled water

Basic Soap (2 lbs.) $6.75/batch

8.5 oz. Coconut Oil

15 oz. Palm Oil

4 oz. Sweet Almond Oil

3.5 oz. Olive Oil

1 oz. Castor Oil

4.6 oz. Lye

12 oz. Distilled Water

Soap Recipe - Shea Butter Soap

Im my last soap making post I mentioned some advice that I received from my new lye vendor. Today i adjusted one of my favorite recipes to add the steric acid and castor oil that she recommened. Here's the recipe. We'll see in about 3 weeks if it works. Don't try this recipe at home unless I have posted a note about the results!

Updated December 2007 - This soap is awesome!! It's a little harder than my original recipe (which I wanted) but still has terrific lather.

Coconut Oil 9.5 oz.

Shea Butter 6 oz.

Olive Oil 8 oz.

Palm Oil 7 oz.

Castor Oil 1 oz.

Stearic Acid .5 oz.

Lye 4.54 oz.

water 12.1 oz.

Soap making drama and new recipe

You all know that I make soap (how-to here and here). I now finally have 3 other people to make soap for. Making just for myself doesn't create enough need - making soap for 4 people is perfect, it's just enough so that I can try new recipes and make soap often enough. This weekend I ran out of lye so I sent Chris out to buy more. After 4 stops he discovered that it's not available anymore! Eek!

So, on to the internet to do some research. I found out that Red Devil stopped making the pure lye that soap makers prefer but several on-line soap supplies are now carrying lye. My usual supplier doesn't carry it but I found this supplier that does. I talked to the owner yesterday and she was very nice and shared a lot of good information. She told me to add some castor oil to the soap to make it lather more and to use some steric acid to make the bars harder. I have been using beeswax to make harder bars. When I get my new supplies I will formulate some new recipies.

Here's the recipe that I used this weekend:

***Updated September 9, 2007 - this soap recipe is wonderful! It has a very thick and soft lather and is very moisturizing.***

Jojoba Avocado Bar

2 oz avocado oil

8 oz. coconut oil

2 oz. jojoba oil

5 oz. olive oil

12 oz. palm oil

1 oz. beeswax

4.06 oz. lye

10 oz. water

Soap Making - Part 2

Some people posted that soap making seems complex. It really isn't! There is some science involved but tools like the Lye Calculator make it really easy. I did everything in step 1 in about 1.5 hours and that includes taking the photos, set up, clean up and re-ordering supplies while the fats and lye cooled! It's also very economical. I ordered enough supplies for 8 - 10 more batches of soap and the total cost was about $45. A batch of soap makes up to 10 bars. That's about 50 cents per bar!

Soap making - part 1

Today is a holiday at work and the first day of my 10 straight days off work! While the guys were hear finishing up the tile installation (prev post), I made a batch of soap. I'm not going to give you every detail, just the basic steps. Soap making is much more involved than lotion making - there's some science involved - but once you understand it, it's quite easy. If you decide that you want to make soap, I recommend reading The Soapmaker's Companion before jumping in.

Have you ever made lotion?

I did one more project this morning before I give in to my cold and just sleep the rest of the day away! I made a couple of batches of lotion. I started making lotion and soap several years ago. I do it primarily because of my severe allergies. My soaps and lotions have no colorants, no fragrances and no preservatives. Today I needed a new supply of lotion so I though I would share my recipe and show you just how easy this is! Lotion is so incredibly simple to make (much simpler than soap) and it's incredibly economical!