I promised to walk through soap making for interested OGer's.
I was originally going to go with castile soap (olive oil) but then I was handed thirty pounds of suet, so this first 'public' batch will be tallow based. Suet is the hard, white fat that surrounds beef kidneys, so this is not a vegetarian product. Make no mistake - suet is not ordinary beef fat, and only beef suet makes tallow. Pigs render lard, vegetables, shortening. Poultry fat is extremely soft and makes a poor bar of soap.
Finding suet in large quantities is only difficult if you do not know a beef farmer or a butcher shop. If you do not, try going to a Farmer's Market and ask these small growers. It used to be suet was highly sought after for soap and candle makers, but now it is a waste product that is difficult for butcher shops to get rid of, so the cost of buying suet should be very low. My latest suet was acquired from an small organic beef farmer, who was more than happy to transport thirty (about two kidneys' worth) of unprocessed suet free of charge. I have noticed what the beef cow is eating makes a difference in how the soap turns out. Cattle given lots of hormone injections, lab-formulated feed and often living near chemicalled fields tends to render a softer tallow, which is not as good as hard.

Rendering the Suet
This is the gross part of the soap making process. Occasionally, one can find neat packages of pre-shredded suet in smaller grocery stores, but you pay for that convenience.
Raw suet looks like a rough football shape and weighs around 15 lbs., depending on the size of the steer. It is covered with a thin crispy membrane, which also runs throughout the hunk. You may come across blood vessels and tiny bits of kidney too.
You'll need a large pot (Dutch oven, stock pot, small canner), a stove, a large chopping board and a good selection of sharp knives. A strainer or heat-proof colander, and a few heat-proof large bowls that can be chilled. An old coffee can works well to receive the gristle bits.
Section the suet and cut it into small pieces, or shred it with an electric knife or food slicer. The smaller the better.
Heat the suet over medium heat, stirring to keep it from scorching. The oil will come out of the suet pieces. I use a slotted spoon to strain out the pieces of gristle as the fat melts. You can mix these bits with peanut butter and birdseed for the birds and squirrels if you like, but do that later, as it can be frozen.
Pour or ladle the hot liquid fat through the strainer, into the large bowl. I do not recommended pouring from the pot, as the oil is a serious burn hazard.
Place the now strained fat in the fridge or freezer. All sediment will go to the bottom of the bowl, which can be sliced off once the fat is hard. Invert the bowls to release this now solid block of tallow. You can weigh it - and be exact with weighing all soap ingredients - and package it into batch amounts. Tallow can be frozen for up to a year.

The Recipe:

Gather your ingredients:
48 ounces tallow
16 ounces lard or shortening (solid)
24 ounces olive oil (food grade)
4 ounces castor oil (found in health food stores or through an internet soap supply company)
12 ounces lye (look in the drain opener section of supermarkets, hardware stores)
32 ounces cold water (distilled, spring, previously boiled tap)

Equipment Needed:
2 candy thermometers.
2 heat-proof pitchers
1 good kitchen or postal scale
1 heat proof whisk, several heat-proof long handled spoons. (use ones that you will never use for cooking food again)
1 Deep stock pot
Protective gear: gloves, eye goggles, lots of newspaper covering the work area. A breathing mask.
1 Large primary mold - this can be a thick rubbermaid box with a lid, a tight fitted wooden tray, anything that is leak proof, heat proof and you can handle it.
1 old blanket and space for the primary mould in a war, spot.
Open the windows and let lots of fresh air in.

LYE IS VERY DANGEROUS! Sorry for yelling, but this is highly caustic stuff that pouring water on will only make it hotter. While the soap is being made and curing, assume the lye is active - that means caustic and painful. Keep pets and little ones out from under foot where lye is being used.

Weigh all ingredients at least twice before proceeding. Mistakes can ruin everything. A scale that allows you to place the container on it and then reduce the scale reading back to zero is perfect.
Place all fats and oils in the stock pot and start melting and heating them.
Weigh the first pitcher, set the scale back to zero and fill with cold water amount (32 ounces)
Put the lye in the second pitcher.

Always pour water into the lye pitcher, never dump the lye crystals into the water. To do it the reverse, wrong way can create a large cloud of toxic gas. Stir the mix until all the crystals are dissolved.

Now here comes the tricky part...
Put one thermometer in the lye-water mix and the other in the oils.
You want the temperatures exactly the same. This recipe calls for both liquids to be between 110 to 115 degrees Farenheit.
It is in my experience that the lye solution is the trickiest of the two. The oils can have the stove's heat setting changed and stirring lowers the temperature fast. The lye solution has to have the changes done by sitting it in the sink filled with cold water to lower it, hot water to raise it. It can take a very long, aggravating time to make the lye/H2O and the oils come between two or three degrees of each other.

When the two vessels are close in temperature (110-115 degrees Farenheit), here comes the neat-o part.

Get the oils moving by stirring. Gently, slowly pour the lye solution into the stock pot. Get stirring as soon as you can get a hand free.
Combine the two - as you pour the lye in, the oils will turn whitish and opaque. Keep stirring (the heat is on simmer now), until what they call 'trace' show up.
Tracing is when the liquid brew shows trailings (like pudding or thick gravy). When you lift the spoon, the rivets of soap stay visible on the surface of the soap for a little while.
By going with a soap recipe containing solid oils/fats, tracings will show up within 20-30 minutes of stirring, perhaps faster. (Olive oil soap - 'castile' - can take more than an hour to show trailings)
Turn the heat off the stove and continue to stir for a few minutes more. You want the soap warm, but not scalding, when you pour it into your primary mold.
Put the lid on the mold and wrap it in the blanket, setting it in a warm spot that is out of the way of activity.
Check the soap several times per day. It will remain warm for a long time, but when the soap is solid, you can take off the blanket.
The soap is curing now.
When it is no longer warm to the touch, and solid, release the block from the mould. Do this with lots of newspaper covering your work surface, and wearing your protective gear, just in case something weird happened and there is still liquid lye hidden within the soap.

As long as the soap is not solid, consider the soap caustic.

Cut the fully cured soap into bars. There you have it; you made soap!

Most base soaps need to be somewhat soft if you are going to make the next step of handmilled bars. Soap that is so dry it is brittle is not good for turning it into handmilled creations. Keep the soap in the primary mould, sealed, until you have the hand-milled ingredients ready.

Thanks, do you do this first and then handmill to add herbs and scents? Also I read that soap should for weeks? Is this your experience too?

Oops! sorry.
The above recipe yields 28 4 ounce bars.
Curing (drying) can take up to 2 weeks, but when using solid oils and fats, it'll be faster. Olive oil castile soap is the slowest to solidify.

Hand milled soaps:

Take your basic bar of soap and shave it. No slices or cubes - a cheese grater, potato peeler or a food slice set on the thinnest slice.
Molds can be found items - tuna cans, ice cube trays, anything that a solid can be released from easily and withstand hot liquid soap poured into them.

Roughly 2 cups of shredded basic soap to 1/2 cup of water and up to 1/4 cup of your choice of additional oils and/or fats. (liquid oils will take less water).

Place your soap shreds, and oils and/fats in a double boiler and melt the soap. Add water bit by bit until you get a thick but pourable paste/pudding like consistency. You'll have to keep stirring. Take off the heat source and allow to start cooling.
When resting soap mix shows a sheen to the top surface, stir again, add your botanicals and essential oils. Stir in well.
Pour into molds. Place these molds in the freezer until frozen solid. Release from the molds and allow to defrost and dry on a baker's rack.

That is the basic method. Here are some suggestions for what to use...

Gardener's
Always involve some type of grit, whether cornmeal, oatmeal, even sand has been used to provide the extra friction. Add 1/4 cup of any, or a combination. For the oil portion, castor is one of the fastest absorbed around, but even canola can be used. Just don't worry about using the more expensive and exotic oils and fats in a hand soap.
Essential oils that are nice: lemon (or any citrus); lavender (you can use dried lavender flower buds as the 'grit' part) or rosemary, sage, basil are nice. Essential oils such as jasmine, rose, blue chamomile are [u]very[/u] expensive. (Fragrance oils are nice too, and I have nothing against them.)
My favourite 'Gardener's':
2 cups shredded soap
1/2 cup chamomile tea (for the water portion)
1/4 dried rosemary and dried lemon peel
1/4 cup cocoa butter
10 drops lemon essential oil
8 drops rosemary essential oil

For soaps intended for bath/shower use, you can step up the moisturizing oils and fats. Cocoa butter is readily available, and least expensive. Palm kernel is another.

Keep in mind that most of the plants growing in your gardens can be used as the botanicals. Fruit tends to be astringent, vegetables mild and neutral in nature. Herbs can go either way, but generally are oil-absorbing.
You can use fresh botanicals for your soap, just be sure to cut the pieces very small, and dry the finished bars as fast as possible to avoid mold and rot. Two of the gentlest cleansers are lettuce and cucumber.

Thank you so, so much for posting this! I use a handmade oatmeal soap for my face, but the place I used to buy it went out of business. I've been thinking of making my own, now I might just try it.

I remember mom and grandma making soap when I was a little kid, but it was strictly no-nonsense lye soap that was mostly used for cleaning and washing clothes in the old wringer washer.

Just a note on the suet-- if you get it from the butcher shop, have them run it thru the meat grinder for you and it will be much easier to render out. Same thing with lard, if you get hog fat from the butcher, have them grind it. Starting with already rendered lard from the supermarket starts you off with preservatives you probably don't want.

I just wanted to note that this particular recipe results in a really soft soap, which takes forever to cure when the humidity is high.
You can replace the 16 oz. of lard with solid coconut oil or palm oil for a harder bar. (both should be found in a craft store).

Quick question or two for you Loamy.

I broke down and bought myself a new pair of shoes the other day and I couldn't believe it. The shoe store is carrying handmade soaps! ?:| So I got a bar of goats milk oatmeal soap, which I really like. Question is, do you have any idea what sodium hydroxide is and why would it be in this soap?

Sodium Hydroxide
Also called caustic soda or lye. A strongly alkali chemical pH of a .5% by weight in water solution is 12.
It was created out of wood ash originally, but it's strength varied greatly until patented manufacturing processes intervened.
Once lye is combined with water and fats/oils, and is completely cured, the caustic nature is gone...
Soap is born.

:8} Oh, didn't know that's what lye was called. Just goes to show how much attention I paid to any of my science classes. Thanks for clearing that up.

Hi everyone!
And thanks Loamy, for posting this info...

It's been awhile since I have looked at this board, and I was "browsing" on here tonight...

I have always wanted to make soap, but have never done it...maybe I will try, if I EVER finish geting my garden planted!!!

Maybe in the fall, or winter, when there is 3 feet of snow on the ground! LOL!!!
Vicki
Thanks, again!

There is an error in this comment:

"Always pour water into the lye pitcher, never dump the lye crystals into the water. To do it the reverse, wrong way can create a large cloud of toxic gas. Stir the mix until all the crystals are dissolved."

I've been making cold process soap for 2+ yrs and this statement should be corrected to the reverse.

Always pour your lye crystals INTO THE WATER. The reverse will cause vocanoing and gases.

There is also less liklihood of lye crystals splashing out of the container if the water was being poured into the lye. For all these reasons and your safety... please add lye to the water and stir to mix until dissolved.

Never heat this solution on the stove or in the microwave. And never pour it down your drain.

In the event of spillage or splashing on body / skin ... keep distilled vinegar nearby to quickly neutralize burns.

Rinse the affected area with COLD water and pour the vinegar over it.

I hope you understand the need to post this information.

Best regards

I stand meekly corrected. Forgive my error. At the time I wrote this, my mind was admittedly distracted by other matters.

Hello, everyone, and thanks to Loamy!

I worked at a butcher shop, where we got large hunks of suet to sell...

The butcher would saw the suet into smaller hunks, maybe a pound or two, because that's what people wanted in the winter to feed the birds...most of them just hung the plain suet hunks outside...

I had them put it through the meat grinder sometimes, but also just took the hunk home...

The easiest wat for me to "melt" it down was to put it in a pan in the oven, at a low temp...maybe 200-250 degrees...then just check it every now & then, until it was melted...

Then I strained it through a colander, then through a coffee filter or cheesecloth, mixed it with birdseed, or whatever, and put it in "molds", to harden for the birds...the unmolded "suet cakes" can also be frozen, or left outside (to freeze, if you live in a terribly cold area)...

I have never made soap, yet, but this was an easy way to melt the suet...AND I plan to try soapmaking this winter, when the suet will be available again, and I am stuck inside, without my garden!!!
Vicki

I made a 'new' handmilled soap for the Farmer's Market today, and it was a runaway success.

Tomato Soap

4 cups basic soap, shredded.
1/2 cup fresh tomato puree (or seed a tomato, heat the pulp until soft, and press through a strainer. This step I particularly enjoyed - I got to save seeds from my heirloom tomatoes, and got a best seller at the same time!)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons solid oil, like coconut, palm kernel, shea nut butter.
15 drops basil essential oil
8 drops oregano essential oil (or sage)
Makes about 5 4 ounce bars after curing.

Heat soap with everything else except essential oil(s) until liquid and smooth. Mix thoroughly as it is heating. Allow to cool slightly, (a glossy sheen to the soap surface is a good sign). Add you essential oils, stir again, then pour into molds.
This soap needs to be air dried for at least 7 days before wrapping. The tomato in it colours the soap (a medium orange colour was produced from a Black Krim, a buff-yellow from a gold Nebraska Wedding, and no colour change when a Beaute Blanche was the tomato source.)

This soap is excellent for acne-prone skin, a general-use hand soap, and tomato has deodorant qualities.

I came up with this recipe on my own, then when we were coming home from the sold-out Market, I stopped into a drugstore for my new meds. There was a Burt's Bees version of Tomato Soap on display!

Kitchen Koffee Soap
4 cups base soap, shredded
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1 Tablespoon used coffee grounds
1/4 olive oil
3 Tablespoons solid oil (I used Palm Oil)

10-15 drops cinnamon essential oil
5-10 drops clove essential oil (or tea tree)

Make as the Tomato Soap above.
Excellent antibacterial, deodorizing hand soap for use in the kitchen. A decent soap for garden-dirty hands, too.

Hey! I use that Burt's Bees Garden Tomato Toner! It's worked amazingly well, after so many other so-so skin cleansers.

And now that I'm EATING my tomatoes... I'm laughing, and the carbuncles under my chin aren't hurting. ;\

VERY good article.

Thanks Loamy.

BUMP.