First up. A new mold. Well, not exactly a new mold…but a silicone liner! Bramble Berry sells the liner and I had a friend make the box. BB also sells the mold box if you need one.
I also wanted to try out a new palm free recipe using some silk that my friend Holly Port sent me. I’ve never used silk before so ya’ll tell me if I’m doing it wrong!
Silk Soap Recipe
Almond oil – 5 oz
Avocado oil – 5 oz
Castor oil – 4 oz
Rice bran oil – 5 oz
Olive oil – 18 oz
Shea butter – 5 oz
Coconut oil – 18 oz
Water – 12 oz (I did a discount since I have all of the soft oils)
Lye – 8.4 oz
Silk – a pinch
This recipe makes 5 pounds of finished soap which fits perfectly in the Bramble Berry liner.
This is my first time using silk so I have no idea if I did this right or not. I’ve heard to add it to the lye water. So I pinched off a bit and added it to the lye water. I’m kinda thinking I used too much…but not sure.
I melted the coconut oil and shea butter, then added the liquid oils. I strained the lye water (use a stainless steel strainer) to make sure there weren’t any floaters from the silk.
Then I added an essential oil blend of tea tree, litsea and grapefruit. Yum. And brought the mixture to trace.
Then into the new Bramble Berry silicone liner it went.
I unmolded after 24 hours. It was super easy even with a partial gel. I thought maybe the edges or corners would stick. The liner is smooth as glass which also made the soap bottom and sides smooth as glass!
Perfect! Easy! I see using this liner quite often.
Next up…short and sweet. I made a silicone mold for a Gibson P90 guitar pickup! I used Brown Mica and a splash of yellow neon (from BB) to make the cream color and I used vintage grey mica (BB) on the screws. Here is the resulting soap made out of MP. It came out really great!
Have a great week and happy soaping!
-Amanda
Question…..Can the silk shampoo be made in liquid form?
This may be a stupid question because I’m new to Soap making, but what does silk do for the Soap?
Silk makes the soap feel smooth and gives your bubbles a nice silky lather. It only costs pennies per 5lb loaf, since you only add a small cotton ball sized amount. The only recipe I don’t use silk in is my milk soaps since the lye can’t get hot enough to melt the silk fibers. There is a very noticeable difference in the feel of soap with an without silk. I don’t ever let myself run out as I love the feel. Once you try it it will be hard to go without it!
No question is stupid, especially when you’re just starting out! I asked some really silly questions when I first started. Looking back the answers seemed obvious, but they weren’t when I asked them. It’s how we learn.
Hola, soy de Chile, como obtener ese molde y el forro que va dentro, acá no hay, saludos!!
I know this is a very old post, but I thought I’d chime in. I started using silk a couple months ago and won’t soap without it ever again!
When mixing the silk with the lye water make sure it’s very hot, or just put it in your water and let it sit for a few mins to overnight, then add the lye. I found putting it in the water for a while befor the lye works very well and helps it dissolve faster. You don’t need to strain it before adding it to your oils, it will eventually dissolve the rest of the way when you stick blend or while it gels.
Thanks for all your wonderful recipes! I really love the lemongrass recipe and use it quite often for many different soap scents and swirls.
I’ve been using this recipe for a while and still really like it, but I’m running low on rice bran oil and wanted to find a sub for it so I could make another batch without placing an order. I ended up reformulating as follows, and the numbers on soapcalc.net come out almost identical to the original:
6 oz each of almond, castor, and avocado oils and shea butter
18 oz each of olive and coconut oils
Thanks again for a terrific recipe!
hi, its really nice recipe, how if i want to add coffee, or dry flower, or charcoal? just simply add it or need to recalculating the oils and lye? thanks.
No recalculating necessary for add-in ingredients like that. You only need to recalculate if you change oils and/or amounts of oils.
Where do you find silk? Are Liquid Silk or Silk Amino Acids the same things?
Amanda, have you tried using Babassu Oil as all or part of the coconut oil in a recipe such as this? I know it’s a little pricey, but I’ve read that it creates a hard bar and has other good properties. I haven’t tried it yet, but was wondering if there would be any problems subbing it (and recalculating the lye, of course)?
Thank you for this post – I’m going to make a 1# batch using these percentages to try it out later this week. I have used palm oil in the past, probably in all of my soaps (although that’s only about 8 batches total) and have been unsure about whether to continue without enough info to make a decision, but it just happens that I don’t have enough palm oil to make my next batch, so this may be the start of a new chapter for my soapmaking 🙂
I made the soap a few days ago, and the tiny pieces I’ve tried already feel really nice! The recipe came out with nearly identical qualities on Soapcalc to the recipe I usually use with palm oil, and I really like the way it feels. I made it with beer, and I’m going to make a larger base next week again with beer. Thanks for the recipe!
I meant larger batch 🙂
this might be a stupid question but this is my first time making soap and we dont use oz here. you weigh all you liquids or is it fluid oz? should i convert to grams or litres? weight or volume thanks
hi just wondering if this will work without the silk? thanks
Yes, it will still work. -Amanda
I love this soap recipe, it was so easy!
I was wondering, how long did you let the soap sit before you started using it? I know that the lye will burn your skin if you use it too soon, so I just wanted to make sure I let it dry long enough before I started using it.
Thanks so much!
just wanna help to answer, before it can be used, usually i let my soap sit for about 6 weeks ..
Just found this site and have subscribed to receive updates. I have a question where do you get the silk? Thanks
I bought mine on ebay, it’s Tussah Silk unbleached 🙂
I’d love to know how this turned out! Lather? SIlk?
Great info on the liner!
Amanda, thanks a lot! i will try, i hope))
This looks great! I’ve made a few successful palm free batches and love it. But I will have to give this recipe a try. Thanks so much for sharing.
Great work! I wonder if both my dad and my brother, who are also into guitars, would love that Gibson P90 gutiar pick-up designed soap… 🙂 v
very creative indeed.
Totally love how these turned out, such a man soap! 🙂
I’d love to have one of those liners but my molds are 14 inches and barely fit in my oven. Sigh.
Love this liner…will have to have hubby make new molds to fit…he’s going to choke me! But even more I’m loving your different post..so enjoyable and full of good info! Thank you! 🙂
I LOVE that mould and the liner. I want one!
Thanks for showing us the BB liner in action! I’ve been wanting to get one ever since they came out, but it won’t quite fit my mold. My hubby said he’d build me a new one to fit though, if I would quit bugging him about helping me line my molds (he just does it better than me!). I love using silk, and was told to use a cotton ball size for a five pound batch. I cut it into smaller pieces and add it to my lye water, it works great! Thanks for the post!:)
I am making a palm free soap today, my husband will be the tester. He has been very picky about what I put in it, lol! My recipe looks very similar to yours only I used organic high oleic safflower oil instead of almond oil. I am using a tea of rosemary, lavender, chamomile, and anise for the water, and it will be unscented and uncolored per his request ;P
That sounds wonderful, Amanda! Let me know how it comes out. 🙂
Its in the mold now, it is so beautiful and buttery looking! I was surprised at how fast my recipe reached trace with no “hard palm oil”. I did use a bit of shea butter (400 g) though, so that could be why. I will post cut pics on facebook as soon as it is ready to un-mold, I am really excited! Going completely palm free as soon as my last bucket of 50 lb organic ethically harvested palm oil is gone 🙂
This soap looks beautiful. I have just started making soap and will not use palm oil. What quantities of essential oils did you use for this recipe?
I usually use essential oils at .5 oz per pound of oils.
Okay great! Thanks for the confirmation on using the silk! Can’t wait to see how it cures out. 🙂
Very nice soap liner. Will be purchasing in near future.
You’ll love it Minnie!
Looks great, Amanda! That is how I’ve always used silk and Laura is right, it does make a difference in how it feels. I love it!
Looks stunning! And I adore the idea that it has perfect corners! Really beautiful.
That’s how I use silk, dissolve about half a cotton ball size in my lye water (for ~2.5lb batch), and strain it into the oils. Easy, and such a noticeable difference!!