| Recently, I was asked about making a high lanolin content soap that could be used as a wool wash bar for wool clothing. I’ve never made a high lanolin content soap before, so I decided this would be an opportune time for testing! After all, a single ounce is great for shaving. Two ounces seems extremely luxurious. Why not use more for wool? Who knows!
I decided to make a 1 pound test batch that was a variation of the typical MMS test batch.
Measure the fixed oils on your scale. Warm on the stove or in the microwave. I melted the fixed oils in the microwave. As this recipe has a high percentage of lanolin, a temperature sensitive ingredient, I didn’t want to overheat the fixed oils and ruin the soap. Lanolin has a melt point between 100 – 110 ° F. It is much easier to stir the fixed oils and gradually melt the lanolin in the same manner chocolate is melted. Add sodium hydroxide to the water. Mix well. The temperatures were near 115 ° F. See the beginning of the blog on making Cold Process Soap to understand our thermometer-less method. Combine the fixed oils and lye solution. Stir until thin trace. Stir well. Pour soap into molds. I used the Rubbermaid Drawer Organizers #2915. Allow to sit until soap is firm. The next morning cut into bars. Stack to allow good air circulation. Allow to cure for several days before using. Longer curing will result in a harder bar. Notes: I made this batch of soap at the lower temperatures because the lanolin will increase the heat by itself and I did not want to deal with a soap volcano. 72 Hour Evaluation: 1) There was a small amount of dense lather. Anyway, these are my evaluations. I hope this has helped you! Would you make a wool wash soap bar?
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 Cut bars of soap.  Measured fixed oils.  Measured lye and water.  Beginning to mix the lye solution.  Stirring the lye solution.  Partially melted fixed oils. |
 Completely melted fixed oils.  Adding the lye solution to the fixed oils.  Not quite to trace yet.  Soap poured into the mold |
 Melted fixed oils and lye solution.  Mixing the fixed oils and lye solution together.  Pouring raw soap into the mold.  Soap in gel phase after 20 minutes in the mold. |
Interesting! I was wondering about a wool wash and you’ve answered that question. BTW, anise essential oil offsets the smell of lanolin.
Cee
Cee,
Taylor has a post that is queued up for tomorrow that is another style of wool wash. I think you will like that!
LOL Andee, I just read Taylor’s post and I DO like it! I’ve been using Polysorbate 20 or 80 for years to remove grease stains! Great stuff! It’s equally good for hair as a clarifier to remove product before shampooing, or as a gentle wash between shampoos.
Cee
Hi, thanks for this tutorial! Im curious what could be used in place of the coconut and soybean oils and if they are necessary for the wool wash? We have allergies to most fragrance oils, petroleum and mineral oils and all butters! Thanks!
For this recipe, you do need these oils. If you e-mail info@thesage.com, they can help you formulate something to work around your allergies.
Hello, I was wondering if there is any reason I couldn’t sub a hard butter for the palm or hydrogenated oil in this recipe. I have a customer who doesn’t want animal fat, and I personally don’t use palm oil. Thank you!
I’d probably omit the Soybean, increase the amount of Coconut Oil by 2-3 ounces and use 1-2 ounces of Cocoa Butter.
How many bars of soap & how many ounces each will this recipe make?
This batch made 20 ounces of soap and we cut this sample loaf into 9 bars. That means that each bar weighed an average of 2.2 ounces.