For 3 pounds of soap shavings you will need approximately:

1 1/2 cups high proof alcohol (whichever kind you use...vodka (not the best choice), 99% rubbing, etc.)
10 oz. sugar, moistened in just enough hot water to dissolve it, but as little as possible
6 - 8 oz. glycerin

You guys don't need a book to make clear soap. and you don't need a recipe either. I make the stuff all the time, and I make it from shavings, uneven corners that got trimmed, undersized bars, soap that didn't cure out with a good smell (new scent trials), etc.

They don't need to be made of anything particular, aged or unaged, new or old, or soft or hard. You just need clean shaved soap, a covered double boiler or crock pot, really strong alcohol , and glycerin to add to it. You melt the soap down, using half the alchohol to start, much like you would do a rebatch using milk. Get it melted COMPLETELY and thin in consistency by adding the rest of the alcohol when it has melted. Add the dissolved 10 oz. of sugar and 6 - 8 oz. of glycerin (for each 3 pounds) and blend. Then you just cook it on this really low, low heat. When you get "strings" or ropey looking ribbons falling off the spoon you are using, and a little dropping off the spoon onto a cold counter hardens up, your done. So then you pour the stuff into a container and melt it the next day ... that draws off the left over moisture from it. It's still got a couple of extra melts in it left over, for messing around with it. - the stuff is cheap to make and expensive to buy.

I see  vodka listed a lot to make glycering soap, geez! Have you priced  vodka? rubbing alcohol (70%) works fine, but remmember it's 30 percent water and you'll have to add 30 percent more alcohol and less water to your lye, and as water is what makes glycerin cloudy you'l have to make those adjustments to your lye and water. (note: look for the 99% stuff...Costco, has it, Wal Mart has 91%, most larger drug stores... A lot cheaper than Vodka. The higher alcohol (-OH) (need a lid to keep th -OH in, ice bags on the lid helps to keep the -OH falling back into your soap ) level and the "lower the water level" in the stuff you use, the clearer the product. Some soapers use a second melt and is after you have finished the stuff the first day. You just pull the plug, turn the burner off, and let it sit in the pot, or pan/bowl (or pour it into something to sit until tomorrow) and remelt the whole thing the next day (seems like a waste if energy). It takes a whole ten minutes to melt...not too much planning there (like all melt and pour). If it still seems less than clear to you, firm it up, and melt it again. It uses up all the water in it (or use silicon/polyurathane molds and air dry), and the water content is what makes the stuff cloudy looking.

A quick note of advice: it's kind of an learned thing, so don't get frustrated if it doesn't work out right away (and don't throw anything out either, they are all fixable). I compare everything to cooking ...you have to learn to cook. It just takes some practice to know what you're looking at ... like your first trace in the soap bowl ... did you know what it was right away? I didn't - I stirred that stuff for about 3 hours, decided to pour it! Took 3 more days to harden. I think I was using too much water. Trace is a word that shouldn't be in use. Thick, thicker, consistance of cormeal mush, ect.

 Some elaboration on this technique:

The trick is to make sure that the soap scraps are melted down or at least prewtty hot before you add the alcohol and what not. On the other hand if you have extra -OH, add some to loosen your soap, it will evaporate and you should have extra on hand any how...when you make transparent from scratch, you add all of that stuff when the soap is in the middle of its hot gel stage...you need to try to approximate this stage with your scraps.

I've found that larger batches work better in making transparent, both in the method below and from scratch. Don't be afraid of heat, either...the first time I did it, I was soooooo cautious, using a double boiler and all that - ended up with a cloudy sticky glop of soap. Next time I made it, I did it with direct medium heat (double boiler) (I did add a teeny bit of water to help the soap melt) and it worked out much better. I don't usually have much in the way of scraps after trimming my soap, so I haven't done it this way in a long long time, but it does eventually work. Just be prepared to lose a batch or two while you're getting the hang of it, it takes some practice. Most soapers, I believe, don't let it get runny enough for reasonable transparency.

It DOES take practice to get it right, though, and it might actually be easier to do if you've made transparent soap from scratch first!

I much prefer transparent made from scratch, as you can control the colour and clarity much better (you don't superfat transparent soap more than just a teeny cushion, and excess oils make cloudier soap), but transparent made using scraps is great for chunking up and throwing into a batch of fresh cold process.

>................................-->>>>>>>

Glycering soap from scratch.....

Need: Large stainless steel pot for your initial soap, and I like a bigger pot to use as a double boiler, two stainless steel stock pots with one being smaller than the other works as a nice double boiler, handles hold it up in the other pot, but if the one with the soap is almost full remmeber how much other stuff you will be putting in it to make glycerin, you'll need a lot of room... As long as your soap does not touch the hot burner, and is in the water bath... you are good to go...large plastic container or a smaller extra stainless steel pot to mix lye and water with, wooden spoon...27 ounces of water (bottled water with out junk in it is good, I got a lot of iron in my water here, every thing in the mix the lye reacts to... I like recat to fat only), 16 ounces lye (prefferably soidium hydroxide, it makes a harder bar of soap quicker), move the lye to one corner (shake it over, don't touch it!) and very slowly add the water. Stiring slowly,you can scoop a little from your pile at a time, make sure it is all dissolved if not it'll re-crystalize... Set aside...Some safe place... Lye is very dangerous, to cool... Stir slowly and carefully... Lye is dangerous, get it on you and it makes soap out of you...Won't you look funny! A walking...well you may not be walikng, bar of soap or other wise... Be careful with the lye...

Can't stress that enough!

I have safety glasses and use them when mixing the lye... Seems prudent, the more I make the more cavaleir I seem to get about the lye mixing. I had a extremly tiny lye bubble pop once, the tiniest of splatters hit my bottom eye lid and I just wiped it off. About ten minutes later I had to go in and wash it... And sported a little brown spot there for weeks. I made soap, out of my eye lid!

Seems prudent.

2 candy themometers, one for the lye, one for the heated fat.
 
4 ounces of steric acid a small pot for it as it should be melted.

Melts like candle wax and at about the same temperature.

For this recipe you'll need 6.68 pounds of fat...I use a slurry of half soybean oil and soybean shortening (you can buy it) 5.33 pounds, and 1.35 pounds of coconut oil (makes nice glycerin and a harder soap.

40...yes 40 ounces of sugar. And "Just" enough hot water to dissolve it... I then heat it to melt the sugar. Keep hot or just melt it when melt  your steric acid, won't need either for the initial soap making...Never add your steric acid (my opinion) to your raw soap if you are going to make glycerin out of it it gets too hard too fast, too long, reserve this to add to the glycerin

before pouring!

6 cups 91 percent rubbing alcohol.

3 and 1/2 cups glycerin... Get the rest of your stuff ready, jump down and we'll make some soap!

Sive: Neded to strain chips out of glycerin just before pouring

(don't worry about the little unmelts or bubbles while you are making it!)

Large double boiler:... depnding on how large a batch you are making.
I use a 20 quart stock pot with lid and the bottom of a large heavy and old canner (won't need the lid)... By setting 3 canning jar lids in the bottom of the canner with water boiling in it I can then set the stainless steel (do not ever use aluminum for raw soap, the lye will eat your pot... ever notice those silvery shavings in you sink cleaning lye?..They go away because they are aluminum and are dissolved by the lye, you can still buy lye in the grocery store, a bit expensive, .....Drano Kitchen Crystals are made of sodium hydroxide (lye)...it's a 18 ounce bottle, two ounce more than a pound) ... The lids in the bottom allow me to bring the soap to a boil and leave it boiling. ...AND, many candy thermometers have an aluminum clips ... Ask me, don't drop it in the lye or your raw soap...Kiss the clip good bye if you do!

Sive should be handy along with a...

Spray bottle and some -OH, alcohol: You can skim the soap or use rubbing alcohol  put some in a spray bottle, with this you don't have to worry about all of the bubbles forming at the top of your gycerin. I use it even after the soap is poured, make the bars very smooth... No bubbles.
Spray the layer of foam and if it's fresh it should disappear. Next time, spray the top of your soap as soon as the bubbles appear - as the alcohol evaporates it will leave a smooth clean finish. Did you stir it up a little too much? With Glycerin especially, don't stir it as much as poke it around during melting and very carefully add your dyes and scents - less stirring makes less bubbles is all. The good thing is that your bubbles rose to the top instead of staying in the bars! I hope this helps.

____________________*********_____________
Lets not get all misty eyed. The hardest part of making homemade soap is mixing the lye and not getting hurt! You need room to put things out of the way and room to put things close and handy...with one of your themometers check the temperature of the lye. If not between 106 and 120 degrees F... let it cool...Mean while you should be heating your fat. It of course should be between 106 and 120 also... Beleive it or not, when the two items are close in tmeperature ...like one is 115 and the other is 110, you're good to go, the closer the better....

Slowly mix the lye solution into the warm fat... Here is when the mystisism disapears...Just stir it until it gets thick...Once it's thickened some (looks grainy like corn meal mush)...You'll know!

Stir too long and It'll be a humongous bar of soap...Here Caution:the lye will still be active... If you are not making glycerin, you may add your steric acid before your soap gets too hard. Be pre-warned and prepared, if your soap has thickened even a little, once the steric acid is added you have 30 to 60 seconds (mabe 2 minutes, relative to how thick when it is added) to get it poured before it gets to thick to spoon and pour!

On with the glycerin.

 I now get the make shift double boiler ready, start to heat the steric acid and heat the sugar... This is a lot of sugar you'll need a fair sized pan... But think how cheap this will make your pretty glycerin soap....

You should leave your soap harden, and let the lye react for a few hours....To save a little time I leave it in the double boiler to heat up... Once it has set for a while, smoosh it up... Potato masher, heavy wooden spoon... I use 2 cups of the alcohol to thin it chop as much up into it as you can...It will start to thin...

Your water should be boiling, every 20 minutes or so check to see how thin it is getting, add -OH as needed. This lid and keep the -OH in thing, wow. I've read some dusies. I've mentioned the ice thing above. The best and clearest batch I've made, I looked when I wanted, I stired when I wanted, and wasn't particuliarly concerned about the -OH evaporating, got extra I just added some.. I was so clear it even surprised me! And I was expecting miricals.
...It's the wtaer that makes glycering soap cloudy, so adding water isn't a great idea, though if you are smart you are using rubber molds...As I can make you some... I'm jumping ahead a bit, but I like to do this in one shot... No remelt the next day to get rid of water... If you pour into polyurathane or silicon molds your soap can be removed as soon as it cools... Cool=hard, hard enough to set on a rack and let Mother Nature remove  any excess water...Going to need to let your soap age for 5-6 days any way....

Lets pretend you have gotten the major portion of the -OH added and the soap is relatively thin (should look like a pot full of hot ginger ale, thin, fairly clear, and pretty hot)... You are going to need some real room for the rest of the glycerin and sugar...Especially if the sugar is still hot...your soap will bubble up furiously as you add hot sugar to it....... So lets pretend you have the large container, the sugar is ready , make sure your steric acid is melting or is melted, you have the glycerin measured and sitting there...Add the glycerin, the rest of the -OH, stirring, then after mixing that slowly-slowly add the hot sugar I usually stir the dickens out of it...But keep a lot of -OH in a spritz bottle handy... You are almost done!

 By now you are seeing all of these little chips, get another pan or extra molds and skim them off and pour into molds. Just spoon it out and dump it into a strainer held over your soap, drain as much good glycerin as necessary and dump the chips... It actually makes a decent looking bar of soap...

Got your glycerin soap cleaned up?  Your rubber molds ready (this makes about 50, 2-3 ounce bars), or cookie sheets lined with saran wrap (still no aluminum, though by now all of the work the lye is supposed to do may be done, and won't hurt your pans, if they are your good ones why risk it)... You can use those hard plastic things (molds) but figure on freezing them solid to get your soap out, this soap will be fairly sticky. Figure on beating the dickens out of them too. You of course can remelt it a couple of times, seems a waste to me, I like the silicon and polyurathane molds, pour, take them out an hour later, place them on a rack to dry and age. I'm a happy camper!...

Your steric acid is melted, right?... Slowly add it to the soap...Let it simmer a while... Cool (you may add your dye and scent now (let the soap cool to below the flash point of your scent, it will burn off if you don't), pour it into your molds...

In a couple of days you have some real pretty gifts to give!

Now are you ready to clean your soap pan? Just add some water, scrape the cold soap off and let it stand in the water over nite...Next day you'll have some dandy shower gel!... Or you can save it for your next batch of glycerin soap.