# 3 Oil/Butter Soap Recipes using CO PO SB



## shaz (Mar 23, 2018)

Hello,

has anyone got any recipes that use just CO PO & SB

I've tried the following:

34/33/33 - too drying on the skin - 5% superfat and a 50% water discount was used

45/35/20 - again drying on the skin - 5% superfat - tested soap after 6 weeks cure

I'm going to try the following but would love some advice from the more experienced soapers...

40/40/20 - 10% SF - 50% coconut milk added to oils - kaolin clay &/oatmeal

50/30/20 - 15% SF - 50% coconut milk and cream added to oils - kaolin clay &/oatmeal

I want my soap to have a moisturising and nourishing feel to the skin using just those oils. What other additives can I use?

The reason for choosing these oils&butter is because they are cheaply available to me and I have used a soap with those ingredients only and absolutely loved how it feels.

Just a side note I want my oil percentages to be in the order given from highest to lowest. CO>PO>SB


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## shunt2011 (Mar 23, 2018)

To make soap less drying you really need to lower your CO. CO can be very drying above 20-25%. Many keep it 10-15%.  Up your Palm and if you have access to castor, I would recommend adding it at 5%. Too much Shea can affect lather.


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## SoapingChick (Mar 23, 2018)

I've never used palm, but I know one of them (PO or PKO) is like coconut - very cleaning (drying). I see in your new/untested recipes, you've upped the superfat - this will help and is key to a 'milder' soap. 
Read up on the properties of your oils (not meaning 'soapcalc numbers') but learning about what they do and how they feel in soap and how they play together.. For example in a 80% coconut oil soap, with or without salt, I would superfat at 18-20% to counteract the very strong cleaning power of the soap. This is not a steadfast rule and YMMV - I tend to superfat higher than (most of) the folks here in my 'regular', not mega-high, coconut oil soaps. HTH.

Good luck and happy soaping!


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## shunt2011 (Mar 23, 2018)

PKO is similar to coconut.  Palm can be used in place of lard and tallow.


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## SoapingChick (Mar 24, 2018)

...or the (very obvious.. LOL! I didn't even think it! It was rather late here..) - lowering your coconut %age!! (and then back to a 'normal' SF around 3-5% ) will definitely help with the dry hands. 
Thank you shunt  I can never remember witch palm does what. I love me some lard! 

Coconut milk and other water replacements/additives (pumpkin puree, g/oat milks and the likes) I find adds a lot of 'Oomph' to my lather. I always use silk! And often times yoghurt, greek 10% fat. Sometimes I'll try to figure out the impact, if any, on my superfat but most times not. 

Are you just starting out? If so, I recommend that you from the get go, take really good notes! It is helping me a lot in distinguishing the small nuances and differnces in my soaps, years down the line. There's no way I'd remember it all in my brains..

Oh! And how old is your soap?? Never underestimate the quality of a good, long cure! THAT is key 

Happy soaping!


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## shaz (Mar 24, 2018)

I'm fairly new to soap making and yes I am making lots of notes and have read so much online.
All the soaps I've made have been extremely drying on the hands, but I think it's because I'm testing them too soon. a week after cutting, as I watched a youtuber say it's safe to use a soap after the 24hours wait time to unmould a CP soap. 

@SoapingChick i'm new to the forum so i'm not familiar with all the abbreviations. YMMV & HTH?

I'm trying to recreate the soap from this website: https://www.herbneden.com/collections/original-bars/products/activated-charcoal
I asked the lady who makes them and she said she only uses 15-20% SB. The remaining 80% is made up of CO & PO.
She uses aloe vera which I will try out next, but I wanted to see if I can make a decent soap from just the base oils before adding anything else. 

Another soap I used and absolutely loved and wanted to recreate myself was this - https://www.nayabyafrica.com/collections/naya-shea-butter-soaps/products/oatmilk-shea-beauty-bar
She uses just CO and SB as the base. I have sensitive skin and when i used this it made my skin feel AMAZEBALLS!


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## artemis (Mar 24, 2018)

shaz said:


> All the soaps I've made have been extremely drying on the hands, but I think it's because I'm testing them too soon. a week after cutting, as I watched a youtuber say it's safe to use a soap after the 24hours wait time to unmould a CP soap.



Yes, using them when they are too young, but also because of the high amount of CO, as mentioned in the other responses. While CO (the oil itself) is great on the skin, after it's made into soap, it is very drying. Higher superfat can only do so much to counteract that.

Also, as you have already noticed, "safe to use" isn't the same as "best used after..."


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## earlene (Mar 24, 2018)

How long did the soaps you are trying to recreate last? High CO soap will not last long because it is highly water soluble. High palm will last longer. If high CO, I would guess a high SF was used.  Is it possible salt was used, was that an ingredient listed?

There are many diapers here who swear by salt soaps, and with a high CO soap, salt goes well. It can be either as a brine (pre-dissolved) or added as salt granules as much as 100%.

Does the country you live in require listing ingredient in a particular format that will help you determine which ingredient is at the possibly highest percentage? Or, if you ordered online, does the country of origin have such a requirement? If so, that might help you figure out which oil to increase. Of course, even with regulations requiring ingredients be listed from highest percentage in decending order, it is still possible that the oils listed could sti) be equal in weight to each other in the formula.

And then, of course there is the cure time. Safe to handle for unmolding does not equate to a soap sufficiently cured to be mild and 'amazeballs' on your skin. For my skin, all fresh soaps are harsh, even my absolute most luxurious feeling soaps. Time and again, I have been amazed at how gentle and luxurious a soap can feel to my skin when I leave it to cure for over a year.  Soaps that feel harsh at 2 months have become better at 6 months and if left a year, even better. Cure takes time.


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## SoapingChick (Mar 24, 2018)

Hi  and welcome to the forum Shaz! HTH = hope to help and YMMV = your mileage may vary. I picked it up here as well 

I have yet to try aloe vera in soap (or wait.. I did try it! in a new-years castille a couple of years back, but with castille being 100% OO it's just not for me, so haven't really used it - now I'll dig out a bar and try it! I made a cucumber and a chamomile in place of water at the same time, so 3 to compare) BUT have read lots of folks love it - perhaps that's the key? You can use 100% aloe vera juice in place of water, 50/50 split method, cut up a leaf and purée it (what I did) or use powdered aloe and prob loads of other ways to incorporate it. 
The other one has oatmeal, that is know to be calming/soothing for the skin. This you can also incorporate in lots of different ways, so do a whole bunch of research and then just try it! 

I like making small batches (500 g. oil) and lots of them, with just small differences in the %ages. Or make a 1000 g. batch and have different additives/same additives in differing amounts and split into 3-4-how ever many batches. As everyone will tell you - try it and see how YOU like it 

Be sure to research everything, for instance there is a sort of membrane in the aloe leaf you'll want to avoid and all kinds of tidbits like that.. Also stash away at least one bar, for your research down the line - I'm amazed with how it changes over time. My best 'trick' to mild soap (assuming the recipe is alright) is simply cure time. Lots and lots of it


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## shunt2011 (Mar 24, 2018)

I purchase the aloe juice at Walmart and use it as 100% water replacement. I just dissolve my lye in it. Works well.


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## shaz (Mar 24, 2018)

@earlene the soaps that I used lasted about a month or less, and I used it about 2/3 times a week. I let it dry and did't let it sit in the bathroom. 

Salt is not listed as an ingredient on their website and she is from Atlanta USA - You might be more aware of the regulations than I am, but I would assume the ingredients are listed in order of high to low. 

I think i will let my test batches cure for much longer than 4-6 weeks and try them again. I may already have the perfect recipe but need to wait for a longer cure time, only time will tell. 

I will try out the salt/brine method using pink salt next. 

@SoapingChick yes i have some aloe juice straight from the plant, which I rescued just in time as it's been snowing past month here in london and my plant has died 

I prefer the 50/50 method, because i think the lye will just kill all the good qualities and nutrients of the raw aloe by heating it to such high temperatures. Even if i did freeze the aloe, would like the comfort of knowing there is still aloe in my soap which hasn't been fried! lol


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## shunt2011 (Mar 24, 2018)

The lye will likely kill any benefits. The lye is still active during saponification. Also if you make a salt soap make sure to use the finest grain possible. Some salts have sharp edges and can cut the skin.


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