# controlling soap hardness



## jamesgrogers (Mar 22, 2010)

How do you controll the hardness of your soap?  I need a relatively soft (can be cut without crumbling) soap.  I have looked at a few soap calc. online and noticed the superfat % would a higher % yield a softer soap and what calc. do you recommend (free) I also noticed that none listed fish oil (menhaden) in the list of oils, is there somewhere I could find info on that or would it just be trial and error.  Looking for recipe for soap bait for fishing (see my post in the introduction forum)

James


----------



## agriffin (Apr 13, 2010)

jamesgrogers said:
			
		

> How do you controll the hardness of your soap?  I need a relatively soft (can be cut without crumbling) soap.  I have looked at a few soap calc. online and noticed the superfat % would a higher % yield a softer soap and what calc. do you recommend (free) I also noticed that none listed fish oil (menhaden) in the list of oils, is there somewhere I could find info on that or would it just be trial and error.  Looking for recipe for soap bait for fishing (see my post in the introduction forum)
> 
> James



Well, I've read that 100% lard soap makes a good fish bait.  You can add anise EO to it and even garlic...stinky for catfish.  It won't be soft...but I don't think you would want it to be soft or it will disolve faster in the water?


----------



## Jeremy (Apr 13, 2010)

Soap for fishing, crazy.  Things people do, how does it work?  What is it about the soap that attracts them.  How did you ever figure out soap would attract fish?  I have heard of some strange bait but this is definitely near the top.  I am now going to have to give this a try, are there any scents that are more attractive to fish than others?


----------



## jamesgrogers (Apr 28, 2010)

I have been using soap for catfish bait all my life but I just thought that I could make my own and put anise or fish oil in it and make it better, we have used Zote, Ivory, and P&G sucessfully as far as hardness I do not want it so hard that it crumbles when putting it on the hook but not so soft that it melts too quickly.


----------



## carebear (Apr 28, 2010)

you can impact the hardness of soap by balancing the oils or by adding stearic acid.  my hardest soaps are somewhat crumbly if you try to chop them up after the cure period, but for the most part they aren't problematic.  

melting away too quickly is one problem for handmade soaps due to their water and glycerin content.  it's a balancing act when formulating.

what formulas have you tried thus far, and with what results?  i mean - what did or didn't work and in what way?


----------



## madpiano (Jun 21, 2010)

jamesgrogers said:
			
		

> I have been using soap for catfish bait all my life but I just thought that I could make my own and put anise or fish oil in it and make it better, we have used Zote, Ivory, and P&G sucessfully as far as hardness I do not want it so hard that it crumbles when putting it on the hook but not so soft that it melts too quickly.



yuck, those critters do eat everything, don't they  :roll: 

To be honest, home made soap will never be as brittle as the likes of Dove, so make whatever feels nice to you (you don't have to feed it all to the fish, use some yourself). If you use fish oil as an extra oil (like a superfatting oil, just like a Fragrance Oil), you won't have to calculate lye for it, just make a low SF bar and then add it after the trace. 

When your soap is ready for cutting, make some really chunky bars and then leave that for about 3-4 weeks. Do you have an electric meat slicer ? Something like this ?
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00007CWFP/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

You can cut slices of your bars, about 3 mm thick and these can be punched out with cookie cutters. Some small star shape would make ideal bait ? 

Or make HP soap, as soon as the soap paste has cooled enough to touch (it will still be very hot), you can make soap balls which can be hooked onto the little metal thing. 

Fish are weird.....


----------

