# Soap Makes my Skin Feel Tight and Sticky



## Lina (Aug 5, 2015)

Hello,
I am a new soap maker, and have completed quite a few recipes from Ann Marie's Soap Crafting book. Every single one of my soaps makes my skin feel sticky and tight. I let them cure for 6 weeks. All soaps are SF from 5-7%. I use the recommended amount of fragrance as per the fragrance calculator. I hate the feel of my soaps and need help. 
	
	



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For example the recipe I have been using lately:

20% CO
15% PO
55% OO
5% Hemp oil 
5% Mango butter Superfatted 7% Use double the lye weight for water weight.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Aug 5, 2015)

Hi and welcome. 

Do you have hard water? That can sometimes give a 'squeaky clean ' feeling when using proper soap. That recipe itself looks okay, especially after 6 weeks


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## Saponista (Aug 5, 2015)

I agree with EG and think you might want to look at adding a chelator to your recipe. Something like sodium citrate, citric acid or EDTA. Even in the soft water I have, you can feel a definite improvement.


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## ngian (Aug 5, 2015)

Welcome Lina

Three things come into my mind that they maybe make your skin feel that way. 

You may have a type of skin that is sensitive to CO, and you can try lowering it even less than 20%. You may also have very hard water where you live and it might be for the soap scum that all the soaps create. Finally it may also be for the 7% superfat that leaves an oily / sticky feeling on your skin. 

Nikos


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## janzo (Aug 5, 2015)

Hello Lina and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear your soaps are making your skin feel tight and sticky. A couple of thoughts about your recipe that you provided, I would cut the coconut oil down to 15%, a lot of people find it aggravates their skin at higher percentages, or alternatively use palm kernel oil which is said to be milder. Any reason you are using hemp and mango butter. It might be a good idea to stick to basic oils till you know what feels good on your skin and then start experimenting. I would also do full water at 38% whilst you are still finding that perfect combination of oils. The high olive oil percentage will make your soap soft for some time and I would suggest upping your palm oil more and decreasing the olive oil. A nice additive is Castor oil, it helps with the lather and is used a lot by soapers at maximum of 5%. Please note I have only be soaping a year so I am sure other more seasoned soapers will come along later and give you more and probably better advice. Good luck and welcome to the addiction!!


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## Lina (Aug 5, 2015)

Thanks Saponista. Which one of these chelators would you recommend, and do you have tips on how to add it to my soap?


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## Saponista (Aug 5, 2015)

I use sodium citrate. This thread should give you the info you need 

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=53330


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## Seawolfe (Aug 5, 2015)

I use citric acid (because I already had some for bath bombs).

This is the money shot in that thread about CA or SC from our resident guru:


DeeAnna said:


> *CITRIC ACID in Soap*
> 
> Typical dosage: 10 g citric acid for every 1,000 g oils (1% ppo). Range 0.1% to 3%.
> 
> ...



Other possibilities are that you are sensitive to the coconut oil, or mango butter perhaps (can you eat mangos all right?). I personally dont like much palm in my soap. It's all so personal, but its great when you make that perfect soap for you.


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## kumudini (Aug 5, 2015)

you could also be allergic to any of the oils or fragrance oils you might be using. I am assuming the recipes in that book are tried and tested ones as it comes from a well known soaper, but that doesn't mean they will be perfect for every single person. So you could try eliminating one oils in each of your next batches. I am also assuming that you are still taking care to run your recipes through a lye/soap calculator, and measuring everything in grams. If that is not the case, you need to elaborate what you are actually doing here so we can troubleshoot better. I have never lived in a hard water area, so I do not actually know how soap scum feels on skin, but sticky sounds right to me and I know that handmade soaps form more scum than syndets. thankfully there is an easy fix for that, chelators. Make your choice and use it in every single batch. You might want to try this first and if it doesn't work, do the single oil eliminations.


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## snappyllama (Aug 5, 2015)

I totally agree with the other folks' suggestions for the tight feeling. But I'm wondering about the sticky feeling... Are you giving your soaps a nice, long cure? I don't like OO above 40% until my soap cures for a couple of months.  I don't get slime, but it does feel a bit sticky on my skin - like it doesn't wash off without some real effort.


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## Susie (Aug 5, 2015)

It would help if you wrote out the recipe in actual weights used, including water and any additives.  It helps us narrow down what is actually going on, and we may know that "X" FO or "Y" colorant causes issues.

Also, are you running those recipes through a lye calculator for yourself?  Typos happen, and you need to be sure you are using the right amount of lye.


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## not_ally (Aug 5, 2015)

Lina, I think it's great that you started out using recipes from a book from someone who knows what they are doing.  For me, that might have been a bit of a problem b/c I would think you'd then end up using a bunch of different oils in different combinations, so it would be really hard to figure out exactly what was going wrong for *you*.  Given the fact that they have all ended in the same result, I agree w/everyone above, it seems as if it likely has something to do w/your skin needs or your water.  

What have other folks that have used them (in your area) say?  If they like them, you might be able to eliminate the hard water issue.  I have incredibly hard water, you can tell b/c using hand made soaps w/it results in much more scum than sydets, it my case it coats the shower and all the bits of me that it can reach.  If you have it, yours may not be as bad, but you should be able to tell from the increase in the scum. 

I use EDTA as a chelater, I like it b/c there you just mix it w/distilled water rather than having to juggle the lye amounts, I am not a math person and am always afraid that I'll absent-mindedly make a mistake.   I make the EDTA solution in batches and keep it pre-mixed in a squeezie bottle so that it is easy to grab and add to every soap batch.  Some people do prefer CA b/c it is more "natural".

Re all the recipes, with all the different oils, it might be good to start w/a really basic one that is likely to be good for dry skin and tweak it.  Many of us like and recommend high lard soaps for this purpose, and just generally, really. 

Aside: I know you guys are going to be like: "here she goes about the lard again!"  In doing a search for something lately, I came across a post titled "Get off my %$& about the lard already" and thought it was from someone who had had enough of the lard drum-thumping from us devotees, actually s/he was talking about her customers who didn't like the idea of it!  Anyway, it is really moisturizing, slow tracing, makes a great bar of soap.


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## not_ally (Aug 5, 2015)

Random thought:  these recipe books, they are strange b/c although I think maybe they are good for inspiration purposes sometimes, I don't know how much practical utility they have.  

Ie; I think most of us would tell a v. new soaper to start w/the basic, tried-and-true oils, slowly tweak and add to see how they work for you, and then go from there with other oils/additives.  By the time we've spent months and made zillions of batches doing that, we have a decent idea of what we like and are likely to want to make our own recipes, w/our own adjustments, rather than using a book.  I personally did not do the "exploration of the fancy oil universe" thing in the beginning b/c (a) it was too expensive to get little bits of all those costly oils; (b) you couldn't selectively superfat unless you did HP, which I didn't, and (c) it intuitively seemed like it would not make much sense to use them in soap b/c they washed off, but I know many newbies get really excited about that.

Plus, in the end, I think many/most really experienced soapers end up using mostly the staple oils for most of their soaps anyway.  Mavens, is this generally true?  Anyway, not so much a fan of recipe books.


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## Rigneylane (Aug 5, 2015)

Hi Lina! Thought I'd throw in some thoughts in case you find them helpful to your situation.  The recipe sounds lovely.  The CO & PO percents add up to 35% in hard oils. When I began, one rule suggested was that total hard oils be a minimum of 40%. Some recipes (especially older ones) actually use olive oil as a hardening oil as well as a conditioning oil, and it seems this one does. I have also found longer cure times good for OO.  The hemp & mango are also softer oils, and may contribute to the sticky feeling until they are cured. Like you, I usually try the soap at 6 weeks, because I can't stand not to!  But I have learned not to make a final judgement on a batch until it has gone through a 5-6 month cure if more than 20% OO is used.(Heavens!! Really that long???) Yup. Just put it away in a box in your closet and give it the time it needs.
Water: There may be distilled water sold by the gallon (Walmart has some-under a buck) in a grocery store near you. Using distilled will eliminate any water-mineral concerns. I figure if one goes through the work to make soap, use the best water available.


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## not_ally (Aug 5, 2015)

RigneyLane, just to clarify, I think the posts re hard water/mineral content concerns have to do w/the water coming out of the tap (and interacting w/the finished soap) rather than as a soap constituent.  Always best to use distilled water when making, of course!


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## Lina (Aug 5, 2015)

*Thank-you!*

Thank-you everyone for your advice. I am so flattered that you took time out to help a newbie ;-) Feeling the love!!

At the very very beginning I did start out making a bunch of recipes just using sustainable PO, OO, and CO in equal proportions. I do convert to grams and run it through a lye calculator. I had that yucky feeling, so I thought trying different recipes from my book would be a good idea.

So I made a bunch of soap using the next recipe:
3.5 ounces palm oil 
3.9 ounces coconut oil (76 ° F)
 0.7 ounce castor oil 
5.8 ounces olive oil 
9.2 ounces rice bran oil
3.1 oz of lye
7.6 h2o

and this recipe

11.3 ounces palm oil 
11.3 coconut oil (76 ° F) 
1.7 castor oil 
17.6 ounces olive oil
5.9 ounces sodium hydroxide (lye)
 13.9 ounces distilled water

That dry, tight, sticky feeling was so awful with these recipes that I picked a recipe with lots of OO and with exotic butters thinking this has to make my skin feel better (the first recipe I posted). This recipe also is not working for me. I also tried adding coconut milk. I have yet to try that soap. 

Before starting soap making I was using only handmade soaps, which contained the ingredients that I use now so I know I am not sensitive to them. I am not sure about the CO % though. I do have a batch on the curing rack where I switched the percents.  So, PO (20%) and CO (15% CO). It is not ready yet. 

I am going to try:
1) Using a sodium citrate (our water is not hard, but I think it may help)
2)increase my cure for high oo soaps, 
3) get a better scale
4) decrease to 5% superfat
5) see how my lower co soap feels when cured
6) only use oils from my batch to mix with colorant (I do this sometimes and sometimes I use sweet almond and don't account for it)
7) cure in my house instead of the garage (it is very hot right now though), so I don't know if this will make a difference?

Thanks for all your advice. Hugs...Lina


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## Obsidian (Aug 5, 2015)

I have to wonder if the high OO amount has anything to do with it? OO can make me tight and sticky so now I only use it at 25% and my soap feels great on my dry skin. My normal recipe is:

Lard (or palm) 50%
olive oil 25%
coconut 20%
castor 5%

SF at 8% and I like to use aloe juice in place of water.


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## Seawolfe (Aug 5, 2015)

See and I love OO but I dont care for palm oil - its all so personal. I also adore almond and hemp oils, but some don't feel the love. Oh and clay! I think some nice clay might possibly help here too, but maybe that's just me.  My skin is also much happier with salt bars, but some people hate them. You have a good list to start with  - try that list first and see where it gets you.

I will suggest that you do try a bar with 50% or more lard, just so you can see what the fuss is about.


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## Obsidian (Aug 5, 2015)

I don't like palm at all either, lard makes such a nicer bar of soap.


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## Dahila (Aug 5, 2015)

Welcome to the soapers heaven ,  I would lower OO to 30 and CO to 15-17,  5% of hemp oil is nothing and keep it for your lotions or body butters.  I would also lower superfat , I have one soap with 7 superfat and I do not like it, even it is very hard due the tallow.  you can go higher with palm oil. With 55% OO it needs the longer cure ,  ) the soap looks good to me.   I also use 1.5% of Citric acid and Sodium lactate, it helps with lather too. 
What about Castor Oil?  It really makes a different in soap)


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## coffeetime (Aug 7, 2015)

I second the other posters who suggested dropping the olive oil percentage down. I've discovered that I can't use high olive oil soaps, eapecially on my face. Leaves my skin dried out and feels terrible. So I keep olive below 30% and that really helps. 

Your skin may not like higher %-ages of a particular oil. Also, some swear by a lower superfat, like 3%. So that's something else to try.


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## biarine (Aug 7, 2015)

Saponista said:


> I agree with EG and think you might want to look at adding a chelator to your recipe. Something like sodium citrate, citric acid or EDTA. Even in the soft water I have, you can feel a definite improvement.




Hi Saponista how much percentage  of sodium citrate in your soap. I got a lot of it from my chemist friend


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## dixiedragon (Aug 7, 2015)

Maybe the OO? Some people find OO to be drying. Maybe try subbing some or all of it for sunflower oil?


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## MrsSpaceship (Aug 9, 2015)

> I use EDTA as a chelater, I like it b/c there you just mix it w/distilled water rather than having to juggle the lye amounts, I am not a math person and am always afraid that I'll absent-mindedly make a mistake.


Not_ally, This sounds perfect for me, but I just checked a couple of my usual suppliers and they don't carry it, where do you get it?


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## IrishLass (Aug 9, 2015)

MrsSpaceship said:


> Not_ally, This sounds perfect for me, but I just checked a couple of my usual suppliers and they don't carry it, where do you get it?


 
MrsSpaceship- I'm not sure where not_ally gets hers, but what it's worth, I use tetrasodium EDTA, too, and I buy it from LotionCrafters (because I also use it in lotion-making).


IrishLass


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## Saponista (Aug 9, 2015)

If you click on the link that I posted them there is all the info there that you need including how to add it biarine


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## sudsy_kiwi (Aug 9, 2015)

Thanks for all the advice in this thread.  I've struggled with that dried-out, tight feeling on my skin with every bar of soap I've made.  I initially put it down to too much CO, and dropped the % all the way down to 0...I've tried a castille...I've used high lard and high tallow bars...I've played around with all sorts of ratios.  In the end I just assumed that I was sensitive to "real" soap after years of using commercial body wash.

But now I have new hope :smile: My city has quite hard water, due to very old pipes, so I'll do some research on how to add citric acid (I have it on hand, for making bath bombs).

Also, I didn't know about lowering the SF...I naively assumed more would be better (ie more moisturising) so I actually increased it lol.


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## MrsSpaceship (Aug 12, 2015)

> Quote:
> Originally Posted by MrsSpaceship  View Post
> Not_ally, This sounds perfect for me, but I just checked a couple of my usual suppliers and they don't carry it, where do you get it?
> MrsSpaceship- I'm not sure where not_ally gets hers, but what it's worth, I use tetrasodium EDTA, too, and I buy it from LotionCrafters (because I also use it in lotion-making).
> ...



Thank you!


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## Saponista (Aug 12, 2015)

I am also keen on a lower superfat, my skin feels greasy otherwise. Does that make me odd compared the everyone else?


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## DeeAnna (Aug 12, 2015)

Nope, you aren't! I suppose we're in the minority, but by no means an oddity.

I use 2% to 3% superfat in my soaps. And to make my true confession worse, I also compensate for the actual purity of my lye so my SF is a "realer" superfat. 

Most soap recipe calcs assume NaOH is 100% pure, and that assumption builds in a hidden lye discount of at least 5% for most of the NaOH products I've looked at. So if you use Soapcalc, for example, and set your superfat to zero, your soap most likely has a +5% superfat, more or less.

I really, really don't have a problem using a lower superfat -- it is not drying, unpleasant, nor irritating to the skin, winter or summer. Carolyn (cmzaha) was my inspiration to lower the superfat in my soaps.


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## ngian (Aug 13, 2015)

I have also started making soap with 3% lye discount, and from my early experience is that I like it more than 5% that I used to do...

From now on I will use 1-3% depending on how old the lye is or if I use additives that contains reducing sugars.

(DeeAnna I have send 2 private messages since last week)

Nikos


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## Saponista (Aug 13, 2015)

I'm glad it's not just me DeeAnna and ngian!


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