# Stearic Acid



## SuperSoaper (May 3, 2011)

When using Stearic Acid in CP recipes, What is a good percentage per pound to achieve an acceptable hard bar without compromising the bubbles or creaminess.
SuperSoaper


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## calico21 (May 3, 2011)

I use a little under an ounce per pound of oils, but my recipe can trace really fast(like 2 min) so I usually hand whisk mix, and for longer to ensure its mixed properly. Makes swirling difficult but I'm working on it  :? . I don't think its ever compromised my bubbles or lather. My ones without it seem the same just dont harden as fast or last as long in the shower.


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## carebear (May 3, 2011)

it depends on what oils  you are using. 
in my bars, I use an additional ZERO percent.  but it could be beneficial if you are working with a lot of soft oils (beware, many of those oils are DOS prone).

what's your recipe?

Why are you looking at stearic?  Are you a beginning soaper?  If so, I'd concentrate first on developing recipes that are oils only and go from there.  Stearic can be difficult to work with.


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## Rosalind (May 3, 2011)

May I ask what the purpose of stearic acid is?


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## calico21 (May 3, 2011)

My understanding is it only adds hardness, but with everything I continue to read I may have loss some info along the way. If it adds anything else I'm sure someone will chime in.
ETA from soap dish website:Used at the rate of .25 to .5 ounce per pound of base oils, stearic acid can be used to harden your soap. A great addition to formulas high in oils that produce soft soap, such as castor, sunflower, or corn oils. We make shampoo bars with as much as 20% castor that would be extremely soft, if it weren't for the addition of stearic acid.


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## SuperSoaper (May 4, 2011)

Thanks Calico21,
Do I have to substract the stearic acid amount from the total oils to accommodate that addition?


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## Elly (May 4, 2011)

Steric acid has its own sap value so it must be calculated as part of the oils.  I have used 1% steric acid in my batches but you must be careful if you soap at low temps because steric acid can give you white specs in the soap if it not fully melted.


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## SudsyKat (May 4, 2011)

I'm always on the lookout for harder, longer-lasting bars, but I remember reading on this form (and this was just an opinion, of course) that while stearic adds to initial hardness, it didn't seem to make a difference in how long the bar lasted in the shower.


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## SideDoorSoaps (May 4, 2011)

Stearic acid is used in shaving soaps also to help produce stable lather.


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## creativemumsie (Aug 28, 2013)

*how to use stearic acid in cp*

Hi
I am fairly new to soaping with about 9 batches so far. I have been making a fairly soft batch lately or slow to harden I should say. I put this down to the yoghurt I have been using.....one batch forgot to include it in the water amt. My question is I bought some stearic acid and plan to use it at 7 grams per kilo but can't find how to add this to the batch. Do you melt it first in the micro wave with the other hard oils then add to the remaining oils and is there anything I need to take care with. One post here said stearic acid can be difficult to use....how what problems do I need to be aware of other than faster trace ?:crazy:
My other question is does adding yoghurt and milk to the batch reduce the soaps shelf life? I have read somewhere that the use of vit E will help with shelf life. Do you all add vit E to your soaps? If so how much  and what strength is it? Appreciate all your help and pearls of wisdom.
thanks Liz:clap:


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## SilentThunderStorm (Sep 18, 2013)

Just a quick note... stearic acid is almost necessary in shaving soaps due to the stability it adds to the lather; in shaving soap, the cleansing properties mean nothing, the lather is everything.

Additionally, hardness doesn't mean much with a shaving soap... shaving soap is designed to be converted directly into lather, and is left in the bottom of the shaving bowl, with the only water coming from a nice badger bristle brush; it doesn't tend to disintegrate the way that a bar of soap left in a wet soap dish will.

As for sources of stearic acid, personally, I use tallow. If you are specifically working on a cruelty free recipe, you could substitute cocoa or shea butters.

I haven't done much work with directly adding stearic acid into a standard bar soap... but actually adding stearic acid can be tricky, since it will tend to turn to soap on a stick instantly... use a wisk, or even a spatula, rather than a stick blender.

Additionally, as mentioned above, stearic acid needs to be accounted for in the recipe as if it was an oil.

Personally, if I was going to do a bar soap, was going to superfat it, *AND* was going to use stearic acid, then I would run numbers for both the superfat % that I wanted to hit, and for ZERO superfat (and, again, don't forget to account for the stearic acid in both numbers).

This way, you can add the stearic acid directly to the oils, then add you lye, and add the remaining oils at medium or heavy trace.

This lets you be certain that the stearic acid was saponified completely (avoiding those spots), and lets you superfat your bar.


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## smeetree (Nov 27, 2014)

How come you can buy stearic acid and add it to soap but nobody sells the other acids, like Ricinoleic Acid?


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 28, 2014)

You can. I don't know where they got it from, but I've seen someone using different sorts of acids rather than fats for soaping. Do you remember the threads about palm oil and how the acids solidify at different rates, how that was used by chandeliers to split the two acids apart? 

Did you google something like 'buy oleic acid'?


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