# super fat %



## leillani (Mar 10, 2010)

what is best superfatting % to create a moisturizing, but not a soft, bar of soap?


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## IanT (Mar 10, 2010)

Usually the par is about 5% to 10%


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## ChrissyB (Mar 11, 2010)

My standard superfat is 8%, unless it's a 100% coconut oil soap, or a salt soap, in which case I will superfat 15% or 20%.
Soapcalc doesn't alter the soap properties numbers when you change the superfat %, so keep that in mind, but most of my recipes are quite high on the cleansing factor as far as the numbers go, but in actual fact are super mild because I superfat that little bit more.


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## Bubbles Galore (Mar 11, 2010)

I mostly use either 6% or 8% but sometimes use 20% when using high coconut oil.  :wink:


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## MorpheusPA (Mar 11, 2010)

leillani said:
			
		

> what is best superfatting % to create a moisturizing, but not a soft, bar of soap?



I agree with the above, utterly.

That having been said, one soap I made with 70% coconut and 30% palm is extremely popular, and the superfat is 0.5%.  The people who got it for testing are telling me that it cuts grease on pans beautifully (what I had designed it for) AND makes their hands feel nice.

Nicer than Dawn or most commercial soaps, certainly.  I'll buy that.

I find it a touch too harsh for me personally, but I'm now used to 5% to 8% superfatted soap with a moderate olive percentage.  Still, in a pinch, I'd use that long before I'd touch Ivory.


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## holly99 (Mar 11, 2010)

I typically use 6% or 7%. If I am using milk in my soap I tend to lower the superfat just a smidge.


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## leillani (Mar 11, 2010)

Does soaping with a higher super fat % affect the durability of the soap? By the way, thanks for all your replies...


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## MorpheusPA (Mar 11, 2010)

leillani said:
			
		

> Does soaping with a higher super fat % affect the durability of the soap? By the way, thanks for all your replies...



Pretty much, yes, but there are exceptions.  Beeswax comes to mind.

Unsaponified fat will melt out in the shower, which is what you want it to do.  You want it on your skin to spare some of the natural oils from the soap.

5 to 8 percent is a good balance between soap that's not harsh and soap that lasts a while.  

Your cure time has a very strong effect on that too (probably more than the unsaponified oils do).  Well-cured soap lasts ages.  The world will end, aliens will visit Earth, and they'll say, "That's one durable soap."  

Basically, if it's cured as hard as possible (four weeks to months, depending on what you soaped with), it's durable and whether you used a 1 or 10 percent superfat matters...but not all that much.


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## IanT (Mar 11, 2010)

MorpheusPA said:
			
		

> leillani said:
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Is that a liquid or a bar soap!?! sounds cool


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## MorpheusPA (Mar 11, 2010)

IanT said:
			
		

> Is that a liquid or a bar soap!?! sounds cool



A bar, actually.  The request was for a bar soap that could be rubbed on a rag or sponge and then used to clean a pot.  That's what I cooked up.

I considered using KOH to make a liquid as well, but the bar so far has gotten perfect scores from everybody I gave it to.  I used a fairly liberal amount of orange oil to cut grease and reduce the glycerin scum, too.

Of the four people I gave it to, all are also using it to wash their hands after cooking and gardening.  *I* used it today after taking soil samples.  It sure does cut right through the dirt.  Plus with that much CO and a low superfat percentage it lasts friggin' forever with a minimal cure time and it's hard as a piece of granite.


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## IanT (Mar 11, 2010)

that is aweeeesome  Im going to have to try that sometime. I love orange oil and Ive been trying to get away from using detergents


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## Bubbles Galore (Mar 12, 2010)

MorpheusPA said:
			
		

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I made a "cleaning" soap with 100% coconut oil and no lye discount or superfatting. At first it was harsh, but after some months of curing, it cleans the sink well and feels lovely on the hands. Certainly surprised me.


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## carebear (Mar 12, 2010)

Bubbles Galore said:
			
		

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bubbles, it's not really safe to do a 0% lye discount/superfat.  you may get away with it most of the time, but the SAP values in the calculators are really just averages because true SAPs of oils fall within a normal range.  so with the 0% SF there is a genuine chance you could get lye heavy soap (even if only slightly).  if it's for skin or expected to be used with ungloved hands I REALLY recommend at least a 1% superfat to minimize the risk.  next batch might not be so lucky, yanno?


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## Bubbles Galore (Mar 12, 2010)

Oh I agree completely Carebear. Was never intended to be used with un-gloved hands and was only tested thus because I have a need to know these things.


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