# Superfatting?



## rupertspal42 (May 16, 2009)

I've read some on superfatting and it makes a little sense but... i'm not quite seeing the big picture.. can someone break it down barney style for me? Thanks!


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## Guest (May 16, 2009)

here we go.
I love you , you love me
we all super fat you see
SMF is  one big family
with a superfat here and an fo there 
 just kidding 
When you add the super fat oils it is after you have trace , so the theory is that the oils you add are not eaten by the lye monster , or not quite as badly as before trace.There you have it in a nutshell.

Love Barney : wink:


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## Guest (May 16, 2009)

Superfatting:  adding more oil into your recipe than your lye can react with.  So once the lye has completely reacted to form soap, the remaining unsaponified oil remains in the soap and acts as a conditioner.

Please note that the "add your superfat oils after trace" theory isn't a solid one.  The soap hasn't finished saponifying at trace, so adding oils at that point doesn't guarantee that they won't be saponified.

The basic idea behind superfatting is that is produces a more mild, conditioning bar since there's no free lye, as well as the presence of unsaponified oils retaining their original skin benefits.


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## carebear (May 17, 2009)

two terms:  superfat & lye discount.  they are coming at it from different directions, but both have the same result (seriously)

superfat:  means to add extra fat to your soap
lye discount:  means to use a bit less lye

the terms are used interchangeably by MOST.  and lye calculators do also.  the calculators basically back off on the amount of lye to ensure there is some excess oil.

some folks believe that superfatting AFTER TRACE that particular oil/butter intact.  dr. kevin dunn (not from Australia LOL) has shown this is not the case, but some do it anyway.  cuz soaping has its own chemistry rules I guess.

you can come at your post-trace superfatting/lye discount the same 2 ways.  you can calculate how much lye you need for the whole batch including your magic butter and then back off to a certain lye discount, or you can calculate how much lye you need without the magic butter and then soap at 0% superfat and add the magic butter at trace, i.e., superfat with it.

most of us have gotten to the point that we just add all the oils at the beginning.  but some do it differently.  any way that works is fine.  it's just soap, after all.


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## rupertspal42 (May 18, 2009)

Ok that makes a bit more sense, the thingy I read on the net was saying that alot of the calculators automatically calculate everything so that you will have the superfat effect thing.  If i'm correct, which I hope so, if I have say 3 oz of lye water, I want to add 4-6 oz of my extra oil/butter to get the superfat?   (i'm horrible at math and measurment is the key for ME)

Kitn - never sing barney again lmao I was reading your post and was like la-la-llaaaaaa la-la-llaaaa wait a sec.. DANGIT


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## Guest (May 18, 2009)

Victoria this depends entirely on the oils you are using, and the weight of your oils.  Every oil has its own SAP value, and so requires a specific amount of lye to saponify it.

I'd definitely suggest using a lye calculator like http://www.soapcalc.com

Once you enter your total weight of oils and type of oils, you can enter the superfat percentage you want and it will tell you exactly how much lye you need.

This is one of those things where estimating can be troublesome; you really want to get the exact measurements.


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## carebear (May 19, 2009)

most calculators DO automatically do the calculation.  I think soapcalc.com defaults to 5% (it's really a lye discount, not a superfat, but whatever).

This means that if you just enter your oils and hit "calculate" - the amount of lye indicated will have that "discount" or "superfat" already built in.  So your soap, made that way, will have a little excess oil after all the lye is consumed by the reaction.


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## rupertspal42 (May 19, 2009)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO And the circle has been completed...  :shock:


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## andreja (May 19, 2009)

I hope someone will see this, so I don't have to open a new thread with similar question. 
It makes sense as to why one can't add oils at trace and be sure that that oil is in fact intact. So, how about superfatting when doing HP? Can one be sure that the oil gets intact if added after gel phase?


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## Guest (May 19, 2009)

andreja said:
			
		

> I hope someone will see this, so I don't have to open a new thread with similar question.
> It makes sense as to why one can't add oils at trace and be sure that that oil is in fact intact. So, how about superfatting when doing HP? Can one be sure that the oil gets intact if added after gel phase?



Yes -- HP is different than CP in this way.


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## rupertspal42 (May 20, 2009)

So how much difference is there between HP and CP then??  :?:


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## Guest (May 20, 2009)

CP = Mix oils and lye solution, bring to trace, pour into mold.  Soap saponifies in mold over the course of a few hours.  FO/EO are added at or before trace; cure time is 2-6 weeks.

HP = Mix oils and lye solution, bring to trace, cook soap until fully saponified.  Put soap in mold until cool.  FO/EO are added after saponification so less is required; soap can be used as soon as it cools.

Others can go into more detail, but this is the basic difference.


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## rupertspal42 (May 20, 2009)

oh no that hit the nail pretty hard lol I see the difference now, before I thought it was just something small haha thanks for sharing!


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