I was playing around on soapcalc after looking at Soap Queen’ recipe for moisturizing soap which looks like a lovely soap and very mild. I recommend it for anyone wanting to try a milder soap.
Disclaimer: These recipes I’ve come up with are based on what I like for my dry, sensitive skin. So, please don’t hate me if you try one of these recipes and think it’s horrible.
I was playing around on soapcalc after looking at Soap Queen’ recipe for moisturizing soap which looks like a lovely soap and very mild. I recommend it for anyone wanting to try a milder soap. Anyway, I came up with a few ideas which I thought might also make a more conditioning type of soap. I haven’t tried these recipes but I thought some people might find them interesting enough to try a batch. (I want to mention here that soap isn’t moisturizing but it can be made less drying with the addition of some oils and a higher superfat. I checked SQ’s SF and it appears to be 5%. I normally use 7%-8% SF.) I also add sodium lactate to help with hardness and approximately 4% sugar based on the oil weight. Plus, I love buttermilk or cream in soap to add a little extra luxuriousness to the lather.
If I wanted to make a similar soap to SQ's, I’d make a few changes to make it a little more conditioning. I think jojoba oil is extremely expensive and I prefer to save it for lotions so I eliminated it from the recipe. Also, I prefer to use shea in lotions and whipped butters but it would make a softer bar if I eliminated it completely.
The simplest variation to increase the conditioning would be to eliminate the 1 ounce of jojoba, replace it with 1 ounce of castor oil and use a higher SF.
Another variation – a little more conditioning but also a slightly softer bar.
42% Olive oil
20% Palm oil
19% Coconut oil
9% Avocado oil
5% Shea butter
5% Castor oil
Another way to make it more conditioning is to sub out the AVO and use HOS.
[FONT="]
42% Olive oil
20% Palm oil
19% Coconut oil
9% High Oleic Sunflower oil
5% Shea butter
5% Castor oil
Without shea butter
40% Olive oil
25% Palm oil
20% Coconut oil
10% High Oleic Sunflower oil
5% Castor oil
Off topic –
Because I was playing I did come up with a couple that isn’t very conditioning but I liked the values as a body bar for my BIL and nephews. They don’t like soap with a lot of emollient oils, they prefer a less mild soap and they really like beer soap. So, I would use more CO than normal and use beer for the liquid with a 5% SF. (I wouldn’t add sugar or SL in these recipes.)
35% Olive oil
27% Palm oil
27% Coconut oil
6% Castor oil
5% High Oleic Sunflower oil
If I wanted to use avocado oil, I would eliminate the HOS and replace it with AVO.
I would change the percentages a little and use 8% SF if I was making a beer batch for myself and other members of my family who have dry skin.
35% Olive oil
26% Palm oil
25% Coconut oil
7% Castor oil
7% High Oleic Sunflower oil
Again, these are just my preferences when making soap. Everyone has their particular favorite oils and may not like my choices. I like castor because of how it really increases conditioning, stabilizes lather and adds some creaminess and smaller bubbles. I also like high oleic sunflower since it’s more stable and has a longer shelf life. It might be better to substitute your own favorite oils in place of what I like to use. Also, I’ve found too much coconut oil dries my skin out terribly unless I use a really high SF like I do for salt bars. Most people could increase the CO percentage and find they prefer it.
I hope some people find these recipes useful as a starting place. I like tweaking recipes to see what will happen in soap. I’ll confess I’ve had some bad ones but overall I’ve found recipes with these oils and similar percentages to produce bubbly and mild soap. I’ll add to this if I think of more variations.
eta: I made this one.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]42% Olive oil
20% Palm oil
19% Coconut oil
9% High Oleic Sunflower oil
5% Shea butter
5% Castor oil
I found it to be mild, conditioning and nice lather. It was slightly "tackier" feeling even after 6 weeks of curing. However, one of my sisters loved it and asked for more. I noticed the tacky feeling appears to have disappeared now that it's cured for over 2 months or so.
[/FONT]
Disclaimer: These recipes I’ve come up with are based on what I like for my dry, sensitive skin. So, please don’t hate me if you try one of these recipes and think it’s horrible.
I was playing around on soapcalc after looking at Soap Queen’ recipe for moisturizing soap which looks like a lovely soap and very mild. I recommend it for anyone wanting to try a milder soap. Anyway, I came up with a few ideas which I thought might also make a more conditioning type of soap. I haven’t tried these recipes but I thought some people might find them interesting enough to try a batch. (I want to mention here that soap isn’t moisturizing but it can be made less drying with the addition of some oils and a higher superfat. I checked SQ’s SF and it appears to be 5%. I normally use 7%-8% SF.) I also add sodium lactate to help with hardness and approximately 4% sugar based on the oil weight. Plus, I love buttermilk or cream in soap to add a little extra luxuriousness to the lather.
If I wanted to make a similar soap to SQ's, I’d make a few changes to make it a little more conditioning. I think jojoba oil is extremely expensive and I prefer to save it for lotions so I eliminated it from the recipe. Also, I prefer to use shea in lotions and whipped butters but it would make a softer bar if I eliminated it completely.
The simplest variation to increase the conditioning would be to eliminate the 1 ounce of jojoba, replace it with 1 ounce of castor oil and use a higher SF.
Another variation – a little more conditioning but also a slightly softer bar.
42% Olive oil
20% Palm oil
19% Coconut oil
9% Avocado oil
5% Shea butter
5% Castor oil
Another way to make it more conditioning is to sub out the AVO and use HOS.
[FONT="]
42% Olive oil
20% Palm oil
19% Coconut oil
9% High Oleic Sunflower oil
5% Shea butter
5% Castor oil
Without shea butter
40% Olive oil
25% Palm oil
20% Coconut oil
10% High Oleic Sunflower oil
5% Castor oil
Off topic –
Because I was playing I did come up with a couple that isn’t very conditioning but I liked the values as a body bar for my BIL and nephews. They don’t like soap with a lot of emollient oils, they prefer a less mild soap and they really like beer soap. So, I would use more CO than normal and use beer for the liquid with a 5% SF. (I wouldn’t add sugar or SL in these recipes.)
35% Olive oil
27% Palm oil
27% Coconut oil
6% Castor oil
5% High Oleic Sunflower oil
If I wanted to use avocado oil, I would eliminate the HOS and replace it with AVO.
I would change the percentages a little and use 8% SF if I was making a beer batch for myself and other members of my family who have dry skin.
35% Olive oil
26% Palm oil
25% Coconut oil
7% Castor oil
7% High Oleic Sunflower oil
Again, these are just my preferences when making soap. Everyone has their particular favorite oils and may not like my choices. I like castor because of how it really increases conditioning, stabilizes lather and adds some creaminess and smaller bubbles. I also like high oleic sunflower since it’s more stable and has a longer shelf life. It might be better to substitute your own favorite oils in place of what I like to use. Also, I’ve found too much coconut oil dries my skin out terribly unless I use a really high SF like I do for salt bars. Most people could increase the CO percentage and find they prefer it.
I hope some people find these recipes useful as a starting place. I like tweaking recipes to see what will happen in soap. I’ll confess I’ve had some bad ones but overall I’ve found recipes with these oils and similar percentages to produce bubbly and mild soap. I’ll add to this if I think of more variations.
eta: I made this one.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]42% Olive oil
20% Palm oil
19% Coconut oil
9% High Oleic Sunflower oil
5% Shea butter
5% Castor oil
I found it to be mild, conditioning and nice lather. It was slightly "tackier" feeling even after 6 weeks of curing. However, one of my sisters loved it and asked for more. I noticed the tacky feeling appears to have disappeared now that it's cured for over 2 months or so.
[/FONT]
