A cappuccino bar with citric acid

[Iluminameluna]

I'm asking for a critique of this recipe because I've made it at least twice before without issue except this time I want to add citric acid. Not because it leaves soap scum as is but because I'm now making it in part for taking some of the bars to San Antonio where the water is very hard (heavy in minerals, for those who don't know what that is).
I've read that citric acid can ****** trace, so I'm prepared for that. And I'm keeping the percentage to just 2% of the total of the oils just to be safe. And adding just 2%of the same of a simple syrup made with white sugar to increase bubbles since I'm adding beef tallow.
Is there anything else I should be aware of with CA?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

https://www.soapmakingfriend.com/recipes/63663.cocoa-bar-new

 

[AliOop]

I use 2% citric acid in most of my soaps. I don't recall it having any effect on trace, to be honest. My one recommendation is to be sure it is completely dissolved in warm water before using it, as it "undissolves" pretty easily if you don't incorporate it completely.

You could include it when making your simple syrup so there is one less thing to do when you are ready to soap. Just be sure to refrigerate the prepared solution and don't make more than you will use in 10-14 days, as it does go bad after awhile.

 

[glendam]

something else to be aware of is that you will need to increase the lye amount if you want the same % of superfat as it neutralizes some of it. There are lye calculators that estimate this.

 

[Iluminameluna]

Thank you both! I almost forgot about the neutralizing effect of the citric acid, @glendam! Thanks for the reminder. I use the soapmakingfriend.com lye calculator, but I'm not sure if it does the calculation for you or not. I'll check it out.
@AliOop, I didn't even think to combine the citric acid and sugar at once. What happens when my brain isn't firing on all cylinders!
I'm glad for all the help. Thank you, ladies!

 

[AliOop]

Yes, of course, @glendam is totally correct; how did I forget to mention that? Talk about brains not firing on all cylinders! The SMF calculator will figure the extra lye for you IF you mark the box underneath it to say YES for liquid discount (see screenshot). I don't really understand why it is called that, since it is a lye adjustment, not a liquid adjustment. But that's the box you have to mark if you want it to calculate the extra lye for you.

 

[Iluminameluna]

@AliOop, back to the engine hitch for us... Sigh. Good thing I'm feeling completely run down. I printed the recipe and didn't even have the strength to check to see if it would calculate the ca adjustment. Ugh. Thank you for spoon feeding me the info. I'd NEVER have guessed that was what the little button was for. Seriously, why is it named "liquid" adjustment? That's just confusing to us still new to the calculator... Or just easily discombobulated.

 

[user 56151]

I add citric acid at 2% to all of my soaps. I don’t adjust the lye because I only SF at 5% so I’m quite happy to increase the SF slightly. I dissolve mine with sugar and salt in a small amount of hot water and add it to my oils before I add the lye. I haven’t noticed any difference in the time to reach trace, but I find a huge difference in the soap scum.

 

[glendam]

@AliOop that’s a helpful tip on the lye adjustment for soapmakingfriend. Thank you! I had no clue.
@Iluminameluna I know that lyecalc.com does the adjustment automatically, but soap making friend is a very neat calculator, worth doing the check mark.
I once forgot to add my citric acid and with the extra lye I worried about having lye heavy soap, but it ended up being only a 0% superfat soap. It was not drying though.

 

[AliOop]

@AliOop, back to the engine hitch for us... Sigh. Good thing I'm feeling completely run down. I printed the recipe and didn't even have the strength to check to see if it would calculate the ca adjustment. Ugh. Thank you for spoon feeding me the info. I'd NEVER have guessed that was what the little button was for. Seriously, why is it named "liquid" adjustment? That's just confusing to us still new to the calculator... Or just easily discombobulated.

No, it's not you... that's definitely a misleading label on that check-box. I only figured it out by checking YES, and then looking over to the other column to see if the amount of lye changed (which it did). Not very user-friendly or intuitive, IMO.

 

[Iluminameluna]

@AliOop I went to bed early then got up this am to check amounts of lye, when toggling the button, and yeah, the amount of lye changed. But I had also written in how much liquid, in this case coffee, I'd be using, which was 904g, so if I was going to change any oils/fats that particular amount wasn't, so I was going to thoroughly confuse myself in any case. So what I'm saying is that I sometimes, when I'm really tired, I confuse my numbers or lines, so seeing that it just said "liquid" was just throwing extra wrenches in my already gear-stripped mind last night.
Extra thanks for the support!

 

[AliOop]

Hah, I don't soap when tired. Bad things happen. Hope you are doing better today!