Adding Shea butter

[Loran]

Howdy y’all!!! Haven’t posted in a while, but I’ve been actively making soap! I have several beautiful bars now I have the mix and pour down finally! I am wanting to start using Shea butter in my recipe but can’t decide which ingredient to subtract to add it. Here’s the recipe as of now:
50%lard
25%alvocado oil
20% coconut oil
5% castor oil
I planned on using 10% Shea. Unless you pros out there think that’s too much? I’m wanting to take it out of the lard but the bar gets softer and less longevity. Taking it out of coconut oil lowers the lather too much. I like how it looks taking out of the liquid oil but then my liquid to hard oils is way off with too many hard oils. Or do I need to scrap my original recipe and start a new one for the Shea? Thanks y’all!

 

[AliOop]

I’d take 5% each from the avo and CO for the 10% Shea. Then use AVJ for the liquid and/or some sugar and air it into boost bubbles. I think you will like that recipe after a 6week cure.

 

[dibbles]

I would try taking 5% from the lard and avocado oil for the 10% shea. You could also take it all from the avocado. Lard is such a slow moving fat to work with that you shouldn’t have any problems. Try a few small batches with different combinations to see what might give you what you are looking for.

 

[GemstonePony]

I'm wanting to take it out of the lard but the bar gets softer and less longevity.

According to the lye calculator I use, the bar gets 3% harder with more longevity with 10% Shea/40% lard instead of 50% lard, so I'm a little confused by this.

 

[Loran]

I forgot to ask if Shea butter even makes much of a difference. I been using it by itself on my cracked skin from the cold weather and am hoping it makes a better bar for my skin

 

[cmzaha]

I have never really found 10% shea to make a noticeable difference in soap. I would add it in some soaps for label appeal. In my 57% shea butter soap I do notice a difference, and it makes a very nice gentle bar.

 

[GemstonePony]

Seconding @cmzaha , percentages are key. Since your recipe already has some hardness and some creamy lather, I don't think you'd notice a difference of 10%. I think you might maybe notice a difference of 15%, and I think you would probably notice a difference of 20%+, though. It doesn't have a super similar profile to lard, but it's similar enough that you would need to add a fair amount make a noticable difference.
Shea butter won't moisturize your hands as soap, but it's unsaponifiables might keep the soap from cleaning quite as well, and by making the bar less soluble it will give you less soap to lather with, further restricting it's cleaning ability.
TBH though, if you're getting cracked hands, switching 5-7% from CO to lard might also go a long way in solving your problem.

 

[Loran]

Thank you all for the input!!! I think I’ll work on a whole new formula to work with Shea and I will definitely change the CO. I remember reading 20% is the most to go with CO. So that does make sense

I’m working on a batch now. Doing a small 20oz mold, no scent, no colors, all natural!
going with
40%shea
20%canola
20%CO
20%Lard
Added a couple small scoops of sugar to mix in the water before adding the lye. I didn’t find this recipe anywhere, just read a few posts here and took a little info from each. Sorry I can’t remember who I got it from so I can’t give credit to. I’ll just say the pros here! For sure the fun part about this is the experimenting! I really need to start doing this more often!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

In order to use up some raw shea butter I had on hand, I made 67% shea butter soap and it is now my personal favorite -- makes my dry, sensitive mature skin happy, happy, happy! BTW, I once ran out of shea butter while weighing ingredients for a batch. I went to SoapCalc to find a substitute and shea butter was the closest match. Since then, I've learned that shea butter, lard and palm are good subs for one another.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I went to SoapCalc to find a substitute and shea butter was the closest match

Oopsie! I meant to say "lard" was the closest match.

 

[Tinkerbelle]

In order to use up some raw shea butter I had on hand, I made 67% shea butter soap and it is now my personal favorite -- makes my dry, sensitive mature skin happy, happy, happy! BTW, I once ran out of shea butter while weighing ingredients for a batch. I went to SoapCalc to find a substitute and shea butter was the closest match. Since then, I've learned that shea butter, lard and palm are good subs for one another.

Did you have to do an extra long cure on your 67% Shea?

 

[SoapDaddy70]

Did you have to do an extra long cure on your 67% Shea?

I did a 70% Shea recipe back in Frebruary and tested a bar at 2 months and then again at 4 months and I felt there was a noticeable difference. Definitely more lather in the bar I let cure longer. In my opinion it is a very different feeling between the high shea and my regular recipes. A much more lotiony (if that's a word) feel with less bubbles but I really liked it.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Did you have to do an extra long cure on your 67% Shea?

I reformated the recipe to an INS Value of 155. Cure time: 4 weeks.

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/67-shea-butter-cp-ins-155.85204/

 

[Johnez]

Oopsie! I meant to say "lard" was the closest match.

Thank you for that update, I was a little confused haha!

 

[Tinkerbelle]

I reformated the recipe to an INS Value of 155. Cure time: 4 weeks.

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/67-shea-butter-cp-ins-155.85204/

Awesome, thanks