Advice on getting rid of that "squeaky clean" feeling?

[BearandCat]

Hey folks. Been lurking for a while and decided to make my first post. I'm extremely new to soapmaking, made my first successful batch about a week and some change ago. Grabbed a small scrap of it to test at home today and, while it bubbles and smells great, it gives that tight, squeaky feeling at the end that I dislike.

Here's my recipe + percentages:

Olive oil 40%
Coconut oil 30%
Palm oil 20%
Castor oil 5%
Sweet Almond Oil 5%
5% superfat

35% lye concentration

Would upping the superfat to around 8% be any good? I'd like my bars to feel creamy, bubbly and smooth and to minimize that tightness as much as possible. Also, I obviously didn't let the soap cure for 4 to 6 weeks before testing a scrap of it, but I'm not sure that makes any difference in terms of tightness.

Would appreciate any advice you folks have to give! Thanks!

Edit: After looking around here, people have mentioned using a chelator (a term I'm unfamiliar with). Citric acid would be one. Say I'm making a 37oz batch, how much citric acid would I end up using?

 

[IrishLass]

Hi BearandCat!

I would wait at least 4 to 6 weeks of cure before deciding to tweak your formula. It often sounds crazy to those new to the craft, but it is truly amazing what a 4 to 6 weeks cure will do in terms of how different a soap behaves and feel to ones skin as compared to a 2-week or less cure. Although on the surface of things, soap doesn't look like it's doing all that much when on the curing rack, there's a lot of residual chemical reactions still going on inside that can turn a pretty darn skin-drying/tightening, barely lathering 2 week old soap into a a very skin friendly, lusciously lathering soap at 4 to 6 weeks.

Fellow soapmaker DeeAnna has a wonderful explanation of the further chemical changes that go on in soap during cure. Here is a link to it: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/cure-time.35831/#post-548993

IrishLass

 

[DeeAnna]

It's possilbe you have been using non-soap cleansers for bathing until now. These cleansers don't make soap scum if you use them in hard water. Soap does.

After switching to lye-based soap, many people report their skin feels tight or squeaky or sticky and sometimes even irritated. That can easily be from the soap scum that sticks to your skin after bathing with soap. The best way to reduce soap scum is to use a whole-house water softener, but a chelator can be helpful too.

A chelator will reduce the amount of soap scum enough to make a difference when using soap for handwashing and showers -- situations where there's a large amount of soap (and chelator) compared to the amount of water on your skin and washcloth. A chelator can't do as good of a job if you take tub baths, where there's only a little soap and chelator in a large volume of water.

If you want to use a chelator, you should learn how to do the calculations yourself. Here's a link to articles I've written about acids and chelators that may be helpful -- Table of contents | Soapy Stuff If something is not clear or you want someone to doublecheck your calculations, please ask.

If it doesn't appear that soap scum is the reason for the squeaky feeling, other possible issues might be your skin is sensitive to the amount of coconut oil in your recipe, or your soap isn't cured enough as Irish Lass pointed out. It's my opinion that more superfat isn't always the best solution. That's especially true if soap scum is the true culprit and if you want your soap to be as lathery as possible..

 

[earlene]

Absolutely agree that a good cure is necessary before making a decision about how your skin responds to the soap formula. I also found that adding chelators make a big difference in reducing soap scum, so highly recommend that as well.

But for some, 30% CO (coconut oil) is too harsh (stripping oil from the skin, which is drying to the skin). I prefer soaps with a much lower percentage of CO, but have also discovered that sometimes a higher percentage is okay if the rest of the formula balances well to counteract the cleansing factor of CO. (Clear as mud?)

Also some people have a problem with high OO (olive oil) soaps. I cannot say what that feels like, because I am not one of them, but there are those who have reported they cannot use soap with OO.

 

[TheGecko]

Been lurking for a while and decided to make my first post. I'm extremely new to soapmaking, made my first successful batch about a week and some change ago. Grabbed a small scrap of it to test at home today and, while it bubbles and smells great, it gives that tight, squeaky feeling at the end that I dislike.

You want to let your soap for at least four weeks before trying it. Gives time for the science to work it's magic.

You may also want to lower your Coconut Oil to 20% as for many people, higher amounts of CO can be 'drying'. Add that 10% to your SAO instead. Then make a test batch, wait four weeks and then try it again.

 

[Cat&Oak]

Welcome Bearandcat! ❤

 

[BearandCat]

Welcome Bearandcat! ❤

Heyyyy, sorta matching names! Thanks!

 

[BearandCat]

Appreciate all the replies btw. I'll let the soap cure for longer and do another batch for now with less CO.

 

[Cat&Oak]

Heyyyy, sorta matching names! Thanks!

I noticed that too it made me smile!

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

Isn’t there anyone besides me who likes that squeaky clean feeling??? I use it as a test when I can’t remember if I washed my face or under arms.

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

That's Katie Carson's recipe from Royalty Soaps! I've recently purchased her soaps and have been using them. I find them no different from previous, commercial, liquid soaps I had been using. I find I usually need hand moisturizer anyway, no matter what. I actually use homemade cuticle oil on my whole hand. Listen to the experts here encouraging you to be patient and wait; it will be worth it!

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

That's Katie Carson's recipe from Royalty Soaps! I've recently purchased her soaps and have been using them. I find them no different from previous, commercial, liquid soaps I had been using. I find I usually need hand moisturizer anyway, no matter what. I actually use homemade cuticle oil on my whole hand. Listen to the experts here encouraging you to be patient and wait; it will be worth it!

Since you mentioned hand lotion, I discovered I like my lip balm recipe as a hand balm and wonderful cuticle/nail moisturizer. My recipe is full of Shea butter and includes beeswax, with honey flavoring that smells wonderful. My hands may feel a little oily/waxy at first, but my skin soaks the balm up after a few minutes. As an alternative, I have a tube of lip balm that I use just on my cuticles and nails, especially in the winter time.

 

[BearandCat]

That's Katie Carson's recipe from Royalty Soaps! I've recently purchased her soaps and have been using them. I find them no different from previous, commercial, liquid soaps I had been using. I find I usually need hand moisturizer anyway, no matter what. I actually use homemade cuticle oil on my whole hand. Listen to the experts here encouraging you to be patient and wait; it will be worth it!

Yup! That's where I got the recipe from. Followed her creative academy recipe initially, but I didn't like the feel of it. I'll be patient with this batch and see where it goes. Looking forward to editing it eventually and making it my own, though.

 

[soapmaker]

I wholeheartedly second the suggestion of a whole house water softener. What a difference on the skin! And the feel of the soap. Also for that smooth creamy feel, add 2 teaspoons sugar ppo and a starch. I use colloidal oatmeal. Others use rice or potato water. Makes a lovely smooth and rich feel.

 

[earlene]

I wholeheartedly second the suggestion of a whole house water softener. What a difference on the skin! And the feel of the soap. Also for that smooth creamy feel, add 2 teaspoons sugar ppo and a starch. I use colloidal oatmeal. Others use rice or potato water. Makes a lovely smooth and rich feel.

Besides the benefit of a water softener on the feel of soap, it also helps prolong the life of big ticket item appliances like washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters, ice makers in refrigerators and water pipes, by reducing the amount of minerals that run through them. And there will be fewer mineral deposits in laundered items as well, meaning less need for fabric softeners and other laundry products used to soften the water inside the wash tub.

 

[soapmaker]

Besides the benefit of a water softener on the feel of soap, it also helps prolong the life of big ticket item appliances like washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters, ice makers in refrigerators and water pipes, by reducing the amount of minerals that run through them. And there will be fewer mineral deposits in laundered items as well, meaning less need for fabric softeners and other laundry products used to soften the water inside the wash tub.

Exactly. I wouldn't want to drink softened water though. We have a separate R.O. system with a remineralizing cartridge. Our bodies need minerals.

 

[earlene]

Exactly. I wouldn't want to drink softened water though. We have a separate R.O. system with a remineralizing cartridge. Our bodies need minerals.

We also have a separate filtered water faucet for our drinking water, which is what we also use when making our tea and coffee or other drinkable.

Interestingly, that faucet gets more mineral build-up than the faucet I use for dish washing and so forth. But my old stand-by, vinegar, clears that right up with an overnight soak in a baggy secured to the end of the faucet.

 

[soapmaker]

We also have a separate filtered water faucet for our drinking water, which is what we also use when making our tea and coffee or other drinkable.

Interestingly, that faucet gets more mineral build-up than the faucet I use for dish washing and so forth. But my old stand-by, vinegar, clears that right up with an overnight soak in a baggy secured to the end of the faucet.

Assuming you do have the water softener for "dishwashing and so forth" it wouldn't build up mineral. Our re-mineralized water is not hard enough to build up on the drinking/cooking water faucet.

But we have left the topic of this post.

 

[earlene]

Assuming you do have the water softener for "dishwashing and so forth" it wouldn't build up mineral. Our re-mineralized water is not hard enough to build up on the drinking/cooking water faucet.

But we have left the topic of this post.

Perhaps you have a different water softening system and/or your water and our water do not start out equal. I do have to de-mineralize or de-scale the other faucets in the house periodically, it is much less often than I had to when I lived in the mountains in California, where the water wasn't really what I would call 'hard' water.

Our water softener removes multivalent minerals & metals, but not monovalent minerals & metals, sediment or other contaminants that may run through the pipes. Our water main is a lead pipe, so iron (not-multivalent) does get past our water softener unless we buy the salt that has the additive to handle Iron (which Hubby only purchases about once a year because it can reduce the life of the water softener.)

As for the effect of softened water versus hard water on soap, my experience is that soap lathers easier in soft water, than hard water, which is another plus to softening water. However, installing a water softener is much more expensive than simply adding chelators to soap.

 

[Kiti Williams]

We also have a separate filtered water faucet for our drinking water, which is what we also use when making our tea and coffee or other drinkable.

Interestingly, that faucet gets more mineral build-up than the faucet I use for dish washing and so forth. But my old stand-by, vinegar, clears that right up with an overnight soak in a baggy secured to the end of the faucet.

When we moved we had Culligan come in and set us up with a whole house filtration and a reverse osmosis taps for drinking/ice. I will never go back to the unfiltered days! Soap content: In the move I found the batch of soap that 1 bar lasted over 6 months in my shower!