advice on recipe for 2nd batch

[JLem]

I'm home alone today so I want to make a couple batches. My first ever batch is only a week into curing so I can't evaluate how successful it was (though it looks pretty good).

I picked up some more oils at the market this morning and I was thinking of going with something like the following:

30% Palm oil
30% Coconut oil
20% Sunflower oil
20% Safflower oil

7% superfat
38% water
SoapCalc for lye amount

I might try adding some EOs to this batch to see how that goes - I have some lemon, pine, and cedarwood lying around the house from various other uses.

Does the above recipe seem OK? I also have olive oil, sesame oil, canola oil and some sweet almond oil. Too many choices!

 

[dixiedragon]

Generally speaking, people tend to use coconut oil at 20% or less. It can be drying. Also, it can speed trace. Do you have hard water and want a super-bubbly soap? If so, the 30% sounds fine. But if not, I'd drop that to 20%

Here is Kathy Miller's Soap Classic recipe, which I have made and loved:
Soap Classic [SIZE=-2](Kathy Miller)[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] This is my current favorite![/SIZE]

39 oz. olive oil (For harder soap substitute 2 oz. of cocoa butter for 2 oz. of the olive) 24 oz. coconut oil 18 oz. palm oil 26-30 oz. cold water (lower for essential oils, higher for troublesome fragrance oils) 12 oz. lye crystals http://millersoap.com/soapallveg.html#SoapClassic(BTW, this is a 7 lb batch. You may want to make a smaller batch.)Your recipe isn't BAD, per se - if you make it, it will be soap. But olive oil is included in almost all soap recipes for a reason, and safflower and sunflower not so much.

 

[JLem]

Thanks for the reply. My first recipe was 40% olive oil, 30% palm, and 30% coconut. I didn't realize the coconut should be kept lower. For this next batch I guess I was looking to replace the olive oil with the sunflower and safflower (much cheaper...which isn't necessary the end goal here...but might be if I get hooked on this hobby like I think I might)

How will using the sunflower and safflower oils instead of the olive oil change things?

 

[lsg]

I use coconut oil at 30% in my recipes and I don't find it drying. I haven't noticed any acceleration in the trace with that amount. I wouldn't use safflower oil as it can cause rancidity and DOS in soap.

 

[dixiedragon]

Olive oil is fabulous in soap. It (eventually) makes a hard bar of soap, it provides lather, it's conditioning. Coconut also provides hardness in soap and big, fluffy bubbles. That's why olive oil and coconut are the "core" of most soap recipes. From what I've noticed, the only time people don't use olive or coconut is for a very specific reason - for example, somebody having an allergy.

I have read that sunflower oil works synergysticlly (sp?) with olive to boost the lather, which is why I always use some in my soap.

I've never used safflower, but I think that using safflower and sunflower rather than olive, you are going to end up with a softer bar of soap with less lather.

Again, it's won't be TERRIBLE. It will still be soap. And maybe you should give it a try and compare it to your first batch. You may find you love it.

 

[JLem]

OK...played around with SoapCalc and here is what I am thinking now:

30% Coconut
30% Palm
25% Olive
10% Sunflower
5% Sweet Almond

I don't want to mess around with the possible rancidity issue with safflower...and while I see sunflower oil in some recipes, I don't really see too much mention of safflower

Here is what SoapCalc give me for this recipe:

Hardness 44
Cleansing 20
Conditioning 52
Bubbly 20
Creamy 24
Iodine 59
INS 157

and here's the FA profile:
Lauric 14
Myristic 6
Palmitic 20
Stearic 4
Ricinoleic 0
Oleic 36
Linoleic 15
Linolenic 0

 

[seven]

i've never heard of safflower causing dos so far. sunflower yes, and soybean. i have used these oils in my soaps. I try not to exceed 15%. to be on the safe side, perhaps you want to make sure your linoleic and linolenic properties does not exceed 15 when added.

as far as coconut oil, i think 30% with 7% SF will be just fine. I personally don't find it drying in that amount.

you can try to prevent/prolong rancidity by adding antioxidants, such as vit. E or ROE (rosemary oleoresin).

 

[JLem]

i've never heard of safflower causing dos so far. sunflower yes, and soybean. i have used these oils in my soaps. I try not to exceed 15%. to be on the safe side, perhaps you want to make sure your linoleic and linolenic properties does not exceed 15 when added.

as far as coconut oil, i think 30% with 7% SF will be just fine. I personally don't find it drying in that amount.

you can try to prevent/prolong rancidity by adding antioxidants, such as vit. E or ROE (rosemary oleoresin).

There seems to be a lot of conflicting info out there about safflower and sunflower oils in soap. I wonder if the oleic and linoleic acid levels are highly variable and that is where the confusion lies - high, mid, and low oleic versions will have pretty drastic differences in their fatty acid makeup and this will greatly impact their properties (including potential/time to go rancid).

Also...both sunflower and safflower oils are very high in vitamin E...so I would have thought they could provide their own protection from going rancid. I wonder why not. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_E#Dietary_sources

 

[AnnaMarie]

OK...played around with SoapCalc and here is what I am thinking now:

30% Coconut
30% Palm
25% Olive
10% Sunflower
5% Sweet Almond

I don't want to mess around with the possible rancidity issue with safflower...and while I see sunflower oil in some recipes, I don't really see too much mention of safflower

Here is what SoapCalc give me for this recipe:

Hardness 44
Cleansing 20
Conditioning 52
Bubbly 20
Creamy 24
Iodine 59
INS 157

and here's the FA profile:
Lauric 14
Myristic 6
Palmitic 20
Stearic 4
Ricinoleic 0
Oleic 36
Linoleic 15
Linolenic 0[/QUOTE

My soap recipe is rather close to this one, and it makes a lovely soap. You have good proportions of hard and soft oils. Almond is a favorite of mine because it makes silky lather. Sunflower gives soap a wonderful creaminess. I vote for this recipe
Cheers!
Anna Marie

Ps- if you'd like, drop the palm and coconut down to 25% and boost your almond up to 15%

 

[AnnaMarie]

I don't soap with safflower, but I use sunflower a lot. When it arrives I add rosemary oleoresin to it and keep it in the fridge. I also add a bit of rosemary oleoresin to my soap, but I do have to deal with a color change when I add it.
Cheers!
Anna Marie

 

[JLem]

My soap recipe is rather close to this one, and it makes a lovely soap. You have good proportions of hard and soft oils. Almond is a favorite of mine because it makes silky lather. Sunflower gives soap a wonderful creaminess. I vote for this recipe
Cheers!
Anna Marie

Ps- if you'd like, drop the palm and coconut down to 25% and boost your almond up to 15%

Thanks! I have an 8oz bottle of sweet almond oil leftover from making some beard oil so I figure I'd give it a try...but it is expensive and so I didn't want to use too much. I think now that I am hooked on soap making I will have to find an online source for some of my oils - I've noticed that places like Bulk Apothecary have MUCH better pricing than the local stores.

I'm also thinking of picking up some ROE as well. Seems like something a lot of folks use. I have to admit too that I had never considered the possibility that my soaps could start going rancid!