Anyone have a good slow-moving CP soap recipe?

[Trinbago27]

Put down the stick blender. You may think that you are 'hardly' using it, but when working with small batches, anything more than a few 3 second bursts is too much. Even if you are using Pomace Olive Oil, with the amount of Soft Oils and your 86F temp you're batter shouldn't be thickening up that much.

My recipe is:

10% Cocoa Butter (natural)
20% Palm Oil (RSPO)
20% Coconut Oil (76 degree)
10% Shea Butter (natural)
35% Olive Oil (from Costco, not EVOO)
5% Castor Oil

33% Lye Concentration
5% Super Fat

1 tea Sodium Lactate PPO (stirred into cooled Lye Solution)
1 tea Kaolin Clay PPO (dispersed w/1 tab distilled water)

I usually soap around 90F.

Melt the Cocoa Butter halfway, then add the Palm Oil. When it's about halfway melted, add the Coconut Oil. When all is melted, remove from heat (or microwave) and add the Shea Butter in small bits and stir until melted. Then add your Olive and Castor Oil, and your dispersed Clay and give it a quick whiz with the stick blender. Then pour in your Lye Solution.

Now for the mixing part. It's a good habit to get into only mixing your batter to a stable emulsion even if you are making uncolored or single-colored soaps. I HIGHLY recommend watching Lisa at I Dream in Soap's video on Trace, Emulsion, False Trace, Acceleration. In fact, I highly recommend watching all her technique videos as she is very knowledgeable and straight forward. In many of the videos you watched on YouTube, you see a lot of stick blending, but what you may not realize is that the majority of these involve large batches...anywhere from 5lbs to 25lbs. I can't tell you how many times I made "pudding" until it clicked in my head that I was only making 1lb to 2-2 1/2lbs batches. For that size batch, all you need are a few 3-second bursts and some stirring and you're done and ready to pour.

The largest batch of soap I have made with the above is 14lbs that was sub-divided in seven different molds with different colorants, scents and designs: 2-3 layer soaps, 2-2 layer soap, 1 - 2-color ITP Swirl, 2 - 2-color Drop/Chop Stick Swirls. I mixed it in a sink tub and it took about an hour all told to make all those different kinds of soap. I started with an emulsion and at the end, was about at a medium trace...not bad, but I won't ever do that again (I was exhausted despite all the careful planning).

Note on Lye Solution: Use frozen Distilled Water. Cuts down on fumes and you don't have to wait hours for it to cool down. Or you can make it the night before, just remember to cover it tightly after it quits steaming.

Some notes about your recipe: Soap is a wash on/rinse off product, it's not on your skin for more than 5 or 10 minutes at the most. Additionally, the majority of the 'benefits' of your ingredients will be destroyed not only by the caustic nature of Sodium Hydroxide, but the saponification process as it changes the oils/butters into 'soap'. So using expensive ingredients like Babassu Oil is a waste of money and would be better used in lotions. You'd be better off increasing your Coconut Oil to 20% (I wouldn't go over that) or using Palm Oil or Cocoa Butter.

With 80% Soft Oils and all that water your soap is going to be soft in both physical terms and longevity unless you are looking for a long cure time...I'd say close to 6 months. And given it's high "conditioning" number along with an 8% Super Fat, it's probably going to feel a bit 'slimey'. I'd look at 40% Hard Oils, bring your Lye Concentration to 33%-35% and drop the Super Fat down to 3%-5%. Now you don't HAVE to Super Fat your soap...many soap makers don't or maybe just go with 1% to make sure all the Sodium Hydroxide is used up.

Just a question to your point of how much water I use...does this contribute to soda ash? I noticed that I have been having a lot of soda ash lately. I was using high water to make it more fluid, but I think that using lard and less SB should solve that problem.

 

[AliOop]

Just a question to your point of how much water I use...does this contribute to soda ash? I noticed that I have been having a lot of soda ash lately. I was using high water to make it more fluid, but I think that using lard and less SB should solve that problem.

Yes, reducing water can definitely cut down on ash, along with gelling, covering after pouring, and (for some folks) spraying with 90% RA before covering.

 

[Trinidad Kelly]

so for an update...

First thank you for all that responded here, you guys are the best!

I only made one change to my recipe in that I reduced the castor oil to 5% and below. other than that what I did was drastically reduce how much I SB. Apparently I WAS doing too much of it! I was so afraid I was not properly mixing the batter that it was too much. Made 3 soaps since with no issues! I also tried a soap yesterday with lard as several members raved about it. Well they were right! so slow moving...awesome!

Thanks again!

Great to hear. Keep it up.

 

[Susie]

If you think about it, the coconut oil is there to contribute suds and lather to your soap, not necessarily to help prevent loss of skin lipids. In fact, the more coconut oil is used in a soap, the higher the cleansing factor. So, if you want to lower your SF, also lower your CO to however less you want or need to. In San Antonio, Texas and other places that have water with a high mineral content, CO and other tricks for enhancing lather and suds are used. But I've also lived in places where the water was so sweet, my soaps were almost bubble bars! It was wonderful, and made my art easier because I could also use things like fruit purees to charm my friends and family. But that's beside the point here.
The point is that in your recipe, your Super Fat can go as low as you want because you are using some great oils, but as long as you keep your coconut oil higher than, say, 10 or 15%, it's going to be drying to your skin. To some ppl it's drying at 5%, and to a small percentage of ppl, it's an allergen. So there's that as well to take into consideration.
Just wanted to add what I've learned from this group in my last 6 years about coconut oil. And I still consider myself a novice soapmaker. I haven't made any designs yet.

I live in DFW now, and have to use EDTA. I also had to lower my SF to 2% to avoid horrendous soap scum, even on me! I came from areas with super soft water. My sister-in-law says my soap with EDTA now bubbles much more than when I did not use it.

 

[MLSB]

I live in DFW now, and have to use EDTA. I also had to lower my SF to 2% to avoid horrendous soap scum, even on me! I came from areas with super soft water. My sister-in-law says my soap with EDTA now bubbles much more than when I did not use it.

That ingredient is not good to be used in soap
Honestly you need to rethink this please this chemical is horrible when used in lotions and to use it in soap just wondering why you decided on this?

 

[Susie]

That ingredient is not good to be used in soap
Honestly you need to rethink this please this chemical is horrible when used in lotions and to use it in soap just wondering why you decided on this?

I don't use it in lotion. I use it in soap. I need a chelator because my water is hard. I chose EDTA as it has been safely used for decades in soap.

You make your choices for your soap, I don't necessarily have to agree. Please remember that it works both ways.