Best oils to add to cleaning power

[pbandtay]

I am wanting to make my first batch of HP soap, and I have done a bit of homework, but still having issues.
I am wanting to make a simple soap that will lather nice, for sensitive skin, but will just give you that great overall clean. I am thinking of coconut oil, a strong green tea/lye, and some olive. what else do you think I might need.
Thanks.

 

[pbandtay]

sorry using the green tea instead of water. from what I read that should be fine. Right????

 

[DeeAnna]

I know folks will chime in with their opinions, but I'd like to ask you first about YOUR point of view about your proposed ingredients. I'm not sure what research you've done about making a soap for sensitive skin, so I'm wondering about your chain of thought up to this point. Why do you want to use coconut, some olive, and a lye solution made with green tea? What in your studying has led you to these ingredients?

 

[pbandtay]

I like the coconut oil at 74 degrees for my lotions I have read that this is one of the better and cheaper oils to go with, I also have a ton. Green tea have been said to help tighten the skin, and have a ton of catechins. I am not sure if is will be a bad idea or not in the lye I am worried about boiling it out but in a strong tea, I do like the smell, and hope it will tranfer. Olive oil seems to be a base for a lot of starter oils, but goes to trace slower, but will help with the hardness of the bar when the coconut will give it a more creamy state. I know the coconut really isn't for sensitive skin....
But this is why I am going to a site that has people that know a ton more then I.
If I am wrong about anything let me know.

 

[pbandtay]

I am using the app call soap calc, with a 1 to 1 of olive and coconut, it says cardness conditioning and bubbly are in good ranges but cleansing and creamy are lacking. please help.

 

[OliveOil2]

Best oils for sensitive skin and adding cleaning power are polar opposites to me. Your soap will get you clean, but for sensitive skin you will want to keep the amount of coconut oil lower, and the cleansing numbers low, and possibly consider a super fat that is a little higher for dry skin, not sure if your sensitive skin is dry.
I don't think the smell of the green tea will carry over into the soap, and if it leaves a smell it will be different than the tea you drink. I did not like the smell that peppermint tea left in my soap, it was very unpleasant.

 

[OliveOil2]

Looks like we were typing at the same time, you do not need a high cleansing number. What number does it give you?

 

[pbandtay]

wll I really need to read more it gives a 33, so I am taking it that will be way to drying.

 

[Seawolfe]

Coconut oil is very cleansing and very drying. If you use more than 20% coconut oil, you will want to bump the superfat up a bit. I have made 30% coconut oil / 70% olive oil soaps when I first started. If you bump the superfat up to 7 or 8% and let it cure a good long while, it's a decent soap.

Or try all coconut oil and 20% superfat, I hear that's nice.

The tea can be used to replace the liquid, but it won't survive the lye reaction as you hope. Though it won't hurt anything either, and you might like it.

 

[CaraBou]

I rarely go over 20% on coconut oil, or above about 12 or 13 on the cleansing number (sometimes much lower). You really don't need a high cleansing number to get clean. Much more than this amount of CO will dry me out, especially in winter. If you follow that advice, you might want to add one more oil to your mix so you don't have to go over 50% on olive oil. I'd recommend lard. It is inexpensive, readily available at walmart in the oil aisle, and makes a great soap. While you're there, stop in the pharmacy department and find the laxatives. Among them will be small bottles of castor oil. Use 5-10% castor oil for more stability in your lather, but no more or it will make your soap tacky. Plus, it's expensive (though the small bottles are affordable as long as you don't blow through them).

If you get just the lard, a recipe to try would be 40% OO, 40% lard, 20% CO. If you get both the lard and castor, try 40% lard, 35% OO, 20% CO, 5% castor. These are just suggested starting points. From there you can branch out to see what you like best. Good luck and have fun

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Don't forget that we are making soap, not lotion - what an oil brings to the mix in a lotion can be different to what it brings to the mix in a soap. Co is the best example of that

 

[DeeAnna]

Ah, I see ... thank you for explaining a bit more -- I appreciate that. You are coming from a lotion making background, and that makes a difference in my answer to you. When you make SOAP, it's important to look at the properties of the SOAP, not the oil from which the soap is made. They can be hugely different, and coconut oil is a prime example of this.

Coconut oil is lovely on the skin and hair, but on the other hand, coconut oil (CO) soap is a very strong, even harsh cleanser. A little CO is good in soap ... a lot is not so good. And that is especially true for soap made for sensitive, injured, or delicate skin.

Most people strive to create soap recipes with a balance between the three basic groups of fats normally used for soap -- (1) fats that make a cleansing soap with large fluffy bubbles (coconut oil, palm kernel oil, etc) with (2) fats that make a soap with dense creamy lather and a long-lived bar (palm (not palm kernel, just palm), lard, tallow, etc) with (3) still more fats that create a mild, gentle soap (olive, avocado, and the other liquid oils).

You are going to see exceptions to this general approach, and some of those exceptions are successful soap too (100% olive oil soap comes to mind). Even so, looking for that happy balance is a good way to get started making good soap.

The names (cleansing, bubbly, etc) for the soap properties in SoapCalc can be a bit misleading. Here is a post I wrote awhile back that you might find helpful: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showpost.php?p=383997&postcount=17

Do not expect the color or odor of your tea to survive exposure to lye (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide or both). I know people use tea in their soap, but if you have the opinion that tea provides benefits to the skin (antioxidants, astringent, or whatever), you're better off using it in a leave-on product like your lotion.

 

[CaraBou]

Or try all coconut oil and 20% superfat, I hear that's nice.

Building on this, another way to use a lot of CO and still get a nice bar is to make a salt bar. They typically have from 80-100% CO, small-grained, non-iodine salt in amount at least 50% of the weight of your oils, and 15-20% superfat. There are some nuances with salt bars that you'll need to know before getting in to it, so be sure to research it first.

For an effective way to search this forum, go to sitecomber.com, enter your search term (e.g., salt soap) in the "For" field and "http://www.soapmakingforum.com/" in the "Within" field. Works like a charm.

 

[Dahila]

Sensitive skin requires low number of cleaning and some oils like Avocado, or high number of olive oil. With number 33 you will have a lot of problems with your skin from day first