Does beeswax really make for a harder soap?

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

What would you be looking for from the steric flakes in the soap?

 

[Bubli]

Thanks. I just want a harder soap without using too much coconut oil or something that is going to make it too more creamy than big bubbles. I'll look around. I really like the recipe I came up with, it's perfect for my skin. I just don't like soft soap or soap that doesn't bubble good. Yes, I'll look around. Thanks again

 

[Bubli]

What would you be looking for from the steric flakes in the soap?

A little hardness. I'm happy with a recipe, I just want it a pinch harder.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Are you looking for physical hardness or longerlastingness? (I could have used 'longevity' but it came to mind too late!)

 

[Seawolfe]

If all you want is harder soap, why not add a little salt to your water before you add the lye?
That solseife thread reports hard bars, but Id use less then that 20% of the water as salt - Id probably try like 5% first, maybe even less.

 

[Obsidian]

yep, 2-3 tsp PPO salt dissolved in your water before adding the lye will harden your soap nicely. Steric acid, even in small amounts will accelerate your trace badly so you'd need to do HP if adding it.
Try switching the olive oil and palm around in your recipe, see how those numbers look to you. I did that recently and the lather is very similar to my original bars but they are much harder.

Handmade soap is naturally softer and not as long lasting as store bought soap, its something you will get used to.

 

[Bubli]

Are you looking for physical hardness or longerlastingness? (I could have used 'longevity' but it came to mind too late!)

Physical.

 

[Bubli]

Seawolf and obsidian, when you add salt to your lye water that is already really concentrated, say like you're doing 2:1 ratio of liquid to lye but you are cutting liquid in half to do milk in the oils....adding salt to water wouldn't throw the lye water out of solution for some crazy reason? Would you have to use a little more water to use the salt. I had thought of using salt but I thought that only temporarily increased hardness. Thanks guys. You probably helped me avoid a big disappointment

 

[judymoody]

I would use a hard butter like cocoa or kokum, at 5-10% to up the hardness of my soap. IME, beeswax makes my soap feel, well, waxy, and it's a pain to use as has been described already.

 

[Bubli]

Good idea! Thanks

 

[Obsidian]

No, adding the salt won't throw off your lye mix, even if its concentrated. You could always dissolve the salt in the milk too, does matter when or how the salt gets in the soap, just as long as its dissolved first.
Just a head up though, you can not dissolve salt in lye water, you have to add the salt first then the lye.

 

[Bubli]

Judymoody suggested using coco butter, witch is a good idea, I actually have some that I use in creams. But Obsidian you said something that made me go "hmmmm". Steric acid accelerates trace A LOT, right? After judymoody's suggestion I was playing around with soapcalc and noticed coco butter is quite high in steric acid. So that means coco butter will most likely accelerate trace also right? I think I may stick with trying the salt for now, concidering I am pleased with my oil combo and all those properties and am just looking to firm up a pinch. Thanks gals/guys

 

[eucalypta]

Perhaps you know that beeswax is almost totally unsaponifiable.
If you add too much beeswax the soap will become draggy and not rock-hard, but a kind of bendable.
(I love (the scent) of beeswax, but it brings nothing to the soap.)

If you want a harder bar, I would suggest 1-2% Stearic Acid (speeds up trace though) or 1-2 tsp Sodium Lactate in the lye water, which gives you more time to play and will result in a harder bar.
+ both enhance the lather.

 

[judymoody]

Cocoa butter contains stearic but it will not accelerate trace like pure stearic acid does. I use it (or kokum) at 5-10% in my recipe and haven't found it to be too speedy.

 

[DeeAnna]

Cocoa butter fat contains stearic fatty acids, yes. But a fat made up of stearic acid is NOT the same thing as commercially purchased stearic acid.

Cocoa butter is like a nut in the shell -- you have to crack each one open to get to the nutmeat inside. Commercial stearic acid is like a shelled nut -- you can pop a whole mouthful at once.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I usually use similar oils to your recipe and always get quite a firm soap, unless I use some of the really soft oils in high %. Palm, coconut, olive oils and butters definitely make a nice hard soap. And also gelling helps, if you don't gel your soap, they take a while to firm up. Mine are all gelled and ready to cut within 24h. Beeswax, hmmm, like some soapers said, I don't think it will add anything to the soap, except maybe drag and weird feel.

 

[Bex1982]

Soap queen has a tutorial on adding beeswax to soap

 

[Margo]

Adding Beeswax

I definitely wouldn't add equal amounts of beeswax, i.e. 16 oz. of beeswax to 16 oz. of olive oil.
I don't know the weight of your soap batch, however, I have added 2 tablespoons of beeswax pastilles to approximately 2-1/2 lbs. of soap. The result was a harder bar of soap.

Best wishes,
Margo
www.miraculousbeads.com

 

[Meliv]

High castor?

1.5% bw
15.7 % castor
20.5 % coconut
42.9 olive pomace
19.4% palm oil.

Couldn't the higher amount of castor also contribute to a softer bar? It can also kill lather in a higher amount. I've never went over 8% for my bars. You get great lather from coconut and palm so why kill it? Palm, coconut and olive oil bars will be quite hard once cured so I don't think you have problem there. I agree bw can actually make the bar a bit sticky but at 1.5%, it won't do much.

 

[kylie_au]

Are you looking for physical hardness or longerlastingness? (I could have used 'longevity' but it came to mind too late!)

I just had to say, this made me smile.

Longerlastingness is a better word in this case anyhow - a precise description of what most soapers like to achieve in their soap.