Finding the right blend?

[Wash-ing-ton Post]

Hello,
New subscriber and new soaper here.

A brief history of myself, for years I have been interested in making soap and this past Christmas my gf bought me everything I needed to get started. Since then, I've made 10 - 2.5 pound loafs and I can honestly say I love it. I'm in the tech field and love the science behind it. Another one of my hobbies is home brewing.

Along with the gear, my gf also bought the book, Simple and Natural Soapmaking by Jan Berry. All of the soap that I have made came from that book, but I'm looking to expand.

Since Jan no longer uses Palm Oil in her soap, I have not yet used it, but I want to. I purchased a gallon of sustainably harvested palm oil from Wholesale Supplies Plus and it will arrive tomorrow.

That being said, since I'm not used to using palm, I'm looking for ways that I can build my own blend of oils and incorporate the palm oil. Wsp has calculators on their site but I'm lost in how to use them. I know it makes a harder bar of soap, but how much should I use? Would palm replace the coconut or would I have both?

Where else can I go to build a recipe? For those of you that still use palm, how much are you using? I'm looking to standardize on my own blend.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

I use an app called "saponiCalc" and I really like it. The app allows you to save each recipe you make and you can also print the recipes out. You can create your recipe with percentage, ounce or grams in the app. I personally would not go over 25% palm oil. I use it in a lot of my recipes

 

[Nona'sFarm]

https://www.soapmakingfriend.com/soap-making-recipe-builder-lye-calculator/
This link has a calculator. What I haven't found are step by step instructions. I use it, but had to play with it awhile to understand how to use it.

I use coconut oil (20 - 25%) and palm oil (usually 30 %). I do not use lard, so these are my primary hard oils.

If you love the science of soap, you will probably like @DeeAnna 's articles.
https://classicbells.com/soap/soapCalcNumbers.asp
https://classicbells.com/soap/soapyStuff.asp

 

[TheGecko]

Hello,
New subscriber and new soaper here.

A brief history of myself, for years I have been interested in making soap and this past Christmas my gf bought me everything I needed to get started. Since then, I've made 10 - 2.5 pound loafs and I can honestly say I love it. I'm in the tech field and love the science behind it. Another one of my hobbies is home brewing.

Along with the gear, my gf also bought the book, Simple and Natural Soapmaking by Jan Berry. All of the soap that I have made came from that book, but I'm looking to expand.

Since Jan no longer uses Palm Oil in her soap, I have not yet used it, but I want to. I purchased a gallon of sustainably harvested palm oil from Wholesale Supplies Plus and it will arrive tomorrow.

That being said, since I'm not used to using palm, I'm looking for ways that I can build my own blend of oils and incorporate the palm oil. Wsp has calculators on their site but I'm lost in how to use them. I know it makes a harder bar of soap, but how much should I use? Would palm replace the coconut or would I have both?

Where else can I go to build a recipe? For those of you that still use palm, how much are you using? I'm looking to standardize on my own blend.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Welcome.

I started with BrambleBerry's Beginners Cold Process Soap Kit and built my recipe from there. I tried a lot of different oil/butter combinations and end up with this one:

35% Olive Oil
20% Coconut Oil
20% Palm Oil
10% Cocoa Butter
10% Shea Butter
5% Castor Oil
5% SuperFat
35% Lye Concentration
1 tea Sodium Lactate PPO
2 tab Kaolin Clay PPO

You're more than welcomed to give it a whirl, modify as you want.

 

[cmzaha]

I am not sure if you are opposed to lard, but I like palm & lard together. The lard will slow the quick tracing of the palm. My ratio is 34% Palm with 25% lard, 17% CO or Palm Kernel Oil 5 % castor, and the remaining HO Canola, HO Sunflower or OO or liquid of choice. It makes a nice hard soap with a workable batter, with a 32% Lye Concentration. As we can tell this is not my Vegan recipe nor my favorite tallow/lard recipe, just one of my other favorites.

From your question, you will get many different suggestions. Welcome to the forum and soapmaking.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

I agree with nona's farm, you will just have to jump in and play with the calculator. However I recommend getting to know the terminology that is used in soap making. Knowing what the terms and words mean, will really help you learn how to use the calculator and build your own recipes.

 

[Wash-ing-ton Post]

I use an app called "saponiCalc" and I really like it. The app allows you to save each recipe you make and you can also print the recipes out. You can create your recipe with percentage, ounce or grams in the app. I personally would not go over 25% palm oil. I use it in a lot of my recipes

Thanks! I'll check out the app now.

https://www.soapmakingfriend.com/soap-making-recipe-builder-lye-calculator/
This link has a calculator. What I haven't found are step by step instructions. I use it, but had to play with it awhile to understand how to use it.

I use coconut oil (20 - 25%) and palm oil (usually 30 %). I do not use lard, so these are my primary hard oils.

If you love the science of soap, you will probably like @DeeAnna 's articles.
https://classicbells.com/soap/soapCalcNumbers.asp
https://classicbells.com/soap/soapyStuff.asp

Wow, thanks for the info! I'll check out those sites for sure.

Welcome.

I started with BrambleBerry's Beginners Cold Process Soap Kit and built my recipe from there. I tried a lot of different oil/butter combinations and end up with this one:

35% Olive Oil
20% Coconut Oil
20% Palm Oil
10% Cocoa Butter
10% Shea Butter
5% Castor Oil
5% SuperFat
35% Lye Concentration
1 tea Sodium Lactate PPO
2 tab Kaolin Clay PPO

You're more than welcomed to give it a whirl, modify as you want.

Thanks for the recipe! I have used Sodium Lactate but I'm still wanting to try the kaolin clay and also goats milk as well as activated charcoal.

I am not sure if you are opposed to lard, but I like palm & lard together. The lard will slow the quick tracing of the palm. My ratio is 34% Palm with 25% lard, 17% CO or Palm Kernel Oil 5 % castor, and the remaining HO Canola, HO Sunflower or OO or liquid of choice. It makes a nice hard soap with a workable batter, with a 32% Lye Concentration. As we can tell this is not my Vegan recipe nor my favorite tallow/lard recipe, just one of my other favorites.

From your question, you will get many different suggestions. Welcome to the forum and soapmaking.

I'm not opposed to lard at all. One of the batches I made was a 100% lard and some tee tree and peppermint eo. I loved how hard it got and had no idea it was going to lather the way it did. Will definitely try palm and lard blend. Thanks!

I agree with nona's farm, you will just have to jump in and play with the calculator. However I recommend getting to know the terminology that is used in soap making. Knowing what the terms and words mean, will really help you learn how to use the calculator and build your own recipes.

Thanks Todd. I'm learning quick.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Thanks! I'll check out the app now.

Your welcome. The app will also show you the quality of your recipe before you make it. When you click on view your recipe, at the top will be a title called quality, click on it and you can see how hard, cleansing, bubbly, creamy and lather your recipe will be. It will give you all the totals for your recipe. You can also download the app on other devices and when you register your account, your recipes will show up on all your devices.

 

[cmzaha]

I use an app called "saponiCalc" and I really like it. The app allows you to save each recipe you make and you can also print the recipes out. You can create your recipe with percentage, ounce or grams in the app. I personally would not go over 25% palm oil. I use it in a lot of my recipes

And this shows how different we all are. I use Palm up to 45% in my Vegan recipe.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

And this shows how different we all are. I use Palm up to 45% in my Vegan recipe.

There's no reason why you can't use 45% either. I use 25% because I am usually combining with CO or babassu oil. I will use around 35% babassu oil for one recipe because I like how it feels in the soap. It is all a matter of personal preference in my opinion.