Gardener's soap recipe

[Phantomina]

As I am a gardeneress ( ) and also many of my friends are, I decided to try formulate a good recipe for dirty hands. Not for sensitive skin, rather for thick, scratched skin.
This is what I've made for now.
Looking for high cleansing properties of coconut but raising the SF so it doesn't dry out the hands too much. Like 8%. Fatty acids from coconut and olive make a easy soluble in water bar, so I guess cacao butter would balance the solubility and prolong the shelf life. Castor for it's usual properties.
I would make lye solution with brewed coffee. For absorbing smells and for coloring the bar. I wouldn't like a bar of white soap for hands full of red brown soil.
Not sure about water and lye percentages. Like is 33% ok? 25% water? Need to learn about this more.
Add some clay for it's abilities to absorb oil, light exfoliation and smoothness it leaves.
Polenta for scrubbines.
I would add both of them to light trace.
Teatree and lavander EOs I guess. Also at trace.
Please unleash your constructive criticism.
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[Ugeauxgirl]

I am also a gardeneress. Or camellia addict if you ask my husband. @earlene had a recipe that got good reviews. I want to hear how yours performs as well.

 

[Hermit]

You're Oliec level looks a little high, while your stearic and palmitic acids are really low. Stearic and palmitic acids stabalize the lather. Maybe take 5% from both the olive and coconut and add 10% to the cocoa butter?

(If you just take from the olive to up the cocoa butter you'll be making a really hard bar. It is possible to make a bar so hard that it won't lather )

Recommended water for CP is usually a 2:1 water to lye, so a 33% lye concentration.
Some like even more water if they want to do a fancy Hot Process soap.
Too little water is bad. (Crumbly soap!)
Too much and your soap may warp as it dries and will take longer to cure.
If I remember correctly, 36% lye concentration is almost at the edge of the acceptable range.
People tweek the water concentration to force or avoid gel, and (try to) control cosmetic issues like soda ash.

 

[Phantomina]

You're Oliec level looks a little high, while your stearic and palmitic acids are really low. Stearic and palmitic acids stabalize the lather. Maybe take 5% from both the olive and coconut and add 10% to the cocoa butter?

(If you just take from the olive to up the cocoa butter you'll be making a really hard bar. It is possible to make a bar so hard that it won't lather )

Recommended water for CP is usually a 2:1 water to lye, so a 33% lye concentration.
Some like even more water if they want to do a fancy Hot Process soap.
Too little water is bad. (Crumbly soap!)
Too much and your soap may warp as it dries and will take longer to cure.
If I remember correctly, 36% lye concentration is almost at the edge of the acceptable range.
People tweek the water concentration to force or avoid gel, and (try to) control cosmetic issues like soda ash.

Does it look better now

 

[lsg]

You might think about adding an exfoliant, such as coffee grounds.

 

[Phantomina]

You might think about adding an exfoliant, such as coffee grounds.

Was thinking polenta and clay would do the work.

 

[Hermit]

Yes. Using the lye concentration of 33% is supposed to make your results a little more consistent when you scale a recipe up or down.

The only change I would make is the batch size. A 100g or 200g batch so if you find it's to harsh you have a small amount of soap that's easier to rebatch.

 

[Phantomina]

Yes. Using the lye concentration of 33% is supposed to make your results a little more consistent when you scale a recipe up or down.

The only change I would make is the batch size. A 100g or 200g batch so if you find it's to harsh you have a small amount of soap that's easier to rebatch.

Great, thanks for that.

 

[AliOop]

I agree with @Hermit on the batch size, and will also clarify that it is using the “lye concentration” option, rather than the “water as percent of oils” option, that improves consistency when scaling. It also avoids the potential problems with undissolved lye in small batches, or excess water in large batches, that the “water as percent of oils” setting can create.

This is true whether you use 33% lye concentration, or another percentage. I personally use 40% most of the time. It is the choosing the correct setting that matters, not necessarily the percentage that you input into that setting. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Phantomina]

Thanks for replys!! Still waiting to do it when I get some free time.
Yeah, most of the videos say just stick to the setting that is already in soapcalc if you are a beginner. But that doesn't help me understand the lye and water thingy . I would like to be in the control and understand every step completely. So researching on lye is what I will do next days.

 

[Zing]

I'm late to this party. I'm a big gardener too. I made @earlene 's recipe and liked it, she adds borax, Borax Hand Soap for Blacksmith or other dirty work

I also use brewed coffee at double-strength and use shredded loofah, poppy seeds, and coffee grounds.

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

I'm late to this party. I'm a big gardener too. I made @earlene 's recipe and liked it, she adds borax, Borax Hand Soap for Blacksmith or other dirty work

I also use brewed coffee at double-strength and use shredded loofah, poppy seeds, and coffee grounds.

Do you BUY shredded loofah, or do you shred it yourself? I bought some loofahs to use for loofah soap but it's too scratchy for me. I have used shredded loofah soap and I loved it. (That's partly why I got into soapmaking. I couldn't reliably find it)

If anyone has a good method for shredding loofahs at home, I'd love to hear about it.

Gardening is my other addiction. I meant to make soap today, but I ended up buying vegetable plants, planting them, and fertilizing everything in my yard.

 

[Phantomina]

Do you BUY shredded loofah, or do you shred it yourself? I bought some loofahs to use for loofah soap but it's too scratchy for me. I have used shredded loofah soap and I loved it. (That's partly why I got into soapmaking. I couldn't reliably find it)

If anyone has a good method for shredding loofahs at home, I'd love to hear about it.

Coffee grinder, electric one.

Gardening is my other addiction. I meant to make soap today, but I ended up buying vegetable plants, planting them, and fertilizing everything in my yard.

Same here. Digging up the weeds these days.

 

[Vicki C]

I too am a big gardener although the ground is still frozen here - should be starting seedlings… too busy soaping.
Re water and lye concentration, my standard is 36%, or 25% weight of oils, unless I really need a slower trace. I was reading Auntie Clara’s blog and as does @AliOop she uses a high concentration, as steep as 41%, or 20% weight of oils. But everyone has different tastes. I don’t like the shrinkage and longer cure that is required with more water.

 

[Zing]

Do you BUY shredded loofah, or do you shred it yourself? I bought some loofahs to use for loofah soap but it's too scratchy for me. I have used shredded loofah soap and I loved it. (That's partly why I got into soapmaking. I couldn't reliably find it)

If anyone has a good method for shredding loofahs at home, I'd love to hear about it.

I buy it shredded from Bramble Berry. Fun fact, I learned from this forum that loofah is a plant!! Wicky wicky what? I thought it just came from the store.

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

I buy it shredded from Bramble Berry. Fun fact, I learned from this forum that loofah is a plant!! Wicky wicky what? I thought it just came from the store.

Here's the craziest thing about loofahs- they look like squash and TASTE like squash if you pick and eat them early. They only turn fibrous if you leave them on the vine for a long time!

 

[AliOop]

Here's the craziest thing about loofahs- they look like squash and TASTE like squash if you pick and eat them early. They only turn fibrous if you leave them on the vine for a long time!

What??? I had no clue. I have a bunch of loofah seeds purchased a few years back. I hope to plant them this year and will now experiment with eating one. Or asking my husband to eat one.

 

[Zing]

This was a fascinating exchange awhile back: What soapy thing have you done today? @Misschief grows it.

 

[Misschief]

What??? I had no clue. I have a bunch of loofah seeds purchased a few years back. I hope to plant them this year and will now experiment with eating one. Or asking my husband to eat one.

Eat them when they're young; they get quite fibrous.

Be warned... they're climbers and they LOVE water and heat. You'll be wanting to get them started already.

 

[AliOop]

Eat them when they're young; they get quite fibrous.

Be warned... they're climbers and they LOVE water and heat. You'll be wanting to get them started already.

That's great advice, thanks! Advice around here is no outside planting until all the snow is gone from a specific mountain peak in the area. We are still getting some nights below freezing, although we might be turning the corner this very week. Maybe I need to find a spot inside for some starters?