G'day from Korea

[konglishkiller]

Hi all,

I'm an Aussie living in korea looking for tips/advice/info on my quest for the perfect soap.

I have been lurking for a couple of weeks. Really enjoying the info here and especially loved the thread on addiction to soap.

I got into soap making because of a lack of sleep. My wife of 10 years had itched and scratched her way through almost every night. We tried everything...change detergents, multiple dermatologist visits, diet changes etc and nothing worked.

So I made some castile soap. Looking back its was a disaster of a soap...but ignorance is bliss right? Well it worked. Kind of...now I don't sleep enough because I'm thinking about or reading about soap!

Looking forward to getting some answers to some burning questions.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Susie]

Hey and welcome!

 

[KristaY]

Hi there and welcome! If you can't find what you're looking for on this forum, then the information probably isn't out there, lol. So many experienced and friendly people will be so helpful, so you can get some well needed sleep! :wave:

 

[Ellacho]

Hello~~Welcome to the forum!

 

[IrishLass]

Hello, and welcome to the forum! :wave:

IrishLass

 

[konglishkiller]

Thanks for the welcomes.

 

[Seawolfe]

Hi and welcome! I had the same issue with hubby - it turns out it was the mostly the laundry detergents and softeners, once I switched to home-made soap hes SO much better. I hope you find help here for your wife

 

[Hazel]

Hello and welcome! You'll certainly find a lot of info here. Why did you think the castile was a disaster?

 

[konglishkiller]

Hi Seawolfe / Hazel.
The castile soap didnt lather or bubble very well. I probably should have waited more than 4 weeks tho. It also became quite slimy. I still have a couple of bars from that batch that I will dig out today and check out. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[Hazel]

You didn't do anything wrong. That's typical Castile lather - doesn't bubble well and is slimy. There are people who only wait 4 weeks before using Castile. Most people seem to prefer 6 months to 12 months cure time since it gets slightly better over time. I don't care for Castile which is why I don't make it anymore. I've even stopped making soap with a high percentage of olive oil. However, olive is very mild and very conditioning which is why it's a popular oil for soapmaking.

If you really want to use a high percentage of olive but still have nice lather, I suggest using 70% olive/30% coconut, use goat milk, heavy cream or buttermilk for the liquid and use a superfat of at least 5% up to 8%. The superfat range is because cream has a high fat content and will use up some of the lye so I only do a 5% SF with it. I only use heavy cream for approximately 1/4 up to 1/3 of the liquid. I don't like to add a lot of cream because I can smell the butyric acid in it and it's nasty smelling. I prefer to use enough water to mix the lye, make up the rest of the liquid amount with buttermilk and use 8% superfat. You could do the same with goat milk or use 100% GM for the liquid. Use 8% superfat if you'd rather use all water for the liquid.

Normally, I don't recommend 30% coconut oil in soap without a high superfat. But you can get away with the higher CO percentage since olive is so conditioning and mild. You could even try 70% olive/25% coconut/5% castor if you're unsure about the coconut.

What other oils do you have?

 

[konglishkiller]

Lots of soybean, sesame, and canola oils here. Not much else and certainly no reasonably priced milks other than standard brrakfast milk. I have used powdered coconut milk before.

I can get many oils off the web....but they are somewhat expensive. I am going to try your suggestion of adding coconut and castor with olive this weekend.

I did dig the original soap and it was a little better with lather but still rather slimy.

 

[biarine]

I am from Philippines and coconut oil is very cheap like corn, Palm and soybeans but olive oil is very expensive. Lard is cheap too.

 

[Hazel]

Lots of soybean, sesame, and canola oils here. Not much else and certainly no reasonably priced milks other than standard brrakfast milk. I have used powdered coconut milk before.

All of those are conditioning oils but don't have as long of a shelf life as possibly olive. I say possibly because I don't know how fresh the olive is that you used. I have used soybean and sesame in soap but only at about 10% or slightly less. I also made sure the bottles "best if used by" date was at least a year. I know some people have mentioned using canola and that it makes good soap. However, others have said they don't like it because it can go rancid. But these might be good to practice with so you wouldn't lose the expensive oils if you have an "oops" batch. (Don't toss an "oops" batch. Ask on the forum because people can give advice and you might be able to save it.)

If standard milk isn't too expensive, you could dissolve the coconut powder in it to boost the superfat and increase creaminess. Actually, you wouldn't even have to use the coconut powder. Also, you don't have to use castor if it's super expensive. Some soapers use it, some don't. I like castor because it's conditioning, boosts lather and adds a little bit of creaminess to the lather. You can get the same benefits from another conditioning oil, add a little sugar (approx 1 T per pound of oil) and use milk products.

Can you get rice bran oil? I've used it to replace half of the olive in batches and I like it. Are you opposed to animal fats? Lard and tallow make great soap, too.

eta: I just saw biarine's post and it made me think of salt bars. Have you read about salt bars or Soleseife (brine) bars? You can make salt bars with 100% CO with a high superfat and the salt makes them last longer.

I don't know if you've already seen these discussions. If not, you might find them informative.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=35093
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=32825
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=50210
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=48447

There are a lot of discussions about salt bars and Soleseife. You can search and pull up a lot if you want to find out more. But if you do, make sure you get comfortable and have a drink and snacks with you. It can take a long, long time to read through the topics.

 

[not_ally]

"But if you do, make sure you get comfortable and have a drink and snacks with you. It can take a long, long time to read through the topics.

"

That's the fun part! I kind of am loving soleseife/brine bars right now.

 

[konglishkiller]

Wow an interesting read. Motivation for todays soaping adventure.

Here is what I will try:
CO at 90%
Shea at 10%
Superfat 15%

After I run the above through soapcalc proceed as per normal CP and at medium trace at 25% table salt.

Mould and cut a couple of hours later. Wait 4 weeks to cure.

Sound about right?

 

[jules92207]

Hey and welcome!

I am just jumping in here and not sure if this was addressed already but I am pretty sure you want to stick with sea salt or canning salt, table salt has iodine and I don't think you want that in your salt bars (maybe soleife is different though?).

I may be out of turn here but just in case no one else is awake.

 

[cherrycoke216]

Lots of soybean, sesame, and canola oils here.

Hi & welcome!

Just a reminder, If you are using Korean roasted sesame oil for soap, make sure you don't add much in total percentage !!! Or you might smell like a Korean dish / Taiwanese Sesame oil chicken soup after shower!!! Hahaha! Ask me how I know!!! It is very conditioning though! You can look for cold press, cosmetic sesame oil, too!

 

[not_ally]

I usually only make brine bars, tried a salt one and didn't like the texture (of mine, other people's often look great) so gave up. Your recipe kind of looks like a combo, though. I think maybe pick one or the other?

Ie; w/brine bars you use lesser amts of salt (people vary, I usually use 25% salt in ratio to my water amt), add the salt to the water, dissolve it as much as poss, add the lye and continue as usual, and the recipe more like a "regular" one, ie; not so much CO (b/c there is less salt, so you don't need it for the lathering so much) and less superfat (b/c you don't need it to offset the drying effect of the high amt of CO). Also, you don't add salt at trace b/c you already have it in the lye water.

W/salt bars it seems like most people use more salt than in the recipe you have above, although like I said I've only done one. Hopefully one of the salt bar experts will chime in.

I usually use himalayan salt b/c I have a bunch of it. I think other people have used table salt with no problem, although I seem to remember people making note of the iodine, can't remember why. The two that seem to be really problematic are epsom and dead sea salt, don't use those.

 

[Hazel]

Wow an interesting read. Motivation for todays soaping adventure.

Here is what I will try:
CO at 90%
Shea at 10%
Superfat 15%

After I run the above through soapcalc proceed as per normal CP and at medium trace at 25% table salt.

Mould and cut a couple of hours later. Wait 4 weeks to cure.

Sound about right?

Sounds good! Just remember to wear gloves while cutting since there will still be active lye.

Hey and welcome!

I am just jumping in here and not sure if this was addressed already but I am pretty sure you want to stick with sea salt or canning salt, table salt has iodine and I don't think you want that in your salt bars (maybe soleife is different though?

I'm glad you brought this up. Iodine is a crucial nutrient for the development of the central nervous system. Fortunately, very little is required and the amount is minimal in iodized salt. Iodine can be absorbed by the skin (or so I've read) but I doubt any would absorb since it's in a rinse off product. Recently, I noticed iodine being mentioned as a natural ingredient in skin care products. When I worked as an esthetician, our seaweed based facials and baths were popular; although not because people were aware of the importance of iodine.

However, it's better to play it safe since some people might have an iodine allergy. I don't think soap would be a problem but you still don't want to take the chance.

@ not_ally -

I think iodine allergy is why people don't recommend using iodized salt. I've used in a few salt bar batches before and no one has complained about it. However, I normally use sea salt because I was able to buy some Pacific salt at a really good price.

Although, now that I think about it, the sea salt might have some iodine in it since I think most iodine comes from the oceans. But I might be wrong.

 

[konglishkiller]

Thanks to everyone contributing in this thread. I feel like I have my own set of soap tutors!

I made the recipie I outlined...but swapped out the shea for olive oil. When I went to cut it (as I used a slab mould) it was really hot so I waited another hour (4 in total) It was still warm when I cut. It was also crumbly. Not excessively but a couple of bars have artistic chunks out of them. Did I cut too early or late?