Hard bar no palm?

[Anthony0327]

Good Morning,

So I watch a Youtuber(Missouri River Soap). When she unmolds her soap it seems harder than usual. I know that she does not use palm. Here is what I am working with.
Thanks,
Anthony

Coconut Oil - 26%
Olive Oil - 31%
Castor - 5.50%
Cocoa butter - 15.50
Shea Butter - 12%
RiceBran Oil - 10%

When I make soap it comes out not as hard as I watch her unmold hers. Mine is soft on the inside and hard on the outside.

 

[Kittish]

She may let hers sit a day or two longer, or be using salt or sodium lactate or some other agent to help it harden faster. The recipe you've got there will make a nice, hard bar of soap when it cures. My recipes are not too different from yours, and yes, mine are still kind of soft on the inside when I take them out of the mold. I usually let mine sit for another day or so between taking them out of the mold and cutting them. I haven't had any problems.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

She may also use less water, which can help the unmoulding process a bit (or a lot!)

 

[BattleGnome]

If I remember right she also uses sodium lactate which add a lot to hardness. Mold type also plays a role, free standing silicone needs more time than a wooden mold

 

[shunt2011]

Gelling, less water and SL help to unmold. I use silicone lined wood mold and can usually unmold within 12 hours. Even my wood molds lined with freezer paper are at 12-18 hours, I use 70% hard oils/butter and the remainder liquid. Though mine are usually 40% Lard.

 

[IrishLass]

I was just watching Holly's (aka Missouri River Soap's) 3-part video tutorial of how she makes her soaps, and she mentions in part 2 that she gels all her soaps, which goes a long way in firming/hardening up the soap for quicker unmolding.

You mentioned that she does not use palm..... it could very well be that Holly has recently changed her formula, or like most of us she has more than one recipe up her sleeve , but for whatever its worth, she at least includes it in the formula she uses in the 3-part video tutorial (in Part 1 she mentions the fats she is using, which are coconut, cocoa butter and sustainable palm). Also on Youtube, I found a review of 3 of Holly's soaps by Royalty Soaps, and as she was reading off the ingredients on the packaging, palm oil happened to be listed on all 3.

That's not to say that palm is needed to make a hard soap, however. All of my soap formulas are palm-free and they are just as firm as Holly's upon unmolding/cutting, even my softer, all-veggie formulas. The tricks I have up my sleeve are using a 33% lye solution, using 2% to 3% sodium lactate ppo, and making sure my soap goes though full gel. With all 3 of these in place, my soap is plenty firm enough to unmold and cut between 12 to 18 hours (6 hours if I am making salt bars or 100% coconut oil soaps).


IrishLass