Help with recipe

[Lindainms]

Hi, there! I am a newbie. Have only been soaping for a year. My own problematic skin started my interest. So am enjoying the wealth of knowledge I expect to be learning about soaps forever.
the mission of my soaps is to have a 2 or 3 bars that work with problematic skins. My soaps have no bleaches, lighteners, dyes, terranfirma. So, right now, I have much interest in making an emollient bar that helps with skin cancer, eczema, psoriasis, etc. I have many clients, do to poor health and excessive medications, whose skins are in terrible condition and cannot use OTC successfully. My soaps are expensive. But they are good. Below is my recipe. What are your thoughts on how to improve it.

 

[LynetteO]

@Lindainms Welcome to SMF. I’m surprised no one has chimed in yet.
Your recipe looks good on paper! I myself don’t go above 20% coconut oil due to dry skin. Neem oil is an oil you might want to research for use in soap for folks with eczema & psoriasis but I cannot attest to that.

 

[AliOop]

Yes, welcome! Are you really making 9 lbs of soap per batch? That's a huge batch for a newbie, and even for people who have started to sell their soap.

I applaud your desire to make soaps that are safe for those with skin problems. But unless your soap has been FDA approved as a drug, you can't make any claims that your soap is "helping" anyone with medical conditions. It's best just to focus on your soap being gentle and low-cleansing.

Your basic recipe doesn't look too bad - I love tallow and lard in my soaps! I wouldn't call 25% CO "low" coconut, however. As @LynetteO said, many of us here find that much too drying, even with a high super fat. Since you are targeting people with sensitive skin, I'd drop the CO down to 20% max, maybe lower, and put the extra into one of the soft oils. If you want to compensate for the loss of bubbles, use aloe vera juice for your lye water, or dissolve in 1 Tbsp of sugar PPO in your water before adding the NaOH.

The other thing I would suggest is to stop using the "water as percent of oils" setting. This will give you very inconsistent results as your batch sizes change; you may end up with a very high superfat, or your soap could be lye-heavy. Since it sounds like you are selling your soap, and selling it to folks with extra sensitive skin, you and they can end up in a world of hurt if your soap has excess lye in it. Plus you will have lots of soap scum for the batches with excess superfat.

Use the "lye concentration" setting instead. If you are doing HP, you might want to try 24-27% lye concentration. For CP, a good middle-of-the-road lye concentration is 33%.

Good luck, and be sure to show us some pictures of your soaps!

 

[user 49910]

My soaps are expensive.

You must charge a lot for them because the ingredients you are using are rather inexpensive to purchase.

terranfirma

I am assuming you're referring to some type of clay such as bentonite or kaolin. I believe you're referring to Terra Firma which refers to dry land.

That is one big batch of soap that's for sure! Nine plus pounds... Wow!

I hope you are not making "health claims" about your soaps because that is illegal unless you have solid research to back up those claims.
The FDA is quite the stickler for such claims. Just a friendly FYI.

Your formula appears to be quite spot on regarding cleansing and creaminess. A little on the lower side of conditioning but all in all a good formula for everyday use.

It has a high water ratio to lye for a bar soap. Usually around 33-40% lye concentration instead of 27+% is a better way to go. Have you noticed much shrinkage with the bars of soap using such a high water amount? How long do you cure your soap before releasing it to your customers?

 

[Lindainms]

Thank you for your response.
I do not make health claims. I don’t heal anything. I am tryin g to create a bar that will alleviate conditions that have dryness attached: itchy and dry, scabby. Many of my friends and myself are in that age group that just is difficult to find bars that that don’t strip and are calming to the skin. So far- this recipe works, but I would like it to be even more emollient. Yes- it is exspensive. For me, my soaps save me in the winter especially. I do have customer whohave skin conditions and it seems to help them.
How much oat flour is too much. Currently I am putting1/4 c per lb.
Shrinkage- yes. A lot. I am in a very humid climate so I have put a dehumidifier in the storage area. I cure them 4 weeks?, but I also use the hot process method. I have many issues with the shrinkage. I weigh them after the 4!week curing. I 38% too much water? If my soaps seize, I add more water and add yogurt. Is their a better way?
I am experimenting with fragrances that last. So far, lemongrass, basil, fresh linen, cinnamon do a good job of staying. Many of my customers like fragrances, but I really prefer selling them unscented. Fragrances can be very challenging for compromised skin (in my opinion).
I also have had issues with DOS. I think it is due to the humidity, but I am not sure. I don’t believe my oils are rancid so am not sure of the issue. Through your site, I am questioning my drying racks. Could they be a problem?

i only sell locally. But do give them away as donations to shelters. Obviously I don’t get feedback from them. It would be good if I could.
I recently have begun to put rosemary leaf powder into my recipe. I am hoping it will have benefits to the skin. Is there a best time to put it? Ie: after trace or near the end before placing into molds. My concern is tht the lye would damage the benefits of additives. Is there any benefits to waiting on Putting the honey and rosemary And goats milk at the end?

 

[Arimara]

I only made a soap like this once but if memory serves me right, your tallows are a nice blend ratio and should yield a creamier soap. With your superfat as it is, I'd suggest lowering the coconut amount to 20% if dry skin is a concern. As for additives, unless you're making HP, where you have some control over how your soap can behave, All you're doing is adding to label appeal.

Honey, however, as an additive, you'd be better off dispersing in hott-ish water (just hot enough to fully incorporate into water) and adding that to your oils before you add the lye solution. You would also want to plan something simple for a honey soap as that sucker will heat up.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Be wary of scents that can irritate the skin if used above the FDRA allowance - e.g Basil, Cinnamon and other spices.
Lavender is usually a fairly safe bet.
I would also suggest trying different additives for different soaps, if that's not what you are already doing. One with oat milk for example, the other with aloe as your water, etc. Then you can get a senses of which additives you prefer.
I'm not a hot processer myself. so I will defer to the HP experts on how much/when to add your special ingredients.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Your recipe looks fine as it is for a “normal” recipe that is well balanced, well cleaning but not particularly mild. Keep in mind that soap is wash-off. If soap is “emollient” or “conditioning”, then it's failing to do its job. Best that soap can do is to be not stripping/irritating.

A few random turning knobs that come into my mind:

• I can only agree with others. It has only advantages to raise the lye concentration to at least 30% (or, if you insist on the deprecated “water as % of oils”, lower these to 32%…24%). Less stick-blender work, your trace will be easier to work with, the hardening times are shorter, and you'll have less shrinkage/warping. The less water the soap holds to start with, the less issues it'll have with humidity.
• You've said that you have had DOS before. Lard and canola oil are known as oils that, although they look inconspicuous from their composition, can be above-average prone to DOS. You might consider adding ROE as a remedy against DOS, and/or try how far you can come with reducing/replacing these oils. For canola, let me suggest you to replace it by rice bran oil. Lard is difficult.
• You do have some wiggle room to lower the coconut oil. 10% are sufficient to get the better part of its lather boost. If you can live with a somewhat slower and less dense build up of lather, you even might ditch it for good! That'd make a very mild bar, that isn't stripping at all, and might also last longer. (It looks like your recipe was formulated by the INS=160 rule; but it is known that INS as a guideline disproportionately rewards use of lauric oils like coconut, hence recipes tend to get more harsh and soluble than they need to.)
• Especially with lower coconut, you can reduce superfat to, say, 2–3%. As long as your soap is not zappy, it is perfectly fine; any more superfat does not contribute to the “mildness”, but it reduces lather, impedes proper hardening, and increases your chances to DOS.
• Don't use fragrance (EOs/FOs).

Accordingly, a revised recipe (percentages) could look like this:

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum.