High super fat in 100% coconut oil soap

[SweetBubbleTreat]

What’s the highest super fat to use in 100% coconut oil soap???

I have a lady that states she wants a soap with 100% coconut oil. Says she used it before as a shampoo from a lady and absolutely loved it because it left her hair so soft. She wants no scent just the coconut lye and water. Could I or should I up the superfatting to say 30-35% to achieve a less cleansing bar or would that be too much and I’ll end up with a soft soap??? I will cp the soap.

 

[Obsidian]

20% SF is fine for a 100% coconut oil soap, no need to go any higher.

 

[SweetBubbleTreat]

Ok what happens if you do go higher?? Would it be better for shampoo??

 

[Kari Howie]

I suggest to read this thread on our forum before you try soap on your hair.


https://www.soapmakingforum.com/thr...promote-cp-soap-as-shampoo.76954/#post-795813

 

[Anstarx]

The highest I've gone for is 25% and the lathering is not great IMO, I much prefer 20%, but to each their own. The soap was stable and alright at 25%, if you go any higher I'd worry about it not being stable since there's less soap and more oil.
Dunno if you are selling or just for a friend, but I'd say do a small 20% batch and have the lady try it before tempting a higher SF than that.

 

[DeeAnna]

Higher superfat makes the soap less effective, which is helpful to "tame" a 100% coconut oil soap. But more is not necessarily better, so if you decide to make a 35% superfat soap, make a test batch and evaluate it first yourself.

Some time ago a guy was talking about how he made his soap and showed a picture of someone's hands with visible streaks of grease on the skin. I reverse engineered his recipe and figured out he was using around 50% superfat. So somewhere between 20% and 50% there's a point at which the soap is no longer a functional soap.

As far as using this type of soap for washing hair, I can't recommend it, but if that's what your customer wants, that's what she wants.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

20% SF is fine for a 100% coconut oil soap, no need to go any higher.

I know of one soapmaker who made that exact bar for her kids teenage acne. Cure 1 year before using.

Ok what happens if you do go higher?? Would it be better for shampoo??

It would be a highly cleansing shampoo bar but may leave a lot more unsaponified oils on the hair than makes sense, at least to me. Since it's uncharted territory, that's a question best answered by a little T & E research:

Make up a 500g batch of 100 % coconut.
500g X a factor of 1.37 = 685g of soap (approx.)

Divide the batch into as many bars as you have individual cavity molds.
My mold for T & E has 6 individual round bars. 685g/6 = 114g each.

For SF - Use 0% SF for the batch. Then add after trace (CP) or after cook (HP) varying amounts of MCT Oil (Medium Chain Triglycerides / FCO Fractionated Coconut Oil) at whatever % SF you want to test.
Work everything out on paper ahead of time and have it handy.
Add a titsch of color to each bar to differentiate one from another.
I print out little labels to keep with each bar during cure time.
Keep good notes on your calculation print out.

I suggest to read this thread on our forum before you try soap on your hair.

Please read post #1. This is a specific request from a customer.

COMMENTS:
- From experience, 5% MCT/FCO liquid oil added at trace works well. I could feel the difference it made in my batch. Nice.
- However, when I used 100% MCT/FCO to make liquid soap, it wasn't very cleansing at all. Didn't even feel all that great on my skin.
- I recently read about a CP or HP bar soap made with (if I recall correctly) 60% Coconut Oil 76° + 40% MCT/FCO. Might work well for a shampoo bar? Not sure.
- In any case, whatever you decide, I would plan on a long cure -- the longer the cure, the milder the soap when it comes to 100% coconut oil. 3 months at least.

HTH

 

[hariskar]

I made 100% coconut soap with 20% superfat. I liked it very much, except that it leaves the skin too greasy. I think with less superfat than 20% it would be better. What is the lowest % superfat that you would suggest?
Thank you!

 

[skinbyroi]

Hi! I'm new to soapmaking and had these same questions. But now, I'm wondering can aloe vera be used in part of the water amount while also superfatting the recipe to 20%?

 

[IrishLass]

Hi! I'm new to soapmaking and had these same questions. But now, I'm wondering can aloe vera be used in part of the water amount while also superfatting the recipe to 20%?

Yes, you can use aloe vera in part of your water amount while also superfatting to 20%.


IrishLass

 

[skinbyroi]

Yes, you can use aloe vera in part of your water amount while also superfatting to 20%.


IrishLass

Okay thank you! Want to make sure my bars will still lather well.

 

[skinbyroi]

Okay thank you! Want to make sure my bars will still lather well.

Would anything change if I wanted to add sea salt to this bar? I hate to ask so many questions on sweetbubbletreat’s thread but I didn’t sense in making a new one

 

[IrishLass]

Would anything change if I wanted to add sea salt to this bar? I hate to ask so many questions on sweetbubbletreat’s thread but I didn’t sense in making a new one

No need to worry about adding salt to a 100% coconut oil soap- you'll still get great lather.


IrishLass

 

[skinbyroi]

No need to worry about adding salt to a 100% coconut oil soap- you'll still get great lather.


IrishLass

Gotcha. And would I keep it at 38% water?

 

[DeeAnna]

Gotcha. And would I keep it at 38% water?

Not sure what IL would say, but I encourage people to not use "water as % of oils" at all. Start using lye concentration or water:lye ratio and forget about "water as % of oils". You'll see more consistency in your soap making if you make this change.

For a 100% coconut oil soap, I'd use a generous amount of water -- 28% lye concentration (2.6 water:lye ratio).

 

[skinbyroi]

Not sure what IL would say, but I encourage people to not use "water as % of oils" at all. Start using lye concentration or water:lye ratio and forget about "water as % of oils". You'll see more consistency in your soap making if you make this change.

For a 100% coconut oil soap, I'd use a generous amount of water -- 28% lye concentration (2.6 water:lye ratio).

Hi DeAnna, thank you for this suggestion! I’m going to try it for this bar. But I’m a bit confused about the ratio. For clarity, are you suggesting a 2.6:1 water-lye ratio?

 

[DeeAnna]

Hi DeAnna, thank you for this suggestion! I’m going to try it for this bar. But I’m a bit confused about the ratio. For clarity, are you suggesting a 2.6:1 water-lye ratio?

Yes, you are correct -- 2.6:1 is the ratio properly spelled out in full. I should have done that for you.

Do be aware water:lye ratios are sometimes expressed as only the first number, as I did by saying "2.6" in my earlier post. The last part of the ratio -- the ":1" -- doesn't ever change. So it's sometimes left off, but that is a bit of a shortcut.

When in doubt, it's best to spell everything out, and I should have done that.

 

[skinbyroi]

Yes, you are correct -- 2.6:1 is the ratio properly spelled out in full. I should have done that for you.

Do be aware water:lye ratios are sometimes expressed as only the first number, as I did by saying "2.6" in my earlier post. The last part of the ratio -- the ":1" -- doesn't ever change. So it's sometimes left off, but that is a bit of a shortcut.

When in doubt, it's best to spell everything out, and I should have done that.

Ah, okay okay. I understand why you didn’t include. No need for apologies. I’m just a newbie so I wanted to make sure I had the correct understanding.