How’s my recipe looking?

[Soapzoom]

Hello

I’m new to soapmaking with a few batches under my belt. I’ve done some research I came up with this recipe (below). I’m not using anything expensive as yet. Anything that needs tweaking, deletion, addition?

Coconut Oil: 44%
Castor Oil: 6%
Palm Olein: 25%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil: 25%

SF: 5%
Water as % of oil weight: 32% (I’m planning to do a pot swirl).

Should I add some sugar or honey?

Any other advice?

Thank you.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

At that amount of coconut and with that SF, it would be far too harsh for most people on here. Myself included! It will bubble, no doubt, and will clean well - but too well, and will likely leave you feeling stripped of the good oils on your skin.

I would drop the co down to 30% and add the balance to the palm oil. And that's another question, are you using palm oil or palm olien? I would suggest using the oil, as I don't think that the olien has glycerine and so on (although I might be wrong there)

 

[Soapzoom]

Thank you for your advice.

Finding Palm Oil is difficult where I live. But I found Palm Olein.. If I reduce the CO what other oil should I then increase?

Also, I don’t understand your reference to glycerine. If Palm Olein doesn’t have, maybe the other oils have it?

 

[lsg]

If you are not adverse to using animal fats, then you can substitute some of the coconut oil for either lard or tallow.

 

[Soapzoom]

If you are not adverse to using animal fats, then you can substitute some of the coconut oil for either lard or tallow.

I don’t use animal fat.. Any other option? I know I said I looking for inexpensive options but if you insist I use some Butters then maybe I’ll do that. Cocoa? Shea? How’s much?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Thank you for your advice.

Finding Palm Oil is difficult where I live. But I found Palm Olein.. If I reduce the CO what other oil should I then increase?

Also, I don’t understand your reference to glycerine. If Palm Olein doesn’t have, maybe the other oils have it?

The others will have it, as oils are fatty acids bound to a glycerine molecule. That glycerine is in the soap we make and is noticeable when it's not there (as in, you use the fatty acids instead of an oil)

Now from my point of view we are going in to the direction of a funny recipe. I usually have 50% of my recipe either lard or palm, things along those lines. Shea butter and lard are similar, but butters at that level in a recipe can make it feel 'draggy' to some and others find that it reduces lather - that doesn't make a bad soap, but of course most of us like bubbles!

Maybe let us know where you are (in case other members are from there and can give more specific advice) and also let us know what oils you can get which are on your target budget, and which ones you can get which are more of a second option because they are more expensive. It'll save us making a suggestion which ends up not working because it's too pricey or not even available to you

 

[Soapzoom]

The others will have it, as oils are fatty acids bound to a glycerine molecule. That glycerine is in the soap we make and is noticeable when it's not there (as in, you use the fatty acids instead of an oil)

Now from my point of view we are going in to the direction of a funny recipe. I usually have 50% of my recipe either lard or palm, things along those lines. Shea butter and lard are similar, but butters at that level in a recipe can make it feel 'draggy' to some and others find that it reduces lather - that doesn't make a bad soap, but of course most of us like bubbles!

Maybe let us know where you are (in case other members are from there and can give more specific advice) and also let us know what oils you can get which are on your target budget, and which ones you can get which are more of a second option because they are more expensive. It'll save us making a suggestion which ends up not working because it's too pricey or not even available to you

Funny recipe, you say? Why?

I live in India Bangalore.

The oils I’ve listed above are what is available to me right now.

Olive oil is expensive, so are the Butters, but I don’t mind investing in maybe Kokum or Shea if this recipe can be made a little less “funny”.

Thank you for your response.

How about if I decrease CO, increase a little Palm Olein and add some butter - Kokum or Shea?

CO - 24%
HO Sunflower - 25%
Palm Olein - 30%
Castor - 6%
Kokum Butter - 15%

Does it look better?

 

[Megan]

Another thing you may want to try is upping your superfat if you plan to use that much coconut oil. That will help replace some of the oils that the high lauric/myristic acid soap is going to strip from the skin. Do you have access to rice bran oil? Where I am, it is fairly cheap, and might be a good choice to replace some of the coconut and maybe even some of the palm olein.

I'd start off somewhere like this:

15% coconut
30% palm olein
25% HO Sunflower
10% RBO
5% Castor
15% Kokum

 

[violets2217]

Funny recipe, you say? Why?

I live in India Bangalore.

The oils I’ve listed above are what is available to me right now.

Olive oil is expensive, so are the Butters, but I don’t mind investing in maybe Kokum or Shea if this recipe can be made a little less “funny”.

Thank you for your response.

I use Kokum butter in my favorite CP shampoo bar. I love it! I got it to make my son some hair wax for his new fancy hair style. I wish it was less expensive here, I’d use it more! Good luck!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Funny recipe, you say? Why?

I live in India Bangalore.

The oils I’ve listed above are what is available to me right now.

Olive oil is expensive, so are the Butters, but I don’t mind investing in maybe Kokum or Shea if this recipe can be made a little less “funny”.

Thank you for your response.

Funny in that we are looking at tweaking something that isn't ideal, rather than just starting again from scratch.

As @Megan said, one very good idea would be a much higher co amount, but with a higher superfat. Like

80% co
5% castor
15% sunflower
SF @ 15%-20%

 

[marehare]

How about if I decrease CO, increase a little Palm Olein and add some butter - Kokum or Shea?

CO - 24%
HO Sunflower - 25%
Palm Olein - 30%
Castor - 6%
Kokum Butter - 15%

Does it look better?

Hello ❤

I’m new to soapmaking with a few batches under my belt. I’ve done some research I came up with this recipe (below). I’m not using anything expensive as yet. Anything that needs tweaking, deletion, addition?

Coconut Oil: 44%
Castor Oil: 6%
Palm Olein: 25%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil: 25%

SF: 5%
Water as % of oil weight: 32% (I’m planning to do a pot swirl).

Should I add some sugar or honey?

Any other advice?

Thank you.

 

[Soapzoom]

Funny in that we are looking at tweaking something that isn't ideal, rather than just starting again from scratch.

As @Megan said, one very good idea would be a much higher co amount, but with a higher superfat. Like

80% co
5% castor
15% sunflower
SF @ 15%-20%

Then I don’t get Palmitic properties from Palm Olein.. I understands Stearic Acid is missing, so I though I could use one of the Butters. Also when I use just CO then the bar gets over fast in the shower.. Also I’m using High Oleic Sunflower Oil so it will be slow to trace. On the soapcal the numbers look just about OK. May I pls request you to advice on why this recipe doesn’t come under the ideal range..?

 

[Soapzoom]

Another thing you may want to try is upping your superfat if you plan to use that much coconut oil. That will help replace some of the oils that the high lauric/myristic acid soap is going to strip from the skin. Do you have access to rice bran oil? Where I am, it is fairly cheap, and might be a good choice to replace some of the coconut and maybe even some of the palm olein.

I'd start off somewhere like this:

15% coconut
30% palm olein
25% HO Sunflower
10% RBO
5% Castor
15% Kokum

Thank you Megan, I’m going to give this a try.

 

[Soapzoom]

Another thing you may want to try is upping your superfat if you plan to use that much coconut oil. That will help replace some of the oils that the high lauric/myristic acid soap is going to strip from the skin. Do you have access to rice bran oil? Where I am, it is fairly cheap, and might be a good choice to replace some of the coconut and maybe even some of the palm olein.

I'd start off somewhere like this:

15% coconut
30% palm olein
25% HO Sunflower
10% RBO
5% Castor
15% Kokum

Fantastic recipe Megan. Palmitic and Stearic together add to 29! Longer lasting bar. Linoleic is 8 - but I guess that won’t rush so much into rancidity. Correct?

Is this recipe good for swirls? Shall I keep a 30% water as % of oil weight?

Also I’ll be using unrefined Kokum Butter which is brown; Palmolein is also darker golden. Do you think i’ll have to use titanium-di-oxide by any chance?

Thank you.

 

[Megan]

Fantastic recipe Megan. Palmitic and Stearic together add to 29! Longer lasting bar. Linoleic is 8 - but I guess that won’t rush so much into rancidity. Correct?

Is this recipe good for swirls? Shall I keep a 30% water as % of oil weight?

Also I’ll be using unrefined Kokum Butter which is brown; Palmolein is also darker golden. Do you think i’ll have to use titanium-di-oxide by any chance?

Thank you.

So I've never tried this recipe myself, but I think it should be ok for swirls. Sometimes RBO does cause trace acceleration (the unsaponifiables), but I've always been able to work with it. Just don't over blend. Linoleic at 8 is not bad at all for a recipe, generally to avoid rancidity, you want to keep linoleic+linolenic under 15, so you should be good there.

Even with the addition of Titanium Dioxide, you may not be able to get a white soap using these ingredients. Considering the other ingredients, I would expect a tan soap, which you could lighten with Titanium dioxide...but would likely never be white. Titanium dioxide is also going to accelerate trace, so you would have to keep that in mind.

I'd try a small, 500g, test batch to start. This way you can get a feel for the recipe without wasting too many ingredients if it turns out you don't like it.

I do not use water as % of oil weight when figuring out my formulas, as I prefer lye concentration. I personally use a lye concentration of 33% most of the time. I think anywhere between 25-33% should be good for this recipe. You could start out with more water, and see how it behaves, then do another batch with less water. Testing like this is the only way to really know.

 

[Soapzoom]

Since I was going to get a tan I decided to add some Lindt dark chocolate and some dairy whitener (since it was lying around) and made it a darker shade. I didn’t plan swirls this time and blended, and it reached trace very quickly. So next time I’m planning swirls I’ll just whisk and not use a blender at all.

Thank you gazallion Megan.

 

[Wynona Genesis]

Hello ❤

I’m new to soapmaking with a few batches under my belt. I’ve done some research I came up with this recipe (below). I’m not using anything expensive as yet. Anything that needs tweaking, deletion, addition?

Coconut Oil: 44%
Castor Oil: 6%
Palm Olein: 25%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil: 25%

SF: 5%
Water as % of oil weight: 32% (I’m planning to do a pot swirl).

Should I add some sugar or honey?

Any other advice?

Thank you.

You can check Soapqueen.com they have this whole article on the kinds of oils we can use in soapmaking and also the maximum percentage that we can use. Coconut Oil and Palm Oil can be used up to 33%. Although I've read that you can use 100% of Coconut Oil in soap but you have to adjust the superfat up to 20% so that there will be remaining unsaponified oils that will not be harsh for the skin.

 

[Soapzoom]

I can’t find Palm Oil where I live. So I was doing my best to formulate a low cost recipe with a balanced fatty acid profile. But it always helps when you get advice from experienced soapers. I’ve done 8-9 batches of 100% CO, but it doesn’t last long in the shower.

 

[cmzaha]

Another thought would be
20% CO
35-40% Palm Olein
30-35% HO Sunflower Oil
5% Castor Oil
10% butter if you want to add some but it is not necessary. Adjust above numbers
RBO is not necessary and will darken the color. Personally, I do not like RBO but that is me. I love Sunflower in soap. I use 40% Palm Oil in my vegan soaps and looking at the fatty acid profile there is not a huge difference between the Olein and Regular Palm. If you go with 40% Palm or Palm Olein I would recommend a 30% Lye concentration if you want to do swirls and keeping the castor oil at 5% or less. Castor accelerates trace even with a 2% difference. High CO soaps are very soluble and will not last long, which is why they lather in salt water.

 

[Soapzoom]

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