How do you increase bubbles?

[ewhitake]

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I’m pretty happy with the recipe but need a few adjustments.
1. The lather is creamy and cushiony but feels a bit slimy when tested against commercial soap. Is that too much Castor?
2. While the bubbles are creamy I’m not getting the big bubbles happening quickly once the water hits it. Is this because my CO percentage is low? Can u increase the big bubbles without increasing CO significantly?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[dmcgee5034]

I would drop the Castor down to 5%, so for an easy swap, up to Coconut to 10%….
Have you tried using Aloe Vera Juice as a sub for some or all of your water? I think it’s part of what has helped me. I’m sure others will chime in with some help and advice….

 

[ewhitake]

I would drop the Castor down to 5%, so for an easy swap, up to Coconut to 10%….
Have you tried using Aloe Vera Juice as a sub for some or all of your water? I think it’s part of what has helped me. I’m sure others will chime in with some help and advice….

I haven't used a lot of Aloe even though I have it. I know what Aloe claims to do for skin but what does Aloe do for the soap?

 

[Ekuzo]

The slimy feeling should be the castor. Definitely decrease it to 5%, as @dmcgee5034 suggested.

How long have you been curing it? Maybe it needs a little more time so you can get that nice fluffy lather. If your water is hard, that is also a lather killer - in that case some citric acid or sodium citrate can help.

Yes, you can increase the CO (or the PKO, they have similar features). I use up to 25% CO and I like it that way, I don't find it harsh - but YMMV.

The little castor oil + the CO in higher % should be enough to give you good bubbles. But if you want to experiment, you can increase the sugar to 2% of oil weight OR add AVJ (as suggested by dmcgee5034). It has sugars which help with the lathering - I don't think it does anything else for the soap or your skin that way, but it does add label appeal (in addition to the bubbly stuff).

There's no need to use all of the above - that will be an overkill. Experiment and see what you like - you can even combine a little bit of this and that to see how it works. But don't go full throttle on everything at the same time, less is more.

 

[ewhitake]

How long have you been curing it?

About 4 weeks. Still new at soaping and have an impatient problem.
I’ll experiment a bit at a time as you suggested. Make a small batch just changing the coconut oil and the castor percentages. Another batch with changing the castor oil and CO percentages and adding additional sugar. Next batch the same except instead of adding sugar I’ll add aloe vera. Can you add aloe vera just as the powder or do you have to add it in juice form?

 

[KiwiMoose]

I use aloe either way - when i can be bothered to peel and puree my aloe leaves I use the juice, otherwise I use concentrate powder.
Try lowering your superfat to 3% too - superfat can hinder bubbles. I agree with decreasing the castor and increasing the CO.

 

[Ekuzo]

I use aloe either way - when i can be bothered to peel and puree by aloe leaves I use the juice, otherwise I use concentrate powder.
Try lowering your superfat to 3% too - superfat can hinder bubbles. I agree with decreasing the castor and increasing the CO.

Oh yes, I'm one of those who like low SF in soap as well!

About 4 weeks. Still new at soaping and have an impatient problem.
I’ll experiment a bit at a time as you suggested. Make a small batch just changing the coconut oil and the castor percentages. Another batch with changing the castor oil and CO percentages and adding additional sugar. Next batch the same except instead of adding sugar I’ll add aloe vera. Can you add aloe vera just as the powder or do you have to add it in juice form?

I now noticed that you did actually add citrate to the batch, my bad!

4 weeks is not bad, but maybe it will feel better after 4 more ‐ observe it.

I forgot to mention that you can even substitute the sugar for honey (some people also use sorbitol) and the AVJ for milk or beer ‐ with similar results, and if you dig further, you will find an infinite number of options to play with, if you are curious. And you can switch between them according to the theme of the soap.

I have found that the castor/CO combo works best for me. I make soap high in palm oil and sometimes the lather of the soap is not at its best the first time you use it (even with milk or beer in it). After a couple of uses it gets much better and it shows its true potential. However, when the recipe has a little bit of castor and no other lather boosting additives, I haven't noticed that issue - I have great bubbles from the start. Experiment, experiment ‐ at a certain point you will start noticing stuff that nobody else has!

 

[dmcgee5034]

There's no need to use all of the above - that will be an overkill. Experiment and see what you like - you can even combine a little bit of this and that to see how it works. But don't go full throttle on everything at the same time, less is more.

I am one of the ones that goes full overkill, but it wasn’t all at once. I finally got the bubbles, lather and feel I like - and bubbles that DH is happy with, and it took a long time to get DH happy with my soap.
3% SF, 1% Sorbitol, 5% Castor/17% Coconut, AVJ as full water replacement…

 

[ewhitake]

I use aloe either way - when i can be bothered to peel and puree my aloe leaves I use the juice, otherwise I use concentrate powder.
Try lowering your superfat to 3% too - superfat can hinder bubbles. I agree with decreasing the castor and increasing the CO.

Aloe powder at what rate per PPO?

 

[KiwiMoose]

Aloe powder at what rate per PPO?

It is not measured PPO. The powder is a 200x concentrate, so if I'm using, say 600g of water, I add 3g of powder to make up aloe juice.

 

[Ekuzo]

I am one of the ones that goes full overkill, but it wasn’t all at once. I finally got the bubbles, lather and feel I like - and bubbles that DH is happy with, and it took a long time to get DH happy with my soap.
3% SF, 1% Sorbitol, 5% Castor/17% Coconut, AVJ as full water replacement…

Aaaaaah, it's hard to please others - otherwise we would make simple soap with 3 base oils and no additives and be done with it... I know I would...

 

[Humblegoat]

View attachment 78721
I’m pretty happy with the recipe but need a few adjustments.
1. The lather is creamy and cushiony but feels a bit slimy when tested against commercial soap. Is that too much Castor?
2. While the bubbles are creamy I’m not getting the big bubbles happening quickly once the water hits it. Is this because my CO percentage is low? Can u increase the big bubbles without increasing CO significantly?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

I use Sunflower oil in my recipe to enhance bubbling.

 

[Barefoot Farm Girl]

I use the Aloe Vera juice from Walmart and 1% sorbitol ppo. I’ve found that the first lather is creamy and when I add a little more water I get tons of bubbles. I do keep coconut at 20% and castor at 5%

 

[Ekuzo]

I use the Aloe Vera juice from Walmart and 1% sorbitol ppo. I’ve found that the first lather is creamy and when I add a little more water I get tons of bubbles. I do keep coconut at 20% and castor at 5%

Dwamn, you guys are making me wanna go for the overkill now and see how it turns out, you are the worst

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

Why are you waiting until trace to add the sugar @ewhitake? I now follow @AliOop’s suggestion to use sorbitol, but always dissolve it in the water added to masterbatched lye.

 

[cmzaha]

I am one of the ones that goes full overkill, but it wasn’t all at once. I finally got the bubbles, lather and feel I like - and bubbles that DH is happy with, and it took a long time to get DH happy with my soap.
3% SF, 1% Sorbitol, 5% Castor/17% Coconut, AVJ as full water replacement…

I would go with these suggestions but I would cut the OO to no more than 20%, adding the difference to your Lard. Also Dual lye will help kick up bubbles in high stearic soaps. I use it in all my soaps at 95/5% NaOH/KOH, and I find sodium gluconate at 1.1% total batch works better than citric acid as a chelator. You can also up the Palm to 30% but it will up acceleration making real fancy swirling testy, that you just have to play with and see what you can work with. My vegan soaps were 40% Palm Oil, 15% liquid oils

 

[Servant4Christ]

I use Sunflower oil in my recipe to enhance bubbling.

Is this regular sunflower or high oleic? I recently bought some HO sunflower to try but had no idea it could help with bubbles. I'm just trying to find a sub for olive oil in a particular recipe I'm playing with.

 

[AliOop]

Is this regular sunflower or high oleic? I recently bought some HO sunflower to try but had no idea it could help with bubbles. I'm just trying to find a sub for olive oil in a particular recipe I'm playing with.

Sorry, sunflower oil of any variety is lacking in myristic and lauric FAs, so it isn't known for creating bubbles.

 

[Servant4Christ]

Sorry, sunflower oil of any variety is lacking in myristic and lauric FAs, so it isn't known for creating bubbles.

That's what I thought. Thank you for confirming.

 

[Humblegoat]

I don’t know, I read it either on this forum or one of the published books. It is high oleic. I tried it and it works for me. I always include castor oil as well.