How do you increase bubbles?

[Mobjack Bay]

In a multi fat(oil) recipe, every fat is playing a role in the quality of the lather. The OP's recipe is fairly high in palmitic and stearic fatty acids (>30) which results in lather that leans creamy (and bars that last a long time because they don't dissolve quickly). Increasing the percentage of oleic at the expense of a bit of the palmitic and stearic fatty acids would help the soap dissolve more easily which would lead to more bubbles.

 

[AliOop]

@Mobjack Bay I understand and agree with what you are saying about how increasing oleic with a corresponding reduction in palmitic and stearic would cause greater solubility (and thus, bubbles) in the original recipe.

But the remark about sunflower oil was she added it to “all my recipes to increase bubbles.”

I don’t agree that this will work with all recipes. If the sunflower were increased at the expense of CO or PKO, the bubbles would decrease, not increase. And sunflower alone, without other supporting oils, will not be a bubbly soap.

 

[Humblegoat]

I understand what you are saying. All my recipes was a rather sweeping statement. My CO stays the same, I rarely reduce that and I don’t use PKO. Maybe the SO doesn’t do what I think it does? When using different combos of oils I can see where I might attribute a quality that may or may not be accurate.

 

[AliOop]

I understand what you are saying. All my recipes was a rather sweeping statement. My CO stays the same, I rarely reduce that and I don’t use PKO. Maybe the SO doesn’t do what I think it does? When using different combos of oils I can see where I might attribute a quality that may or may not be accurate.

Thanks for clarifying. The effect of the sunflower oil will depend on the rest of your recipe. If the overall affect of it increases solubility, then bubbles will increase because of that. Otherwise, sunflower oil on its own won’t really increase bubbles bc it doesn’t contain any of the “bubbly”’fatty acids - which are lauric and myristic FAs.

Does that make sense?

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I don’t agree that this will work with all recipes. If the sunflower were increased at the expense of CO or PKO, the bubbles would decrease, not increase. And sunflower alone, without other supporting oils, will not be a bubbly soap.

I basically agree with you, but I'm also trying to make the point that every oil plays a role in how a soap lathers. It's best to look at recipes holistically. It took me a surprisingly long time to realize that the amount of oleic fatty acid in a recipe plays a key role in the quantity and quality of the lather. More sunflower at the expense of CO or PKO would very likely result in fewer big bubbles, but that shift might result in a more cushiony foamy lather that I would like more.

 

[AliOop]

I basically agree with you, but I'm also trying to make the point that every oil plays a role in how a soap lathers. It's best to look at recipes holistically. It took me a surprisingly long time to realize that the amount of oleic fatty acid in a recipe plays a key role in the quantity and quality of the lather. More sunflower at the expense of CO or PKO would very likely result in fewer big bubbles, but that shift might result in a more cushiony foamy lather that I would like more.

100% agree, and I so appreciate the dialogue. To me, it's important not just to know the FAs in our oils, and what each FA brings to the table on its own, but also how they interact with one another in any given recipe. From there, it comes down to what type of lather we like.