How does this recipe look?

[A1will]

Castor Oil 6 %
Coconut Oil, 76 deg 24%
Lard, Pig Tallow Manteca 10%
Soybean Oil 33%
Walmart GV Shortening, beef tallow, palm 27%

These are the values I get.

Soap Bar Quality Suggested Range Your Recipe
Hardness 29 - 54 41
Cleansing 12 - 22 17
Conditioning 44 - 69 54
Bubbly 14 - 46 27
Creamy 16 - 48 34
Iodine 41 - 70 70
INS 136 - 165 142



Can anyone see any glaring mistakes I've overlooked?

 

[lsg]

Looks like a good hard bar with good lather.

 

[lizflowers42]

Numbers look good to me....if you want to increase bubbles add some sugar to your lye water.

 

[A1will]

Interesting. I've heard this before. Does anyone know the chemistry behind this?

Also if I remember correctly it's 1T / lb?

 

[lsg]

I don't know the chemistry behind adding sugar, but it works for me.

 

[renata]

The recipe looks great.
I'd like to try out this thing with sugar. How much sugar should I add (batch with 750g oils)?

 

[cmzaha]

Numbers look good to me....if you want to increase bubbles add some sugar to your lye water.

If you mix your sugar in some of your liquid (deducted from your total amount of liquid) you will not have the yellow to deal with. Sugar turns lye water yellow

 

[A1will]

When would you add this to the reaction mixture? When combining lye water and oils... at light trace.... etc?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Soap Making mobile app

 

[lsg]

I always add about 2 tsp. of sugar ppo to the lye water. I completely dissolve the sugar in the distilled water before adding the lye. I have never had a problem with yellow water using this method.

 

[A1will]

So, I made my first batch using this recipe today and for some reason I couldn't get it past light trace no matter how much I stick blended.

 

[judymoody]

Did you use full water or take a discount?

Palm and soy can be slow to trace.

 

[lsg]

Did it set up after you poured it in the mold? Some oils take longer to come to trace than others. Did you use a stick blender, that makes soap trace a lot faster.

 

[A1will]

Full water

 

[A1will]

It seems to be slowly getting thicker. Still not "traditional trace" where you can see it stay on the surface for a bit.

 

[A1will]

Just checked again. I seem to be able to see a light trace (a few hours after pouring) but it also seems to be separating a bit (maybe a 1mm clear layer on top). Does this mean I never got the saponification
going?

 

[lsg]

I would empty the soap into an old crockpot and stick blend, then cook on low until it has the texture of Vaseline. Glop into the mold and smooth by putting a piece of waxed paper over the top and running something with a flat surface over it. Take off the waxed paper and let set until solid.

 

[A1will]

24 hours later my first batch is pretty thick, not firm enough to unfold, but on its way there. I made a second batch and that was mostly solid within 8 hours or so, this morning it was thick enough to cut.

The only difference between the two batches were in batch one the lye solution was around 90ish degrees when added to the 130ish degree oils, and the second batch both were around 150 degrees.


Also, I ph tested my bars I just cut (24 hours after making) and they are still around ph 11. It was my understanding that all the lye should be fully reacted by now.

 

[lsg]

I believe that cp soap gets milder as it cures.

 

[A1will]

I've been told on another thread that a pH of 9-11 is normal, so that's good news!

As to why my first batch is acting goofy I do not know!

What temp do you combine your oil and lye water?

 

[lsg]

What I do is mix the lye with distilled water at my kitchen sink. I then melt the solid oils and mix the melted oils with the liquid oils. When the lye water is completely clear I mix it with my oils. I don't worry much about the temp. unless I am swirling or layering and want more time to work with the soap batch. Then I soap at cooler temps.