How much super fat, how do you decide?

[Iveta Pelá]

How much super fat, how do you decide? In The Soapmaker's Companion Susan Miller Cavitch writes that she used to use 20 percent and then 10 percent. Elsewhere, less than 5 percent is stated, some use 6 or 7 percent. I know it probably comes down to personal preference. But I wonder how you decide how much super fat should be in the soap. Chap durability. Considering it doesn't bother me much, I make small batches for myself now and give the rest away. I am interested in other reasons and circumstances. Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

[AliensrReal]

I base it on my coconut oil amount. My original recipe is 8% superfat because I use 25% coconut oil. I it. My other two recipes with 15% coconut have a superfat of 3%. I do love a high superfat though.

Many people do low superfat to reduce soap scum and clogged pipes.

It’s really all a preference.

 

[lenarenee]

I used to do 5% as it's seems to be the most popular level, but lowered it to 3%. Except for salt bars, I don't use more than 20% coconut oil. The higher the superfat, the more it reduces lather, and more importantly reduces the oil going down the drain. I think it also rinses better (but I also use sodium citrate as a chelator) which is important because I live in a drought prone area and need to conserve water.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I started out with 5% because that's the default in most of the soap calculators. But I find it creates less soap scum and more lather with 2 or 3% so that's what I use now.. I once made a salt bar with 90% coconut oil and I used 20% superfat for that. I didn't like it - it was too fatty.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I'm going through a phase right now where I'm using 0% SF because I want to saponify all the FAs in my soaps. Some FAs like olive oil and shea butter contain "Unsaponifiables" and even at 0% SF they still feel lovely on the skin after washing up.

 

[dmcgee5034]

I used to do 5%, the default like @KiwiMoose said, but I’ve dropped it to 3% since I use extra oils for my micas.

 

[Iveta Pelá]

I base it on my coconut oil amount. My original recipe is 8% superfat because I use 25% coconut oil. I it. My other two recipes with 15% coconut have a superfat of 3%. I do love a high superfat though.

Many people do low superfat to reduce soap scum and clogged pipes.

It’s really all a preference.

Oh, I noticed that Susan Miller Cavitch uses about 30 percent coconut oil in her recipes. I use about 20 percent coconut oil. Basic oils coconut oil, lard, or olive oil. I have tried 6 percent and 10 percent super fat so far. I like it because it cares for the skin. I have a dry hand and since using this soap I don't need hand cream. But it's true that the soap doesn't lather that much. I thought I should add more coconut oil, but now I understand that the soap would not be as caring. My daughter-in-law loves my pure tallow soap, I think it's only 5 percent superfat, it was my very first soap. She says what she likes about the soap is that it doesn't dry out as much. So I think I could make a soap for her with less super fat.

Právě teď procházím fází, kdy používám 0% SF, protože chci zmýdelnit všechny mastné kyseliny ve svých mýdlech. Některé mastné kyseliny jako olivový olej a bambucké máslo obsahují „nezmýdelnitelné látky“ a dokonce i při 0% SF jsou po umytí na pokožce stále příjemné.

And why do you want to soap them all up? What is the reason for this? I'm interested, I'm interested in understanding the principle of things...

Thank you for your experience. So when I use oils that have more unsaponifiable acids, such as hemp oil or linseed oil... it is better to reduce the percentage of superfat. I'll try it. I want to experiment a bit...

 

[AliensrReal]

@Iveta Pelá I actually have a lot of bubbles and lather in my 8% superfat, but my recipe also has a lot of castor oil in it. I’m sure there would be even more if I lowered it, but I’m very satisfied with the lather of that soap.

 

[Marie_with_an_e]

I use a 6% SF because I use 25% CO, but I also use a small percentage of castor. My soaps lather like crazy, and it’s a beautiful bubbly and creamy lather.

 

[Vicki C]

I use 5% superfat, 25% coconut oil, and I use castor oil, sodium gluconate and sorbitol. I really like what sorbitol has done for my lather - I think it is more bubbly than it used to be.

 

[Christa10]

Thank you for asking this question. I never questioned superfatting, but now that you did, I'm reconsidering my superfat level of 5% and might reduce it because I don't use that much coconut oil and live in a very old house so saving my pipes is probably a good idea.

 

[AliOop]

I regularly use 2% and am very happy with it. Have been considering 1% or even none, just to see if I can feel any difference.

My one exception is salt bars with their high CO - then I’m at 20%. Go big or go home, right?

 

[DeeAnna]

Recently I've seen some people advocate setting the superfat percentage to 1/2 of the percentage of lauric and myristic (L + M) acids in the recipe. I gather this "1/2 rule" gives people some reassurance that they're "doing it right". Like so many other mysterious rules in soap making, this rule doesn't seem to have a lot of sound reasoning to back it up, so I'm personally rather skeptical.

For example, a 100% coconut oil soap contains 58% lauric + myristic acid. Most people would use around a 20% superfat for this type of soap to ensure it's not overly drying to the skin. If you follow the "1/2 rule", however, you'd be using 1/2 of 58% which is 29%. Almost half again more superfat than the norm. It could be done, yes, that's true, but does it result in soap that functions as well or better when used for bathing?

As another example, my current recipe contains a total of 10% L + M acids, so my superfat should be about 5% following the "1/2 rule". I've long used only 2% superfat and get a very lathery, yet mild soap. I also adjust my recipes to account for the fact that there are always some impurities in NaOH. That means the recipes I'm using are closer to a true 2% superfat than what you get when using a typical soap recipe c@lc that doesn't correct for NaOH purity.

I think people are a bit scared of using superfats at or close to a true 0% superfat, but honestly it's not that big of a deal in my experience. Even if the soap is slightly lye heavy when freshly made, that lye heaviness dissipates during the cure so the finished soap is skin safe. I've seen this happen in my soap a few times. Other people have experienced the same. Even Kevin Dunn did some experiments to test this concept and can confirm a slight lye excess can and does dissipate with time.

It's my understanding that many soap makers in the EU (maybe mostly in Germany?) use superfat percentages much higher than what other soap makers do. So I think the particular superfat % one uses depends on what's popular at the moment as well as where one lives in the world and the level of experience the soap maker has.

I have used 2-3% superfat for some years now with good results. I think the same soap recipes would be fine at 5-10% superfat, although I have found as the superfat goes higher, the amount of lather is reduced, all other things being equal. The 2012 Lather Lovers soap swap tested the same soap made with a higher SF and a lower SF (don't remember the exact %'s). They found there was a definite difference in the amount of lather produced.

 

[Iveta Pelá]

I think people are a bit scared of using superfats at or close to a true 0% superfat, but honestly it's not that big of a deal in my experience. Even if the soap is slightly lye heavy when freshly made, that lye heaviness dissipates during the cure so the finished soap is skin safe. I've seen this happen in my soap a few times. Other people have experienced the same. Even Kevin Dunn did some experiments to test this concept and can confirm a slight lye excess can and does dissipate with time.

Yes, this is also confirmed by my soap, which I made for washing clothes. I used 50% coconut oil and 50% lard and 0% superfat. What was my surprise when I tried to use it for washing dishes and found that I could not use it for this purpose because my dishes were still greasy after rinsing. I didn't feel anything drying on my hands either...

 

[VikingChick]

It's my understanding that many soap makers in the EU (maybe mostly in Germany?) use superfat percentages much higher than what other soap makers do. So I think the particular superfat % one uses depends on what's popular at the moment as well as where one lives in the world and the level of experience the soap maker has.

When I was in Germany earlier this year, I bought some soaps to try out of curiosity. I got them at little boutique-y/tourist-y type shops so have really no idea what the super fats are, or even what oils are in them (apparently their labeling laws are different than in the US….). So far I’ve only used one of them, but there’s a distinctly less amount of lather than in my own soaps, presumably indicating a higher superfat. With my soaps, I’ll typically use a 3-4% superfat, but I have hard water so (as others have mentioned) much of that decision is based on not wanting to clog my pipes. I sometimes use EDTA when I feel like messing with it. What I really need is a water softener, LOL.

 

[Zing]

3% here

 

[cmzaha]

Many years ago I started using 2-3% superfat due to old plumbing in my house. Now I use 1-2% superfat. I started doing that when most still did not believe it was acceptable to use low superfat. Slowly partly due to DeeAnna folks in this forum starting using the lower superfat. In other forums, I would be told how wrong I was to do such. It always worked for me and really made a difference with my plumbing bills. I use low CO Chelators and my soaps lather very nicely. Folks loved them, after all, I sold a lot and had a very large customer base. Another thought, I never liked washing with free oils. which I could feel in high superfat soaps. Like everyone else, saltbars were the exception which I superfat at 17%.

 

[BritS]

I use 3%. I had a formulation that used 5%, and I can feel the difference. I prefer the 3%.