I need help with soy wax (even after a lot of reading)

[KiwiMoose]

Hmmm - not sure on that one. I'm not really an expert with all this y'know. Just your average everyday soaper. Do you normally use 25% avocado oil? Apparently it is high in unsaponifiables - so that might be contributing to it.
Oh - and your rationale for using soy wax? I thought it was usually as palm oil alternative for people that didn't want to use palm. But you obviously are not in this camp, so why not stick to palm?

 

[Jackie Tobey]

Hmmm - not sure on that one. I'm not really an expert with all this y'know. Just your average everyday soaper. Do you normally use 25% avocado oil? Apparently it is high in unsaponifiables - so that might be contributing to it.
Oh - and your rationale for using soy wax? I thought it was usually as palm oil alternative for people that didn't want to use palm. But you obviously are not in this camp, so why not stick to palm?

I was using the palm oil to use up some I had left that needs to be used.

 

[Jackie Tobey]

Hmmm - not sure on that one. I'm not really an expert with all this y'know. Just your average everyday soaper. Do you normally use 25% avocado oil? Apparently it is high in unsaponifiables - so that might be contributing to it.
Oh - and your rationale for using soy wax? I thought it was usually as palm oil alternative for people that didn't want to use palm. But you obviously are not in this camp, so why not stick to palm?

Hmm... I obviously need to read up more on my oils (ie. avocado and unsaponifiables). I started using the soy wax because I wanted to push the stearic acid number up for hardness. Then found out the soy wax was a mix of palmitic, oleic and stearic. So tried to figure out my soap properties via the calculations as above. I guess I need to go back to the drawing board and read some more. I have been following DeeAnna's advice on Classic Bells on how to calculate your soap properties correctly. Maybe I misunderstood something.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Have you tried this exact recipe but without the soy wax? You could add the soy wax % to the palm oil % and then leave the rest of the oils as-is. If the recipe still feels funny, then it's not the soy wax. If it doesn't feel funny, then it is!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@Jackie Tobey Did you use 8 grams of EDTA for this batch? The recommendation at Soapy Stuff (here) is to use a maximum of 5 grams per 1000 g total batch. I have a vague recollection of a member posting something about too much EDTA making a bar too hard and giving it a strange feel. Found it! https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/glda-a-modern-alternative-to-edta.74141/page-3#post-801430

 

[Jackie Tobey]

@Jackie Tobey Did you use 8 grams of EDTA for this batch? The recommendation at Soapy Stuff (here) is to use a maximum of 5 grams per 1000 g total batch. I have a vague recollection of a member posting something about too much EDTA making a bar too hard and giving it a strange feel. Found it! https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/glda-a-modern-alternative-to-edta.74141/page-3#post-801430

This is a 39%soln

 

[Mobjack Bay]

This is a 39%soln

So much for that idea .

 

[Jackie Tobey]

So I am adding to the testing of the soap I made with 20% GW415 soy wax. I have continued to use it and have changed my mind somewhat about how it feels after the shower. I'm not sure if I am just getting use to the feel of the soap or that it was an incorrect assumption after one use. I find the soap to lather beautifully with the sponge. It provides some much fluffy creamy bubbles that they fall off the sponge into the floor of the shower. Almost like using a detergent body wash soap but even better. And the after feel is not as "waxy" as I first thought.

This to say I did tweak the recipe today and remade a pound of soap by with the same recipe, but dropping the avocado to 10% and adding sunflower HO oil to make up the difference. Everything else is the same except I used Indigo powder added to the lye for colorant and essential oils of Patchouli, Ylang Ylang and Bergamot (Serenity on EO Calc at 5%). It came together beautifully and I poured at medium trace. Will give an update on how it lathers and feels after the shower in 4-6 weeks. Will also post a picture after I cut it in 24/48 hours.

Thanks to everyone again for all the advice and guidance.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Sounds good. I love the bubbles of my soy wax soaps and they’re my son’s favorites. I would love to see a photo, especially since you used indigo.

 

[Jackie Tobey]

View attachment 42272

Here is a pic of the suds I get from this soap. It actually provides much more in the shower when I’m lathering up but I don’t believe that would be an appropriate pic for this site. Anyway, the lather is very lovely and wanted to share the follow up pic with you.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@Jackie Tobey That’s a soap bubble-looza!