I'm easily confused - please help me....?

[emilaid]

I've only ever made 1 batch of soap with veg oil and lard ( I know it's not too nice compared to what you all make!! lol) I wanted to practice how to do it before splashing out on a load of supplies.

I added peppermint EO to fragrance it but I can't smell it anymore - all I can smell is the veg oil and lard - YUK!!

Anyway, The soap doesn't smell too nice but it looks OK, so I guess I did something right.

My question is, when using coconut oil or palm oil to make soap, what oils can be used for superfatting? At what stage of the process do they get added, and what exactly do they do?

I'd love to make something really nice, but simple, as I'm still learning.
All help appreciated!!

 

[honor435]

how much peppermint did you use, was it an essential oil? try a olive/ coconut batch next time?

 

[emilaid]

I didn't measure the peppermint - I just added it till I though it smelled OK :?

Probably not the right way to do it though...... :? lol

Does the amount of EO or FO affect the amount of lye needed?

 

[artisan soaps]

..

 

[MikeInPdx]

If you want to take the lye monster out of the picture, you can also do HP and add the superfatting oil after the soap has cooked. I do this with shea butter and it makes nice soap. Castor oil also makes a nice superfatting agent with this method.

 

[emilaid]

So, once my soap has cured, can I rebatch it to fix the fragrance? Other than the smell it's turned out OK :shock:

 

[dagmar88]

You can rebatch at any moment.