Is 4% s/f too low? Should I rebatch?

[carolyntn]

Ok - stupid mistake on my part. I made a recipe with Palm Kernel Oil (didn't mean to do that) but soaped used Palm Oil. So the lye amount is higher than needed to saponify Palm Oil. This results in a superfat of 4% if I have calculated correctly. Here is the recipe:
Olive oil 50% - 16.5 oz.
Palm oil 18% - 5.9 oz.
Coconut oil (92) 17% - 5.6 oz.
Cocoa Butter 10% - 3.3 oz.
Castor 5% - 1.6 oz.

Water full amount 38% - 12.5 oz.
Lye 4.6 oz.

Lemon 5x and Lemongrass EO and yellow clay

So, with such a low superfat and the lemon essential oils - should I just rebatch to make a higher superfat? Perhaps this would be better for oily skin? Maybe I should just throw it all out? I have never made soap with such a low superfat.
What are your thoughts?

 

[judymoody]

I wouldn't throw it out!

Assuming you measured correctly, it is probably safe.

For what it's worth, most men I know prefer soap with low SF. My husband prefers 5% over 8% (what I like). My acne soap has SF of 5%.

See how it is after cure and if you think it's OK, give it to the guys.

Or rebatch with some extra oil to get to the level you prefer. If you rebatch, you'll probably have to add more fragrance as the citrus will likely burn off.

 

[ToniD]

Or cut it into chunks and put it into another batch. Just up the superfat of your new batch a bit to compensate. Easier than rebatching and makes for cute soap. Just make sure not to cut when the fresh soap is too soft or you can get drag from the cubes.

You can also cut the log, if it is a log, through diagonally the whole length and then embed that in a new log. You get a triangle inside a rectangular bar.

Or, like Judy said, let some guys use it. My guys, too, like a lower sf soap.

 

[carolyntn]

Whew!! I have been kicking myself all week over this mistake. I cannot afford to lose even one batch (shoestring budget). I do have two greasy teenage boys in my house!!! So thanks for the info about guys, JudyMoody! And ToniD I never even thought to use some of it for embeds - but you are so right!! I already cut my log into bars, but I'll go cut a few bars into chunks for another batch one day. Ooooh I could make orange soap - inset chunks of this lemon soap and say that I actually planned it that way all along! Ok, I am feeling not quite so stupid, now - thanks to you all!
THANK YOU!!

 

[ToniD]

Lemon and orange sounds like a winner!