Kaolin Clay Recipe Help!

[Mestiza Girl]

Hey everybody! I'm trying to concoct an exfoliating lemon poppyseed soap for my second batch ever!! My first batch used the same oils in the same amounts and turned out pretty great (all I added to that batch was rose fragrance). I was wondering if I could apply the same percentages to this batch- except this time I'll be using kaolin clay. On the right hand side is a little sketch of my vision, lol. My question is will the clay (or any other additives) negatively affect this recipe?

 

[cedarstar]

Kaolin clay added to soap is great! I add 1 tsp ppo (per pound of oils) to all my soap recipes; unless I add a different clay. I mix it with a bit of water from my recipe and then stick blend it into my oils before adding my lye water. I've added poppy seeds and they are quite exfoliating, I've never used lemon peel...

 

[amd]

At 1 tsp for your batch size, it really won't have any affect. I usually use around 1 TBSP for 16 oz oils.

Also.... you have water in grams, but oils and lye in oz. I would pick one or the other and use it for all.

ETA: you must mean oz on your water qty, or you wouldn't have enough water for your recipe.

 

[Cellador]

I also use kaolin clay at about 1 Tablespoon PPO in my standard recipe. I put it into my oils before adding my lye water & stickblend all the clumps out. But, you could add it & SB after emulsion too.

 

[Mestiza Girl]

At 1 tsp for your batch size, it really won't have any affect. I usually use around 1 TBSP for 16 oz oils.

Also.... you have water in grams, but oils and lye in oz. I would pick one or the other and use it for all.

ETA: you must mean oz on your water qty, or you wouldn't have enough water for your recipe.

Oops, that was my mistake while copying the recipe from SoapCalc, hehe. It should be ounces for the water!

I'll definitely try 1tbsp then for the 16 oz half of the oil. Thanks for your insight

 

[amd]

Do you have a printer? It would reduce a lot of errors to just print the recipe from soapcalc.

You can add it like cellador said, or I add it to my lye solution. Clay doesn't dissolve, it just disperses so I don't think it affects the lye solution.

 

[Mestiza Girl]

I also use kaolin clay at about 1 Tablespoon PPO in my standard recipe. I put it into my oils before adding my lye water & stickblend all the clumps out. But, you could add it & SB after emulsion too.

Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely try out 1 tbsp for the 16oz half of the oil.

Kaolin clay added to soap is great! I add 1 tsp ppo (per pound of oils) to all my soap recipes; unless I add a different clay. I mix it with a bit of water from my recipe and then stick blend it into my oils before adding my lye water. I've added poppy seeds and they are quite exfoliating, I've never used lemon peel...

Do you have a printer? It would reduce a lot of errors to just print the recipe from soapcalc.

You can add it like cellador said, or I add it to my lye solution. Clay doesn't dissolve, it just disperses so I don't think it affects the lye solution.

I have a printer but no ink at the moment. That would definitely help prevent these silly errors though! & this time I'm planning to split the oils evenly since I'll be doing 2 layers, add the 1tbsp clay to one 16oz bucket of oil and SB a little until it dissolves before adding the lye water.

 

[Relle]

You also need to weigh your EO and not add by tablespoon.

 

[Mestiza Girl]

You also need to weigh your EO and not add by tablespoon.

Thanks for the heads up. I was thinking then about 2 ounces for the EO since I read something about citrus scents fading quicker.

 

[amd]

I was thinking then about 2 ounces for the EO since I read something about citrus scents fading quicker.

Adding more won't prevent it from fading. You also need to use EO's within their recommended usage rates. Some may only have 1% usage rate (or less) while others maybe higher.

 

[Highfive]

Using 1tbsp per 16oz works for me. Added to the oils b-4 the lye solution. I've even added to the lye water at room temperature. NO changes for me.

 

[SoapSisters]

What does kaolin clay add to soap? Lather? I've never used it.

 

[Garden Gives Me Joy]

Adding more won't prevent it from fading. You also need to use EO's within their recommended usage rates. Some may only have 1% usage rate (or less) while others maybe higher.

I recently mixed clay with my mint oil as a fragrance fixative. It seems to have really worked. BTW, I waited for my liquid HP batter to cool considerably before adding, just to be extra careful given it's a lighter top note oil.

Other observations re effects of clay include a creamier, more slippery lather for sure.

I have dusted it in to stiffen batters, which appeared to harden the soap just slightly (but nothing at all as drastically as Sodium lactate).

 

[amd]

I recently mixed clay with my mint oil as a fragrance fixative. It seems to have really worked. BTW, I waited for my liquid HP batter to cool considerably before adding, just to be extra careful given it's a lighter top note oil.

Mint EO tends to hold well to begin with, so it's probably nothing to do with the clay - although I am one who used to think clay helped hold scent, I've used it minimally in the last year and my scents seem to be holding just as well as when I used clay. That you HP your soap also helps because you're not putting the EO through a chemical reaction.

 

[Veggiebin]

I use kaolin as a fragrance fixative as well. In my experience it does seem to help with lighter scents like grapefruit.

 

[szaza]

I've done a sort of test with kaolin vs no fixative vs beeswax vs HP and the kaolin didn't seem to help at all.. so I stopped using it as a fixative.

 

[Arimara]

What does kaolin clay add to soap? Lather? I've never used it.

Kaolin can offer a whiter tinge to your soap and adds a bit of slip to your lather. It can also help anchor some scents but I have never used it for that purpose.

 

[Malleebird]

Kaolin can offer a whiter tinge to your soap and adds a bit of slip to your lather. It can also help anchor some scents but I have never used it for that purpose.

Hi, I've just joined the forum.... at least just posted for the first time But I think I can add to this question. I recently found all my soap samples (from nearly 4 years ago) that I'd had put away and thought I lost in a house move. So now using a different one every day in my shower, recording what it's like and going back to my soapcalc sheet. to see what it was. This morning it was a lovely hard bar, ivory colour with lavender aroma. Showering with it was beautiful.... silky, creamy lather and the lavender aroma intensified.... almost overpowering.
Couldn't wait to see what is was.....Almond oil 35%, Coconut oil 34%, Shea butter 31%. Liquid was almond milk and honey.....and I'd added Koalin clay and Vitamin E oil to oils before lye..... and Lavender & Palmarosa eo's at light trace. Really think I can attribute the beautiful silky lather and fragrance mostly to the koalin clay ! I'm sold !!

 

[SoapSisters]

Hi, I've just joined the forum.... at least just posted for the first time But I think I can add to this question. I recently found all my soap samples (from nearly 4 years ago) that I'd had put away and thought I lost in a house move. So now using a different one every day in my shower, recording what it's like and going back to my soapcalc sheet. to see what it was. This morning it was a lovely hard bar, ivory colour with lavender aroma. Showering with it was beautiful.... silky, creamy lather and the lavender aroma intensified.... almost overpowering.
Couldn't wait to see what is was.....Almond oil 35%, Coconut oil 34%, Shea butter 31%. Liquid was almond milk and honey.....and I'd added Koalin clay and Vitamin E oil to oils before lye..... and Lavender & Palmarosa eo's at light trace. Really think I can attribute the beautiful silky lather and fragrance mostly to the koalin clay ! I'm sold !!

Thanks so much for your input @Malleebird ! I think I'm going to try Kaolin clay.

I'm also intrigued by your lavender and palmarosa EO blend. I bought palmarosa recently and haven't been able to decide what to blend it with. Do you blend it with any other EOs?

 

[Malleebird]

I'm also intrigued by your lavender and palmarosa EO blend. I bought palmarosa recently and haven't been able to decide what to blend it with. Do you blend it with any other EOs?

As I'm just getting back into soap making I'm out of touch with oil blending....but have found this link from modernsoapmaking very inspiring and can't wait to try some of their blends.
Link here is for their Palmarosa blends.... some great sounding ones !
https://www.eocalc.com/blends/?ms_oils=14949&ms_oils_operator=AND