Lotion bar recipe question

[Angie Gail]

I'm going to try making lotion bars and I found this recipe at WSP. I want to substitute the hemp seed butter for cocoa butter. I haven't worked with either butter (and haven't made any lotion bars before) and was wondering if I can do an even substitution?
Thanks!

• 8 oz. Beeswax - Yellow Pastilles
• 4 oz. Coconut Oil - 76º Melt
• 4 oz. Hemp Seed Oil - Virgin (Dark Green)
• 2 oz. Jojoba Oil - Clear
• 2 oz. Hemp Seed Butter Blend
• 1 Tablespoon(s) Goat Milk Powder
• 0.15 oz. Vitamin E Natural T-50

 

[privatekane]

I can only guess as I have not used Hemp seed butter...that cocoa butter is harder and has a higher melting point. It would probably still work. There are many lotion bars on pinterest that have cocoa butter in them and you would not have to guess amounts.

 

[privatekane]

I found this...
Solid Lotion Bars
The luxurious butters add special attention to winter dry & itchy skin!

Ingredients
• 14 grams beeswax (15 %)
• 24 grams avocado oil (26 %)
• 12 grams fractionated coconut oil (14 %)
• 21 grams shea butter (23%)
• 23 grams cocoa butter (21%)
• 1 gram vitamin E oil (0.10%)
• 0.9 gram scent (1 %)

Equipment
• Double boiler
• Scale
• Stir stick
• Push up deodorant type containers


Formulating
1. Melt all but the Vit E and scent in a double boiler on low, medium heat until melted. Do not overheat as it will degrade the ingredients. Remove from the heat.
2. Add vitamin E oil, and scent stir and pour into containers.
3. Put into the fridge for 1 hour or more to avoid shea butter crystallization. (grainy)
NOTE: If you find the final product is too hard, add more soft oil, it it is too soft decrease the soft oils. Your climate contributes to how stiff the formula is.
This formula can be altered to accommodate a more simple perfume bar by changing around the butters for something like solid coconut oil. We all learn by trying. The % enable you to shrink down the formula to sample sizes for your R&D.
Yields approx 6 x 15 gram containers. You can also pour into small molds to avoid packaging.
If you do not have the above carrier oils or butters, here are alternatives. sweet almond, grapeseed, camellia, grapeseed, meadowfoam, hemp, camellia or olive.

 

[Angie Gail]

Thanks! I'll try a small batch first and do an even substitution and see how that works.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Hemp seed butter is hemp seed oil mixed with vegetable shortening. It likely has the consistency of Crisco, so yes, it will be a lot softer than cocoa butter.

 

[shunt2011]

Cocoa butter is harder. I would use less.

 

[Zing]

@Angie Gail I'm an evangelist for making lotion bars and have tried many recipes. The super cool thing is that experimenting is so easy and the results are nearly instantaneous -- unlike making soap! I've made a batch of lotion bars, wanted it "harder" so re-melted and added more beeswax, and vice-versa wanting it softer and adding more oil.

My basic recipe is 1/3 each of beeswax, shea or cocoa butter, coconut oil, scented with an essential oil at 1% of oil weight (or check on eocalc.com). From that theme are many variations. For example, in place of coconut oil I've subbed any combination of sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, meadowfoam seed oil, etc.

Have fun with it and keep us posted!

 

[Dawni]

Your final recipe will also have to factor in the climate where you live.. If it's generally hotter where you are you might have to increase your beeswax and/or hard butter from the general 1:1:1 wax/butter/oil consensus. If it's a humid place, you'll do better with less greasy ingredients too.

Mine, here in the Philippines, use butter, wax, oil in decreasing amounts. Just a thought

Even subs are usually for things with similar melting points. Sub for cocoa will be another brittle butter like maybe kokum. Subbing a rice bran wax for beeswax will require less of the rice bran for example.

Let us know how this recipe goes.. I'm wondering how the goat milk powder will feel on the skin.

 

[Angie Gail]

Thanks everybody! I'm in Texas where it's hot and humid so I may play around with the recipe then until I get it just right.

 

[Angie Gail]

What do y'all think of this recipe for a hot, humid climate?
25% beeswax
20% hemp seed oil
20% jojoba oil
19% coconut oil (76 degree)
15% cocoa butter
1% vitamin E

 

[Gaisy59]

@Angie Gail I'm an evangelist for making lotion bars and have tried many recipes. The super cool thing is that experimenting is so easy and the results are nearly instantaneous -- unlike making soap! I've made a batch of lotion bars, wanted it "harder" so re-melted and added more beeswax, and vice-versa wanting it softer and adding more oil.

My basic recipe is 1/3 each of beeswax, shea or cocoa butter, coconut oil, scented with an essential oil at 1% of oil weight (or check on eocalc.com). From that theme are many variations. For example, in place of coconut oil I've subbed any combination of sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, meadowfoam seed oil, etc.

Have fun with it and keep us posted!

Thanks Zing for sharing. I haven’t made lotion bars before but you make it look fairly easy.

 

[Dawni]

Mr. @Zing is who got me into making lotion bars actually

What do y'all think of this recipe for a hot, humid climate?
25% beeswax
20% hemp seed oil
20% jojoba oil
19% coconut oil (76 degree)
15% cocoa butter
1% vitamin E

My beeswax is a tad bit more than yours, and I have my butter and oil amounts switched, not exactly though but more or less. Try yours and see. If it's too soft then add more butter and take notes of your measurements so you can adjust in percentages after. You don't necessarily have to total 100% for these, but you'll have to do some math after lol

 

[linne1gi]

What do y'all think of this recipe for a hot, humid climate?
25% beeswax
20% hemp seed oil
20% jojoba oil
19% coconut oil (76 degree)
15% cocoa butter
1% vitamin E

Of course your hemp oil (dark green tint) will also "color" your lotion bars. I personally don't care for the green tint and use a lighter colored oil.

 

[Katie68121]

Hi! Looking up lotion bars and came across this thread. Couple questions, when calculating for lotion bar recipe volume of mold, do I just weigh the mold when it’s filled with water, or do I have to take measurements of the mold I’m using? I’m just confused on how to figure out the batch size...including fragrances too..TY

 

[Zing]

I would try weighing water. I never came across a formula and for me I just played around until I had an approximate amount. I have molds that are like large "bullets" and use 32 gram per bullet. I have molds that are mini-muffins, too.

You'll love doing this! So quick, cheap, easy!! And if you don't like the consistency, just re-melt it and tweak it.

For decades in the wintertime, my hands would be so dry that my fingertips would crack and bleed. I tried every store brand lotion and still had a problem. But the lotion bars were my miracle cure. Let us know how it goes.

 

[DeeAnna]

I usually use teeny little molds for lotion bars -- like the molds for making mints or ones a bit larger than that.

I confess I don't measure molds like this. I just make a 100 gram batch, pour it to the correct depth in as many of the cavities as I can fill, and see how many lotion bars that makes. Then tweak the batch size bigger or smaller as needed.

If you weigh the amount of water needed to fill the mold, this method will over-estimate the amount of lotion bar "stuff" you need to fill the mold, since water is more dense than beeswax and fats. But it would give you a rough idea.

 

[AliOop]

Hi Katie,

Usually lotion bars are poured into cavity molds. The easiest way to figure the volume on those is to measure the volume of water it takes to fill one cavity, and multiple that by the number of cavities in your mold. That is going to give you a volume measurement.

Of course, you are going to measure your ingredients by weight. However, you can roughly translate this into volume by viewing your weighed-out ingredients in a Pyrex measuring cup. So for instance, if your ingredients amount to 2 cups by volume, and your cavity molds will hold that, you are good to go. Otherwise, get out some extra molds.

Once I've made a recipe, I do note the volume that it creates, and which molds I used. That helps me remember/plan for future batches. HTH!

 

[Dawni]

I do it like DeeAnna!

Also, one of my molds had a label that said each was 45g so I went with that.. Then I noted that there was excess and adjusted my batch size accordingly.

 

[Carly B]

I usually use teeny little molds for lotion bars -- like the molds for making mints or ones a bit larger than that.

I confess I don't measure molds like this. I just make a 100 gram batch, pour it to the correct depth in as many of the cavities as I can fill, and see how many lotion bars that makes. Then tweak the batch size bigger or smaller as needed.

If you weigh the amount of water needed to fill the mold, this method will over-estimate the amount of lotion bar "stuff" you need to fill the mold, since water is more dense than beeswax and fats. But it would give you a rough idea.

Hi DeeAnna!

I love the idea of mini lotion bars--Are yours small enough that they are single use? You just grab one and let it melt with the heat of your hand?

And how do you store them? I have little dishes (think plastic take out cups for dressing) with lotion bars of various blends and fragrances all over the house, which is certainly not optimum, but how do you store the little ones? In a jar or plastic bag? Or something else? I'm getting all sorts of fun ideas now......

 

[DeeAnna]

No, the lotion bars I've made are sized to last awhile -- not individual use size. I usually put them in a small metal container with a press-fit top. The lotion bars I've made for these containers are firm enough that a bar will (usually) remain loose in the container. When you want to use it, you tip or shake the bar into your hand, let it warm a bit in your hands, apply, and then put it back in the container.

Another option for a formulation that's a bit softer is to put the product in a mini-size deodorant container or a jumbo 0.5 oz lip balm tube. I like this as well.