making cp recipes....need help

[lavender.dreams.candles]

ok.... I have three recipes that I made up and what to know if these will really work.

I'll just name them soap 1, 2 , & 3..... Please help me make these recipes where they will work...Or tell me if they look right.

these are in ounces by the lye calculator

#1
---------
2.88 Cocoa Butter
2.72 Coconut Oil
2.56 Corn Oil
2.72 Palm Kernel
2.56 Soybean Oil
2.56 Sunflower Oil
6.08 Distilled Water
2.30 Lye



#2
-----------
3.20 Canola Oil
3.20 Castor Oil
3.20 Coconut Oil
3.20 Olive Oil
3.20 Palm Oil
6.08 Distilled Water
2.19 Lye


#3
------------
2.24 Shea Butter
2.24 Grapeseed Oil
2.24 Palm kernel
2.24 Sunflower Oil
2.24 Soybean Oil
2.24 Coconut Oil
2.56 Castor Oil
6.08 Distilled Water
2.20 Lye


I'm still at the learning stage so I am still experimenting ..... Please help get these recipes to work.

Is there some place that explains what to use more of in CP recipes for the best results and what each oil is good for??

 

[jarvan]

Hi.

I would say to run each one of your recipes through a lye calculator, a totally necessary instrument when learning and beyond. I am just starting out with soaping within the last 6 months and wouldn't think of trying a recipe without running the recipe.

I use two diff. calculators and I am sure there are many more. I use SoapCalc9 and sometimes MMS lye calculator. Just do a search on the web and you will find one that works for you.

Good luck with your recipes!

 

[lavender.dreams.candles]

I did run these threw a lye calculator that's how I got the recipes I got

 

[Guest]

The lye calculators will tell you what qualities the soap will have. If you google oil qualities you should find a page with all that info. I print off the info I need and put it in a soap making binder , for reference.

Kitn

 

[lavender.dreams.candles]

Thanks Ktn..... You always seem to give good advice....

 

[Guest]

You are most welcome , have fun making your soap.

Kitn

 

[xraygrl]

ok, first of all you have a LOT going on there. I would simplify a bit. I'm a big supporter of the KISS (keep it simple silly) method LOL! Better off with a good basic recipe and add/sub here and there for specialy soaps.

I'm assuming you want to do all veggie so my suggestion would be Olive, coconut/palm kernal, palm and castor. you could sub some of the olive for canola or soybean to cut the cost a bit, and even throw in some shea or cocoa butter. Honestly corn oil though it's cheap and may look good on paper (for conditioning) is nortorous for DOS...dreaded orange spots...rancidity and I personally would throw that out altoether. Canola oil can do the same too if used in higher amounts, but that can depend too on what climate you live in. Humidity seems to be a factor with canola issues.


coconut and palm kernal do the same thing...they are both for lather and hardness. you can use a combo, but make sure the combo of them is not too high or your soap will be drying.


Ck out Kathy Millers soap making info here:

http://www.millersoap.com/

Especially ck out the design your own recipe section. It gives the properties of oils, what they do in soap etc. Read through that really well and try and get to know your oils. For example:

Oleic is conditioning, more stable
Linoleic is conditioning but has a shorter shelf life
Lauric is for cleansing
Stearic for hardening.

That is just bare bones basic right there. Good luck!

 

[honor435]

just wondering ,why you want to use so many different oils? you could simplify bu just using 3 0r 4? I like coc, olive, palm kernel, castor, or coc, olive, palm, shea.

 

[jarvan]

Sorry Lavender...If I hadn't been in such a hurry reading posts last night, I would have seen that you DID use a lye calc. Duh! I will learn not to jump on my amateur soapbox...hehe...without more careful reading. What a fool I am!

Good luck with your recipes. I hope they make beautiful bars!

 

[xyxoxy]

Since you ran it through a calculator then it WILL work as long as you measure correctly.

How WELL it works is for you to decide one you make it... that's the best (and only real way) to know.

Yes the calculators will give you a fair idea of the potential soap qualities but nothing is as good as making it and trying it.
Start with small 1 # batches (which it appears you have) and if you like it... make a 10 pound batch!

 

[carebear]

Not checking the lye - but the combo of oils

#1
---------
2.88 Cocoa Butter
2.72 Coconut Oil
2.56 Corn Oil
2.72 Palm Kernel
2.56 Soybean Oil
2.56 Sunflower Oil
6.08 Distilled Water
2.30 Lye

18% cocoa butter - higher than is necessary, I'd drop to 5%, max 10%
17% coconut oil - seems low but combined with pko it's ok
16% corn oil - I'd avoid this if you can, it tends to go rancid quickly
17% pko - good with the coconut oil amount
16% soybean - again, tends toward rancidity and soft soap
16% sunflower - excellent oil

I think your soap will be ok on hardness because of the very high cocoa butter amount, but I suspect it'll be DOS prone. might be nice and conditioning tho




#2
-----------
3.20 Canola Oil - 20% canola is a bit high, you risk rancidity
3.20 Castor Oil - whoa nellie - 20% castor will likely leave you with a soft, sticky soap
3.20 Coconut Oil - I like 20% coconut at a minimum - I like 30% even more but some don't
3.20 Olive Oil - 20% olive is good
3.20 Palm Oil - 20% palm oil is fine
6.08 Distilled Water
2.19 Lye

I'd drop the castor to 5% and add the 15% to the olive oil
I'd drop the canola to 10% and up the coconut to 30%

#3
------------
2.24 Shea Butter
2.24 Grapeseed Oil
2.24 Palm kernel
2.24 Sunflower Oil
2.24 Soybean Oil
2.24 Coconut Oil
2.56 Castor Oil
6.08 Distilled Water
2.20 Lye

again the castor is very high. keep it around 5% for best results.
if your sunflower is high oleic it's great, if not - your combo of grapeseed, sunflower, and soy are a lot of DOS prone oils. and 12% shea is a bit on the high side - I mean it's lovely, but higher than it needs be and might speed trace, plus it's pretty expensive.

I personally recommend you simplify. coconut and pko are very similar - pick one JUST FOR STARTERS. soy and canola are very similar - for now I'd jsut use one (I like canola, personally).

Soapcalc.com has a page that tells you about what the different fatty acid components of the oils contribute to a soap, and help you figure out what you need to change if you want a particular result in your soap. But it's not all that reliable so there is a LOT of trial and error.

My suggestion is to take a base recipe that, in your opinion is pretty nice and start modifying one thing at a time. It's much easier to learn the impact of the changes if you take a systematic approach.

This is chemistry, so try to use some level of experimental design rather than starting from scratch each time.

(and let me tell you - some of the BEST recipes totally break all the rules so don't be afraid to stray!)

 

[ChrissyB]

That's very good information you've given there Carebear.
Printing all that out and putting it in my book.

 

[MsBien]

People are giving you great advice, but I'd like to emphasize that the castor oil is a great one in small quantities. Personally, I only use it at 5%.

Have fun!
Stacie

 

[jarvan]

This forum is AWESOME. There is nothing I respect more than sage advice.

 

[krissy]

corn oil

there are also a lot of people who are allergic to corn (my ds is one) and the corn, even though saponified will still make my ds break out in hives and if he gets into something that has a lot of corn oil, he can have breathing troubles. not many people know how many there are with corn allergies so i thought i'd give you a heads up