My first kinda decent batch

[Soapsugoii]

It's 50% coconut, 40% Olive, 10% Grapeseed with lemongrass EO/splash jojoba added at the end.

So ya, I just poured these. They aren't pretty. I'm using an ice cube tray to make little samples to give to friends. Will have to post some pictures tonight after work when they're unmolded.

This was hot process, and I'm wondering if I should have poured into mold a few minutes earlier while the mixture was a bit less gloopy? This is my fourth batch and I have yet to get a smooth top. What do y'all think??

 

[Hazel]

I've never been able to get a smooth top on HP. My batches were always gloopy. Have you tried adding some sodium lactate to help keep it more fluid? I think several people recommended adding it in at 3%.

50% is kind of high for coconut. What was your superfat?

 

[Soapsugoii]

Oh, good to know. I've never heard of sodium lactate; I'll check it out.

Altogether maybe a 10% superfat? It was 5% with the soapcalc formula, and then I added jojoba at the end. I washed my hands with some of the crumbles left over and the lather was great and my hands felt silky smooth after. Hopefully it isn't too drying. How much should I superfat for 50% coconut?

Also, I didn't see the pic so I just clicked host it... can you see?

 

[Soapsugoii]

http://img17.imageshack.us/content_roun ... sssoap.jpg

 

[Hazel]

Yup! Mine looked like yours. What I ended up doing was squeezing and rolling the soap to smooth it out. The "bars" looked like crap but later I got better about getting it into the mold.

It's really personal preference when it comes to percentage of coconut and superfatting, You may love it at 10%. It's something you have to experiment with and decide what you like. I found out over time that my skin can't handle a high percentage of CO without using a high superfat. Other people love a high percentage CO with a lower SF. The two batches that I thought were the worst and most drying to my skin were the ones that a nephew and a BIL liked the best.

That's a good idea to put it in ice cube trays. That way you can hand it out to your friends and get feedback.

 

[Soapsugoii]

OOoh, so you smoosh it after it gets into the mold? I was wondering about that! I pressed it down a bit but I was scared so I didn't try too terribly hard.

Yea, I am obsessed with CO in every other way (cook with it, wash my face with it, moisturize with it) so I'd like to use it in soaps. Funny that it's so moisturizing as an oil and so drying as a soap! Probably not the best choice for this dry Los Angeles air.

Thank you for the advice, Hazel.

 

[Hazel]

Yea, I am obsessed with CO in every other way (cook with it, wash my face with it, moisturize with it) so I'd like to use it in soaps. Funny that it's so moisturizing as an oil and so drying as a soap! Probably not the best choice for this dry Los Angeles air.

Don't get me wrong. I love coconut oil and I love the bubbles it produces in soap. It's my skin that hates it. It's a great choice. I was just wondering about the superfat.

Just recently carebear and IrishLass posted some advice about balancing recipes and using a high percentage of CO. (This might have been under one of the salt bar discussions) It really comes down to a balanced recipe and what you like. Unfortunately, this requires a lot of experimentation and willing friends to be guinea pigs.

I smooshed the soap up because I was too slow about getting it into the mold. I don't think that's the way it's supposed to be done. I wasn't very good at it. If you go back and look for honor435's posts, you can learn a lot about HP. She's the one who helped me get started when I first mentioned I was interested in learning the process. There's lots of tips and advice on the forum.

Have you seen the tutorials about HP? If you haven't here's the link to that page.

http://www.smftutorials.com/soap-making-tutorials.html

Also, Ms. Brenda's tutorial helped me, too. I read it through several times and printed off the steps to have when I first attempted HP. I don't know if you've looked at her tutorial but here's the link if you haven't seen it.

http://www.msbrenda.com/basictutorial.html

I hope I helped. I don't think I really answered your questions.

 

[Soapsugoii]

Yea, my boyfriend said the coconut soap I made as my second batch dried his skin out. But I'm really just focused on mastering technique at the moment.

Your posts have been a lot of help. Thank you I just got in from work, so I'll give those tutorials a good readthrough tomorrow. Brenda's looks super detailed! Kinda excited, haha.

G'night

 

[Dragonkaz]

I've never made HP soap, so I can't comment on the process.

Looking forward to seeing your cut bars! Good luck with your soap making!

 

[Soapsugoii]

Unmolded and trimmed the batch last night. Used it today and it lathered/felt great. And the lemongrass EO held up really well!

http://imageshack.us/f/217/lemongrasssoapfinished.jpg/[/img]

 

[Hazel]

Your link doesn't go to a picture.

So your boyfriend said your second batch dried his skin out. What was the recipe and superfat you used for that one? Was it the same as this last batch?

 

[Soapsugoii]

It was 100% coconut with a 20% superfat. I thought it left my skin fine, but I guess he's a bit more delicate than me. I don't think that batch really gelled at all, honestly. My following batches were much better.

We used a 50% coconut, 40% olive, 10% grapeseed oil one tonight and my skin feels great. Super clean and not dry, and the lather was amazing.

He likes the 80% olive, 20% coconut soap the best tho. It was only my third batch, and pretty fugly, so I think I might try to remake it tomorrow. I'll post some pics. Might try out my new mold

BTW, I usually prefer to do 0% superfat in the original recipe, and then add the superfat oils after saponification. Does it make a difference that way, or can I just add extra oil to the original formula??

 

[Hazel]

Hmm...maybe he's more sensitive to coconut oil. Some people can find it irritating. Some people are also allergic to it. Did he have problems with the 50% CO batch? Also, I've found the salt bars do get much better after a longer than usual cure. I like to cure mine at least 2 months but this is just from personal preference.

He likes the 80% olive, 20% coconut soap the best tho.

If he prefers your bastile soap, then he probably does have sensitive skin.

It doesn't matter when you add your superfatting oils. The saponification process can take hours and you don't know what oils the lye will saponify. The only time it makes a difference is if you're doing HP.