My first recipe! Is it okay?

[citronella]

Hi!
Ive never made soap and now Ive made my first recipe in soapcalc that I plan to use to make my first batch of soap.
I measure in Grams so the numbers get weird when I translate the to ounces:

1.552 Oz Castor Oil (=11%)
1.411 Oz Cocoa butter (=10%)
3.527 Oz Coconut Oil, 76 deg (=25%)
1.975 Oz Shea Butter (=14%)
5.644 Oz Olive Oil (=40%)

5.362 Oz Water (=38%)
1.893 Oz Lye (=26.092%)

Hardness: 39
Cleansing: 17
Condition: 57
Bubbly: 27
Creamy: 32
Iodine: 58
INS: 149

What do you think of this recipe, can I pull it off?
If this sounds good to you this will be my first batch

 

[judymoody]

Just for me, the castor looks a touch high (it can make a bar a bit sticky if used at more than 10% and I usually keep it at about 5%) But that's just me. I'd also bring the shea down to 10%. Also if you are using shea and cocoa butter, I'd soap a little warm (maybe 110 degrees) and I'd try to gel. I did a recipe with relatively high shea that did not gel and I got a lot of ash.

Good luck and I hope this works out for you.

 

[citronella]

Thank yo for answering I will recalculate the recipe
Do you know any other oil I can add if I lower the Shea and castor oil? I dont want to use any animal fat (vegetarian) and I dont like to use Palm oil.
What does "gel" mean?

 

[citronella]

I forgot to say that the superfat is 8% and that the soap should suit my dry skin with exzema.

 

[Araseth]

Sorry misread your recipe, you could just increase one of your other oils a little, olive for example.

 

[citronella]

misread? you have not answered until now?
do you also think I should lover Shea and castor oil?

 

[AmyW]

Gel is what happens in the mold when it gets really hot. Instead of staying creamy looking, it turns gel-like. I posted a couple pictures on this thread with my first gel experience that shows it going into gel:
http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewto ... hlight=gel

If you have olive oil, add that. Drop the castor, shea and cocoa butter down and replace with the olive oil. If you don't have olive oil, you can increase the coconut oil, with an 8% superfat, it shouldn't be drying, but you might up it to 10% superfat if you use more than 30% coconut.

Don't worry about the numbers (hardness, etc) until you've made a few batches, those numbers don't translate exactly into what the bar will look and act like.

 

[jennikate]

I agree I would drop shea and castor a little and up Olive oil . Also run it thru soapcalc again make sure lye numbers dont change. Castor is best at 5 to 10%. Good luck. Side note due to fact you are just starting might want consider first batch olive oil and castor just to get feet wet . Shea and cocoa butter are kind of pricey if something goes wrong and you end up chucking the batch. Especially at fairly high percentages.

 

[judymoody]

I agree with jennikate.

If you want to go even simpler you could do:

20% CO
10% Castor
70% OO

or reduce the OO to 50% and then add 10% each of CB and SB

Why no palm by the way? If you're worried about sustainability, you can buy sustainable/organic palm for not a huge upcharge.

 

[soapbuddy]

Please convert that into grams. For that size batch, it will be more accurate.

 

[calico21]

I think she did start in grams.

 

[jennikate]

Yeah in another post she said when switching to ounces numbers got weird.

 

[citronella]

Thanks for all the help!
I wanted to convert it to ounces so it would be easier for most of you to help me

Judymody: Here in Sweden its not so easy to find fairtrade and organic palmoil, and shipping from other countries is quite expensive, and I dont feel comfortable with bying regular, but that just me Will yout recipe make a good soap whitout me having to change water % or anything?

 

[judymoody]

If you're using the 70% OO recipe, I'd reduce water a little because it will be slower to trace and to cure. At 50% OO with the cocoa butter and shea, it should be just fine with full water.

Too bad it's hard to find sustainable palm where you live. But to be honest, I don't use palm oil that much in my recipes and they turn out fine.

And run any recipe you end up using through a lye calculator first. Good luck!

 

[citronella]

Thank you so much judymoody
I actually have found some palmoil now that does not destroy the rainforest and kill monkeys

So now its easier for me to find recipes.
I hope that not all of you will get tired on my questions but soapmaking is not so easy in the beginning..