My First Time attempting a Soap Recipe (CP)

[JamesAmber]

Hello everyone,

I'm new here (and to soapmaking in general).

I've spent a few weeks reading a lot about soap making and trying to learn as much as I could, and today thought I'd try my hand at making up a recipe.

This is what I came up with eventually. At the start, I was building a tallow base recipe, and it featured a fair amount of coconut oil and other oils, though upon checking they were quite high in comedogenic scale so wouldn't have been very friendly to sensitive skin.
So I thought I'd try and challenge myself to see if I could come up with a recipe which had a very low comedogenic rating, and beyond that I thought I'd also see if it be possible to achieve the soap as vegan and natural.
I know that the Castor Oil is a bit on the higher scale, and recommended to be 5-8% but I've read a lot that you can get away with 10%, and I'm hoping that it will work to keep hold of the bubble lather quality and conditioning quality.

Admittedly I was struggling quite a lot to figure out a recipe that could have a high longevity rating, as it seemed to come with some other trade-off such as a high cleansing (which I think would defeat one of the main points of the soap goal), or relying on oils which are comedogenic. But I think that getting it up to a rating of 30 is somewhat acceptable?

I also was trying to ensure that I was keeping the Linoleic Rating as low as possible, as I believe that acid is what can lead to a lot of soap scum, and I'd like to avoid that if possible lol.
My understanding is that the Oleic acid will help with moisture qualities, and the Palmitic acid will help with lather qualities, while the Lauric acid is a sign of antibody natural ingredients.

I decided to substitute out Titanium Dioxide and replace it with Zinc Oxide, although I don't think that it produces as defining a lighter shade, but I'm hoping with the already white oils (refined shea, babassu) in large concentrations, while Castor has a faint opaque yellow appearance, will help me be able to tame the harsh yellow from the Rice Bran Oil and bring the bar closer to an ivory colour.
I am intending to split the batch between quite a heavy charcoal colour, and contrast that with (hopefully) an ivory colour.

In the Zinc batch, I've also included some colloidal oatmeal to use for gentle exfoliation purposes and hopefully a bit of nice texture.

As for the Essential Oil blend, I've shortlisted a few that I'm looking to try and create myself, with a nutty scent on the Zinc batch, and a warm spiced scent on the Charcoal batch.
Then just to try and increase the lather a bit more, I have also added in some sugar to be dissolved in the distilled water before the Sodium Hydroxide is added.

I know that the INS is quite low - but I did eventually manage to get it inside the "range", and my understanding is that a lower INS would just mean that the soap will take a bit longer to saponify, but at the same time I think that would also mean that I will have a little extra time during the pouring and the detailing, which is probably for the better in my case lol.


Any feedback from experienced soap makers would be really welcomed!

 

[Nona'sFarm]

Looks like a nice recipe that meets your goals. I would try it and see how you like it. If possible, make a very small batch (100 - 125 g) and pour into a single mold. That way, if you don't like it, you don't have a lot of soap you don't like. Then you can make various test bars to see what you like the best. You may want to do single color or no colors until you find a recipe you are happy with. It's a process, for certain, and can try your patience waiting 4 - 52 weeks for soap to cure. But the time you put in at the beginning will save you frustration and money in the long run.

At 3% SF, I would not worry about the comedogenic rating, only at very high SF% would I be concerned with those, since soap is a wash off product. I tend to break out, but easily tolerate soap with 20% coconut oil, at 3% SF. Most of my bars have 15% - 20% coconut oil with any where from 1-5% SF.
I'm pretty sure both shea butter and babassu are fairly expensive compared to some other oils, so you might want to experiment with various recipes using other oils as well. Putting your recipe in a soap calculator and checking the attributes is definitely the best practice.

I have never used zinc oxide in soap, so cannot comment on that. I would try some with and some without.

If you are worried about soap scum, you can add citric acid and adjust the lye. But my recommendation is not to worry with that just yet, first get some small practice bars done.

 

[AliOop]

I know that the Castor Oil is a bit on the higher scale, and recommended to be 5-8% but I've read a lot that you can get away with 10%, and I'm hoping that it will work to keep hold of the bubble lather quality and conditioning quality.

Castor oil does not create bubbles or lather; it only supports lather that is created by other fatty acids, which are primarily lauric and myristic.

I also was trying to ensure that I was keeping the Linoleic Rating as low as possible, as I believe that acid is what can lead to a lot of soap scum, and I'd like to avoid that if possible lol.

I've not heard nor experienced that linoleic acid creates a lot of soap scum. It is known to increase the risk of DOS (rancidity) if your total of linoleic + linolenic is 15 or higher.

My understanding is that the Oleic acid will help with moisture qualities, and the Palmitic acid will help with lather qualities, while the Lauric acid is a sign of antibody natural ingredients.

Soap isn't moisturizing, but it can be less drying. Palmitic fatty acid doesn't contribute much to lather; again, lather comes from lauric and myristic fatty acids. Those are going to come mostly from coconut oil, palm kernel oil (not palm oil), babassu oil, and to a lesser extent, tallow. As noted in the answer above, don't worry about these being comedogenic. That is their property before they are chemically altered by the lye. For instance, raw coconut oil is considered moisturizing by many (and yes, comedogenic). However, saponified coconut oil is the opposite - it strips the oils from your skin, hence the high cleansing number when using too much of it.

As for the Essential Oil blend, I've shortlisted a few that I'm looking to try and create myself, with a nutty scent on the Zinc batch, and a warm spiced scent on the Charcoal batch.

Be aware that all warm spicy EOs will accelerate trace and often cause your soap batter to seize. Also, many of those warm spicy EOs are not skin safe unless used in very tiny amounts. Use EOCalc.com to check your blend and stay within the safe range. Even then, acceleration is going to happen, so be prepared.

know that the INS is quite low - but I did eventually manage to get it inside the "range"

Don't worry about the INS number when creating your recipes. That rating was created for large, commercial soapmakers. It really doesn't matter to those making handcrafted soaps. In fact, certain classic recipes are way outside the "recommended INS range." So, take that off your list of things to worry about or tinker with - it's pretty much irrelevant.

 

[JamesAmber]

Thank you for the responses!

I took the advice on board (and feedback from other people elsewhere too), and spent more time theorising a base recipe.

Also looked more closely at costs of the different oils/butters local to me and decided to make some changes to them (yes, babussa is very expensive for me locally).

Another person had mentioned to me that the fatty acid chart is more of a guideline rather than a tool that has to be followed completely, and that it doesn't always account for some recipes. But this is where I'm at currently:

Decided to try to go for a coconut heavy soap, with a bit of support from palm oil and then added in shea butter and reduced amount of castor oil. I increased the super fat up to 19% and I decreased the lye concentration down to 28% (if I've understood it right, lowering the lye concentration will buy me a little bit of extra time on the trace, as I think this recipe would trace quite fast).

I'm hoping that the butters/oils will finish with a nice ivory or white colour when hard (meaning I can take out white colourant). I've left in the sugar but reduced it to just a small amount, and also added in sodium lactate to help the shelf life a little.

Only colourant planning to use is some activated charcoal, though not 100% sure on this though as will need to see how much time I have to work with before it starts getting too thick.

 

[AliOop]

It is an unusual recipe but you can certainly give it a whirl. Here are my suggestions:

Drop the sodium lactate. It does not add to shelf life; it is normally added to help bar soap firm up faster for unmolding sooner. You don't have to worry about that with this recipe, given the high amount of coconut oil, plus palm and shea - all of which firm up quite quickly.

Drop the sugar. With all that coconut oil, you will already have a very soluble soap that lathers quite easily - and also wears away very fast. You don't need any sugar to make it more soluble/bubbly, or to wear away faster, or to become soggy in the soap dish.

Consider dropping the SF to 10%, too. At 18%, all that unsaponified oil can leave a greasy feeling on the skin, will create a ton of soap scum in the sink/shower, and can cause the soap to become rancid more easily.

I'm a big believer in trying stuff and seeing what you think, so whatever you decide, have fun and give it a whirl. But maybe for your second batch of soap drop the palm oil in favor of some high oleic sunflower oil. It will give you a nice white soap and a more balanced FA profile that you will probably like better.