My Soap is Sticky!!

[Sinead McGrannachan]

Help! I made a couple of blocks of soap and I've gone to finally use my first one. It's cold process and my ingredients are Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter and Sweet Almond Oil.

I'm finding that it's quite sticky after washing with it. So to explain further it is a bit harder to wash off vs my regular soap. It's leaving my skin a bit slippery for a while following the wash, it feels great after getting all the soap off but it is just hard to get it off.

Does anyone have any advice on what I can alter or add or remove to fix this issue. The only other additives are colourants and fragrances.

THANKS THANKS THANKS

 

[Relle]

You will need to give your full recipe in percentages and include the additives with amounts for people to be able to give you advice, otherwise they'll just be guessing.

 

[Sinead McGrannachan]

Sorry first post, wasn't sure I need to do that. Percentages are

Lye 187.43 grams
Water 494 grams
Almond Oil 10%
Coconut Oil 35%
Olive Oil 45%
Shea Butter 10%
Fragrance 40.3 ml
Colourants was about 4 tsps?? I'm not entirely sure though.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[shunt2011]

If I calculated correctly you have a 9% SF. That may be part of the stickiness. Too high a SF with that much liquid oils. How long has your soap cured. Also, you may want to make smaller batches until you get things worked out. 3 lbs it a lot of soap if you don't like it. 1-2 lbs when starting out will still give you lots of soap. I would also drop the CO to 20-25% or lower if sensitive skin as too much can be drying and trying to compensate with a higher SF changes the soap sometimes. I would just give it a long cure and see if you like it then.

 

[Obsidian]

Also, home made soap just feels different then the store bought stuff. It can be a bit more draggy on the skin and leave more of a film which can feel a bit sticky.

A lower superfat can help, so can omitting the shea or at least reducing it some.

 

[penelopejane]

How old is your soap?
What colourant did you add at 4tsp? Did you mix it with water from the recipe or did you add extra water?

 

[dixiedragon]

Some people miss that "squeaky clean" feeling. That comes from the oils being stripped from your skin. If you are used to your skin feeling squeaky clean and/or tight after washing, that's because the soap is harsh and drying. Homemade soap is usually much milder.

I am also thinking your high percentage of Olive Oil might be creating this. Are you against lard, tallow or palm?

 

[cmzaha]

High OO soap always feel sticky to me, which is why I do not use OO, no matter how long I age it

 

[Sinead McGrannachan]

If I calculated correctly you have a 9% SF. That may be part of the stickiness. Too high a SF with that much liquid oils. How long has your soap cured. Also, you may want to make smaller batches until you get things worked out. 3 lbs it a lot of soap if you don't like it. 1-2 lbs when starting out will still give you lots of soap. I would also drop the CO to 20-25% or lower if sensitive skin as too much can be drying and trying to compensate with a higher SF changes the soap sometimes. I would just give it a long cure and see if you like it then.

Okay so you would suggest to bring down the CO amount by 20-25% what should I replace this with? I'm happy to completely change my recipe up if need be. Yes my first soap was a lot and I have definitely bought the size down. I just couldn't find smaller dishes when I first started and so I made a big one. It leaves my skin feeling really nice and soft. I wasn't bothered at first by the fact I couldn't wash it off easily but the more I use it the more it becomes a bit annoying. So if I can c
hange anything up to test this is a bit more that would be great.

Also, home made soap just feels different then the store bought stuff. It can be a bit more draggy on the skin and leave more of a film which can feel a bit sticky.

A lower superfat can help, so can omitting the shea or at least reducing it some.

I really didn't mind it at first. My partner complained a lot about it so I thought if he does then others likely will too. I kept explaining to him that it isn't supposed to be like regular super market soap but he isn't keen on it. So you think the Shea Butter is potentially creating the sticky slimy feel?

How old is your soap?
What colourant did you add at 4tsp? Did you mix it with water from the recipe or did you add extra water?

Soap is about 7 weeks old. I left it to sit for the 6 weeks mark and some. I added some mica and some regular dioxides. I dispersed this into Olive Oil before mixing into my batch. I didn't add any water other than the lye water.

Some people miss that "squeaky clean" feeling. That comes from the oils being stripped from your skin. If you are used to your skin feeling squeaky clean and/or tight after washing, that's because the soap is harsh and drying. Homemade soap is usually much milder.

I am also thinking your high percentage of Olive Oil might be creating this. Are you against lard, tallow or palm?

It definitely leaves the skin feeling soft. I would prefer to use something organic and sustainable. Is there anything that can replace Olive Oil that isn't any of the above? I could do some research on some of the above options as well to see if I can source sustainable options here in NZ.

High OO soap always feel sticky to me, which is why I do not use OO, no matter how long I age it

What do you use rather than Olive Oil.

 

[Obsidian]

The shea could be contributing but I also agree that the high OO is a likely cause. I don't use olive at all anymore.

My go to recipe that never feels sticky or slimy. 5% SF

50% lard or palm, lard is better
25% olive oil or HO safflower. I use the saff
20% coconut
5% castor

 

[shunt2011]

I agree with Obsidian, my recipe is vey similar to hers. A little less lard and I add shea to mine and a bit more CO. I too have found I don't like high OO in my soaps. I have recently switched to Rice Bran and will be going to HO Sunflower or Safflower when it's gone as I got a really goo deal on it.

It may just take some tweaking to find what your skin likes then go from there.

 

[penelopejane]

Okay so you would suggest to bring down the CO amount by 20-25% what should I replace this with? I'm happy to completely change my recipe up if need be. Yes my first soap was a lot and I have definitely bought the size down. I just couldn't find smaller dishes when I first started and so I made a big one. It leaves my skin feeling really nice and soft. I wasn't bothered at first by the fact I couldn't wash it off easily but the more I use it the more it becomes a bit annoying. So if I can c
hange anything up to test this is a bit more that would be great.

I like OO in soap and don’t use animal products or palm oil.
I think you should cure this soap for a minimum of 12 weeks and then you will notice an improvement. The longer you cure it the better. Your percentage of OO really isn’t that high and it is relatively cheap for us in Oz (and I guess NZ too?)

 

[dixiedragon]

Not sure what you have available in NZ. You might just cruise down the aisles of the grocery store and report back what you see!

Here is a basic recipe that is usually very good:

Lard, palm or tallow - 40-50%. (Read the ingredients labels of the shortening containers. You might find one that is tallow or a tallow blend - sometimes they use the word "meat fats".)
Coconut - 20%
Castor - 5% (check with the laxatives at the drug store)
Remainder in olive, rice bran, sunflower, safflower, avocado. If you don't have those, try canola or soy.

 

[Sinead McGrannachan]

I agree with Obsidian, my recipe is vey similar to hers. A little less lard and I add shea to mine and a bit more CO. I too have found I don't like high OO in my soaps. I have recently switched to Rice Bran and will be going to HO Sunflower or Safflower when it's gone as I got a really goo deal on it.

It may just take some tweaking to find what your skin likes then go from there.

Hi there sorry it has been a while since I logged in. Would I be able to use my current recipe and replace the Olive Oil with Rice Bran or Sunflower as I'm not super keen on the idea of lard or tallow, I kind of want to cater to vegan if I can. I want to at some point introduce coconut milk to my recipes as I've used a lot of coconut milk soaps in the past and I've loved the feeling it gives me. Do you know much about these recipes?

I like OO in soap and don’t use animal products or palm oil.
I think you should cure this soap for a minimum of 12 weeks and then you will notice an improvement. The longer you cure it the better. Your percentage of OO really isn’t that high and it is relatively cheap for us in Oz (and I guess NZ too?)

Yes I would rather stay clear of animal products and palm as I want to be sustainable and to cater for vegan as I have a lot of vegan friends and family. I may have to try curing it for longer. Yes Olive Oil is very cheap here in NZ, but so is Sunflower and Rice Bran Oil. I guess I just need to do some more research on some recipes perhaps on here as I mostly researched google.

The shea could be contributing but I also agree that the high OO is a likely cause. I don't use olive at all anymore.

My go to recipe that never feels sticky or slimy. 5% SF

50% lard or palm, lard is better
25% olive oil or HO safflower. I use the saff
20% coconut
5% castor

I really would rather not use any animal fats or palm in my recipes. Most people I know here just wouldn't use it and I want to share with friends and family. I'm thinking of using Coconut milk in my recipe so I'm going to do some more research on here as it is a way better source than google from what I can see. I mostly used google for research but it didn't seem to lead me anywhere. Do you know any good recipes that don't use lard, tallow or palm?

 

[Obsidian]

Sorry, I don't. I've tried making paml/animal free and just didn't like the results.

There are members here who do though. I believe they use butters but thats as much as I know.

 

[SaltedFig]

Olive oil soaps need a long cure (6 weeks is young). Sorry, I didn't get what the weights of the oils were? - I saw the percentages, but not the weights - could you provide those?

It's likely that the combination of your soap being so young and the superfat being so high (for an olive oil soap) has left you with a lot of residue to wash off. High olive oil soaps need many months (not weeks) to cure. If you remake the same recipe, with your coconut water and perhaps some manuka honey, and use a pretty low superfat, you might find you like it quite a bit more. If anything, I would lower the amount of coconut oil by 15% or more (and replace it with 3-5% castor and either the rest in olive, or a hard fat like cocoa butter).

After a few months cure, try your soap again (but never leave it sitting in water) - it should have hardened up quite a bit. If it's still too soft (from the superfat), you can rebatch it, or grate it up and use the shreds in a new soap, but you might find you don't need to (the superfat might throw that, you'll have to wait and see whether it settles down with time).

 

[shunt2011]

You can use Rice Bran or HO Safflower or HO Sunflower. As stated high liquid oil soap required a longer cure. I would also not go above a 5% SF. I use 22-25% CO with no issues and like it. Again, if you have sensitive skin you may need to use less.

 

[Sinead McGrannachan]

Olive oil soaps need a long cure (6 weeks is young). Sorry, I didn't get what the weights of the oils were? - I saw the percentages, but not the weights - could you provide those?

It's likely that the combination of your soap being so young and the superfat being so high (for an olive oil soap) has left you with a lot of residue to wash off. High olive oil soaps need many months (not weeks) to cure. If you remake the same recipe, with your coconut water and perhaps some manuka honey, and use a pretty low superfat, you might find you like it quite a bit more. If anything, I would lower the amount of coconut oil by 15% or more (and replace it with 3-5% castor and either the rest in olive, or a hard fat like cocoa butter).

After a few months cure, try your soap again (but never leave it sitting in water) - it should have hardened up quite a bit. If it's still too soft (from the superfat), you can rebatch it, or grate it up and use the shreds in a new soap, but you might find you don't need to (the superfat might throw that, you'll have to wait and see whether it settles down with time).

I have attached a screenshot of my recipe. I'm unsure about all the superfat being so high as I set mine to be for 5% and not 7% it even says so in the recipe maker so I'm not sure what has happened here.

 

[Sinead McGrannachan]

This is my recipe.

 

[SaltedFig]

I have attached a screenshot of my recipe. I'm unsure about all the superfat being so high as I set mine to be for 5% and not 7% it even says so in the recipe maker so I'm not sure what has happened here.

I think the high superfat came from calculations before we had the weights (see the first posts). All good.

For your next recipe, if you lower your water a bit, and use either water:lye ratio (between 2.4 and 2.0 to 1), or lye concentration (between 30% and 33%), you will not have so much water to evaporate out from your soap (Olive oil soaps don't need that much water, and those concentrations I gave you are pretty good for just about any recipe - go more water for fast recipes and less water for slow ones - you'll catch on which is which pretty quick, but olive oil recipes are slooooow!).

Thanks for the recipe - I'll have a good look in a day or so, but there should be a few people able to pop by and offer concrete suggestions with that level of detail