Need help making my soap harder!!

[Healinya]

I'm searching for a reference.... I found one (from carebear - what a suprise, what doesn't she know?)... can't find where it was mentioned at 5% (must have been a different forum), but here's the one link that I remember hearing it from http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/vi ... hp?t=12688

 

[xyxoxy]

Thanks Helinya...
From what I know about canola... 5% is probably my limit anyway. But if it might shine up the charcoal and make it a little blacker I'm willing to try. If you and Carebear both say so that's good enough for me.

 

[mousegun32]

Stearic Acid will harden your soap and is very cheap. It can be of a vegetable source and is used from about .25-.5 oz per pound of oils/butters. I have also seen beeswax used, but I never have.

 

[ChrissyB]

If you use stearic acid I wouldn't recommend going over 2%, you will get a very fast trace. And too much can make your soap have a weird waxy type of feel.It's nice for a shaving soap though, I use it at 1% for my shaving soap. It stabilises the lather.
I find that gelling the soap makes the charcoal blacker too, ungelled and it's a slate grey, but at the same concentration but gelled it's definitely shiny black.

 

[JessicaB903]

What kinds of bad things from too much crisco? I made the last recipe the other day and it seemed to go fine. I used black raspberry vanilla fo and a pinch of red oxide for color. So far the soap looks ok still but it's only been a few days. Would you suggest using some of my safflower (2%) to get the crisco back down to 30% or change the % on one of the other oils?

Thanks everyone so much for all the help! and thanks for saying my little girl is cute I have 3 kids and they are my joy!

 

[donniej]

Replacing crisco with fully hydrogenated soybean oil will make it harder. Crisco is partially hydrogenated..... the more it's hydrogenated, the more it's stearic acid.

 

[honor435]

def coconut will make it harder, you can find that at some superwalmarts.

 

[Healinya]

Personally I don't use crisco anymore. I have gotten dos on every batch I have used it in. I can't flat out blame the crisco for it, but it was easier to stop using it than trying to find out how I was using it wrong.