Need suggestions for these recipes

[lenarenee]

Hi all,

Here is a recipe I made for a 4 color drop swirl. It worked really, really well for me; I'm not experienced with swirls and needed lots of time. It made a nice bar, surprisingly bubbly and gentle enough to use after a week.

However, I'd like to up the hardness level a little, without sacrificing it's slowness. Increasing palm will speed trace. I like to keep the cleansing level low, as I do a low sf so I don't want to mess with the co much. What would salt do?

(Given in percentages, one lb loaf) co 13, po 20, oo 45, hi oleic saff 14, castor 8. 4%sf, no water discount. I soap room temp.

This next recipe was a case of "just throw it into the pot and see what you get", and just might be my all time favorite. It bubbles instantly, has great slip and is silky. (and I have no idea why, I've used all of the ingredients before without this effect, could it just be the magic of the combination?) However its a super fast mover (for a newbie, anyway). How can I slow it down without ruining the qualities I like or reducing hardness much?

pko 8, stearic acid 2, castor 8, lard 20, rbo 37, po 25. No water discount, room temp.

Thanks!

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[lsg]

Salt will help the moisture evaporate faster from the bar. Too much salt might interfere with the bubbles.

 

[lenarenee]

Salt will help the moisture evaporate faster from the bar. Too much salt might interfere with the bubbles.

So salt is effective during cure, but doesn't accelerate the batter?

 

[seven]

i soaped with high palm all the time and discounted my water. i was still able to do whatever swirls i want. the key is to SB the batter until emulsification only, and start separating your colors, etc. do not bring the batter until light trace, as you will need all the time you can get.

with your current recipe and a full water, i don't see why you can't do complicated swirls. if you want to increase the hardness, perhaps add some sodium lactate (1%) to the hot lye water. like lsg said, a salt will also do. a longer cure will also helps.