Organic cocoa butter in soapmaking

[MarinaB]

This organic cocoa butter is in a huge one solid piece. I would like to make soap. I understood that I can put only 10% of it in a batch. Which other oils would give a nice hard bar of soap together with organic cocoa butter?
Thank you!

 

[Jersey Girl]

Where did you hear you can only use 10%?

 

[MarinaB]

On the Internet....
If you have different information - welcome to share

 

[Jersey Girl]

High percentages of cocoa butter could produce a soap that may be brittle and crack but there is no rule that you can’t go over 10%. Lots of people use 15% or more. I would Imagine it’s dependent on the other oils in your recipe too.

 

[AliOop]

I am pretty sure someone (@cmzaha maybe?) makes a 100% CB soap, or was that 100% shea?

Personally I love CB with lard, castor, and a bit of soft oil like canola, avocado, etc. I'd use it more if it weren't so expensive.

 

[MarinaB]

Jersey girl - Thank you!
AliOop - Sounds so good! I would like to try your recipe! I have tallow. Just today I got beef fat rendered. By chance, do you have a recipe?

 

[sarahmarah]

I like cocoa butter in the 15-20 range. I don’t use palm or animal fats currently so it’s a nice way to help bump the longevity with high oleic soaps. It’s pricey so I’m trying to use less for that reason.

 

[AliOop]

Sure, here you go. Tallow does change the numbers a smidge, but here's what my recipe would look like with tallow instead of lard:

Tallow Beef 30%
Almond Oil sweet 30% (can also use some canola or RBO for some of this)
Cocoa Butter 20%
Coconut Oil, 76 deg 15%
Castor Oil 5%

As you can see when you plug this into the calculator, I prefer low cleansing and a creamy lather. Although longevity isn't great, that's fine with me, because I don't sell and always have way too much soap to use up.

I do use AVJ or vinegar for my lye solution, as well as sugar to up the bubbles, and salt or sodium lactate for additional hardening.

ETA: I usually SF at 5%, and sometimes as low as 3% if it is going to a family member who has hard water, in which case I also add citric acid.

 

[GemstonePony]

Shea butter is another one I love for hard bars.
Other than stuff pertaining to safety or regulations, most soap making "rules" are more like "guidelines" or "kindly-meant advice."
For instance, my main recipe uses 5% cocoa and 10% Shea butter, and my face soap uses 10% cocoa and 30% Shea. I've seen multiple recommendations to not use either of those over 5% or the soap may crack.
While it is true that any soap that overheats can crack, using high butter content makes it more likely that it will crack if it overheats.
Of course, none of that matters if your soap doesn't overheat in the first place. And, if you're making very small batches, that should be fairly easy to control.

 

[linne1gi]

Have you seen this article? Gives suggestions for percentages of oils/butters in soap.
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http...QK_iBucY5y4xmjJfnzF2Gvy5Dm_iyj8rVbEsK--Qp5350

 

[GemstonePony]

Have you seen this article? Gives suggestions for percentages of oils/butters in soap.
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http...QK_iBucY5y4xmjJfnzF2Gvy5Dm_iyj8rVbEsK--Qp5350

Suggestions can be helpful for starting out, but there's no harm in ignoring them to try new ideas (in small batches). Also, Anne-Marie has a business selling those products, and IMO many of them are better suited to body butter or lotion than soap. The ingredients are good, but some of them are very expensive and can't do much for your skin with the time and concentration levels that soap allows them. Of course, cost-to-benefit ratio is a personal decision for every soap maker.

 

[linne1gi]

Suggestions can be helpful for starting out, but there's no harm in ignoring them to try new ideas (in small batches). Also, Anne-Marie has a business selling those products, and IMO many of them are better suited to body butter or lotion than soap. The ingredients are good, but some of them are very expensive and can't do much for your skin with the time and concentration levels that soap allows them. Of course, cost-to-benefit ratio is a personal decision for every soap maker.

It's just a guide, especially for new soapers. I have personally used more than 25% in soap - but new soapers need guidelines.

 

[Arimara]

It's rare that I use 10% cocoa butter in a batch. I love it too much so I use 20-25% I go 15% if I have shea butter on hand though.

 

[linne1gi]

It's rare that I use 10% cocoa butter in a batch. I love it too much so I use 20-25% I go 15% if I have shea butter on hand though.

I make a triple butter soap with Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, & Mango Butter, each at 15%. I love them too.

 

[Botânica Mágica]

I h

This organic cocoa butter is in a huge one solid piece. I would like to make soap. I understood that I can put only 10% of it in a batch. Which other oils would give a nice hard bar of soap together with organic cocoa butter?
Thank you!

I have a recipe that works super well:
30% coconut
25% cocoa butter
15% Avocado oil
40% Olive oil
lye: 42.86 g
water: 114 g.
9.3 g of essential oils.

I also added charcoal in these recipe and it was ok.

Hope you like too,

g.

 

[shunt2011]

I h

I have a recipe that works super well:
30% coconut
25% cocoa butter
15% Avocado oil
40% Olive oil
lye: 42.86 g
water: 114 g.
9.3 g of essential oils.

I also added charcoal in these recipe and it was ok.

Hope you like too,

g.

Your recipe exceeds 100% in oils/butters.

 

[linne1gi]

I h

I have a recipe that works super well:
30% coconut
25% cocoa butter
15% Avocado oil
40% Olive oil
lye: 42.86 g
water: 114 g.
9.3 g of essential oils.

I also added charcoal in these recipe and it was ok.

Hope you like too,

g.

I personally don’t care for such a high percentage of Coconut Oil, too drying. Your recipe is 110%. And I feel there’s too much water, but thanks anyway.

 

[TheGecko]

This organic cocoa butter is in a huge one solid piece. I would like to make soap. I understood that I can put only 10% of it in a batch. Which other oils would give a nice hard bar of soap together with organic cocoa butter?

Recommendation is actually around 15%, but you can go higher depending what other oils and butters are in your recipe. My recipe is 40% Soft Oils (Olive [35%] and Castor [5%] Oils) and 60% Hard (Coconut [20%] and Palm [20%] Oils, Cocoa [10%] and Shea [10%] Butters). It produces a nice, hard, long-lasting bar of soap.

 

[atiz]

Agree -- you can go higher.
My only soap that ended up brittle used 15% CB with 40% tallow -- that was a bit too much (I also had 1% beeswax in it). Apart from that, it was a lovely soap

 

[linne1gi]

Agree -- you can go higher.
My only soap that ended up brittle used 15% CB with 40% tallow -- that was a bit too much (I also had 1% beeswax in it). Apart from that, it was a lovely soap

Yes, that's quite a lot of hardeners. Tallow, CB & Beeswax!