Organic cocoa butter in soapmaking

[Arimara]

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

I should do that again. I haven't done that in a while and it would be a perfect gift for an uncle, though it will be late.

 

[atiz]

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

Yeah, I like hard soap (if you could not tell )! But I did go a bit too far with that one, lesson learned

 

[Botânica Mágica]

Your recipe exceeds 100% in oils/butters.

sorry, I just put the avocado wrong. It is 5% and not 15%. I did this recipe many times.

 

[Wendlebee]

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.

What oil can I substitute for the Almond oil? I have Avocado and Grapeseed oils. Also, How much Citric acid do you use?

 

[GemstonePony]

What oil can I substitute for the Almond oil? I have Avocado and Grapeseed oils. Also, How much Citric acid do you use?

I'm not Ali, but I use Avocado instead of Sweet Almond, and citric acid at 2% PPO. Be sure to run it all through a lye calculator, citric acid included, so the calculator can account for the citric acid in its NaOH calculations.

 

[Wendlebee]

Great! Thankyou!

 

[AliOop]

Thanks @GemstonePony, I concur with your recommendations, as well as using canola or RBO for some of the sweet almond oil.

 

[Dawni]

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

Same! It's one of my bestsellers actually....

Take note though, that the more butters you use, the longer you'll have to cure to get the lather really going..... How long is actually up to how you like lather to be, but I cure mine a minimum 4mos.

I've used cocoa anywhere between 10-25% but very rarely more because of cost. Try a small batches with different amounts each to see what you like.

My cocoa butter comes in big chunks too but I like the process of breaking off the amounts I need haha

 

[linne1gi]

Same! It's one of my bestsellers actually....

Take note though, that the more butters you use, the longer you'll have to cure to get the lather really going..... How long is actually up to how you like lather to be, but I cure mine a minimum 4mos.

I've used cocoa anywhere between 10-25% but very rarely more because of cost. Try a small batches with different amounts each to see what you like.

My cocoa butter comes in big chunks too but I like the process of breaking off the amounts I need haha

I haven’t noticed any lather problems with my triple butter soap. I do add coconut oil and some sugar to boost lather, but I use sugar in all my soaps. I cure them 8 weeks. I have a new supplier for butters and they are the best I have ever seen. It’s a buying group on FB. They are all so smooth & fragrant.

 

[Dawni]

I haven’t noticed any lather problems with my triple butter soap. I do add coconut oil and some sugar to boost lather, but I use sugar in all my soaps.

Same and same re: coconut oil and sugar lol
I don't have problems per se with 8wks, but like every soap it gets better the longer I cure it. So for my triple butter soap, 4mos is where I like it

 

[linne1gi]

Same and same re: coconut oil and sugar lol
I don't have problems per se with 8wks, but like every soap it gets better the longer I cure it. So for my triple butter soap, 4mos is where I like it

I totally get it. Just like every other soap maker, I’m inpatient, lol.

 

[cmzaha]

My vegan recipe which gives a hard long-lasting bar is 42% palm with 10% shea, 27% liquid oil. the remaining is CO, PKO, and castor in the percentages you prefer. I have made 100% shea soaps and they are nice with a very long cure, I now make a facial bar with 59% shea with 10-12% CO/PKO split which makes a really nice mild bar after a 4-6 month cure.

 

[linne1gi]

My vegan recipe which gives a hard long-lasting bar is 42% palm with 10% shea, 27% liquid oil. the remaining is CO, PKO, and castor in the percentages you prefer. I have made 100% shea soaps and they are nice with a very long cure, I now make a facial bar with 59% shea with 10-12% CO/PKO split which makes a really nice mild bar after a 4-6 month cure.

I like to try out different recipes. Makes soap making interesting.

 

[MarinaB]

Thank you everyone for giving some idea how to use my organic cocoa butter.
I like this recipe the best ---
7,2 oz cocoa butter
6 oz almond oil
10.8 oz coconut oil
But, be careful! Do not miss cutting time! It would be ready in 5 hour to be cut.

 

[AlexanderMakesSoap]

FWIW I regularly go over 20% cocoa without issue. At least, the soap seems fine to me.

 

[Wendlebee]

I am making a batch of 35% Coconut; 55% Lard; 10% Castor - just for fun! I want to see if it will work well for laundry soap.

 

[AliOop]

I am making a batch of 35% Coconut; 55% Lard; 10% Castor - just for fun! I want to see if it will work well for laundry soap.

Don't waste your lard and castor oil on laundry soap, as they are low on cleansing value.

Go with 100% CO and O% SF. It is high cleansing and very soluble, which is perfect for laundry or dishes.

On the other hand, your proposed recipe would be nice for hand/body soap, if you sub out 15% of the CO for something like olive, avocado, rice bran, etc.

 

[Wendlebee]

Ok. Happy to hear that! I have already made my proposed recipe. While I was cleaning up after making the soap it did feel luxuriously soothing and smooth and I had wondered if it was not going to be good for laundry.

Thank you for your advice on the 100% CO/ 0% SF!
I am going to make this as I am determined to have a good laundry soap!

Don't waste your lard and castor oil on laundry soap, as they are low on cleansing value.

Go with 100% CO and O% SF. It is high cleansing and very soluble, which is perfect for laundry or dishes.

On the other hand, your proposed recipe would be nice for hand/body soap, if you sub out 15% of the CO for something like olive, avocado, rice bran, etc.

 

[AliOop]

Thank you for your advice on the 100% CO/ 0% SF!
I am going to make this as I am determined to have a good laundry soap!

Great! It will harden fast, so unmold as soon as it has cooled or is firm to the touch, whichever is sooner. If you plan to hand-grate it, cutting into hand-sized chunks will work fine. But I’d recommend cutting it into smaller pieces if you plan to grate it with a food processor or salad shooter. The smaller chunks will go through those machines more easily without straining them like the big chunks can do.

Either way, I try to grate it before it gets too hard. Then let it dry out completely before doing a final pulverizing in a food processor, nutrabullet, or the like.

 

[Ladka]

Great! It will harden fast, so unmold as soon as it has cooled or is firm to the touch, whichever is sooner. If you plan to hand-grate it, cutting into hand-sized chunks will work fine. But I’d recommend cutting it into smaller pieces if you plan to grate it with a food processor or salad shooter. The smaller chunks will go through those machines more easily without straining them like the big chunks can do.
Either way, I try to grate it before it gets too hard. Then let it dry out completely before doing a final pulverizing in a food processor, nutrabullet, or the like.

Thank you so much for this info. I've been meditating on making laundry soap for myself and one of my daughters who loves things homemade.