Palm/Coconut Free Soap

[exotrix]

My major issue with soap is that I can't use palm or coconut oil without a negative skin reaction. I have been doing the research about what would be a good option recipe wise. This is what I have started with. Opinions? Everyone on here seems to have a great handle on this.

Concerns I have is that it appears to be a very soft bar and doesn't have much cleansing. I do want to play with turning one of the bars into liquid soap using glycerin.

Thanks!
Kendra

------------------------
Olive Oil - 80%
Castor Oil - 10%
Castor Oil - 10%
5% superfat, no fragrance, Water as percent of oil weight 38 %

From SoapCalc:
Hardness 20
Cleansing 0
Conditioning 79
Bubbly 9
Creamy 29
Iodine 80
INS 109

 

[Badger]

Kendra did you mean to list Castor oil twice there?

 

[lsg]

I would not go above 5% on the Castor oil as you will have a soft soap for a while anyway. If you are not opposed to lard, adding it will give you a harder bar with a creamy suds. You could also add 1 tsp. of white sugar ppo to you water and stir to dissolve before adding the lye. I find this helps with bigger bubbles.

 

[exotrix]

Shea Butter instead of castor oil.

I'm not opposed to lard. I haven't read anything about sugar but that sounds like what I'm looking for.

This will be my first batch of soap so I'm very nervous and since I can't use most of the recipes that are for beginners.

 

[melstan775]

You can use babassu oil in place of coconut for a harder more lathery bar then olive oil on it's own.

 

[lsg]

Try a small batch first and if you are not pleased, then you haven't used so up your supplies. With high olive oil content your soap will need to set in the mold longer. You might even want to put the mold in the freezer for a several hours before unmolding and then let your soap have a good long cure.

 

[exotrix]

Running it back through SoapCalc and adjusting percentages to get closer to their suggestions (how good are those recommendations anyways?) gets me to this:

Oil/Fat %
Castor Oil 5%
Olive Oil 45%
Lard, Pig Tallow Manteca 35%
Shea Butter 15%

Soap Bar Quality
Hardness 29
Cleansing 0
Conditioning 68
Bubbly 5
Creamy 33
Iodine 71
INS 118

 

[Hazel]

I liked lsg's suggestions and lard adds hardness and conditioning. Your recipe looks like it will be very mild, conditioning and have creamy lather. The hardness level may seem low but olive will cure harder than it appears on SoapCalc. You might want to consider a slight water discount to make it easier to get out of the mold unless you're going to be using a lined mold.

 

[hlee]

Would some cocoa butter harden it up some?

 

[exotrix]

Before I blindly go into this with an untested recipe, recommendations for a particular method?

Thank you all for your suggestions. I really do appreciate it.

 

[Hazel]

I suggest the method you normally use for soapmaking.

 

[exotrix]

Except this will be my first batch ever so I'm a bit nervous.

Kendra

 

[Seifenblasen]

Except this will be my first batch ever so I'm a bit nervous.

Kendra

You might want to go through these first then:

http://teachsoap.com/cold-process-soap/

Someone else suggested using a water discount earlier, but if this is your first batch ever AND you are a bit nervous, I would
use the full amount unless you are comfortable with using less. Not doing a water discount may take longer for your soap to harden up, and you may have to wait a day or two longer to unmold, but it does not affect the final quality/hardness of your soap after a proper cure.