Katsbe
Member
What is the ph of your cold process soap?
Ph
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Katsbe
Member
Hello. I don’t know where my post went. Can you tell me the ph of your soaps? Mine are 9 I am trying to get it to be nicer on the skin. Any help?
Katsbe
Member
I meant 8*
artemis
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Did you try searching the forum? You'll not only find normal pH of soap, but also the pitfalls of pH testing. 
Katsbe
Member
I haven’t found much. Wondering if there is a way to make cold process soap not harsh.Did you try searching the forum? You'll not only find normal pH of soap, but also the pitfalls of pH testing.
artemis
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Changing the pH won't do that. Changing the ingredients can.
What is your current recipe? Everyone's skin is different -- can you explain what "harsh" means to you?
Katsbe
Member
23%palm kernal
29% palm
29% olive pomace
3.68% avacado
5%castorcaster
5.8% apricot kernal
Lye 4.62
Water 8.62
New soaper here. Trying to use up the palm I bought
akseattle
Well-Known Member
@Katsbe, I've never tested the Ph of my soap. And, I'm a fairly new soaper, too. But, I'm wondering how long you let your soap cure?
Generally, from reading posts on this forum and blogs and articles elsewhere on the internet, I understand that i you give a soap that feels harsh to you a little more time to cure, A LONG CURING TIME will very often help it mellow out, and it often becomes more gentle.
So, not from personal experience, just what I've read.
And, as @artemis asked, what do you mean, exactly, when you say the soap is "harsh?"
Do you mean it is drying? or just leaves you feeling rough or itchy?
How many batches have you made? Did you try the same recipe or several different recipes.
BTW, I tried to run your recipe through soapcalc. You either have a typo or you are missing an oil. You need 4.5% more oil to get to 100%
Can you double check? a more experienced soaper might be able to give you some insights on options you might have.
Generally, from reading posts on this forum and blogs and articles elsewhere on the internet, I understand that i you give a soap that feels harsh to you a little more time to cure, A LONG CURING TIME will very often help it mellow out, and it often becomes more gentle.
So, not from personal experience, just what I've read.
And, as @artemis asked, what do you mean, exactly, when you say the soap is "harsh?"
Do you mean it is drying? or just leaves you feeling rough or itchy?
How many batches have you made? Did you try the same recipe or several different recipes.
BTW, I tried to run your recipe through soapcalc. You either have a typo or you are missing an oil. You need 4.5% more oil to get to 100%
Can you double check? a more experienced soaper might be able to give you some insights on options you might have.
artemis
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23%palm kernal
29% palm
29% olive pomace
3.68% avacado
5%castorcaster
5.8% apricot kernal
Lye 4.62
Water 8.62
New soaper here. Trying to use up the palm I bought
It's possible that the palm kernel oil is too high of a percentage for your skin. I don't use it myself, but from what I understand, it can be more drying than the others in your recipe.
Katsbe
Member
Oh interesting. Thank you for that input. I tried the olive oil pomace independently just rubbed it onto my arm last nightand it caused a burning, uncomfortable sensation I get from my soaps. So that will have to be replaced. I have tried 7 different recipes now. I think I’ll switch to lard like the ladies said, use olive oil, and try a 33% lye concentration. I believe the typo I did was leaving out all the decimals. At this point I’ll just start all over
artemis
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Here is a recipe my family likes, with some substitutions in ( ) based on what you're trying to use up:
40% Lard (or palm)
30% Olive (I don't use pomace. Maybe could sub high oleic sunflower oil? Or some other liquid oil with a similar SAP value? I think some people like rice bran oil)
20% coconut oil (you could try using your palm kernel here)
10% avocado oil (or leave it out and make the lard 50%)
3-5% superfat
40% Lard (or palm)
30% Olive (I don't use pomace. Maybe could sub high oleic sunflower oil? Or some other liquid oil with a similar SAP value? I think some people like rice bran oil)
20% coconut oil (you could try using your palm kernel here)
10% avocado oil (or leave it out and make the lard 50%)
3-5% superfat
Katsbe
Member
That sounds lovely
Using a soap calculator also helps to determine the harshness of a bar of soap. If one sticks with a cleansing (harshness) factor on the low end and a conditioning (mildness) factor on the high end, and the other attributes in the recommended range, one will have a less harsh bar of soap.23%palm kernal
29% palm
29% olive pomace
3.68% avacado
5%castorcaster
5.8% apricot kernal
Lye 4.62
Water 8.62
New soaper here. Trying to use up the palm I bought
Also, as far as the comment about olive oil pomace - please be aware that once oils interact with lye they become different compounds and can act differently on the skin than the straight oil. Case in point is coconut oil, which as a straight oil is very oily to the skin and considered moisturizing; in soap once it reacts with lye, it is quite cleansing and drying.
Katsbe
Member
Will do, akseattle! Thanks
akseattle
Well-Known Member
@Nona'sFarm , I had completely forgotten about that! But, you are completely right! I am still hoping
that the olive oil pomace was the culprit so that @Katsbe's problem is solved and so that she can move on ...Katsbe
Member
Oh no. I'll certainly keep it posted to help others. Just made the adjusted recipe this evening and I have a good feeling. I used rice bran,,love that I had more time to think instead of it becoming instantly thick!
I personally like to split palm kernel and coconut oil in my soaps for a total of 18%. I would up the Palm to 30% for longevity, up the avocado to 18%, keep the castor at 5%, and then adjust the other oils to make your 100%. I would also add in some sugar or sorbitol.
