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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?
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👩🏻‍🦳
 
@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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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
 
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
That sounds lovely
 
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
@Katsbe , that seems to have been an easily solved mystery!
Hopefully its the olive oil pomace and you can move on to some great feeling soap! Keep us posted and good luck!
 
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👩🏻‍🦳
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.
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.
 
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.
@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 ...
 
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.
 

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