ucmj22
Active Member
I had this posted in a different post, but i think it might be lost there so I will add it here,
Hazel had given me a link to an soap making and it left me with some questions.
1.) While following the general guidelines as to ratios of makeup for the oils, can I substitute any oils in my recipe as long as the total oil weight is the same? IE my first batch was 72% olive / 25% coconut / 3% castor. Could I have made it 52% olive / 30% avacado / 25% coconut / & 3% castor without issue?
2.) He talks about shelf life of an oil. If I use an oil that has a 6mo shelf life, and it takes 1.5-2 mo to cure before selling, does that mean that if the buyer doesn't use it in 4 mo then it will start to go bad, and I'll look like a jerk?
3.) on Olive oil he said "Olive oil soaps are very moisturizing, make hard, white bars of soap" and in coconut oil he says"[coconut oil] also makes for a very hard, white bar of soap." yet my soap is relatively soft (I realize its only a couple of days old) and somewhat of a creamy yellow. What did I miss?
Hazel had given me a link to an soap making and it left me with some questions.
1.) While following the general guidelines as to ratios of makeup for the oils, can I substitute any oils in my recipe as long as the total oil weight is the same? IE my first batch was 72% olive / 25% coconut / 3% castor. Could I have made it 52% olive / 30% avacado / 25% coconut / & 3% castor without issue?
2.) He talks about shelf life of an oil. If I use an oil that has a 6mo shelf life, and it takes 1.5-2 mo to cure before selling, does that mean that if the buyer doesn't use it in 4 mo then it will start to go bad, and I'll look like a jerk?
3.) on Olive oil he said "Olive oil soaps are very moisturizing, make hard, white bars of soap" and in coconut oil he says"[coconut oil] also makes for a very hard, white bar of soap." yet my soap is relatively soft (I realize its only a couple of days old) and somewhat of a creamy yellow. What did I miss?
What I mean is that it all depends on certain factors such as how much of the delicate oil you use and how highly you superfat your batch. The chemical reaction between the lye and oils changes things up a bit to the point that one's soap can last for years well beyond an oil's normal shelf life, but it you have too much of a delicate oil at too high of a superfat, it can go south quickly. Generally, if you use a delicate oil, it is recommended that you don't go over 15% total combined linoleic acid in your batch. If you use SoapCalc to figure out your calculations for your recipe, it will tell you how much of each fatty acid is in your formula. Look for the percent of linoleic acid, and if you see it is over 15%, go ahead and tweak your recipe until it shows 15% or under. If you ever find your formula to have the maximum safe range of 15% linoleic, I would recommended that you keep your superfat modest- i.e.- in the 5% to 7% range max. You might be able to get away with 8%, but in my opinion that's pushing it, especially if you live in a humid area.
