Quick and easy HP soap.

[sephera]

Hi All

I am not happy with SF or my CP soaps, even my soaps from a few years ago with 7% super fat are drying. I would like to control SF like make up my Soap and add 7% Jojoba or 7% Sweet Almond. I would like to venture into HP. But like I posted on the liquid soap what preventing me from make it is stiring a cooking.

The tutorials I have seen seems alot of cooking involved...

 

[Obsidian]

HP really isn't that much cooking, not as much as with liquid soap. Most of the time, my HP batches are cooked and ready to mold within 20-30 minutes, sometimes faster.

Mind sharing your recipes? Usually if a soap is drying its due to using too much coconut. You may simply need a slight tweek of your recipe instead of a higher SF and HP.

 

[sephera]

I make one with 10% Coconut, 80 Olive and 10% Canola with 7% but I just think my skin it ultra dry and sensitive. Any ideas for a soothing lotiony bar?

 

[sephera]

Maybe one you can use and doubles as a lotion so it cleans and moisturises.

 

[Obsidian]

Are you against using lard? High olive oil soaps make my skin tight and dry. Using at least 50% lard really changes the way the soap feels. My favorite recipe is

lard 50%
olive or similar oil 30%
coconut 15%
castor 5%

I generally use 5% SF but I have went up to 8% with no trouble.

You can't make a bar that is a soap/lotion hybrid. Too much SF will make a oily soap that doesn't lather.

 

[sephera]

Yes that is what happens tight and dry but I thought high olive oil soap was meant to be the most moisturising. Perhaps we aren't making it right. I prefer not to use lard. I think that Palm, Coco butter or Shea is similar in properties.

 

[Obsidian]

Some peoples skin just doesn't like olive oil. You can use palm in place of lard but its not as nice. You can use some butters but not in a real high amount or it can reduce the lather. If you have palm on hand try the recipe I posted but with the palm instead of the lard, Im betting you will like it a lot better then your current recipe.

FYI, soap isn't moisturizing, its cleansing and nothing more. You can formulate recipes to be less cleansing so it doesn't strip off your natural oils but its not going to put moisture back into your skin.

 

[Arimara]

It's my opinion but a soap with a soft oil blend containing at least olive oil and avocado oil is nice. Also, try adding a butter to your soap, if you can procure some. Shea butter is a great start. And then there is lard- Armour/Armor (sp?) is a great brand that is common in my part of the US. It comes in a green and white box with some red and white lettering. You might have to make soap a little cooler with this fat as I've heard you can run into some issues if you let it get too warm and you will want to use a little scent for it but lard makes a great soap, especially after a 3 month cure.

 

[Susie]

I do not find high OO soaps particularly nice on my skin. There is just a world of difference between those and a high lard soap. I understand the reluctance to use lard, but it really is a wonderful soap.

 

[sephera]

Yes its strange as Olive soap is know for the most moisturizing. Like Savon de Marseille soap. But they cook and bake it for hours and days. Cure it for months.

I think maybe the process is flawed.

 

[sephera]

I'm going to order a small block of the Savon de Marseille soap and see how it feels. I have wanted to replicate this famous soap.

 

[TheStat]

I'm going to order a small block of the Savon de Marseille soap and see how it feels. I have wanted to replicate this famous soap.

This and this website should help you on that route

 

[sephera]

Just wow, incredible. I believe if you make Olive Oil soap at home with CP even with 5% - 7% super fat there is still minuscule amounts of excess lye which causes the dryness. Even after curing for over a year. In this process they completely remove all excess lye in long process of cooking and purification. The lye is also saponified completely.

I also think it's 0% super fatted that's why it last decades.

I think I might rebatch some of my Soap and attempt to recreate something similar.

 

[Susie]

Just wow, incredible. I believe if you make Olive Oil soap at home with CP even with 5% - 7% super fat there is still minuscule amounts of excess lye which causes the dryness. Even after curing for over a year. In this process they completely remove all excess lye in long process of cooking and purification. The lye is also saponified completely.

I also think it's 0% super fatted that's why it last decades.

I think I might rebatch some of my Soap and attempt to recreate something similar.

I don't know why you would think that. We use carefully calculated and weighed amounts of NaOH and oils to make our soap to contain a specified superfat. And I zap test every batch of soap personally when I cut it (at 18-24 hours) to ensure there is no excess lye before anyone uses it.

 

[shunt2011]

I have to agree with Susie. I don't know where you came up with that information. My soaps have no excess lye. If you do, you are doing something wrong. I zap test as well to ensure no excess just in case of a scale malfunction. However, I measure everything pretty carefully. No distractions allowed when I'm soaping.

 

[Kamahido]

All hot process does is to ensure that saponification is complete. Cold process does the same thing. Just by taking a longer period of time. Adding heat to a chemical reaction (such as saponification) speeds up said reaction. However the end result remains the same.

 

[dixiedragon]

Just wow, incredible. I believe if you make Olive Oil soap at home with CP even with 5% - 7% super fat there is still minuscule amounts of excess lye which causes the dryness. Even after curing for over a year. In this process they completely remove all excess lye in long process of cooking and purification. The lye is also saponified completely.

I also think it's 0% super fatted that's why it last decades.

I think I might rebatch some of my Soap and attempt to recreate something similar.

I'm with Susie - I really don't understand why you would think that? I've washed my hands with day old soap - and it is a much more than "tight or dry" feeling. Hands are VERY dry, raw, and irritated.

 

[shunt2011]

I also dislike high OO soaps. Plus, remember, soap is a wash off product and won't moisturize your skin. It may be less drying or strip less oils from your skin making it feel tight. I like my Lard soaps. Hands down the best. Palm is nice too but not quite as nice as lard. I also use a bit of shea.

 

[dixiedragon]

If your skin is very sensitive, you may find it beneficial to buy a few different soaps at a craft show and see which one you like best.

 

[Soapmaker145]

Just wow, incredible. I believe if you make Olive Oil soap at home with CP even with 5% - 7% super fat there is still minuscule amounts of excess lye which causes the dryness. Even after curing for over a year. In this process they completely remove all excess lye in long process of cooking and purification. The lye is also saponified completely.

I also think it's 0% super fatted that's why it last decades.

I think I might rebatch some of my Soap and attempt to recreate something similar.

Why would anybody want to use a Savon de Marseille when they can formulate a soap that is ideal for their own skin? Even my least favorite homemade soap is less drying than the Savon de Marseille. Old fashioned soap was made in a complex process in order to clean up the reagents that they used (both the lye and the oils). Back then, people didn't have access to quality reagents. They used the oil from crappy olives that weren't suitable for eating. They had access to lye of questionable quality and purity. The soap after a long cure (years) still had a pH between 9.5 and 10. It still had plenty of free lye. If it didn't, it wouldn't have survived as soap for decades. If you get a soap with a neutral pH from anywhere, it's a fake.

Before you waste money on Savon de Marseille, try buying homemade soaps from some of the more knowledgeable people on this site (or elsewhere). It will give you a chance to test various ingredients and find out what is best for your skin if you're not ready to do your own testing at this time.

It is clear that something in your process doesn't work for you. It could be the type of oils you're using or the quality of the lye. Rebatching only makes sense when you're trying to correct a mistake. Are you sure you got pure unadulterated olive oil? If you got a blended oil that is sold as pure OO, it could have messed up your lye calculations.