Recipe Feedback

[giulia]

Hi everyone!
I just wanted to get a little feedback on 2 recipes that I am thinking about trying. I am still a beginner but I would like to start challenging myself a bit.
I have run everything through a lye calculator and will re-run if anyone has suggestions for me.

The first recipe is for a laundry stain stick bar soap. I am trying to recreate what my grandmother used to make (old fashioned white bar soap for stain removal on fabrics before washing) and upon doing some research on this forum and elsewhere it looks like 100% coconut oil with 0% superfat is the closest. Lye concentration is 32% and the water:Lye Ration is 2:1.

Do I need to add anything else to it? Should there be any water discount?

The next recipe that I am thinking of using is:
Olive Oil - 30%
Cocunut Oil - 30%
Castor Oil - 3%
Almond Oil - 24%
Shea Butter - 12%

SF - 5%
Water:Lye Ratio - 2.5:1

Thank you for any feedback! It is very much appreciated.

 

[AliOop]

For the laundry stain sticks, that is my exact recipe, except that I use a 40% lye concentration so the bars set up faster. I use cavity molds so there is no need to worry about timing the cut. If you use a loaf mold, you probably need to cut it within 2-4 hours, depending on your air temp and humidity.

The other recipe you listed only adds up to 98%. I personally don't like high OO, and there are many others who don't like high CO. So you'll probably get suggestions for lowering each of those. If you don't have objections to using palm or lard, you could do something like this:

40% lard or palm
20% CO
20% OO
10% shea
5% SAO
5% Castor

Or leave out the SAO and add it to the shea. ETA: either way, add 1 T sugar PPO to increase the bubbles.

 

[giulia]

Thank you so much! This is beyond helpful.
I have some cavity molds so I will definitely use those instead of the old mold.

I mistyped and that extra 2 percent should have been the castor oil.

I will try the recipe that you are suggesting. I have not tried lard in my soaps before so that will be fun to try out. For the sugar is regular granulated sugar ok to use?

 

[xavalyss]

You can use granulated sugar. Mix very well into your water before adding lye.

 

[AliOop]

edited: what @xavalyss said. Great that you can use the cavity molds for the stain sticks; then your loaf or slab mold is free to make the other soap.

 

[Dawni]

The next recipe that I am thinking of using is:
Olive Oil - 30%
Cocunut Oil - 30%
Castor Oil - 3%
Almond Oil - 24%
Shea Butter - 12%

SF - 5%
Water:Lye Ratio - 2.5:1

Thank you for any feedback! It is very much appreciated.

I'll only say that this high coconut with this SF doesn't work well for me and mine, hence the decision to use less of both. I use coconut max 20% and my SF range is 2-5%. Otherwise its too drying for us.

And I'm one of those who doesn't like olive oil so I switched mine out for rice bran oil. If it works for you then go for it

 

[giulia]

I'll only say that this high coconut with this SF doesn't work well for me and mine, hence the decision to use less of both. I use coconut max 20% and my SF range is 2-5%. Otherwise its too drying for us.

And I'm one of those who doesn't like olive oil so I switched mine out for rice bran oil. If it works for you then go for it

I am definitely open to using new ingredients that will make good soap. I have been using recipes with a lot of olive oil because it has been easy to work with for me. I have used some of my first bars that have cured and they have been nice but not perfect. I am excited to try the lard receipe that AliOop and I will look for RBO the next time I order supplies.

Thank you for the feedback!