Recipe Feedback?

[Meldoesasoapy]

Looking to expand my recipe beyond the basic oils. Did a bit of research and came to this recipe and I'm looking for feedback. I know a lot is based on my preference or what I'm going for, so I guess I just want to know if this recipe will fail in the extreme one way or another and I'm just not realizing it:

Palm: 25%
Olive: 25%
Soy wax: 15%
Coconut: 15%
Sweet almond: 10%
Castor: 5%
Shea: 5%
Water to lye 2:1

I do tend to prefer harder bars that don't goop much in the shower (a little drying is ok) but I also like some decent bubbling. I do appreciate any feedback

 

[KiwiMoose]

Sounds pretty good to me - have you tried plugging it in to a soap calculator to see what the numbers are? Maybe use aloe juice or sugar/sorbitol in the water for more bubbles?

 

[Meldoesasoapy]

Sounds pretty good to me - have you tried plugging it in to a soap calculator to see what the numbers are? Maybe use aloe juice or sugar/sorbitol in the water for more bubbles?

Great idea! I've never tried additives for bubbles but mostly because I always forget they're out there haha! I used soap Calc to get the basics of the recipe but there's 3 oils in the recipe I've never used, so I guess I just wanted to ask around and see if anyone had any bad experiences mixing some of those together, or anything like that. I think I just wanted human feedback along with computer feedback

 

[KiwiMoose]

Of those listed I have never used palm or sweet almond.

 

[CpnDouchette]

Looks good to me. I tend to find that I don't really notice the shea unless I add at around 7 - 10%

I find palm gives me decent bubbles and quite like palm in soap (although tend to use lard for a myriad of reasons). It looks very similar to recipes I've used before, minus the soy.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Yes I use Shea at 10%, but then I don't use palm so I need something to keep up the stearic/palmitic components. My Soy wax is at 20%.

 

[Zing]

I'm another one to add sugar to increase bubbles. Just note this in advance if you go this route. I add white sugar to my distilled water first and make sure it is all dissolved before adding lye. The water will turn a very light yellow because the lye burns the sugar. It will have no effect on the final color.

Also another plug for a 10% minimum on oils/butters -- castor oil is the one exception which I use at 4-6%.

Unlike others here who are obsessed with soy wax, I have no experience so can't comment. I've used all your other ingredients and really like them.

I tried for awhile to get my base recipe down to a 4 or 5 oils just for less fuss and dirty dishes but it turns out I have 6!

Try it, keep notes, and let us know how it goes!

 

[Meldoesasoapy]

Looks good to me. I tend to find that I don't really notice the shea unless I add at around 7 - 10%

I find palm gives me decent bubbles and quite like palm in soap (although tend to use lard for a myriad of reasons). It looks very similar to recipes I've used before, minus the soy.

So if I were to put shea at 10% do you have a recommendation on the best oil to take away that 5% from?

 

[earlene]

I have used those oils in combination before. No problems ensued. I don't use SAO much anymore because most of the grocery stores I shop at don't carry it anymore, and that's where I usually got it. When I use shea, I also use a higher percentage these days, as opposed to when I was new. Using liquids with sugar content, in place of some of the water also helps with boosting bubbles, so you can replace some of the water with aloe, for example.