Recipe thoughts, first post!

[DeerBunny]

Hi there-

This is my first post here so I hope I am doing this right! I've been stalking these threads for a long time but haven't chimed in until now. Thank you for sharing so much information so willingly!

I'm getting ready to switch things up and was hoping ya'll could look over this recipe and tell me your thoughts or what I should change, this is the first recipe I've kinda "created" from the ground up so I want to know I'm on track before making any purchases.

It will be CP goat milk soap. (We have milk goats.)

Lard 40%
Olive oil 20%
Sunflower oil 15%
Coconut 10%
Avocado 10%
Castor Oil 5%
ROE added at 1/2 tsp PPO
Superfat 8%
Lye/milk 33%

Guesses on how this will turn out or warnings before I give it a try?

Thanks!

 

[BrewerGeorge]

My only thought is that olive, sunflower and avocado are pretty similar with lots of oleic. Might need a pretty long cure.

 

[DeerBunny]

Would it be more balanced if I increased lard to 50% and took sunflower and olive both down 5%?


My soap calculator doesn't account for lard because the company doesn't support using animal products so, I need to find a new one that will calculate the lard in. Lol!

 

[toxikon]

Welcome!

The first thing that I notice about your recipe is it's very high in Oleic acid between the olive oil, sunflower oil and avocado oil. These 3 oils have quite similar properties. A lot of Oleic acid in your recipe will produce a slimy lather - if you've ever made castille (100% OO) soap you'll know what I'm talking about. 45% of your recipe is made up of high-Oleic oils so you may not get the kind of lather you want.

I'd personally bump up the Coconut Oil to 20% unless you have a known problem with dry skin, removing 10% from your High-Oleics.

As for the ROE, 1/2 tsp PPO seems like way too much to me. ROE is used in very small amounts for its antioxidant properties, and using too much can actually reverse the benefits and increase chances of DOS.

Proper usage rate for ROE (7% Carnosic Acid Content) is .02% to .08% PPO.

The superfat also seems very high to me, especially considering the goat milk will increase your superfat even more. I'd personally do a 3% superfat.

 

[shunt2011]

I would eliminate one of the soft oils and add the difference to the lard. Also, I would drop the SF to 6-7 as the milk will ip it more. I say give it a try and see how you like it. I like sunflower and avocado in soap. Olive at a low percentage, it's not a favorite of mine.

 

[DeerBunny]

Thanks Toxikon!

I'm probably weird because I love Castille soap and the slime never bothers me, so I've always leaned towards the less "cleansing" bars but, you're probably right. I'm just scared it'll turn out giving my skin that tight feeling if I increase the coconut oil, but I'll give it a try!

Man that's a totally different ROE usage rate than the one I have! I have never used ROE before so I looked it up on here and saw 1/2 tsp PPO recommended for it. Yikes!

Okay so trying to balance all the advice, I'm not attached to olive oil or anything so I can drop that completely.

Maybe more like:

50% lard
15% sunflower
15% avocado
15% coconut
5% castor
5% superfat
And .02% PPO ROE

?

 

[Susie]

Use soapee.com for a lye calculator! It is the best one I have found, and you can be sure it includes lard!

I agree about your liquid oils. Leave the castor oil at 5%, drop either the sunflower or avocado, add that amount to lard. Next batch, use the other one to see which you like best. Then use both in the following batch. I would also add 5% to the CO. I see no need for ROE, as you are not using one of the super short shelf life oils. Use no more than 4-5% superfat (GM will boost it further).

 

[DeerBunny]

I think from what I understand my Sunflower Oil is mid oleic, it's Great Value brand (trying to create a go-to recipe with ingredients that are easy for me to find, and avocado would be the luxury oil, if that makes sense?) And thought it would require ROE?

Haha, this soap calculating stuff has me spinning circles!

 

[toxikon]

Okay so trying to balance all the advice, I'm not attached to olive oil or anything so I can drop that completely.

Maybe more like:

50% lard
15% sunflower
15% avocado
15% coconut
5% castor
5% superfat
And .02% PPO ROE

?

Sounds like a great bar of soap to me!

Is your sunflower oil high-oleic? I've never used it myself, but most people only use HO sunflower because the shelf-life is much better.

And what's your plan of attack for the goat milk? Freezing it in icecubes then mashing with lye?

 

[neonstudy]

I would say it depends on what type of soap you like, and if you're making it for yourself or others. I personally like a really low cleansing number (like 3), so 10% coconut oil sounds great to me. I think it's because we have hard water. I've never used ROE so I have no comments about that.

 

[DeerBunny]

I believe it is mid, if I figured it correctly! I'll use frozen goat milk cubes and then slowly add lye with constant stirring.

I'd really just love to find the perfect soap (wouldn't we all?!?!) that family and friends would love, and also for personal use, so that as I get more and more experience I could branch out to sell at the farmer's market or at swap meets and such. Making soap started out as a way to teach my kids about how businesses are run, so eventually I'd like them to be able to sell at the market and learn money handling and also sales skills. That being said, I figured working with ROE would make the bar a bit more dependable long term?

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I think from what I understand my Sunflower Oil is mid oleic, it's Great Value brand (trying to create a go-to recipe with ingredients that are easy for me to find, and avocado would be the luxury oil, if that makes sense?) And thought it would require ROE?

Haha, this soap calculating stuff has me spinning circles!

According to the nutrition label on the web, it's mid-high at 64%. I've begun experimenting with the LouAna brand of Safflower at Walmart, which is HO at 78%. It's not quite as cheap as the GV sunflower, but it's about 50% cheaper than the GV olive. I haven't had any soaps cure long enough yet to have an opinion, but hopes are high that I will be able to replace the olive altogether with safflower.

 

[cmzaha]

I have used several Roe's over the years and never seen one with that high a rate. Are you talking actual Rosemary Oleoresin or are you mixing it up with Rosemary EO. They are not the same and ROE only takes a few drops. If you have access to tallow or the meat shortening from Walmart I would split it with the lard. I also would lose one of the soft oils and use CO at 15% and cut the superfat. I will also mention that ROE never stopped dos for me. I do use it in my 5 gallon containers when I open them, but have to admit BHT goes into my soap batches. This stops the DOS problems I have with lard unless a bar happens to touch an uncovered spot on my stainless steel dry. Just checked and I use 3 grams roe in my 35# totes of oil

 

[DeerBunny]

I pulled that from a thread here where it was recommended to use ROE at 1/2 tsp PPO but it must have been someone who didn't know what they were talking about!

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I have used several Roe's over the years and never seen one with that high a rate. Are you talking actual Rosemary Oleoresin or are you mixing it up with Rosemary EO. They are not the same and roe only takes a few drops. If you have access to tallow or the meat shortening from Walmart I would split it with the lard. I also would lose one of the soft oils and use CO at 15% and cut the superfat

Also, if you're planning to use the Armour Lard or the GV shortening, they both have antioxidants already in them. BHA, I think.

 

[DeerBunny]

Oh that's good to know, thanks! Is it good to use both of them at 25% each instead of using just one type?

 

[ibct1969]

Welcome DeerBunny! I would only add to this that using milk in CP soap can be tricky... there's a lot of info online and in this forum about different ways to do it - I'd read up on that before you use it in CP soap, unless you've already done that

 

[DeerBunny]

I've been making CP goat milk soap for a while, just never using my own recipe. Thank you though! Still always lots to learn!

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Oh that's good to know, thanks! Is it good to use both of them at 25% each instead of using just one type?

That's what I do unless I want more work time. Then it's all lard.

 

[cmzaha]

Also, if you're planning to use the Armour Lard or the GV shortening, they both have antioxidants already in them. BHA, I think.

Some lards and tallow also include BHT. Which as stated above I still add a little to my soaps and lotions