Review my recipes please :)

[LolaFalana]

I'm working on a few new recipes, can you guys check them out and give your opinion? I am aware of the high percentage of CO being used. All recipes are SF 8%.

27% CO
40% OO
10% SB
10% MB
10% CB
3% Castor

35% CO
40% OO
10% SB
10% MB
5% Castor

30% CO
45% OO
12% MB
10% CB
3% Castor

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[lionprincess00]

Most find that much co too high and drying, and I'm one of them.
Some like 25-30%, but the majority would agree start with 20% and adjust there.

Castor, I like at 5-6% because it stabilizes lather.

Are you opposed to tallow, lard or palm? Is this why you're using butters for your hard oils?

Edit. I reread. 8% sf will see less lather, so I understand your higher fo to combat it. It still may be irritating.

I'd personally do 5% sf
20% co
5% castor
35% % olive
35% Palm or tallow or lard
5 % butter

Honestly, I avoid butters for the most part in soap. Pricey and I don't notice a huge difference with or without.
Cocoa butter can cause brittleness, so there's that to consider. Mango can too, I think, at high rates. That's why the Palm or animal fats work well as a main oil.
I use them, butters, in my lotions instead. Good for the skin. Once they're saponified into soap salts, I think something may be lost a little in the " nourishing like" skin category

 

[LolaFalana]

I used PKF once to test it out and I loved the lather but it was a pain to work with. It took forever to melt but then cooled faster than I was able to work with.
Don't know if I'm doing something wrong but it's irritating. I assume palm oil is the same. No interest in using lard.
I've dropped the amount of castor because at more than 5% my soap was tacky.
CO is honestly my fave oil though people always talk about how drying it is. But lots of people make 100% CO soap. And you're supposed to use high amounts of it when making salt.
CO and salt together in high quantities is good but CO and anything else is not? roblem:

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

100% CO bars usually have a 20% SF! That's why when you then use 30% and a more modest SF it gets tricky.

Palm was suggested, along with lard and tallow - not Palm Kernal Flakes. These 3 oils could be used rather than the butters at 50%, with the rest in the olive and CO.

 

[LolaFalana]

Based on the oils I use in my recipes. What are the thoughts of my percentages?

There are about 5 oils I've heard of until I started looking into handmade soap. Until I understand what the benefit of the oil by itself it, I won't be using it.

 

[kchaystack]

Based on the oils I use in my recipes. What are the thoughts of my percentages?

There are about 5 oils I've heard of until I started looking into handmade soap. Until I understand what the benefit of the oil by itself it, I won't be using it.

You can check this site

http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/soap-making-oils.html

It has many oils listed, and the supposed qualities of each.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

...........Until I understand what the benefit of the oil by itself it, I won't be using it.

Out of interest, do you look at the benefit of the oil itself, or the salt of the fatty acid? They can be poles apart

 

[hmlove1218]

The amount of butters you're using will significantly cut lather. I try to keep my butters under 15% in total. I personally don't care for more than 5% CB in soap.

If I made your recipes with the amount of CO you're using, I'd make the first with 8% SF and the other two probably a 10%-12% SF to combat the drying of coconut.

Of the three you posted, I'd go with #2 personally. Maybe add 5% to the OO and drop shea to 5%

 

[LolaFalana]

I do look at both. I've never heard of Palm oil before soapmaking. Lard is something I won't ever use.

Because adding those two oils, is there another opinion about my recipes? I've seen plenty of soaps that don't include either.

What is too high of a percentage of butters for a soap?

 

[Seawolfe]

I don't see the point in using Shea Butter and Mango Butter in the same recipe, but what do I know?

I developed the recipe below because I wanted a hard bar that didn't use palm or lard, and it worked out very nicely in my lavender and clay soap - definite do again. I did it at 7% SF last time, but would take it down to 5% next time probably. It did trace quickly as I recall, and beeswax is kind of a pain, but nowhere near as bad as stearic acid!

Castor Oil 5 %
Beeswax 2%
Cocoa Butter 10%
Coconut Oil, 76 deg 20 %
Olive Oil 35%
Almond Oil, sweet 28%

Basically you want to achieve your target by comparing recipes on soap calc and and info about oils like the link Kchaystack used.

I use CO up to 30%, and like you I don't mind as long as the superfat is bumped up a bit. Plus I love its lather. Try adding some sugar to the water before the lye!

If I had to pick one of your recipes it would probably be the last one, but Id have to see it in soap calc to check.

 

[shunt2011]

Of the three you posted I would go with #2 but drop the CO to at least 30% and drop your butters to no more than 15% and add the difference to your Castor to 5-7% and the rest to your OO. I would also superfat 8-10% maybe a bit more. Too much butters do inhibit your lather. I don't usually use more than 10%.

 

[kchaystack]

Also if you are worried about your bar's hardness you can add a small amount of kosher salt (so you don't get any iodine from table salt) to your lye water (I think I have read 1 tsp PPO) or you can add 1-3 % sodium lactate PPO to your lye water.

Sodium lactate is derived from vegetable sources, and helps harden your soap.

 

[LolaFalana]

The amount of butters you're using will significantly cut lather. I try to keep my butters under 15% in total. I personally don't care for more than 5% CB in soap.

If I made your recipes with the amount of CO you're using, I'd make the first with 8% SF and the other two probably a 10%-12% SF to combat the drying of coconut.

Of the three you posted, I'd go with #2 personally. Maybe add 5% to the OO and drop shea to 5%

I'll make it both ways with the SF to see exactly what you mean. I made the first recipe last night in a 1lb batch and it took the longest of any soap I've made to thicken up.
If CB at that amount is way too high like some of you have said I'll start at 4% and work my way up.

 

[LolaFalana]

You can check this site

http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/soap-making-oils.html

It has many oils listed, and the supposed qualities of each.

bookmarked

 

[shunt2011]

I'll make it both ways with the SF to see exactly what you mean. I made the first recipe last night in a 1lb batch and it took the longest of any soap I've made to thicken up.
If CB at that amount is way too high like some of you have said I'll start at 4% and work my way up.

That's part of the fun of making soap. You can make it anyway you want and then test it out to see how you like it.

You can take others suggestions or not. Totally your choice. :grin:

If you find it takes too long to trace then next time discount your liquid.

 

[Sonya-m]

I do look at both. I've never heard of Palm oil before soapmaking. Lard is something I won't ever use.

Just out of curiosity, why is this? Vegan/vegetarian reasons?

The only reason I ask is that it really does make a lovely bar of soap and is pretty cheap so a good one to use when starting to play about with changes to your recipe

 

[El_Granado_Loco]

I don't use neither palm oil nor lard either. I like butters at a low percentage, 10% at most, and have beautiful lather by 25% CO and 5% castor oil. I do need to cure a loooong time though, I leave them on the shelf for 4 months at least, I guess it 's the price for not using enough hard oils, you have to be prepared for that... :/

Water discount is a great technique, but it will still take longer even to have it hard enough to cut.

It sounds like giving yourself a hard time with no reason but the truth is, once you accept the fact, it 's not that big of a problem... I mean, it would be great to be able to use the soap right away. Now, if I have to wait a month, it 's already long for me...

Enjoy experimenting! The best part of it is that the possibilities are infinite!!

 

[LolaFalana]

Just out of curiosity, why is this? Vegan/vegetarian reasons?

The only reason I ask is that it really does make a lovely bar of soap and is pretty cheap so a good one to use when starting to play about with changes to your recipe

Lard is something I never put into my body if I could help it. So it's something I don't t slathered on my body. Also, my family/testers are non-pork eaters so it's something they wouldn't use either if they new I was using it.
Yes I'm missing out on that extra creamy bar and that sucks but...

Also if you are worried about your bar's hardness you can add a small amount of kosher salt (so you don't get any iodine from table salt) to your lye water (I think I have read 1 tsp PPO) or you can add 1-3 % sodium lactate PPO to your lye water.

Sodium lactate is derived from vegetable sources, and helps harden your soap.

I've used sodium lactate in a recipe with my guest soap silicone mold and it came out so smooth I loved it.

Would sea salt have the same effect? I have a case of it and it's not giving me the same effect that table salt give me.

I don't use neither palm oil nor lard either. I like butters at a low percentage, 10% at most, and have beautiful lather by 25% CO and 5% castor oil. I do need to cure a loooong time though, I leave them on the shelf for 4 months at least, I guess it 's the price for not using enough hard oils, you have to be prepared for that... :/

Water discount is a great technique, but it will still take longer even to have it hard enough to cut.

It sounds like giving yourself a hard time with no reason but the truth is, once you accept the fact, it 's not that big of a problem... I mean, it would be great to be able to use the soap right away. Now, if I have to wait a month, it 's already long for me...

Enjoy experimenting! The best part of it is that the possibilities are infinite!!

I have about half of 5 separate batches made last summer that I absolutely love. I have no problem waiting for the soaps to harden at all

What I meant by thicken up was when I poured it into the mold, I had to take it out twice and stick blend. Then I still had to leave the mold on the table for an hour before I could move it. I will definitely try a water discount suggested for this particular recipe. I will also tweek it because I'm using too much butter.

 

[El_Granado_Loco]

What I meant by thicken up was when I poured it into the mold, I had to take it out twice and stick blend. Then I still had to leave the mold on the table for an hour before I could move it.

So, if you don't take it out of the mold and stick blend again, does it separate? Maybe you only need to reach a thicker trace before pouring in the mold...?

I wonder if it could be the moisture... Where I normally soap (Athens), I never had to take it out again (yet..?), even when I poured at very thin trace. What does happen to me, using high OO and low hard oils percentage, is that in winter, trace takes a little longer (always depending on the scent) and I need to wait 3-4 days before cutting while in summer it's ready to cut in just 1 day...

But, while I was in Galicia (which is in Spain but with a huge moisture), I had three big failures with batches that never really thickened up. It took a very looooong time to get them to light trace and next day they were an ugly, oily mess. I had to leave Galicia for sad reasons before I got to some conclusion on the topic (I tended to think it was either the NaOH or the shea butter that both were of a... strange quality but never got to verify it), so when I left, I just blamed the soap fairies, bad vibes etc and never experienced that again... (up to now :wink

 

[shunt2011]

I agree that maybe you aren't bringing your batter far enough to hold together. I would blend it to a bit thicker trace. It sounds like it's separating as it's not emulsified enough to begin with. However, a water discount may help a great deal.