Rubbery soap!

[LoveSonam]

Hi, I am new to soap making and absolutely love it so far. However, me being an extra unnecessary perfectionist I wanted to find out how to fix the rubbery, squeaky clean feeling after you rinse your hands with the soap.
Things I have tried and not worked
- Superfatting at 7% instead of 5%
- Not used more than 20% of coconut oil in my recipe
- Used creamier oils such as Olive and castor oil

I am yet to add sodium lactate to the recipe, so I will see how that goes. Are there any other suggestions? or something to look out for?
Thank you, I appreciate you in advance.

 

[AliOop]

Welcome to SMF. Regarding your question, how long did you cure the soap before using it?

Also, if you will share your complete recipe (including all additives) and process, then we can more accurately pinpoint the issues and suggest some changes that might help you achieve the kind of soap you like.

 

[Megan]

From my experience, it's most likely hard water. Adding a chelator should help.

 

[LoveSonam]

Thank you AliOop for your response!

I usually cure my soap for 4 weeks minimum.
This recipe, I cured for 12 weeks plus and it leaves an ever so slight tingle feeling (like you have walked into the cold air without drying your hands - is that normal)
5% superfat

Water - 95g
Lye - 40.4g
Oils - 250g
(Avacado 87.5)
(Safflower 75g)
(Coconut 87g) - organic, refined

Additives
Essential oils (Lemon, clove bud, cedarwood and orange)

I mixed the oil and lye water at 25 degrees


The more recent soap I made, only cured for 9 weeks
5% superfat

Water - 152g
Lye - 57.02g
Oils - 400g
(Apricot kernel 160)
(Avacado 80)
(Coconut 60)
(Castor 40)
(Olive 60)

No additives
Saponified at 25 degrees

My new recipe which I trialled last week, was an absolute disaster but thank you for reading thus far!

From my experience, it's most likely hard water. Adding a chelator should help.

Thank you!
By chelator do you mean using citric acid or Glucono Delta Lactone? Or is there something else?

 

[Megan]

I usually cure my soap for 4 weeks minimum.
This recipe, I cured for 12 weeks plus and it leaves an ever so slight tingle feeling (like you have walked into the cold air without drying your hands - is that normal)
5% superfat

The tingle is possibly concerning. However, it could just be a reaction to one of the essential oils. Have you checked your scale for accuracy lately? I know that an American nickel weighs 5 g...but that doesn't help you much in England. I personally have a set of calibration weights for my scale and I like to check every fortnight or so.

Thank you!
By chelator do you mean using citric acid or Glucono Delta Lactone? Or is there something else?

You can use neutralized citric acid, EDTA, it looks like GDL (although I personally use Sodium Gluconate). From what I know, these are the most commonly used in soapmaking.

 

[LoveSonam]

The tingle is possibly concerning. However, it could just be a reaction to one of the essential oils. Have you checked your scale for accuracy lately? I know that an American nickel weighs 5 g...but that doesn't help you much in England. I personally have a set of calibration weights for my scale and I like to check every fortnight or so.



You can use neutralized citric acid, EDTA, it looks like GDL (although I personally use Sodium Gluconate). From what I know, these are the most commonly used in soapmaking.

Thank you for all this useful information! Do you recommend certain websites to purchase essential oils or is it one of those things where random essential oils will have random effects to it? Thank you, I will check out my scales and calibrate them.

Yes, thank you! I am definitely learning a lot. After a quick google, Sodium Gluconate seems be the most safest? I will try this!

 

[Megan]

Thank you for all this useful information! Do you recommend certain websites to purchase essential oils or is it one of those things where random essential oils will have random effects to it? Thank you, I will check out my scales and calibrate them.

Yes, thank you! I am definitely learning a lot. After a quick google, Sodium Gluconate seems be the most safest? I will try this!

I mean, buying from reputable suppliers is definitely important...but you could just have a sensitivity to specific EOs.
You also have to be careful to calculate your usage rates (and maybe you are, but I know many people will measure by drops and dashes when starting). Clove in particular has a very low usage rate, so could cause irritation.

 

[AliOop]

I agree with Megan that the clove bud EO is a likely culprit for the skin irritation.

 

[GemstonePony]

EO calc is a great resource for EO safe usage rates, particularly for blends so you don't add too much EO in general. The highest amount of Clove Bud EO it would recommend (in a blend) is .6% of the weight of your oils, or 1.5grams for your batch. How much did you use?

 

[Carly B]

I agree about the essential oils. I had a similar problem with thyme EO. I only use FOs with thyme notes now when I want that fragrance profile (hubby LOVES the smell of thyme). But clove and cinnamon also can cause problems, as the more experienced soapers have said.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Agree about the EO usage rates - but also I think you might want to have a look at other ingredients for perfecting your base recipe too.
The first step you could try is making the same recipe with a small amount of, say, lemon or orange EO only. This is much less likely to be irritating that clove EO. If the soap feels OK then you have your answer.
If the soap still feels 'squeaky clean' then the problem lies with your recipe, and you might need to do some further experimentation to get it right. Remember that homemade soap usually feels different to commercial soap - particularly to liquid soap which many of us have become accustomed to using. Most commercial liquid soap is not soap at all - rather a combination of synthetic detergents with additives. Does the soap feel drying on your hands, and is the skin 'tight' after use? Or do your hands feel damp and soft?
I suggest maybe ditching the avocado oil and/or other expensive oils while you are testing, it can get quite expensive otherwise.
Are you using palm or animal fats? It seems it might be good to include something to add to your palmitic/stearic acid components. I don't use either of those, and as a substitute I started out by using shea and/or cocoa butter. This might help to create a more well-rounded recipe.
Hard water is definitely a consideration in London ( I lived there for ten years). And I would recommend not increasing your superfat too high with the old plumbing over there!
Lastly, I found this helpful in my early days. It's not the final word, and is only one person's opinion, but its nonetheless helpful in getting your head around some of the fatty acid profiles.
Good luck!

 

[LoveSonam]

EO calc is a great resource for EO safe usage rates, particularly for blends so you don't add too much EO in general. The highest amount of Clove Bud EO it would recommend (in a blend) is .6% of the weight of your oils, or 1.5grams for your batch. How much did you use?

Ah okay! I used.... I cannot even say, probably a few drops, which is not a good measurement at all!!

 

[LoveSonam]

Agree about the EO usage rates - but also I think you might want to have a look at other ingredients for perfecting your base recipe too.
The first step you could try is making the same recipe with a small amount of, say, lemon or orange EO only. This is much less likely to be irritating that clove EO. If the soap feels OK then you have your answer.
If the soap still feels 'squeaky clean' then the problem lies with your recipe, and you might need to do some further experimentation to get it right. Remember that homemade soap usually feels different to commercial soap - particularly to liquid soap which many of us have become accustomed to using. Most commercial liquid soap is not soap at all - rather a combination of synthetic detergents with additives. Does the soap feel drying on your hands, and is the skin 'tight' after use? Or do your hands feel damp and soft?
I suggest maybe ditching the avocado oil and/or other expensive oils while you are testing, it can get quite expensive otherwise.
Are you using palm or animal fats? It seems it might be good to include something to add to your palmitic/stearic acid components. I don't use either of those, and as a substitute I started out by using shea and/or cocoa butter. This might help to create a more well-rounded recipe.
Hard water is definitely a consideration in London ( I lived there for ten years). And I would recommend not increasing your superfat too high with the old plumbing over there!
Lastly, I found this helpful in my early days. It's not the final word, and is only one person's opinion, but its nonetheless helpful in getting your head around some of the fatty acid profiles.
Good luck!

Thank you so much, I really appreciate the guidance! I am still experimenting for sure and it is most definitely the soap recipe.
I have found the Soapery.com to get my carrier oils, I think the prices are pretty decent? Okay, yes, I have been playing around with what type of fatty acid I need more/less of. I am not using animal fats but yeah I have been experimenting with shea butter.
I am looking into a chelating agent, but came across hydrolats?? Interesting - I saw on here that someone successfully froze it and used it to mix with lye. This is something I might try and see how it goes too (most websites like Bayhouse aromatics have a £50 minimum spend so I might as well get the most out of that).

Thank you for your helpful insight!!

 

[GemstonePony]

Ah okay! I used.... I cannot even say, probably a few drops, which is not a good measurement at all!!

A few drops for your entire batch might be fine. You might be reacting badly to one of the other EOs, in which case I'd take your cheapest liquid oil and do 100 drops oil to 1 drop EO for each EO that isn't Clove Bud- that one would be 200 drops. Then put a drop from each solution on a different area of your hand, and leave it for a minute if necessary before washing it off. If course, if a drop makes your skin tingle before a minute, wash it sooner. And don't use your EO soap, that'll throw the experiment off. If no culprit appears, it may have been the amount of EOs combined.

 

[LoveSonam]

A few drops for your entire batch might be fine. You might be reacting badly to one of the other EOs, in which case I'd take your cheapest liquid oil and do 100 drops oil to 1 drop EO for each EO that isn't Clove Bud- that one would be 200 drops. Then put a drop from each solution on a different area of your hand, and leave it for a minute if necessary before washing it off. If course, if a drop makes your skin tingle before a minute, wash it sooner. And don't use your EO soap, that'll throw the experiment off. If no culprit appears, it may have been the amount of EOs combined.

Thank you, I really appreciate the advice! I will definitely try that, that sounds like a good way to test it out!