Shea butter + ? Soap

[Steve85569]

That is interesting. How long do you cure it for?

Made in 2012 so 4 YEARS.

 

[cmzaha]

I initially cured the bars for 6 months and they still lathered decently, of course not as nice as now. You will see with my previous posts I have tried varying amounts of shea. The one made in 2012 is the one I am using now and it is lovely.

 

[WanderlustSoaps]

If you want bubbles, you need some oil that creates a lot of bubbles.

Malianshea, This is a list of all of the soaping oils I have with a bubbly value above 65 out of 100. These oils come from a database I have developed with more than 160 different soaping oils. Hope this helps you to choose an oil / butter that will work with your high shea recipe.

Aloe Vera Butter 63
Babassu Nut Oil 70
Castor Oil 90
Coconut Oil 67
Murumuru Butter 73
Nutmeg Butter 86
Palm Kernel Flakes (Palm Butter) 66
Palm Kernel Oil 65
Tucuma Seed Butter 71

 

[shunt2011]

Your data isn't correct. Castor does not create bubbles. It stabilizes the bubbles. Also your mixed butters are generally mixed with veggie oils such as aloe butter. They aren't likely to provide bubbles either. Babassu, coconut and PKO or sugar will do what those really can't. PKO I've never heard it referred to Palm butter so would like to know where you found your information.

 

[ngian]

Well shea butter belongs in the palmitic/stearic FA oils family, and from my own experience it can be used in place of palm oil. Someone can use it at 50% or more (I've used it at 70%) but for the fact that it has more of the less-soluble stearic FA, the bubbly oils (CO, PKO) can go up to 30-35% in the recipe, and because shea also has more unsaponifiable ingredients than normal, you can use less lye discount (1-2%), in order to make an acceptable bubbly soap bar.

 

[lsg]

I don't use over 15% shea butter. Using a high percentage of any butter will reduce bubbly lather. Try using 20% coconut oil, 8% Castor oil, 15% shea butter and 37% olive oil and 20% palm. For myself, I like about 30% coconut oil, but that may be too high for some people. With my family, it works well.

 

[Malianshea]

Why is there so much contradictions about how to get bubbles. Those who say this or that won't work, did you try and get bad results?

 

[shunt2011]

Why is there so much contradictions about how to get bubbles. Those who say this or that won't work, did you try and get bad results?

That's exactly how people have found what works and doesn't work.

There are many soapers here who have done the work and shared their valuable finds with the rest of us. There have been several single oil soap experiments done.

However, you are more than welcome to test things on your own as well. Just to see first hand if it works or not.

 

[Scooter]

Why is there so much contradictions about how to get bubbles. Those who say this or that won't work, did you try and get bad results?

Also there can be a difference in bubble preferences. A lot of people seem to like large bubbles in their lather. But others prefer creamy lather and small bubbles. And I am sure there have to be others who are completely indifferent on the bubbly-to-creamy scale and value something else, perhaps conditioning ability, over lathering ability.

So to each his or her own. The cool thing is you get to experiment, decide what you like, and then stick with that. I really value the advice of folks who have been doing this a long time, since I feel like it saves me from going down some unnecessary blind alleys.

Scooter

 

[Malianshea]

Hello.

SHUNT 2011
hello yes and this is what I did. There is no castor oil nor palm kernel oil in my soap but high level shea , oilive oil and palm oil. And there is a good foam I'm really satisfied with the bubbles and the conditionning (you meanin softening right?) Of the soap.

SCOOTER
you're right.I also think it is the main reason for those contradictions cause I definitely had bubbles with my recipe at my first attempt so I just can get it when I'm told that It won't make good bubbles.


I still have questions, every time, the trace comes super fast here. As soon as I put the lye/water mixture to oils, the whole thing get suddenly thicker. Is it because it is hot in my place ? because I don't have to mix more than few seconds so it get really thick,if I mix more it becomes super hard and moldind also is always hard so I'm afraid to add things at the trace since I wont be able to mix it well.

And when I do the zap or tongue test even 2 or 3 days after I made the soap there is not zap it's like it cured for weeks. But I let it for weeks to be sure it can't be harmful.
So what do you think all this can be due to?

And to finish I want to find soap molds so I can make a lot at the same time and I want a print inside it (the print of my choice) but I'm asked for the dimensions. I want the dimensions for common 190g soap. But how do you know the dimensions of it?

Thank you again for your time

 

[dillsandwitch]

Hello.

I still have questions, every time, the trace comes super fast here. As soon as I put the lye/water mixture to oils, the whole thing get suddenly thicker. Is it because it is hot in my place ? because I don't have to mix more than few seconds so it get really thick,if I mix more it becomes super hard and moldind also is always hard so I'm afraid to add things at the trace since I wont be able to mix it well.

And when I do the zap or tongue test even 2 or 3 days after I made the soap there is not zap it's like it cured for weeks. But I let it for weeks to be sure it can't be harmful.
So what do you think all this can be due to?

And to finish I want to find soap molds so I can make a lot at the same time and I want a print inside it (the print of my choice) but I'm asked for the dimensions. I want the dimensions for common 190g soap. But how do you know the dimensions of it?

Thank you again for your time

The trace could be accelerated by the heat. What temps are we taking about both in your house and the soap and lye temps?

In regards to the zap test. Most soaps will only zap for a day or 2 after they are made while the saponification is completing. Technically a soap is safe as soon as it stops zapping. The reason for curing soaps is so it can loose excess water and do its soapy chemical chains thing. Deeanna explains it well in this thread here http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=35831&highlight=cure+deeanna

depending on what shape and thickness you want your soap to be will depend on the dimensions of the mould needed to make that particular soap. If there is a commercial soap you like the look of just copy its dimensions would be my suggestion.

Hope that helps