Simple Shampoo Bar

BLKTea · Nov 9, 2017

I was thinking about testing a recipe for a 1 Lb batch, thought id ask for opinions 1st.

80% Beef Tallow
20% Castor oil
1 egg yolk
~10% superfat
And I was thinking about steeping Lavender and Red Rose Buds in the water.

So what do you guys think?

Obsidian · Nov 9, 2017

Nope. You want really low cleansing and SF for a shampoo bar.
My shampoo bars are 5 for cleansing and the SF is 3.

BLKTea · Nov 9, 2017

This has a Cleansing of 6 so getting to 5 wont be hard. I'v seen multiple people in different posts say that soapcalc's SF% is of because of the 'Water as % of Oils' or something. how would i make sure i get an accurate low SF%?

SudsanSoaps · Nov 9, 2017

Water percentage of oils should make no difference on lye. You could change it to lye concentration or water/lye ratio but it should change the actual amount of lye.

What I'm thinking and I could be wrong on is that you could even do a 0% superfat and be fine and most lye is not 100% pure, it absorbs water. But I second what Obsidian said about a low SF. I made a bar with 7% I believe and it made my hair feel gummy.

Obsidian · Nov 9, 2017

Sorry, I should have wrote more but was in a hurry. 20% castor is a lot, even for a shampoo bar, I would only use 10% I'm not a fan of tallow except for in shaving soap but I don't know how it will be for shampoo. My shampoo bars have a lot of liquid oils and some shea along with castor.

SF doesn't have anything to do with the water amount. On soapcal, on the right hand side up towards the top there is a SF% spot, change it from 5 to 3. Too much SF will leave your hair gunky or oily. If you want a little oil in your hair, rub in a drop after its been washed.

The water as % of oils is a pain, instead check the box for lye concentration and put in 33. Its a good concentration for most all recipes.