soap calc numbers

[Angela]

I was wondering what numbers do you all strive for ie, condition, lather, bubbly, hardness etc. for your perfect bar. Just me being curious...

 

[phpworm]

i like a really low cleansing number, 8-10.. bubble as high as I can get it while still keeping the hardness up.. ins at or around 160

 

[rubyslippers]

Ideal numbers I strive for are:
Hardness - 40 or above
Cleansing - Between 19 - 21 (anything above 21 seems too harsh for me)
Conditioning - Usually between 46 - 56 but I usually fall within the low 50's
Bubbly - as high as I can get
Creamy - also as high as I can get
Iodine - around 50ish
Ins - as high as I can get it without exceeding 165

 

[carebear]

i don't go by numbers any more. i've found if you think outside the box, the numbers don't work. for example, my 75% coconut oil soaps should be horridly stripping according to the soapcalc numbers, but they aren't because I use 25% something yummy and superfat to 15%.
\
then again, I've been at this quite a few years so I've had enough experience to get past them. ymmv

 

[eraweb]

I've been soaping for about *counts on fingers* 10-ish years, and I didn't even have a fancy soap calc when I got started. Just a crappy book and some advice from my great-gramma (whose mother made soap from fish oil in Norway *shudder*). They're a darn good tool to have, but I agree with carebear that there are some fabulous soaps that they just don't work for. But the basic recipes that I've been using for years fall into the ideal soap calc numbers.

cleansing: 10 - 21
conditioning: 45 - 60
bubbly: 28 - 35
creamy: 32 - 39
INS - 145 - 165

 

[rubyslippers]

i don't go by numbers any more. i've found if you think outside the box, the numbers don't work. for example, my 75% coconut oil soaps should be horridly stripping according to the soapcalc numbers, but they aren't because I use 25% something yummy and superfat to 15%.
\
then again, I've been at this quite a few years so I've had enough experience to get past them. ymmv

I've only got 1 yr experience under my belt so I've not taken too many risks and tried to adhere to "safe" numbers. I did, however, make a big mistake early on thinking....it's soap, isn't it? so if I can really get that cleaning number up that would be a good thing Wrong!!! I think it was only 23 or maybe 25 on the soap calc scale but that was waaaay to much cleaning power for my skin. When I have a confident moment I will attempt something like carebears 75% coconut bar. Definitely not tried superfatting at 15% yet but it sounds tempting.

 

[honor435]

I try and kinda stay in the guidelines of soap calc, but also trial and error, higher than 22 on cleansing, my skin didnt like. I like 25-28 bubbly. hardness, dont care about too much, it will get hard, eventually!

 

[carebear]

keep in mind that those numbers don't take into account the superfat. if you want to go higher on bubbles and it increases cleansing beyond what you think is ok, try it at a higher superfat.

keep in mind when doing high levels of solid oils (like my 75/25 soap) that you need to gel it or you will get thick, sticky ash, plus they can trace really fast AND/OR you can get false trace. takes some luck and practice.

 

[BakingNana]

As long as none of the numbers looks too out-of-whack, the only one I'm really concerned with is cleansing. I don't like to exceed 10. Too drying for me otherwise. I know INS to strive for is 160, but my all-time favorite soap came out at 137. Go figure.

 

[amiphant]

I've a stupid q to ask...what's the difference between hardness, iodine value and INS? they all looks like a "hardness" index to me....