Soaps are very drying

[shaan]

I made a few batches of soap and kept it for curing..after a month these soaps were good..bt after two months,some more than that.. they are realy hard and very drying on skin,even in summers..what should I do now? Shoud I rebatch? Bt how? I superfatted all these batches at 5-7% ..I used goats milk in one,one with 60% olive oil,one with carrot juice..all are very drying. what should I do to make future batches moisturising? Is there a particular curing time for different soaps..pls suggest.

 

[Saponista]

What other oils did you use along with olive? Too much coconut oil can be drying.

 

[Obsidian]

I have quite dry skin and can only use 15% coconut oil in my soap. I SF at 8%-10%

 

[Lion Of Judah]

seems like you have very sensitive skin. as Saponista stated start with the amount of coconut oil you are using in your soaps , you may have to bring it down some. i would figure the soap with the OO at 60% would have been ideal for you and SF 5-7% but it would seem that you have to fine tune it a little more just for you . does anyone else in your home use your soaps and find the same thing happening to them as well ?? do you use shea or cocoa butter in your soaps? there is nothing wrong with your curing time , it has to do with your cleansing properties of your soap. when using your lye calculator try getting the "cleaning" down to about 13 or lower.

 

[Jenn2980]

What was your recipe? You need the right balance of oils for a soap to not be drying.

 

[Saponista]

My skin is very sensitive and I make shower bars completely coconut free or I find them too harsh. I just add sugar in the form of milk or honey to increase bubbles.

 

[navigator9]

You might try adding some avocado oil to your recipe.

 

[shaan]

I dont add more than 20% of coconut oil.. I added 10% coconut with olive and castor oil.. Yes cleansing in soapcalc was always between 15-17..other members of my family are facing the same problem..now what can I do?:what:

 

[Obsidian]

Please post your complete recipe. There are other oils that raise the cleansing number besides coconut. I try and keep my cleansing numbers at 10-14.

 

[Twiggy]

My first guess was also coconut oil- my skin on 20% of it is bone dry :/ I had to go down to 17 % with it in my recipies.

 

[coffeetime]

I find my soaps with higher olive oil % need a longer cure time. Like 4 months. It took 6 months for my castile to not be drying to me, but then my skin doesn't like olive oil.

Have you checked your scale for accuracy? If you mismeasured, you might not have the superfat you think you do. I check mine every couple of batches.

 

[shaan]

It was olive oil-65%, palm-15%,coconut-15%,castor-5% I made 500 grms batch..added lye-66 g,water-175g. Cleansing-10,condition-68.

Yes I measured properly,bringing to tare in each measurement.

 

[coffeetime]

You might just want to give it more time then.

 

[cmzaha]

Unfortunetly some people just cannot use lye soap. You might try using a mild m&p soap or making your own glycerin soap. Also have you tried a castile soap. I have a couple of customers that can only use a well aged castile soap and I have a few that can only use a very mild m&p soap. Also you might want to get your cleansing number below nine and adding in sugar as stated above. I have also made 85% shea, 10% avocado and 5% castor with sugar added. Makes a very nice bar of soap, not the greatest lather but feels good

 

[shaan]

Thanx all for you suggestions..I will try castile and m&p.. Will try to get cleansing number lower,bt then hardness on numbers also decreases.

 

[elmtree]

Unfortunetly some people just cannot use lye soap. You might try using a mild m&p soap or making your own glycerin soap. Also have you tried a castile soap. I have a couple of customers that can only use a well aged castile soap and I have a few that can only use a very mild m&p soap. Also you might want to get your cleansing number below nine and adding in sugar as stated above. I have also made 85% shea, 10% avocado and 5% castor with sugar added. Makes a very nice bar of soap, not the greatest lather but feels good

Not to hijack but I'm curious about your 85% shea butter. Doesn't a bar like that get really mushy when you
get half way through the bar? I would love to have bars with more shea.

 

[Obsidian]

I ran your recipe through soapcalc and according to the recipe you gave, its superfat is -2, you used too much lye. For a SF of 5% you need 61gr and for 7% you need 60.4 gr.

 

[shaan]

Thanx obsidian! I entered everything correctly..I dont know how I went wrong..but now what should be done of these soaps?

 

[coffeetime]

Grate them up for laundry soap!

 

[shaan]

http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/ViewRecipe.asp