Soon to be soap....once I get all the oils that is

[Moonshea Botanicals]

This seems to be a good bar to me. But I wanted the soap guru's opinions.

Moved to Recipe Feedback from CP.

 

[VanessaP]

20% castor oil is likely to be a very sticky soap. Plus, that's 80% soft oils - it will take it awhile to harden enough to take out of the mold. As well, I've seen that many soapers avoid soybean above 10-15% due to the risk of rancidity. Personally, I've never soaped soybean oil because I don't want to take the risk of DOS.

 

[VanessaP]

Another is that your combined linoleic and linolenic total is 23. Not sure how much emphasis to put on it, but I've always read that you should try to keep the combined totals at 15 or below to help avoid rancidity. Your hardness level is WAY low, even below the low point on the range; as well, your iodine level is higher than the high end of the range, another indicator that the soap will likely not last long and will melt away faster than a popsicle on a Florida summer sidewalk.

 

[Marilyna]

I do use soybean at 16% with no DOS issues, whatsoever, but I use 39% meat-based shortening (mostly tallow) which has a preservative that I'm guessing helps preserve my soy & canola (also used at 16%).

I would also recommend for you some more hard oils. If you're not averse to animal fats - lard or the meat based shortening would be good.

 

[new12soap]

Congrats that you are going to be able to get started, but I would really recommend that you knock that castor down to about 5% and get rid of the soybean entirely. You can replace it with lard, tallow, or palm oil, or you can make a very nice soap without any of those if you like and just use olive oil, coconut and a bit of castor.

Good luck!

 

[christinak]

When I formulate or check a recipe, I always make sure my values are between the soapcalc values. You've got some higher and some lower. I have found that I have NEVER had a problem if I am within the range and I wouldn't stray outside of it

The only solid you have there is coconut oil so you know your soap will be far too soft. I would at the least reduce the soybean and add another solid (shea, palm, cocoa).

I especially pay attention to the INS and the Iodine values...this will keep you from DOS or rancidity issues

Here is an EXCELLENT chart to use for your formulas! It will guide you to how much to use.

http://www.lovinsoap.com/oils-chart/

 

[melstan775]

I haven't been at this long as you well know, but I will agree with the others to reconsider your soybean. soaps with a hardness in the 30s are still soft enough to squeeze for a few weeks. this one will likely take days to weeks to be able to get out of the mold. You can do a mostly olive oil soap if you like. Olive oil soaps do get hard - rock hard, when they are finished curing. If you have any concerns about bar hardness, add 1tsp salt per pound of oil to your water and dissolve it fully before you add lye. you can also help the lather by adding 1tsp white sugar to the water dissolved before the lye as well. Good luck juli, I know you've been waiting a long time so I can't wait to see what you make!

 

[judymoody]

As others have said:

Decrease castor to 5-10%. I use 5%
If you use soy, keep it to 10-15% to limit DOS
Up coconut to 30%
For another hard oil, try palm or lard, if you're OK with animal fats.

Run this through soapcalc and see what you think:

Castor 5%
CO 30%
Soy 10%
Palm or Lard 20%
OO 35%
7% SF

Hardness, by the way, refers to solubility or how quickly the soap dissolves in water, not how easy it is to dent. You can use well aged Castille (100% olive oil) to pound nails but it will still dissolve quickly in the shower.

 

[Moonshea Botanicals]

ok...so lower soy & castor. I think I can get my hands on some pure Shea butter for not too bad a price (8oz for $14+tax). This look better?

 

[new12soap]

Um, $28/lb for shea butter is VERY high, IMO. I just googled and came up with this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Half-Pound-...225?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab0aca099 so you may want to do a little more comparison shopping.

Just curious, why do you still want to put soybean oil in your soap?

 

[Moonshea Botanicals]

The shea is at a Walgreens within walking distance of my house.
My mom went out and got me the soybean, castor & olive oils. She kinda expects me to use it. LOL

 

[christinak]

You still need to work out those last two...INS and Iodine They are much closer. I get all my supplies at Bulk Apothecary, check for a coupon code online before you buy....they almost always have one. From all my comparisons, shipping and their prices are always the lowest.

I'd try 15 on soybean and bump coconut to 25...that will probably fix those numbers.

 

[christinak]

Um, $28/lb for shea butter is VERY high, IMO. I just googled and came up with this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Half-Pound-...225?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab0aca099 so you may want to do a little more comparison shopping.

Just curious, why do you still want to put soybean oil in your soap?

Because it's cheap! You can also use less olive oil when you use it, it makes a great substitute.

 

[Moonshea Botanicals]

My mom is on this kick that all my supplies (now that my equipment is all bought or found, until the taxes FINALLY come in) can be bought locally. Which is true, but is a pain in the ***. But she is the purse I am just the maker.

 

[lizflowers42]

I agree-soybean is good to play with in the beginning-it's cheap and readily available. Since it's a small batch it will get used quickly too.

 

[melstan775]

you can also get one pound of each cocoa butter AND shea together for just $10 and shipping: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008SGIH1W/ref=gno_cart_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A18DVSPLUB4IR2

PS buying from Walgreens isn't really buying local. They are a corporation, so they distribute out of a distribution center, they do not procure locally in most cases. And it's going to be more expensive if you do that way.

 

[Moonshea Botanicals]

Save On Scents is not too far away from me. They have a pick-up option on check out so I just have to convince her that the drive is worth it. LOL

 

[AnitaB]

Um, $28/lb for shea butter is VERY high, IMO. I just googled and came up with this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Half-Pound-...225?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab0aca099 so you may want to do a little more comparison shopping.

Just curious, why do you still want to put soybean oil in your soap?

Soybean is really cheap, right? I bought it to make my 1st batch of cp, and made it today. But I am just a beginner too. Why would you not use it?

 

[kharmon320]

I do use soybean at approx 10-13%. When I first started soaping 14 years ago, I used much higher percentages of soybean and canola. I had oodles of bars that we stored for 8-9 years without any problems. However, many have experienced DOS (Dreaded Orange Spots) when using larger percentages of soybean.

I did an experiment last year with adding soybean and losing the shea butter. I didn't expect to like it, but it was one of my favorites in terms of lather. It has a great feel when you use the soap and bubbles beautifully.

 

[Marilyna]

Also love soybean and use it at 16% with no DOS issues and have used it since '99, so have tested it long-term. I do think it may depend on the rest of your recipe, though.