TD plus Cornstarch plus SL plus stearic...

[new12soap]

When is enough too much?

Let's say I want a nice white bar of soap so I use TD. This is for someone with skin problems so maybe I add some zinc oxide too. I want to use a citrus scent so I need to anchor it with a bit of cornstarch. I want to make sure the bars are nice and firm so I am using stearic acid. I do hot process and sodium lactate helps keep the batter nice and fluid for a smooth pour... And I haven't even gotten to fragrance or anything else yet!

So my question is how many of these "extras" are enough and when is it too much? At some point this concoction is going to be more chalk than soap. Do some of these work well in combination, others maybe not so much? Any tips are appreciated!

 

[VanessaP]

Well, my mother has major skin issues, and it looks like my daughter will to. Personally, if its already known that the person has skin problems, I wouldn't worry about the color of the soap and forego the TD all together as well as the zinc oxide - as the soap is a rinse off product, I don't know how much benefit the ZO would provide. I would just make as mild of a soap as possible for them with as few additives as possible.

 

[Fragola]

Cornstarch doesn't seem to add that much chalkiness.

If you feel ZnO is good for your soap, I'd skip the TD.

Stearic isn't really an extra, it turns into soap.

I never used SL, can't comment on that one. But alternatively, you can add a little sugar and maybe a tiny bit of glycerine.

Oh, my ! Can't believe I'm suggesting more additives !

 

[Sue Bear]

Cornstarch doesn't seem to add that much chalkiness.

If you feel ZnO is good for your soap, I'd skip the TD.

Stearic isn't really an extra, it turns into soap.

I never used SL, can't comment on that one. But alternatively, you can add a little sugar and maybe a tiny bit of glycerine.

Oh, my ! Can't believe I'm suggesting more additives !

Once I tried SL in my soaps I ditched stearic acid forever. I use it in every batch.

 

[Mouse]

What does sodium lactate do?

 

[Sue Bear]

What does sodium lactate do?

"Sodium lactate is a natural moisturizer, humectant, and pH regulator used in soaps, lotions, shampoo, and other bath products. Sodium lactate can replace vegetable glycerin in lotion formulations. Sodium lactate is used in cold process soap to harden the soap."

This came from the description off the NG website.

 

[new12soap]

Thanks everyone

I wasn't giving a literal recipe, just naming some of the many things I have heard of that contribute different things to soap and wondering when you can and can't mix them. Is there a general rule? Do some not mix well with others?

I haven't tried sodium lactate yet, but I use stearic in everything because it seems to help as something of a preservative and so far I have been able to avoid DOS when I use it, which has been a problem for me in the past. I see references to replacing stearic with SL for hardness, will it also help preserve the bars?

 

[Fragola]

I use stearic in everything because it seems to help as something of a preservative

Never heard it to be listed as a preservative.

But you could be on to something there ... For example, maybe extra hardness makes a bar less prone to DOS.

 

[IrishLass]

Well, stearic is very stable - way more stable than your linoleic/linolenic/oliec acids which are found in abundance in the softer oils. Although I've never heard of using stearic itself as an individual additive to stave off DOS, it does seem to make some sense to me seeing as how DOS is fairly rare to non-existent in soap recipes that are formulated to contain a healthy balance of the harder, shelf-stable, high stearic fats in proportion to the softer, less shelf-stable fats. Very interesting.

Having said that, though, I don't know if SL would have the same 'DOS preventing' effect as stearic seeing as how they are two different animals. I use SL in almost every batch and never get DOS, but then again, I never got DOS before using SL either (except for that infamous batch of highly superfatted Canola Oil soap I made once). I use SL mainly for the creamy, milk-like 'oomph' or extra 'body' it gives to my lather and for the way it makes unmolding easier (and the little bit of extra hardness is nice, too). Another nice thing about SL is that it's great to add to HP batches for a smoother pour. Oh- and another- it doesn't accelerate trace like stearic does.

Other things that soapers use in their soap that have been proven to stave off DOS are tetrasodium EDTA, or a combination of BHT and Sodium Citrate.


IrishLass

 

[new12soap]

Thanks again to all.

The first 2 batches of soap I made were both high in olive oil, and I superfatted at the recommended 5-8%, and both had DOS within a month. All my oils were fresh, I followed recipes and ran them through online lye calculators to make sure of my measurements. BUT, I do live in a very warm humid swamp-like climate, NOTHING keeps well here unless it is refrigerated. Since then I have dropped my SF to 2-3% and started using stearic acid, and so far so good. The only thing I dislike about crock pot hot process tho is the texture, I would prefer a smoother creamier easier to pour soap batter, so the next time I order anything online I will have to remember to try some of this SL since I cannot find it locally.

I think I am going to try to keep all of my additives to a fair minimum, and then experiment a little at a time adding others... Oh, darn, guess I will just have to keep making more soap...