Those using avocado oil in soaps

[penderfamily]

Hi I need some assistance

I realize now that avocado oil has a very high percentage of unsaponifiables...hope I spelled that right!

So what is too much. If using olive oil, sunflower oil, and avocado oil and jojoba oil as a base with superfatting. How can I make a proper soap with these oils? because my measurements/ratios so far have ended up with a really oily, gushy, sloppy yucky soap. it's very oily and zaps.

Such a waste and I feel so bad!!

I am using crock pot method. Please HELP!!

 

[dagmar88]

IMO, you need something that gives your soap hardness and bubbles; that's most commonly coconut oil or palm kernal oil.
I like the combo of coconut oil and palm oil.

 

[penderfamily]

So there would be no way with those above oils for me to get enough hardness out of it?

 

[kommon_sense]

If you haven't already, you should run your recipe through a soap calculator. It doesn't appear that any of your oils will contribute any real hardness to the soap.

I've had good luck with : http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp

 

[dagmar88]

So there would be no way with those above oils for me to get enough hardness out of it?

Yes, you could make 'bastille', with just olive oil and 5-10% of other oils...

 

[penderfamily]

does olive oil get hard enough?

 

[TessC]

A pure olive oil soap ends up brick-hard after a proper cure, so yes, a high % olive oil soap can be nice and hard. My favorite recipe right now has 65% oo, it needs some extra time in the mold and a long cure, but it ends up hard as a rock.

 

[penderfamily]

TessV thanks for the encouragement! Because when I mixed everything the lye still zapped, and it was supper mushy and runny.

I would liek to make a shampoo bar with a higher content of olive oil. So if I riased the amount of olive then I could make it work with a little less of the other oils? has anyone done a higher olive oil percentage in crock pot?

 

[Deda]

I use AO in several of my soaps. They are rock hard after curing.

I would suggest you test several small batches and then let them cure for 30, 60 and 90 days to see which you prefer.

 

[penderfamily]

Okay I am going to have to do major testing then because I made a HUGE oily mess today and the lye still zapped me FOREVER. I didn't think it'd be this hard...darn it! well it's fun regardless but obviously don't want to waste a bunch of money so smaller batches then right? that's possible with a crock pot right?

 

[ToniD]

I don't do crock pot soap, but I twice ended up with a real mess--sounds like what you described in the first entry....sloppy, weeping, UGH

I mismeasured my stuff and ended up with a lye heavy soap.

I mismeasured because my scale was in a ziplock bag and I sat the bucket of oil on the bag, pulling on the corner, which registered as weight.

All that to say---maybe a scale problem?

 

[NancyRogers]

I had the same problem with the bag over the scale. It totally messes up my measurements. I'd rather take a chance on ruining the scale than on giving my family lye heavy soap. No bag for me.

 

[penderfamily]

hhhmm it's a good thought but we place only a piece of paper towel or saran wrap over it, and then we press tare and go from there. So I kind of highly doubt it but it does sound and feel very heavy with lye. Because it cooked FOREVER. It was so greasy and oily. I even tried to pour the second batch into my wooden soap mould (lined with freezer paper) and it ate through (pretty sure) because I have big brown patches on it here and there now. I think I ruined my wood mould. not sure if I can still use it. It doesn't look warped but I'm not happy.

One soap maker just told me to add a harder oil and I think I am going to take the plunge and just lower my avocado oil content, and add coconut oil to the recipe.

Someone had said how coconut oil can be drying but so many people use it. It becomes so confusing. I then read not to add more then 30 % so I got it down to about 18-20% of my recipe about. Is that alright and about 10% avocado oil and then the rest

 

[penderfamily]

I kind of doubt it as well because I have 5 other recipes we have made successfully and I just bought the scale recently. This was a first for me and avocado