Thoughts on this recipe

[MatthewDM]

I am a complete newbie. What are your thoughts on this CP recipe? What changes do you recommend? Anything you think I should add, omit?

30% olive oil pomace
30% coconut oil (76 degree)
15% castor
10% advocado oil
8% Shea butter (raw)
5% sunflower oil
2% jojoba

Super fatted 3% with Shea butter (raw)


Thanks :-D (moved)

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Can you also let us know why you like this recipe, this mix of oils? Or is it just a stab in the dark/recipe from somewhere?

First of all, if you are doing CP then you CANNOT selectively superfat. Adding an oil in at trace means that it is not in with the lye for at most 1/24th of the time it takes for the process to happen. If you're doing CP, you might as well add all the oils in together to make it easier as it really makes no difference at all to the end result.

Other than that, I feel that the coconut is high - many people (but far from all, to be fair) find a soap with so much CO to be too harsh on the skin.

Castor oil is usually used at 5%, maybe 10% at a push but most usually 5%. At 15% you might start actually adversely affecting the lather (a little castor helps bubbles, too much stops it) and maybe even having a slimy-feeling soap.

As a newbie, maybe try something along the lines of

CO 20%
Olive 35%
Palm/lard 40%
Castor 5%

with a 5% lye discount/superfat.

That way you can get used to making soap with out worrying too much about a tiny % of jojoba and sunflower and so on - get used to the process and how the soap reacts, then add in/take out things and play to see what happens

 

[Seawolfe]

+1 to what EG said - you can't selectively superfat CP soap

I actually do use that much CO sometimes, but when I do I need to superfat closer to 10%.

I'd worry that the Castor was too high and make the bar sticky, and I don't see the point in such a small amount of jojoba. I have read that with the exception of things like beeswax or stearic acid, anything under 5% cant be discerned.

I like EG's recipe for a first batch - but if you dont have lard or palm try this:

CO 20%
Olive 40%
Avocado 15%
Shea 20%
Castor 5%

with a 5% SF/lye discount.

 

[Susie]

Can you also let us know why you like this recipe, this mix of oils? Or is it just a stab in the dark/recipe from somewhere?

First of all, if you are doing CP then you CANNOT selectively superfat. Adding an oil in at trace means that it is not in with the lye for at most 1/24th of the time it takes for the process to happen. If you're doing CP, you might as well add all the oils in together to make it easier as it really makes no difference at all to the end result.

Other than that, I feel that the coconut is high - many people (but far from all, to be fair) find a soap with so much CO to be too harsh on the skin.

Castor oil is usually used at 5%, maybe 10% at a push but most usually 5%. At 15% you might start actually adversely affecting the lather (a little castor helps bubbles, too much stops it) and maybe even having a slimy-feeling soap.

As a newbie, maybe try something along the lines of

CO 20%
Olive 35%
Palm/lard 40%
Castor 5%

with a 5% lye discount/superfat.

That way you can get used to making soap with out worrying too much about a tiny % of jojoba and sunflower and so on - get used to the process and how the soap reacts, then add in/take out things and play to see what happens

^This

One of the worst things a brand newbie can do is use over 4 oils on the first batch. Just too much going on to distinguish what oil is doing what. Get a basic 3-4 oil recipe, then add /subtract once you have a baseline by which to measure all other recipes.

 

[MatthewDM]

Thanks!!

Thanks!!!

Can you also let us know why you like this recipe, this mix of oils? Or is it just a stab in the dark/recipe from somewhere?

First of all, if you are doing CP then you CANNOT selectively superfat. Adding an oil in at trace means that it is not in with the lye for at most 1/24th of the time it takes for the process to happen. If you're doing CP, you might as well add all the oils in together to make it easier as it really makes no difference at all to the end result.

Other than that, I feel that the coconut is high - many people (but far from all, to be fair) find a soap with so much CO to be too harsh on the skin.

Castor oil is usually used at 5%, maybe 10% at a push but most usually 5%. At 15% you might start actually adversely affecting the lather (a little castor helps bubbles, too much stops it) and maybe even having a slimy-feeling soap.

As a newbie, maybe try something along the lines of

CO 20%
Olive 35%
Palm/lard 40%
Castor 5%

with a 5% lye discount/superfat.

That way you can get used to making soap with out worrying too much about a tiny % of jojoba and sunflower and so on - get used to the process and how the soap reacts, then add in/take out things and play to see what happens