what are your fave ratios for OO, CO, PO and castor

[jsanders]

If this has been discussed a lot here on the forum I'm sorry, I searched. I've noticed a lot of recipes on the net that have CO as the big % oil and some that have PO and CO equal with low OO and some castor. Then I found one that had castor really high%.

I know I can use soapcalc but I just want to hear what you do.

 

[busymakinsoap!]

There isnt really a right or wrong recipe. There are guidelines you can follow, but at the end of the day soap calc and experimenting are the best tools to find what works for you in your recipe.

The Zen single soap swap (sorry dont have link handy but it can be googled) gives you an idea of what oils bring to your bar and what dont hold up well in soap, and thefore should be kept to a minimum (less than 10% or not used at all)
As for the oils you mentioned, they are all pretty stable and can really be used at any percentage.

Coconut can be drying if used at higher percentages than 25 - 30, but you can counteract this by upping your superfat.
Castor - can cause a sticky bar if you use a high percentage, so it is usually used at around 5%, however I have heard of others using higher.
Olive oil - takes a while to cure, and can cause a slimy bar, but it is gentle, so it depends on what type of bar you are going for.
Palm oil - I don't use Palm any more but used to use it at around 20 - 25%, it makes a nice hard bar, but I'm not sure how high you would want to go with it?

I hope this helps

 

[Guywithsoap?]

I make a 100 percent Olive Oil and like how it turns out. Not slimey, hard, and also no DOS.

I made a crisco soap and the resulting soaps were not great. Some of the soap has developed DOS and also it sometimes sweats in storage even after almost a year.

 

[AmyW]

PO + CO = about 65% (best to experiment with what you like, I like 20-30% CO but many people find 30% drying)
OO = about 30%
Castor = about 5%

Really, the first 3 you can just mess around with and any amount will work. I wouldn't use over 10% castor (people have had success with it, I personally don't want to experiment because the lower amount works perfect for me). But the other 3 - have fun making different batches because all of them in differing amounts will turn out fine.

 

[jsanders]

Thanks. I've read a lot of the info regarding what different oils do for soap and it is interesting to experiment. I just wanted some opinions about general use bars.

Thanks again.

 

[FreeRabbit]

high OO% usually comes out good, if you can keep away from DOS you can have a mild, hydrating soap, which many people appriciate

 

[maryannm]

Since I just play around with soap as a hobby, I almost never make the same recipe twice - at least on purpose - but in general, my OO is from 35-50%, CO, around 20% most of the time, Castor - 5-8%. The rest is palm or lard and then whatever fancy schmancy stuff I feel like adding.

 

[Maythorn]

I've almost always used castor oil at 6%. I like to be able to notice it in the lather. Coconut I'm doing at 24% right now.

 

[adoptapitbull]

I think I'm sensitive to CO because I find most soap to be drying. I keep mine at 20%.

 

[vjbakke]

How would this combo be?

40% OO
25% CO
30% PO
5% castor

8% super fat

i ran this through soap calc and it looks like a good combo? I was thinking of tying it as a goat milk soap.

 

[Hazel]

Looks good to me. Those are approximately the percentages I use in my soaps.

 

[Maythorn]

How would this combo be?

40% OO
25% CO
30% PO
5% castor

8% super fat

i ran this through soap calc and it looks like a good combo? I was thinking of tying it as a goat milk soap.

Lookss good. It's very similar to my own recipe except for subbing some soybean or safflower for the olive that I decided to do.