What do you think of this recipe please?

[Soapstars]

Hello soap enthusiasts! Does this sound like a well rounded recipe please? I thought to add salt for extra hardness and salt for more bubbles?

40% OLIVE OIL
25% SHEA BUTTER
25% COCONUT OIL
10% CASTOR OIL
1 TSP SUGAR
1 TSP SALT

How do you add salt and sugar? I tried to add them to the lye and just got a solid lump that was hard to disperse and had to strain it eventually. Anything you would change here for 1kg of soap do you think?

 

[shunt2011]

You could certainly give it a shot. I don't mind 25% Coconut but others will likely recommend less. What SF are you doing?

Add the salt and sugar to your water and dissolve it before adding the lye. If using milk in place of the water to make soap just subtract an ounce or so from that and use water in place to dissolve the salt and sugar.

 

[Soapstars]

Thank you shunt2011. Instead of so much coconut oil, would you put 20% and increase one of the others by 5% possibly?
Also, when I add fragrance oil at 30g per kilo of cold process oil mix, do I reduce the oil by 30g at all? or just accept extra oil in it?
Many thanks for your help.

 

[Seawolfe]

What % superfat are you planning on using?

Yes, if you decrease one fat you can increase another, but ALWAYS recalculate using a lye calculator.

Fragrance and essential oils do not saponify like soaping oils and thus are not included in the oils calculations for the lye calculator.

 

[Soapstars]

Ah I see, I didn't know that. I use 5% superfat and a lye calculator. So fragrance and essential oils will make my soap more soft? Then I can add salt to make it harder again?

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I think it's too much castor, as well. Five percent is the most you need for the desired effect and 10% is approaching where it gets sticky. If it were me, I'd knock 5% off both the castor and coconut and replace that 10% with palm (Assuming you're looking for a veggie soap because you're using the shea for stearic.)

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Ah I see, I didn't know that. I use 5% superfat and a lye calculator. So fragrance and essential oils will make my soap more soft? Then I can add salt to make it harder again?

Hardness is over-emphasized, IMO. Anything above 35 or so on soapcalc's scale is fine.

 

[Soapstars]

Hi BrewerGeorge, some people do not like palm oil it seems but what would you use instead of palm? I am happy to make a veggie soap.

 

[zolveria]

yes

she can keep everything the same and superfat..
coconut oil is drying.. BUT I LOVE 100 COCO SOAP

What % superfat are you planning on using?

Yes, if you decrease one fat you can increase another, but ALWAYS recalculate using a lye calculator.

Fragrance and essential oils do not saponify like soaping oils and thus are not included in the oils calculations for the lye calculator.

 

[lsg]

I think the % of each ingredient depends on your health, environment and occupation. Men in construction, mechanics and farming can get really dirty and greasy. My hubby likes a soap that cuts the grease and dirt. Our family can stand 30% coconut oil in soap, so that is what I usually use for our soap. I like 30% coconut, 30% palm, 5% Castor and 35% olive or rice bran oil. That recipe gives me a really hard, cleansing bar. If I am making soap for other people, I cut down on the coconut oil.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Hi BrewerGeorge, some people do not like palm oil it seems but what would you use instead of palm? I am happy to make a veggie soap.

I don't think anybody dislikes palm in and of itself. Some people want to avoid it because of ecological and sociological reasons having to do with how it is grown and harvested.

The easiest replacements for palm that serve the same purpose in a recipe are lard and tallow. If you're set on not using any of the three you have to get more creative.

 

[toxikon]

Since people have covered the other stuff, I'll just add:

When using additives, it's best to use them in reference to "PPO" - per pound of oils. Typical usage rates for sugar is 1-2 tbsp PPO and salt at 1 tsp PPO. You'd dissolve both of them completely in your water BEFORE adding the lye.

So if you were using 2lbs of oils for example, you'd want 2-4 tbsp of sugar and 2 tsp of salt.

And keep in mind that adding sugar can cause your soap to heat up a lot more, so if you're used to insulating your mold, you may want to hold off (or at least keep a close eye on your soap as it goes through the gel phase, then remove insulation/cool it down after).

 

[Soapstars]

Spoken wisely - thank you all.

 

[kchaystack]

Since people have covered the other stuff, I'll just add:

When using additives, it's best to use them in reference to "PPO" - per pound of oils. Typical usage rates for sugar is 1-2 tbsp PPO and salt at 1 tsp PPO. You'd dissolve both of them completely in your water BEFORE adding the lye.

So if you were using 2lbs of oils for example, you'd want 2-4 tbsp of sugar and 2 tsp of salt.

And keep in mind that adding sugar can cause your soap to heat up a lot more, so if you're used to insulating your mold, you may want to hold off (or at least keep a close eye on your soap as it goes through the gel phase, then remove insulation/cool it down after).

Actually I prefer as a % of batch size - since I use metric measures exclusively with my soap.

 

[Dahila]

The only thing I use tsp is SL cause it is very close to water I need 20 g of it; 1.5 tbsp, Iam also metric and percentage person

 

[toxikon]

Actually I prefer as a % of batch size - since I use metric measures exclusively with my soap.

Definitely - metric will give you much more accurate results. I find my kitchen scale doesn't do well with small additive measurements, so teaspoons and tablespoons get the job done.

 

[Britannic]

Me too, despite being old enough to have been schooled in the imperial weights and measures system, before the UK switched to metric. Making soap and bread, I find it a whole lot easier to work in grams. Although, 1/3s are so much simpler using US/Imperial .

 

[Nao]

I'm using a 30% shea butter bar right now and I think it's quite nice. You could probably up the Shea to 35% to get it hard enough, more than that could compromise the lather.