What FO to use instead of lard for a fast-curing, hard soap?

[beelady]

I make CP soap using beeswax and have been using a base recipe with about 1/4 coconut oil, 1/4 palm and 1/2 lard, with about an ounce per pound of beeswax. It makes a really great soap - hard, mild, and cures in about a week. I'd like to get away from the animal fat but when I tried using olive oil instead of lard, it took months to cure and was not as hard as I like. Any thoughts for an economical FO that will give a very hard mild bar that cures in no more than 3 weeks (preferably two!)?

 

[Soapmaker Man]

I have never heard of a FO that hardens a bar faster. Floral scents accelerate trace, but don't add hardness to a batch. A shorter cure time means using less liquid in your batch. I am currently using a 35 to 40% lye solution rate, depending on the FO. My recipe, coupled with this strength lets me get a very hard bar with great bubbles in that time frame.

Paul

 

[ilovedoxies]

Fragrance oil has nothing to do with the hardness of your soap.

If you don't want to use lard I suggest crisco.

Brooke

 

[carebear]

I assume you mean Fixed Oil, not Fragrance Oil (which is what FO typically refers to here).

As a straight replacement for lard I'd recommend simply increasing your palm oil. It's not particularly cheap but it'll give you a very similar result (need to re-do your lye calculation though).

But actually I recommend flipping your recipe: 75% Co/25% palm, with an 8-10% superfat.

 

[heartsong]

soap

good point, carebear!

that would make a very hard and bubbly bar, but i would suggest hand stirring as the may trace fast.

i would also suggest a 10 % lye discount and add some honey and a couple ounces of coconut milk at trace. (dont forget to subtract it from your total liquids) that would make it extra creamy and moisturizing.

 

[beelady]

Thanks very much, all! And yes, I did intend FO to mean "Fixed Oil" rather than "Fragrance Oil". Sorry!

 

[TRex]

I would not sub OO for Lard. OO takes forever to harden. Remember it is still an oil at room temp, compared to Lard. Crisco makes a white bar. Also, try adding 1/4 - 1/2 salt to your lye water. That helps to harden off your soap. Maybe some Stearic Acid. Why do you want to get away from Lard? Is it the smell of it?? Then try not to melt your lard at a high temp. Warm your other oils first, then add your lard gradually and stir in.

HTH

Teresa

 

[beelady]

No, it's not the smell of the lard that's the problem. I melt everything at low temperatures and am generous with my e.o./f.o.'s so smell is not an issue. Frankly, it's the label appeal. I'm designing a soap for the "green market" in NYC, and the demographics demand that it be an all-veggie oil soap.

Wouldn't a soap with 75% coconut oil be too harsh?

What are your thoughts on increasing the palm oil to maybe 50%, having 25% coconut oil, adding about 5-10% castor oil for conditioning, and maybe filling the recipe out with some soybean oil? Anybody worked with a similar recipe? I'm looking for hard, fast-curing, and mild. Maybe the castor would mean I wouldn't have to discount the lye as much?

 

[Cattleyabubbles]

Well I plug the latter percentages you mention in http://www.soapcalc.com for your recipe and the bar would have these qualities;

• Cleansing: 17%

• Conditioning:49%

• Hardness:47%

• Bubbly:26%

• Creamy lather:39%

• Iodine:57%

• INS:156%

which would be a pretty ok bar for soapping.

 

[beelady]

Hey, thanks for the info and especially for mentioning the www.soapcalc.com website - what a great tool! I'm psyched.....

 

[MikeInPdx]

If you want mild....I would consider dropping the coconut oil down to 20% if you don't want to take much of a lye discount....but then again, I am one of those folks that is sensitive to too much coconut. Otherwise the recipe sounds very nice!