Will this work

[selah925]

I am wanting to make a mostly olive oil soap, but it seems that olive oil on its own, makes a very soft and non-cleansing bar.

So, I added 15% coconut to the 85% olive oil, but the soap calc INS is only 131 and they say for it to be 145-165. Plus, some of the other soap qualities don't appear within range for what they consider a good bar of soap.

When making an olive oil soap, do you just compromise other qualities?

How would you do it?

Thanks!

 

[jcandleattic]

Olive oil by itself - or a castille bar- will make a brick hard bar - it just takes a little longer to harden up than some other soaps do. As for the numbers - well, I only partially pay attention to those because they only give you a small picture of what the quality of your soap is actually going to be.
Good luck - HTH

 

[earthsessencellc]

I don't go by any calculator, except the one I use to figure my numbers..... Sorry, I'm no help there, However, I do have a pure Olive oil soap, actually 2 batches, and they are still soft it's only been about 3 weeks, i was able to unmold them after 48-72 hours, I then left the soap logs on the cure rack for another almost week, till is was firm enough for me to feel comfortable with. they are hardening up, however they are taking a LONG time to get real hard, and this is on a cure rack in a fairly small room with a dehumidifier running full blast ALL the time..... This is my first time making pure olive oil soap too. but in the biz patients is a virtue! LOL

When I am making my own soaps, and creating my own recipe, I go with what I know and what I have experience with, not with what a calculator tells me. To be honest with you, I don't think I have ever run a formula through a soap calculator.... anyhow, I go with the oils and butters I know moisturize my skin, from what i have learned, and I figure out what I want this or that particular soap to do, for the face, for a baby, for highly moisturizing, whatever..... and then I pick the oils and ingredients I for what purpose I want the soap, and that is how I make my soaps and create my recipes.

 

[jcandleattic]

and they are still soft it's only been about 3 weeks,

it can take up to 8 weeks or longer for castille bars to get hard. They do need a nice full cure - but once they do, they are brick hard and a very nice soap to wash with.

 

[Deda]

To be honest with you, I don't think I have ever run a formula through a soap calculator.... anyhow, I go with the oils and butters I know moisturize my skin, from what i have learned, and I figure out what I want this or that particular soap to do, for the face, for a baby, for highly moisturizing, whatever..... and then I pick the oils and ingredients I for what purpose I want the soap, and that is how I make my soaps and create my recipes.

Do you figure your SAP values by hand? I can't make soap without a calc of some sort to figure the amount of lye.

 

[selah925]

So, it will just take longer to cure? Okay, that should be fine.

I was going to add some avocado oil as superfat. How much should I use?

Thanks so much for all the help!!!!

 

[Deda]

Everyone does things a little different, including superfatting.

When I'm going to use a spendy oil to superfat I add it last.

I calculate the recipe with the 'special' oil included, usually around 7%. Then when I blend the oils I don't add the 'special oil' to the regular soap bucket. I wait until I've colored, scented, lyed and mixed. Then a hairs breath before trace I add the superfat oil.

I don't know if my theory will hold water, but I figure that the lye is being converted with the less spendy oils. I want the fat left behind (superfat) to be my 'special oil'. KWIM?

 

[MikeInPdx]

That's a huge debate in the soaping community, whether or not superfatting makes any difference. I've only done it once and that was my only batch to get DOS.

I really don't know if it preserves the expensive oils, but it won't hurt anything either way.

Soapcalc's numbers are usually pretty good but Castile soap throws it off. Yeah, it can take months to completely harden up but it can be used as a weapon once it does.