Wrinkly fingers 😳

[SisterSoaper]

Hi everybody, this is my first post but I've learned a ton reading past forums, thank you! My last heat transfer method batch of soap made my fingers wrinkle when I tested it by washing my hands. It's very harsh and hard. I don't have ph strips (yet) and the zap test was good. I've read that the PH (or being lye heavy, drawing moisture from my skin?) can cause this. I also Read that it could be a sensitivity to the essential oils I used? I used equal amounts of lavender and lemongrass. This is a new recipe, So I'm not sure if maybe the calculations were just wrong? Is this soap salvageable? Is it more than likely the PH and if so, will it become better after several months? I've only made about five batches so far, so I'm really new at this. Thank you in advance for any opinions and advice. This is the recipe I used:
8oz olive oil (extra virgin)
12oz coconut oil
12 oz shea butter
4.5 oz sodium hydroxide
10.2 oz water
2 oz fragrance oil

 

[Kari Howie]

I ran your recipe through the “ Soap Calc” calculator and this is what it shows. The percentage of coconut oil is very high and probably contributes to your wrinkly fingers.
View attachment 80132View attachment 80132

 

[Kari Howie]

I don’t think it sounds like a lye problem. It’s probably too much coconut oil. I suggest you run your recipe through a soap calculator, like the one I used here, and post that so we can better understand your recipe. The percentage of coconut oil is very high and is probably the main culprit contributing to your wrinkly fingers. You didn’t say what, if any, super fat you used and that could also be a factor contributing to dryness if you used a low super fat.
View attachment 80132

 

[dibbles]

First, welcome! If your soap didn't zap when you tested it, I don't think it is lye heavy. pH strips aren't really recommended for determining if a soap is lye heavy. @DeeAnna has written an article explaining why that you can read here. In fact, if you haven't already checked out her Soapy Stuff site, it has a lot of good information on soapmaking.

A couple of questions:
Did you use a soap.calculator? How old is your soap? Did you just test it once by washing your hands normally, or did you do repeated/long hand washing?

Running your recipe through SoapCalc, it appears that the amount of water and NaOH are correct for a 5% SF, so if measured properly the soap should not be lye heavy. As @Kari Howie said, you do have a lot of coconut oil in your recipe. You also used too much lemongrass EO, and I don't know if this could be the cause your wrinkly fingers.

I'm attaching a screenshot from EO Calc showing that the maximum IFRA recommended usage rate for lemongrass in 32 ounces of soap is 3% (.48 oz), and you used closer to 6%. EO Calc is a resource that a lot of us use. You can calculate the usage rate for any EO by choosing the 'calculate your own blend' tab and choosing the EO/100%.

 

[paradisi]

You haven't said how this batch compares to your other batches; what has changed?