Teach Soap

Hi -

I'm new to soapmaking. I've only made one small batch

I'd really like try making a castile soap next because it's suppose to be mild and gentle on sensitive skin.

I use the soapcalc and the cleansing properties on soap recipes that contain a majority of olive oil are very low on cleansing property scale.

I suppose this is what contributes to it's mildness, but how does it clean with such low cleansing properties. I'm very confused.

Any insight would be appreciated

I dunno how it works, it just does!

I think the cleansing scale is kind of a guide for how much oil the soap chains will grab. So, for example think of a cleansing of 10 would grab 1/2 as much as a cleansing of 20. I just pulled those numbers out of thin air, but considering your body MAKES oils, the lower cleansing # leaves more of the oils your skin produces where they are, whereas the higher number takes more. Oils lubricate your skin and keep it moisturized etc, so if you take those oils away, the less your skin is protected.

I take the scale with a grain of salt. My formula does not look great there, but I love the soap that it makes and my customers agree.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Soapcalc is a guide . Normally, you would think of "cleansing" as how clean you are...but in Soapcalc it means how well it will strips the natural oils of YOUR skin. Basically you can take a shower with just water and salt..yuk, and you "would" be clean. Try to keep you cleansing numbers low for bath.

Teresa

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Even if you added castor oil at trace, the lye is still active and it willl take whatever it wants. So add all your oils/butters up front.

Try a 100 coconut soap with a 20% superfat. Or superfat your own recipe at 8% and see if you notice any difference.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Wow, I've been reading all this about superfatting. I still don't get it. Is something wrong with me??? How much castor oil would I include in my soap say if I was using coconut, oil & palm oil? I want to get a soap that lathers well. I still haven't made my first batch yet.

This is what I put through the Lye calculator: Castor 2oz, coconut 12oz, Olive 10oz, Palm 12oz. The Lye calculator says to use between 9 to 14 fluid ounces of water and the lye would be 5.25oz. (I plan to use 12 oz of water). Does this sound about right? Is that enough Castor Oil to give me a sudzy bar of soap? Is there something I need to change? Thanks all.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thank you so much soapbuddy! I have no idea how much this batch will make? I'm still pretty clueless. I have a scale I bought from Brambleberry, it should get me started. Is this enough to make a 3lb batch?

Your oils total is 36 ozs. if you are using 2 ozs. of castor.
36 ozs. is 2.25 lbs.
With 12 ozs. of water, you will fill a mold that's 3 lbs.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

oh fantastic! I have a 3lb mold. Thank you so much!

You're welcome.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.