Teach Soap

First off here is the basics of my soap making recipe:
Materials:
Coconut oil 24oz Olive oil 24oz Canola oil 18oz Palm oil 16oz Lye 12oz Goats milk (28oz for each batch)
Fragrance min 2oz no more than 3oz Scale Soap molds Sauce pan Thermometer Stainless steel stove pot
Wooden spoon used specifically and only for soap making
Hard plastic container for mixing lye and goats milk Hand blender
Two one gallon (or one large 2 gal) plastic pitchers
Metal cooking sheets or strong cardboard to set the finished soap molds on

Coconut oil must be liquid
Measure 24 ounces or on scale 1.8lbs
Olive oil 24oz
Measure 24 ounces or on scale 1.8 lbs
Canola Oil 18oz 1.2 lbs
Palm Oil 16 oz 1lb

Keep all of the above on very low heat 115 degrees
12oz of lye in a cup set plastic container with 28oz goats milk in cold water
put lye into goats milk SLOWLY continuously stirring
looking for a lemon yellow color bring down the temp to 115 degrees
take the lye/goats milk out of the sink of water and put the pot that was on the stove in warm water sink and get the temp of that mixture to 115 degrees by adding warm water
put the lye and goats milk in the mixture and blend it all together with the blender and by hand blending with wooden spoon
add fragrance (2oz) when temp is below at or just below 100
When you see tracers with the wooden spoon pour your mixture into your plastic pitcher(s)
and quickly pour into the soap molds
Soap should sit in the molds overnight
The next day put the molds in the freezer and let sit in the freezer for a day
Than plop the molds out onto a metal cookie pan or cardboard, do not let the soap touch each other, cover with plain ink free paper and set in a cool location for 5 to 6 weeks

HERE ARE MY TWO QUESTIONS:
1) My soap does not last very long; meaning the bars go quickly when used. Is there any ingredient that can be changed/added that will extend the usable life of the soap bar?
2) Beef tallow: What is the purpose/advantage of using beef tallow in soap making? if I were to add beef tallow to my recipe would it replace one of my existing ingredients or is it just added in? And if it is added in how much should I add?

Thank you in advance for your comments/suggestions.

You could replace your Palm with tallow (run it through a calculator).

How long are you aging your soap before you use it?

Canola Oil 18 21.43%
Coconut Oil 24 28.57%
Olive Oil 24 28.57%
Palm Oil 18 21.43%
Total Weight 84 ozs.
For a 7% superfat, you would need 21-32 ozs. of fluid (water, milk etc.) and 11.8 ozs. of lye.
You have too much liquid in that recipe.
Never use a wooden spoon. Over time wood can splinter and the splinters will end up in your soap.
Use a silicone, plastic or a stainless steel spoon.
You need a stick blender.
Coconut oil does not have to be a liquid.
Not all fragrances are used at the same rate. I use 0.5 to 0.7 oz. of fragrance per lb. of soap. this is a 84 oz. batch. For 0.5 oz per lb. of soap, you would need at least 2.5 ozs. of fragrance.
I normally soap at around 110 degrees. Both temps of oils and lye don't have to be exact. I use a stainless steel pot and pour into my molds from the same pot. I use a plastic pitcher only to mix the water (or milk) and lye.
Do not use metal racks to cure your soaps on. Your soap will be more prone to DOS.
This is a large recipe. I would change the coconut to no more then 20%. I don't use canola as it oxidizes and can give your soap DOS (dreaded orange spots from rancid or oxidized oils)
Having the soaps not touch each other is a myth. I cure up to 600 soap bars at one time. I'm sure some of the bars touch each other with no problems.
Your soap doesn't last long due to the canola oil. Canola is considered a soft oil in soapmaking.
I would change your recipe, make a smaller batch and add some castor for bubbles or a butter (cocoa, shea, mango) for a harder bar.

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

Beef tallow adds hardness to soap. You can use it instead of Palm or even coconut oil. Some of my recipes only contain Olive oil, tallow and castor, I love it because it makes very hard and mild bar. And it last a while.

I've found that tallow and lard slow down trace quite a bit, so they're both great ingredients to use if you have a complicated recipe. I render my own tallow every few months. Not exactly a pleasant process, but it's a readily available and inexpensive ingredient if you can invest the time to render it yourself.

_________________
Jennifer
Doing my best to blow up my kitchen. In style!

Coconut oil adds a lot of bubbles and tallow does not. I would not replace coconut oil with tallow and expect to get a similar result.

Castor gives lots of bubbles too. I have made soaps with only tallow, olive and castor. Beautiful lather!