Teach Soap

Shea butter vs Cocoa butter? Do you notice a difference in your soap? I have used both and one or the other and really don't see a difference. The reason I ask is I just bought unrefined cocoa butter and it has a strong chocolate scent. It really didn't go well with the plumeria lotion scent YUCK. I just wonder if there is much of a difference in soaping?

Depending how much you use PPO, cocoa butter is the harder of the two. If I use unrefined cocoa butter, I use fragrances that compliment that chocolatey scent.

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

I use unrefined cocoa butter in almost all my soaps. I've never had the chocolate scent come through in the end. I can't tell a difference in soaps with cocoa butter vs. shea butter either. In my case I usually use cocoa butter instead of shea partially due to laziness. I prefer measuring out hard chunks of cocoa butter instead of having to scoop out the shea.

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I freeze all my butters and use a knife to pick it out. That way I can get it out in chunks and it will stay fresher longer.

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Shea butter has a unique quality because it has a large percentage of ingredients that don't siponify. So a larger part of this butter will go directly to your skin, which is good. Cocoa butter makes a nice hard bar of soap and is also a humectant (sp) which attracts and holds moilsture to your skin. I primarily use shea to superfat at trace at around 5% and cocoa butter added to my base oils. I use both refined and unrefined and never had a problem using the unrefined with floral notes.

Some think that if you add all your oils at the beginning, you'll end up with the same superfat qualities because the lye "takes whatever it wants and leaves the rest". I disagree. If you use a recipe of 4 oils and add the superfat oil initially before adding your lye mix, your superfat percentage will be comprised of those 4 oils in close to equal amounts as they equate to your initial blend. If you add your superfat oil at trace, all of the lye is already bonding with your oils with no excess lye available (ideally) to bond with your superfat oil. This way, the oil you add at trace is 100% of the superfat oil qualities. Make sense? Sorry but before my third cup of coffee my verbal acuity stinks.

I know some here disagree with my superfat ideology. Too bad there isn't a way to prove theories. I've done trial and error and based on my knowledge of chemistry, this makes sense.....to me at least.

Hi supersoaper,

I understand what you are saying. My question is when talking about superfat - say you have 41 ounces of total oils for your recipe, do you add the total amount to the lye calculator, I use MMS calculator and usually use the recommended 6% superfat - do you then leave out (how much) for your superfat?

I have always been confused with this so I just added it all at the beginning, but would like to try the this method.

thanks

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

That's why I prefaced my comments with "some think." If you break down the logic of saponification, this theory makes sense. That's also why it's a theory and not a supposition. It can be neither proved nor disproved. This is what just makes sense to me. I make a very nice bar of soap, as I'm sure everyone else here does also. This is just my methodology and how I do things. It doesn't make it right or wrong.....just different.

I've tried both ways and can tell a difference to my skin. Some in my family state they can tell the difference....some can't.