Teach Soap

So I have made my first batch of cream soap today and it seemed to turn out fine but i have a few questions.

1. It is very thick, one of the ingredients is stearic acid, if i want to make a thinner batch (like for pump bottles) can i cut the stearic acid out to get that effect?

2. the pH is currently very high which i expected, can i use a pH adjuster like borax or citric acid to bring it down or does it have to cure like CP soap?

3. can i use actual cream (milk) in a recipe like this? Or yogurt? mother-in-law asked for a yogurt soap and i thought she may like this type of soap.

4. are certain oils better than others for this type of soap formulation?

5. what type of container is normal for this soap? pump bottle, squeeze tube, jar? This is all very new to me so I am really flying by the seat of my pants here.

6. is a preservative needed or recommended as it is with liquid soaps?

7. any other ingredients that may be nice to add to a soap of this type? additives, waxes, oils, etc.???

Any tips or tricks that i should know about?

Here is the recipe i used, (from snow drift farms)

Cream Soap No. 17

a medium density soft soap, perfect for exfoliants and other additives.

Oils (by weight)

4.6 oz. sweet almond oil
6 oz. coconut oil
4 oz. palm oil
2 oz. stearic acid

Lye (by weight) = 2.4 oz. KOH & .7 oz. NAOH

Water (distilled) = 20 oz. (by weight)
PLUS 1 oz. by weight liquid glycerin.

thanks all
Erin

*edit* as an additional note, I am reading further about this cream soap process......seems that i DID NOT do this correctly but it is still creamy looking so I am completely lost, maybe there are multiple methods on how to do this. I treated it more as CP soap and am not sure if it will ever be able to be used due to the high pH.

I'm completely lost. This is far beyond my capabilities. Sorry.

Mine too! haha. It is really interesting and I want to get the grasp of it because i have some really neat ideas for it.

You need the stearic acid; don't cut it out. Some people do use borax, but I find after rotting, I don't need it. Yes you can use milk. Try different oils and see which ones work the best for you. I do use a preservative after it's done. I use a jar to put my cream soap in. There are multiple methods to make cream soap. Give it a week or so and see if the pH gets lower.

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

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

thanks, i will have to check that out.

e