Teach Soap

50% olive oil
30% coconut
10% canola or soybean
5% shae butter
5% caster oil
1/2 water 1/2 aloe


I am loving my aloe soaps, but it is so expensive. I am hoping that I can dilute it and still get the great moisturizing qualities.

I have been using Sandy Maine's recipes that calls for something like 44% Crisco. It is an awesome soap, but I have to admit that I am slightly embarrassed telling people that Crisco is in it. I love that I can find all of the ingredients at the grocery store those and the cost. I want to keep the prices of my soap down, so I don't want to have costly oils. I have been reading up on oils and what percent needs to be in the soap. Do I really need the palm oil? I have been reading up on the controversy behind it. I realize that BB uses sustainable palm oil. Honestly though, I don't want to be put in a position where I have to argue with anyone over the palm oil in the soap, kwim?

Will my recipie make a hard enough bar? Will it be slimy? Will the canola or soybean cause problems? I know that they have a shorter shelf life.

I'm not home right now, so I can run your recipe through my lye calc, but I don't use canola at all as it gives me DOS. You can use half aloe and half water. How much are you superfating?

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

I was using a 7% superfat. When I ran it through the lye calculator it came up with 6.9 oz of lye and 16.5 water. My main worry is that everyone it seems uses palm oil. Can I make a good bar of soap without it, and will this recipe be good? Have you had any luck with soybean?

Hi SunnySide,

I've not run it thru a lye calculator but at a glance I think the recipe is fine and the coconut oil will help a bit with hardness/lather.

I'm not real fond of palm-free soaps (though I do love a nice castile!). But here's something interesting I've discovered and this is just based on my own experience so far ...

Adding a little clay to the soap seems to help with hardness/sliminess. That said, I believe clays are best for folks with slightly moister/oilier skin. So be sure to superfat at say 7% to help offset this.

You can use kaolin (fairly gentle), rhassoul, sea clay, etc etc. And you only need a teeny bit. I think I've used it at about 1/2 tsp per pound of oils. It can also add a pretty color to your soap, especially the pink clay or French green clay.

Does this help?

Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

Yes! That helps alot. I have never worked with clays. I was going to make a BB order tonight. I will add that to my wish list.

Kerri, what is it that you do not like about palm free soaps? What does it bring to the soap that you can tell is lacking?

That's interesting. I never use palm for soaps.

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

This is perhaps a matter of opinion but ...

My soaps with palm oil are harder, last longer, and don't get as mushy as quickly in the soap dish (if they get mushy at all). Palm free soaps need more "babying." Also, I find that soap with palm oil is more pleasant to use all around and creates a nicer "soap experience." (And that is perhaps subjective based on who you talk to!)

That said, I try to make sure that I buy my palm oil from suppliers who use "sustainable" sources. (And yes, there is much debate about this.)

Hope that helps!

Oh and if you decide to try clays, they are easier to work with if you use a wee bit of water to "hydrate" the clay first. There's a clay soap recipe on Soap Queen by Amanda from Lovin Soap. It's a good recipe and she explains how to work with clay.

http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body- ... acial-bar/

It's a very nice soap but it's still too mushy for my liking. I'd probably discount my water a little more next time but water discounts are tricky and can be dangerous if you're new to soaping so that's a caution! Also, the sea clay does give a nice grey-green but is definitely a duller green than say French green clay which is more pastel to me.

Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

Oh just saw your post Irena re not using palm oil...

You use babassu though right? (Or was it PKO?) Do you think those ingredients are helping with hardness? I just find palm-free soaps don't have that nice texture I'm getting accustomed to in my other soaps. Even after a super long cure. They're not "bad" but just not my preference I guess.

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I soap therefore I am.

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

I see that you do use beewax. I read a bog earlier that it helps with hardness. Maybe I should put that on my wishlist too.

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

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I considered giving up palm oil but so far I'm still 'on board' with it. I can see why some choose not to use it though. It's not cheap. It's not always easy to get (I've had no problems so far though). And some customers may not want it in their soap. So many ways to skin a cat in soaping isn't there?

Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

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