Teach Soap

Any suggestions or thoughts on the following two recipes? Which would be better.
The only other oils I have on hand or sunflower and safflower

2 oz castor oil
2 oz cocoa butter
4 oz coconut oil
6 oz olive oil
6 oz soybean oil
3 oz avocado oil
2 oz apricot kernal
3.28 lye
8.3 liquid (thinking of goatsmilk)
7% superfat
1.64 oz bb black amber and lavender fragrance

Or
3.2 oz coconut oil
1.6 oz shea butter
2.4 soybean oil
8.6 olive oil
0.8 castor oil
1.12 oz superfat
2.201 oz lye
5.48 liquid
Black Amber & Lavender Oil

Donna

being that i am a new soaper i am absolutely not sure. but i hope one of the veterans can help you.

I would go with the second one and superfat at 7%. Your first recipe has a lot of soft oils.

PS. Calculate all your oils and butters right up front. Lye is still very active at trace and it will take whatever it wants. There is no guarantee that any added oil or butter at trace will end up as your superfat.

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

Actually I think both of these are too soft, but the first is especially soft so, yes, the second is slightly better, or may be better. But to know for sure, you'd have to list what other oil you were adding for your "superfat". You could make it way too soft or improve it, depending what you add. Irena is right though, you really just need to calculate all the oils and the % of superfat that you want (I use 6% usually, Irena prefers 7%) and use the appropriate lye amount for the % you choose. With the way you listed the recipe, your lye could be way off (since each oil requires a different amount of lye). The lye will take what it wants so you cannot say which oil is left as the superfat anyway (unless it is full of unsaponifiables). Anyway, I would start with the second recipe but I would tweak it a bit by adding a higher % of hard oils or olive oil and I would up the castor oil too for some more bubbles. Play with the recipe on the soap calc and see what changes what. You can get lost there for hours doing that, but it is an excellent teacher. Whatever you end up doing, have fun!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

Will the soap still be good if it is too soft? I jumped in and made one before I read the replies and the center looks kinda soft.

If it's soft, put it away for a while.

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

yes it is still okay to use, just softer than some others. No real big deal. I would let it cure longer as Irena said, and make sure the bars dry completely between uses and don't lay in the water, which is something we should do with all our soap so that it is the best it can be.
Now you have something to compare to other recipes, and it will wash you too, so it is all good! When you use it, write down the day you begin and see how long it lasts you. Then do the same with your next batch and see what the differences are. Track and compare the way it makes your skin feel, how well it smells and for how long etc. In other words, live and learn!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy