Teach Soap

I have been playing with recipes on the soap calc. I have a question about the range of numbers on soap bar qualities. For cleansing it reads 12-22.
My nos. are always around 13 or 14. What do your soaps usually rate. How do you get higher nos. but still keep the conditioning? What do you consider the best nos. for the different qualities? I love this forum and want to say thank you to everyone who has responded to questions I have posted. Being a newbie I have many questions and the more I read the more questions I have. You are all so generous and helpful.

MaryLou

I just aim for my numbers to fall somewhere within the range. I don't think it's possible to score high in all categories, b/c some categories are in opposition. For example, Cleansing and Bubbles usually go together. They are the opposite of Conditioning. The conditioning properties come from the components of the oils that remain unsaponified...and the unsaponifiables inhibit lather and cleansing. My general strategy is to mostly use oils that score well in at least 2 categories. That's why I'm not a huge fan of soy - it adds conditioning and that's it. ANd that's why I like lard - it adds hardness AND conditioning.

The Soap Calc doesn't give the whole picture. A 100% Olive Oil soap scores very low in hardness, but given time an Olive Oil soap will become very hard.

I take those numbers with a grain of salt. Some recipes don't look good there but make great soap anyway.

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