Teach Soap

My whole reason for getting into soap making(other than being intrigued by the whole science behind it)was due to my love with "J.R.LIGGETT'S origional recipe old fashioned shampoo bar."I have bought several books and researched to much on line and had some successful batches.But I can't seem to get THAT(what I concider)the perfect shampoo bar.)Their label and sight says they use OLIVE,COCONUT AND CASTOR oil.Could someone give me some advise of a good rotio of these oils to make it hard/soft enough,non drying and very bubbly and creamy?Please,please,please.Thanks in advance

First can I ask what other recipes you tried and what you didn't like about them?

That might help us better with helping you. I make a shampoo bar, but it doesn't have coconut in it because I've found coconut oil to be too cleansing for my hair.

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Genny

Thanks for responding.i have tried a recipe of 20 oz.olive,10 oz.covonut an 9 oz.castor(5% lye discount and superfatted with 2 tdp almond oil and 30% water)and also a recipe with percentage of 15%castor,30% coconut and 55% olive(10% lye discount and 1 oz lavender essential oil).Im new to sosp making.And don't have a ton of money to experiment and waste.I would just love a good recipe like the J.R.Liggett's shampoo bars I use.What I didn't like was it didn't seem as mild,causes alittle ash effect on skin.With Liggett's,my skin did not feel tight right after and then ashed.After liggitts,water would actually bead on my skin after shower like there was a barrier(mind I did have to use a cider inse for hair,but even that left my hair softer than commercial conditioner.)Another question...Does soap harden A LOT as it cures longer than 4-8weeks and does it get more mild .Maybe I'm just not letting it cure long enough.thanks again.

Soaps do get milder and harder as they age, especially ones high in olive oil.

Coconut oils is very cleansing, sounds good, right? Not necessarily. If you didn't already know, cleansing refers to the soap grabbing oil from your skin/hair. The more cleansing a recipe is, the more oils it will grab onto, including your natural oils from your skin and hair that you want there, which can leave your skin feeling tight and dry afterwards. The recipe's you used are pretty high in cleansing.

What oils do you have on hand already? Maybe we can come up with a recipe.

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Genny

That's what I have is olive,castor and coconut.That was all I bought to try duplicating that shampoo bar.Im glad you confirmed that about coconut oil,that was my thinking,but all these books I bought have 25-35%,yet in the same breath they say anything Over 20% can dry.Surely you must be much more experienced than I,and I would appreciate so much if you could use your knowledge of oils final outcome to help.I must hand it to soapers though,"patients is a virtue,"takes on an entirely new meaning to me now.Making soap is like making your favorite/kind of pricey desert and not being able to eat it for like a million years!Then maybe it's good and maybe it sucks!I have a new respect for soap makers.I never knew what really went on behinds the scenes.Thanks so much in advance for your help.My daughter has prom/graduation this/next week,so if I don't reply soon enough,no worries....I will ASAP.Thank you,thank you,thank you!That J.r.Luggett's shampoo bar I use is so perfectly balance.Its hard enough that if I squeeze it hard i barely leave a mark,yet it's not rock hard funky like commercial stuff.If I drop it,it will dent barely.When I get it wet then it dries it takes on a shiny glossy finish.And the shower water just soaps on my skin like its water proof and no ash or tightness.I just love it.Have you used it?You should try it.Oh and maybe this helps,in shower I use it on skin without a rag and at first it's like a slick/slippery feel before woking into a suttle lather.But put it on my hair and"tons of lather."

What about this,let me run this on by you.If I add palm oil,then make the ratio;CASTOR 15%,COCONUT OIL 17.8%,OLIVE POMACE 45%,PALM 22.2%?
According to those apps that help to design recipes and calculate lye/water,This would make the soap almost 4 points higher in hardness and cleansings way down to 12.1.
Here's what it looks like on that recipe generator thing:

(recommended)Hardness 29-54 (Mine is)32.8
" Cleansing 12-22 " 12.1
" Conditioning 44-69 " 64.7
" Bubbly 14-46 " 25.6
" Creamy 16-48 " 34.2
" Iodine 41-70 " 64.3
" INS 136-165 " 139.1

Does that look less drying yet moisturizing?even though I'll have to order the Palm oil,it seems that's the simplest solution.But I would love a solution without the pal
,just because the jr Liggett's bar doesn't use it and I'm trying to get it like that.Thanks again.And if you're a mom,Happy Mother's Day!