Teach Soap

Hi
So I am about to venture into the land of "make my own recipe" and I am looking at this chart
http://thesoapdish.com/oil-properties-chart.htm
Does anyone know what the Percents mean?? For example, it says "Almond oil: Linoleic- conditioning 20-30% Oleic-conditioning 62-86% Palmitic-hard bar stableizer 4-9% Stearic-hard bar stable lather 0.5-3% and Iodine-The lower the number, generally the harder and less conditioning-95-109%"
I understand what conditioning means, and hard bar, lather, etc. What I don't understand is what the %'s mean. And when I am using different oils, do I need to take the %'s of each one into account. Will it have an effect on my soap if the %'s don't "add up"?
I have tried asking this to a few different people but I think I am not explaining what I want to know very well because I am not getting an answer that makes sense I am getting answers like "the percent of each oil you use in your soap will make a difference in your soap" I know that. That is not the question. I want to know what the percents of each in each category means and how it will effect my soap. The top of the page says "The numeric values in this chart are commonly known, but are not always consistent. The values assigned by The Original Soap Dish® are given as an estimate, and are meant to be a comparitive aid when formulating soap. No guarantees of results are expressed or implied." so, apparently, this stuff is common knowledge, but I have no clue..... I have written to the soap dish but have not had a response yet.
Thank you!
Wendy

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-Wendy
There are no negatives, only slow positives.

I am not sure I can interpret the chart either - its a bit cryptic on what they are getting at.

However...I never fussed over such a chart. I use SoapCalc, play with the percentages of different oils, and look at how changing the recipe changes the qualities such as hardness, conditioning, etc. That would be my suggestion. I have also seen more helpful charts and articles that merely describe the qualities oils give to soaps, like this one:


http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body- ... king-oils/

There also some good SoapBuddy posts on qualities of oils here:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3800


SoapCalc: http://soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcWP.asp

[quote="SoapyChickens"] For example, it says "Almond oil: Linoleic- conditioning 20-30% Oleic-conditioning 62-86% Palmitic-hard bar stableizer 4-9% Stearic-hard bar stable lather 0.5-3% and Iodine-The lower the number, generally the harder and less conditioning-95-109%"


After thinking a little more, this might be the percentage of fatty acids that make up the oil? Almond oil has 20-30% linoleic acids (lends conditioning); 62-86% palmitic acids (that harden the bar); 4-9% stearic acid...and so forth.

Those are fatty acids. Depending which oils you use, they either add conditioning or hardness to your soap. The exception is olive oil. It doesn't look good on soap calc., but it makes for a nice mild, hard soap.

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

Thank you both

_________________
-Wendy
There are no negatives, only slow positives.