Teach Soap

Ok....I have a cousin who owns a small grocery chain so I get most of this stuff free....except for the coconut & palm kernal. I try to use what I have and come up with a decent recipe. I tried sending this to Soapbuddy in a PM but obviously I'm not smart enough to figure it out. Either that or I'm having puter problems. Anyway, here it is:

7 oz Lard
7 oz Coconut Oil (76 degree)
3 oz Crisco
3 oz Canola
2 oz Palm Oil
1.5 oz Palm Kernel
1.25 oz Castor
9.5 oz Water
3.6 oz Lye

This recipe goes to family friends who don't mind the lard. Just don't have it in me to sell lard-based soaps unless disclosing it to the buyer.

Could some of you guys who are more experienced with this hobby give me some feedback please? This isn't my first time so you don't need to be gentle.

Thanks.

Your recipe makes 21.75 ozs. of soap. Do you have a calculator that's accurate enough? Do you have any olive or rice bran oil?

Castor Oil 1.25ozs. 5.75%
Coconut Oil 7ozs. 32.18%
Palm Kernel Oil 1.5ozs. 6.90%
Palm Oil 2ozs. 9.20%
Crisco 3ozs. 13.79%
Lard 7ozs. 32.18%
Total Weight 21.75ozs.

I would use 5 to 8 fluid ounces of distilled water and 3.2 ozs. of lye for a 5% superfat.

I would lower the coconut and up the palm kernel, so your coconut isn't more than 20% of the recipe.
I would also lower the castor to 5% and add the difference to the lard. I tried to send you a PM, but the message said that your PM was deleted.

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

Thanks Soapbuddy. I don't know what's going on with my PM feature. Definitely doesn't work though. I have olive in abundance. What are you suggesting with olive (it's EVOO)? I don't pay for a lot of this stuff so I can't be choosy with what's given to me. I have a laboratory so my equipment measures to the 1/1000 of an oz and it's calibrated every couple of weeks. I use soapcalc.com to calculate amounts. I'll try what you suggested with lowering the castor and adding the difference with lard and reducing coconut to no more than 20%. Should I pick up the slack in the reduced coconut oil with only the palm kernel oil?

I really appreciate your help. This has been driving me batty.

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

Great idea. I really dislike using Crisco. Never had a bad experience with it but just don't like working with it. I'll sub the crisco with olive and pick up the slack of the coconut.

Thank you soooooooo much for your help Soapbuddy. Can't wait to try this and see how it tuns out. I'll keep you posted!!!!

You're welcome. Post pics if you can.

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

Soapbuddy

When you looked at the original recipe and calculated the percentages something didn't look right with the total ounces and I didn't catch it at the time. I think you omitted the 3 oz of Canola oil when calculating this recipe. Here's what I came up with after the revision. What do you think?

7 oz Lard 27.72%
5 oz Coconut (76 degree) 19.80%
3 oz Olive 11.88%
3 oz Canola 11.88%
4 oz Palm Kernal 15.84%
2 oz Palm 7.92%
1.25 Castor 4.95%

I substituted olive for crisco, lowered the coconut and upped the palm kernel. Percentages are rounded to the hundreds.

You're right; I did forget it. However canola is a soft oil and at that %, there's a chance you might get DOS. If I was you, I would leave it out.

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

Thanks again Soapbuddy. Living in a humid climate means DOS is a constant problem. I made a batch last night and used aloe instead of water. Can't wait to see how that turns out. I really appreciate your help.

You're welcome. I hope this will be a great soap for you.

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