Teach Soap

The company ZUM.. two questions.

One how do they get such a strong scent? Do they put THAT much EO in there??

The other question is we have a bar of the black soap (Cedar?), and it does not melt on the side of the sink, and is hard like a rock. I'm guessing no palm kernel (cause it's high in glycerin right?), but what do you think their composition is: 69% Palm,30% Coconut and 1% Olive?
I'm not asking to mimic them, I was just curious. I don't want to make any bars that hard without emollients.

I've read somewhere that they use FO's. Soap that has cured for a long time will last longer. Palm Kernel has no glycerin. Glycerin is a byproduct of saponification. Try your recipe and see how you like it. I like to add castor for bubbles and butter for emolliency.

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

That's not my recipe, it's what I was sarcastically thinking theirs was.. (anyway, if glycerin is a byproduct of saponification.. they missed a step!! ha ha) (really, it's hard to get anything to melt off the bar we have)

I thought I had read that PK had lots of natural glycerin in it... I use it in my recipes. I suppose I could have gotten bad information.

I too use castor oil. With the little hippo on it...
My typical recipe has Palm, Palm Kernel, Castor, Olive, Canola and Coconut. Does that sound like a nice balance of oils? I was using shortening too as a 7th oil. Didn't know if it was adding anything to the mix. (it's GFS brand with cottonseed)

Some soapmakers add extra glycerin, but with a properly formulated recipe, it's not needed. PK has no natural glycerin. If it did it would be sticky and separate. Glycerin is water based, oil is not. PK does have stearic acid in its makeup. Your balance of oils is fine. I would use either canola or shortening (vegetable based), but not both. I prefer not to use canola, as it gives me DOS.

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

Luckily no DOS yet, but I'm down to two gallons of Canola, and I was thinking about discontinuing it.. so now you've reinforced those thoughts.

Thanks again for your wisdom and insight.

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

I read the ingredients for Zum soap and this is what it says:

Saponified 100% food grade olive, coconut, palm & castor oils, in a goat's milk base, with herbs and pure essential oils.

I thought EO evaporate easily so how can their scent stick so well over time?

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Shieh Design Studio
https://www.facebook.com/ShiehDesignStudio
http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com

Sounds like CP with MP. Or it could be MP base with CP shreds added? Something is misleading with the "base" statement. To me, a base means it's a premade base, like MP.

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