Teach Soap

I am not satisfied with the pH testing I have done for soap to determine safety. Some batches of homemade soap with no additives pass the "zap test" and the paper pH test strip test (7-10 pH is considered normal for homemade soap, so I read). Then, when I use those batches, they end up being too harsh for my skin, leaving it dry and itchy (commercial soap--Ivory, Irish Spring--does not leave my skin dry and itchy!). Other homemade batches of soap with similar formulas, that show the same pH reading with the paper strip, leave my skin feeling wonderful, way better than commercial soap.

What is going on here?

Isn't homemade soap supposed to be way milder than commercial soap? If it is lye heavy, it shouldn't pass the zap and pH tests, right?

I usually use a formula like this: 30-50% olive oil; 20-30% lard, tallow, or some mix of canola/sunflower; 10-25% coconut oil; 5-10% luxury oil or butter; 5% castor; 5% superfat. From my reading on fats/oils, none of these combos would be harsh to the skin--animal fat is actually great for skin, if it appears in homemade, all natural soap (vs. commercial soap with additives and removal of glycerin).

Thanks in advance to anyone with good insight into this problem. I started making soap for my child's sensitive skin; therefore it must not be so harsh it irritates where Ivory does not!

Go with a higher superfat; like 7%. With that said, there are people that just can't use handmade soap. Syndet (or synthetic) bars have surfactants, so the final pH can be more easily adjusted.

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

I would guess that it is just the superfat percentage. If the bars were lye heavy they would either test that way and/or zap you. So it must be the ingredient combinations. You say that some make you itch, while others don't, so try increasing the superfat in the ones that you don't care for. Make them at least a 7 % sf, and then see if they still irritate your skin. My guess is that you will notice a difference. You may even like a higher percentage, some people do 10%, some even more. It is a completely a personal preference, and a skin preference, so give it a whirl and see what happens. Good luck and let us know what happens!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

I don't know why I have been worried about 7% superfat. I guess I read somewhere about the final soap being too soft or something. It is not hard to adjust the percentage.

I agree with upping the SF. My first few batches were all superfatted at 5%. I didn't like the way they felt on my skin...at all! I took soapbuddy's advice and do 7% now. :0)

Some eo or fo can irritate the skin, colorants too, just something to keep in mind.

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Four Seasons Fine Handcrafted Soaps
& Specialties, Inc.
Laugh, Love, Live!

Try 100% coconut oil with 20% superfat. It makes a realy nice soap that lathers well in hard water that isn't drying for most people.

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

why not make a graft of oils in each bar and highlight the ones that irritated your skin... then look to compare what is in each one. There could be one oil or butter that your skin is not tolerating. Everyones body chemistry can vary a little and there may be some soap additives you do not tolerate. And don't forget what Selena said... ck those EO, FO and coloring.
Have you tried an almost all olive oil soap? I like this for my face... left out the scent and coloring.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

The soap that caused irritation had the same ingredients as other batches of soap that feel great on my skin. It had no additives--just fat/oil, lye, and water. So, my thought is that I need to try a higher superfat percentage, maybe because I ended up with a lower superfat percentage that I thought because in a 12 oz batch, every tenth of an ounce--and hundrenth of an ounce--matters. The diff between 0% superfat and 5% superfat is not even 1/2 oz. of lye. I don't seem to have these problems with larger batches.

My scale only weighs to hundredths (two places to the right of the decimal) and only in factors of five (.05, .10, .15, etc.).

My rule of thumb is: if it's a butter, fat, or an oil, round UP. For example, if I need 8.26 ounces of Oil X for a particular soap, I actually use 8.30.

For lye, I will round DOWN. If the recipe called for 3.28 ounces of lye, I will actually use 3.25.

My superfat is set at 5-6% usually, but obviously it is higher than that.

I don't have sensitive skin, and I've never had a problem with soaps being too harsh. I've made soap for people who do have sensitive skin, and never had any complaints from those folks either.

Another thought might be if you're sure of the accuracy of your scale.

Anita

Well, I did the nickel test--it weighed in at 5 grams. Is there another weight test I can do to test for accuracy?