Teach Soap

So, discussions about what EOs to add aside, what base oils would you use for dog soap? I'm kind of leaning towards a bastille. Is a bastille just olive oil and castor? Like 5% castor, or should a bit more be used?

Or could I go with olive plus coconut and/or palm kernel instead of the castor?

Or maybe the Big Three - coconut, olive, and palm?

Let me know what you think, and thanks for the input.

Anita

I won't use handmade soap for my dog. Dog's skin pH is around 5.5 - 7.5 (it varies by breed) and is more alkaline than human skin which is 5.2 - 6.2. Dog skin is usually thinner and they can't tell you if there is any irritation in any particular area. This can lead to hot spots, itching and scratching. If something happened to the dog (especially the expensive breeds) would your liability insurance cover you?

It takes about 10 minutes to normalize pH in humans after washing. It take longer for animal skin to come back to its natural pH state. Handmade soap leaves a residue that synthetic detergents or syndet bars do not. Ever seen that soap commercial with the mirrors? The mirror with the handmade soap left a residue. The synthetic, store bought soap didn't.

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

Thanks, Irena. A breeder friend has asked me to make some for her. I think I'll send your reply on to her and see what, if anything, she wants to do next.

Anita

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

Irena, I'm so tired I'm verging on stupid, so I'll try to keep this brief.

I looked on another forum for information on syndet bar recipes, and in my brief perusal determined that there are about as many variations as for CP soap. I'm in a bit of a time crunch right now, as I'm doing four craft shows this fall, plus having cataract surgery at the end of September. So all my soapmaking has to be done by the end of next month, which doesn't leave me much time for experimenting with other things.

I'd like to pursue making my own syndet bars from scratch (I did see swiftmonkey's blog, but her bar was formulated for oily skin, which I don't think I'll need.), but in the mean time, could i use some of the unscented shampoo bases? I'm thinking (too tired to look it up now) that those are basically liquid syndets?

Thanks for all your help. At some point I may be picking your brain for suppliers for the bar ingredients.

Anita

You can use a shampoo base, but it depends what the ingredients in it are or where it comes from.

I would try something like this for a basic syndet bar. It is listed on Swift's site.

50 to 65% powdered surfactants
10 to 26% liquid surfactants
2 to 7% bar hardener like stearic acid, cetyl alcohol, or sodium lactate (liquid)
1 to 3% emulsifiers (usually e-wax, but BTMS would double duty here)
2 to 7% conditioning agent like Incroquat CR or BTMS
2 to 3% butters - shea, mango, cocoa
1 to 2% hydrolyzed proteins
1 to 4% silicones - dimethicone at 1 to 2%, cyclomethicone at 1 to 2%
.5 to 2% panthenol
1 to 2% fragrance or essential oils
0.5% to 1% preservative

Or try something like this.

28% SCI
SCI is Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate aka SCI Noodles.
13% bioterge or any liquid surfactant
35% SLSA
2% incroquat (or btms)
1.5% shea (or mango butter)
2.5% stearic acid
1% E-wax (Polawax)
2.5% Hydrolized oats or wheat
.5% Panthenol
1% Dimethicone
2% EO Blend (I wouldn't even go this high; maybe 1 to 1.5%)
Preservative (Use a % according to the manufacturer's recommendation)
I realize that this formula will not add to exactly 100%, but that's because preservative % vary.

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

Okay, had some sleep - hopefully more coherent now.

These folks have what they are advertising as unscented pet shampoo: http://www.bulkapothecary.com/bulk%20bases.htm. (you'll need to scroll down four rows) Does that look acceptable?

Thanks.

Anita

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