Teach Soap

HI,

I tried a piece of soap from my first batch tonight, and it was very creamy and lots of suds.. it seemed drying afterwards. My recipe that I used was 16 oz Palm, 16 oz Coconut, 16 oz Olive Oil and 2 oz castor. My lye was 7.36 and water was 16.5 of water.

And, it has only been 3 weeks , the PH was ok, so I tried it. Will it be better if I left it alone for another week or 2 ?

Thanks!
Sue B.

Looks like that's only 4% superfat. I could see how that would be drying. I would go higher with your superfat, like 7%, which is 7.1 ozs.

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

Hi SueB. I agree with soapbuddy that 7% superfat would be much nicer. I make a soap with the same proportions as yours, but with lard in the place of the palm oil and 7%SF. It's really nice and not drying at all.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Thanks ! I will try that. Is there anyway to "fix" this batch ? Would re batching in a slow cooker and throwing in some shea butter work ? And, I am having trouble wrapping myself around the "superfat " percentage. Would I just up the castor oil to 3 ounces ?

Thanks !

Sue

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

yea i did that.. I actually got the recipe off the Soap Cal app from BB for the Iphone... bummer.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I just saw this recipe when I was reading through the blog. She did point out to keep it at 3% superfat, so it is not a mistake.

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

I think I made that same recipe when I started soaping (it's called Lots of Lather yes?). Anyway, it's a perfectly fine bar of soap but yeah, it won't be super luxurious or anything. But my husband thought it was great! So if the soap itself turned out fine then I wouldn't rebatch it. Use it as hand soap or gift it to someone with oilier skin (men tend to have tougher skin I find as well).

Congratulations though. Isn't it exciting??

Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

Thanks for all the replies..

Yes, it was called Lots of Lather.. It seems fine just my hands felt sticky and very dry afterwards. I think i'll keep 1/2 and see how rebatching works on the other 1/2. Throw some melted shea in with it and see. Good time to experiment i guess.

And yes, Karri - it is very exciting ! Just the thing I need right now !

Sue B.

<<3% superfat is just too low for safety. It will also be very drying.>>

I disagree. A 0% superfat soap will be significantly better for you (in my opinion) than any bar on the supermarket shelves. A 0% superfat bar is perfectly balanced with just the right amount of fats/oils to lye. The only reason it would be unsafe is if someone mis-measures (Which can happen with any recipe). A 3% superfat has an extra 3% of oils compared to what is needed and that's part of the reason the soap is a Lots of Lather bar - the low superfat. Any extra superfat decreases the lather in my experience so I frequently soap with that low of a superfat when I want to make sure I have great lather.

Now, a totally moisturizing bar? Definitely. I go higher with the superfat. And I expect a trade off on lather. The bubbles will be creamier. They won't be as large. It's just a matter of personal preference.

But a bar with Lots of Lather? In my experience, it will be a lower superfat to get a great bubble trade off. Every % of extra superfat weighs down lather just that % more. You may not notice it for 1 or 2% superfat but 4 and 5% extra, you'll see a difference in lather.

Just my experience; take it with a grain of salt/bar of soap =)))

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Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

The problem I see with a low superfat bar is that SAP of any oil varies slightly from batch to batch. It's given normally as a range instead of a straight up SAP. A lye calc uses only one SAP value for each oil, so it's easier to calculate the total batch. 3% superfat doesn't give you much of a cushion, especially for a smaller batch. If someone doesn't have an accurate scale and their lye is off by 0.1 oz. for a small batch, it could end up as lye heavy and do some serious damage if that bar is sold.

For liability sake, I'd rather use a higher superfat and know that my soap is safe. I find anything under 5% superfat drying for my skin type.

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

I like 7.5% for most and the ones with higher percentage of coconut oil or PKF - I go to 8%. I have lather...not a bubble bath lather, but..its a lather and very moisturizing. Its creamy and I dont need lotion even on my tattoo but then again I do have very dry skin. I dont know what it would be like to have skin you could use 0% superfat on...I would crack and bleed LOL