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Many people find high butter soaps generally to be more "draggy" and more brittle

Just ran the numbers for those interested - Shea or lard at 50%, coconut 25%, castor 5%, ho sunflower 20%

I think that the focus on numbers alone is the biggest issue many have - as the numbers are not the whole picture. Oils and fats are not just fatty acids strung together with glycerine and that's all she wrote. You can make two very similar recipes based on numbers but using different oils and...

For the recipe itself, I personally would drop the pko completely, lower the castor to 5%, and put that 13% on to the palm. Well, I would use lard instead of palm, but that can come later 😂

Accuracy issues in sap values can also be worked around by using the software for what you are currently missing - which isn't the lye calculation part of the process.

One example is sodium citrate. The actual science behind them can be better answered by someone else (most likely has been in threads about chelators, there was one fairly recently) but it can prevent soap scum in hard water and also a draggy or squeaky clean feeling that you can get

Maybe you need a chelator. Do you have a lot of minerals in your water?

No one was getting in a tizzy about using food items in soaps, just pointing out that there would be differences between actual colloidal oats and the very finely ground oats produced using your method. No one is saying not to do it, but just letting people know that it's not actually going to...

You'll have to share the recipe for some feedback. And maybe if you can liken your technique in lathering to another known soap so we can gauge a bit how much water you're using

https://media.tenor.com/tBmY1MPlBn8AAAAM/for-those-reasons-im-out.gif

Okay, so my last recipe - 40% avocado oil 35% Shea butter 14% beeswax 10% jojoba 1% scent I am tempted to swap some liquid oil out for some polysorbate 80 (most likely the avocado) to help with washing it out

I'll try to remember to post my recipe here when I get home. It's very much a pomade consistency. Been meaning to make a video about it, but haven't had the time

And don't feel bad - I made a liquid soap scented with Mag champa. I do not like it. But it's one of those basic staples in most soapers lives. At least I don't have the same issue as you, as no one in this house liked it either!

As above - if you're just starting making soap (as in, this is your first or one of your first times) then I would go a very different route with temperature. If you have made a few batches, just aim to have the same sort of temperature as you had before but without over thinking it. Another...

The lack of handles is also a problem for me. Even if it's not going to be very hot when you pour it, it might be very hot when you need to move it around and such

Accurate measurements are also linked to the amounts you are using. For example measuring 1kg of something on a 1g scale will get you within a pretty decent margin of error. Using the same scale for 2.5g won't! I have a 0.1g 8kg scale which was not crazily expensive and allows me to make test...

And don't forget the biggest cost - your time. A great way to reduce costs per bar is to increase batch size, as the time needed to make a 1000g batch does not increase directly double from making a 500g batch, but the amount of soap for sale does increase. If increasing batch size isn't viable...

Never apologise for asking questions! I'll have to look up to be 100% sure, but the weight of the extra sodium hydroxide and the weight of the citric acid should give you the total weight of sodium citrate - but I will check

I always looked at pine tar soaps as having a specific purpose rather than being a 'normal' soap with a generic additive, and as such the performance doesn't have to measure up to a 'normal' soap in areas like bubbles and lather and such. I think it's like getting in to something like a rally...

I think it was simply as the topic was covered here and someone (most likely @DeeAnna !) pointed it out. To summarize, in both cases the chelator is actually sodium citrate. Citric acid is not the chelator. When you use citric acid you're just making sodium citrate yourself rather than having...