What does the ricinoleic family lone member do for soap?

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green soap

green soap

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I have read it adds lather. Perhaps modify the lather quality? What else does Castor oil do for your soap? do you like it? any negatives?

Does it do anything than 1-3 tsp sugar PPO in the lye water and a good amount of coconut oil does not do?

As I have a little time before the next market, I always try to improve my soaps. On my last test, I asked friends and family to evaluate soaps where i had different base oil blends. I introduce a colored marker in one of the soaps and asked folks to compare soap qualities evaluating 6-7 properties. I gave all participants one free soap of their choice (plus the two test ones). I reserved a batch for me to test and also for life shelf testing (still going). This gave me great feedback so far. I was thinking about doing a similar group test, but using 5% castor oil instead of the same amount of my soft oil mix.

Of course these tests are fun but cost time and materials. So I am asking the Castor oil experienced soapers here if you think I should bother. I should also add that i get a lot of compliments about the lather in the soaps I make now. so it i not necessarily broken.
 
I use at least 5% castor in all of my soaps. I think it does boost lather. IMO it's a nice and yet inexpensive addition to my bars. I've used as much as 10% and have had good results. It might be worth your while to do a small test batch including castor to see how you like it.
 
Good suggestion, just do a few test bars for ourselves and see if we can tell a difference. I had not thought about it since the silicone molds i used for salt bars are so new, I am not used to having them yet. Thanks foor your input falldowngobump!
 
I love castor. I use it between 8% and 23%, depending on my formula.

Speaking only for myself, I don't find that it contributes much in the way of bubbly lather as much as it adds a certain dimension of depth or body to the lather, or what I like to call 'oomph', for lack of a better term. :lol: It also contributes to the conditioning factor.

Some find it to cause a sticky feeling in their soap if used at too high of a %, but I've found that much comes down to formulation. For instance, my formula with 23% castor has 65% tallow in it and it doesn't feel sticky to me at all, but I don't think that would be the case if I used that much in a Castile-type formula. :shock:

I've tried formulating both with castor and without castor, and I must confess that I like 'with' the best.


IrishLass :)
 
I so agree Irishlass--it really is all about the balance of oils when using castor. I recently made a batch with 10% and for some reason I thought it might be sticky or soft---I was very suprised, I made the soap that morning, it went through gel, and I was able to cut it that night. It's one hard soap.
 
Thanks for your input Irishlass!

No lard, tallow or palm in my soaps. I realize they make great soaps, but I sell to the vegan environmentalist crowd. Being myself one in this crowd, I also like my soaps without lard tallow or palm. Using goat milk was a big deal to me, imagine that!

So if I use what is called in this forum a bastille type base oil combination, or something like it, do you think that 5% would be enough to be able to tell what Castor oil contributes? Should I be using 8% or 10% instead? or is that going to make sticky soap for me?
 
I make a Castile-type with 50% OO that is free of palm oil, tallow and lard. It has 10% castor in it and I don't find it to be sticky or soft at all. The cocoa butter and other oils that I add to the formula help to balance it out.

IrishLass :)
 
I am also wanting to try castor oil in mine I think I did 5% last time maybe I'll try 10 next time

Thanks for the question and answers :)
 
i'm castor free. no reason except I can get the soap I want without it and i'm a big fan of simplicity.

at higher levels it can tend toward sticky in soap.
 

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