New recipe testing

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SozoArtisanSoaps

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Ok, so I have designed a new recipe and wanted to test it after a week to see if I can continue with this recipe or if it needed tweaked. Is it too early to tell? It suds very nice, but seems a bit drying or harsh right now. Will that get better over the 4-6 week cure or is that going to be how it is. I just wasn't sure if you can really tell how good it will be after testing at a week. There is no zap of course.
I did tweak it a bit to add more olive oil and will make that one today and test it in a couple weeks. Is it a moot point to try and see what it will be like this early on? I just wanted to get moving on my new recipe if it was a good one...
 
Without knowing the recipe, it is hard to predict how much it will improve with the cure. CP soap usually does get milder as it cures.
 
Recipe
Palm-15 oz
Coconut oil-12 oz
Olive oil-10 oz
shea-4 oz
castor-3 oz

New one I am trying today
Palm-12 oz
coconut oil-9oz
olive oil-16 oz
shea-4 oz
castor-3 oz

Both have 6% super fat and 35% water
 
I went ahead and made the second batch today. It soaped just as good as the other recipe. Very nice behaving. I think it will just come down to which is less ¨cleansing¨ I think...even though the cleansing numbers are not very high..
 
My apologies for not getting this reply done sooner, I went to go run the numbers and could not find your thread again.

Soap always improves with cure. Tremendously. However, let's just take a look at what you have:

Your first batch percentages came out roughly to this:

Palm-34%
CO-27%
OO-22%
Shea-9%
Castor-6.8%

To me, the coconut is a bit higher than I like. I really prefer to stick to 20% or less. I find more than that to be drying. But then, I have very soft water and no problems getting lather. I would also stick to 5% or less of castor. Again, soft water, so lather is not a problem. Overall, this is not going to be a bad bar of soap, and might be great for someone with harder water than mine.

Your second batch looks like this on the percentages:

Palm-27%
CO-20
OO-36%
Shea-9%
Castor-6.8%

This would be more in line with how I like my soap. More conditioning with more olive oil, and less cleansing with less coconut oil.

Having said all of this, I still can't tell you how YOU will like it. Because it is your soap, and your water, and your preferences. And it just does not matter what anyone else thinks if you like it.
 
If this batch I just made with 20% co is not mushy and hard when I unmold it, I will probably go with that one...but I really won't know for sure until a full cure...sigh...lol

Maybe more conditioning and if too soft adding some salt and stearic? Too, I noticed that adding some palm & Crisco mix adds some hardness (for me).
 
There is palm in the recipe. I have noticed that even though the numbers seem great on the soapcalc...doesn't mean it always is...at least for me. Sometimes the numbers may seem like it will be not as hard, but then it is...trial and error :)
 
Do you think that slivers cut from the bars will cure faster and give me their characteristics quicker?

I have noticed that my end piece I get from each loaf does seem to cure quicker. It's not very thick at all. I have a tendency to use the end piece for myself or for samples. Usually though those end up sitting at least 4 weeks in the end and they do seem better than when first made.
 
Yes, they are...I was just curious as I need to get cracking on batches. :) I think I have settled on a recipe I created.
 
My advice is this. Keep good notes - and keep your notes! Go ahead and test the soap right away if you like, make notes on it. If you don't like it let it go BUT put that soap away somewhere to cure and test it again in 3 months. (put a note on your calender or if your like me you'll find the soap 3 YEARS later!) After 3 months you may find that the soap you hated that wouldn't lather well, that felt too tight, that just didn't go well has matured into one of the best you've ever made. If that happens - you will be very happy that you kept the notes from the day you made it.
 
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