question about recipe

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john44

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Hi
I used 40% coconut oil and 60% canola oil for my soap. Is that a good choice for making soap? What do you recommend?
Thanks,
 
What SF were you thinking?

Coconut oil can be very drying, it is called "cleansing" in the lye calculators but that's really a misnomer for "oil stripping." Most people stick to 20% or lower coconut or use a high SF to offset the drying. As you gain more experience you'll learn what your skin prefers.

Some people say that canola contributes to DOS but I've never had an issue. I've also never used 60% in a recipe. I think canola tends to be in the 20-30% of my recipes, personal preference.

Do you have other oils available? This recipe looks ok in terms of a learning recipe but if you have anything else to use we can help you balance everything a bit better
 
What SF were you thinking?

Coconut oil can be very drying, it is called "cleansing" in the lye calculators but that's really a misnomer for "oil stripping." Most people stick to 20% or lower coconut or use a high SF to offset the drying. As you gain more experience you'll learn what your skin prefers.

Some people say that canola contributes to DOS but I've never had an issue. I've also never used 60% in a recipe. I think canola tends to be in the 20-30% of my recipes, personal preference.

Do you have other oils available? This recipe looks ok in terms of a learning recipe but if you have anything else to use we can help you balance everything a bit better

I am thinking about 5% superfat.
I have access to sunflower seed oil , soybean oil , canola oil , coconut oil and milk fat.please tell me a recipe with these oils
(I don't have access to any kind of palm oil)
Thanks
 
Hey John! Do you have access to lard or tallow? They're great hard oils that you can use to make up the bulk of your recipe for a very nice bar of soap.

Do you know if the sunflower seed oil is high-oleic? It should say so on the label.

Oils are composed of different percentages of fatty acids - "linoleic" and "linolenic" fatty acids have a short shelf life and are prone to rancidity, so it's usually best practice to avoid those. The big offenders are hemp seed oil, canola oil, soybean oil, non-HO safflower oil and non-HO sunflower oil.

You could try the following "Bastille" recipe:

70% high-oleic sunflower seed oil
30% coconut oil

7% superfat
40% lye concentration

This type of bar will require a long cure before it hardens up nicely, similar to the long cure required for Castille soap. Dissolving a bit of salt to your water before adding your lye will help make a harder bar. One teaspoon per pound of oil would work nicely.

You could also try doing a pure coconut oil salt bar.

100% coconut oil
50%-100% pickling/sea salt (according to oil weight)

20% superfat
30% lye concentration

In this recipe, you would prepare your water and lye as usual and add to your melted coconut oil. Then at trace, add your salt and mix with a spatula. This recipe will harden extremely quickly, so it's best to make your bars in single cavity molds as opposed to a loaf or slab mold, as salt bars can be difficult to cut.

You can learn more about salt bars by searching the forum.

And my lye calculator recommendation is Soapee.com. Good luck!
 
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If the oils have a nutrition label you can determine if they're high oleic from that. Look at the grams of monounsaturated fat per serving. If it's way more than half of the total fat grams, then your oil is HO. If the monounsaturated fat is about half of the total fats, then it's a mid oleic oil. If it's less than half, I wouldn't use that oil for soaping.
 
Hey John! Do you have access to lard or tallow? They're great hard oils that you can use to make up the bulk of your recipe for a very nice bar of soap.

Do you know if the sunflower seed oil is high-oleic? It should say so on the label.

Oils are composed of different percentages of fatty acids - "linoleic" and "linolenic" fatty acids have a short shelf life and are prone to rancidity, so it's usually best practice to avoid those. The big offenders are hemp seed oil, canola oil, soybean oil, non-HO safflower oil and non-HO sunflower oil.

You could try the following "Bastille" recipe:

70% high-oleic sunflower seed oil
30% coconut oil

7% superfat
40% lye concentration

This type of bar will require a long cure before it hardens up nicely, similar to the long cure required for Castille soap. Dissolving a bit of salt to your water before adding your lye will help make a harder bar. One teaspoon per pound of oil would work nicely.

You could also try doing a pure coconut oil salt bar.

100% coconut oil
50% pickling/sea salt (according to oil weight)

20% superfat
30% lye concentration

In this recipe, you would prepare your water and lye as usual and add to your melted coconut oil. Then at trace, add your salt and mix with a spatula. This recipe will harden extremely quickly, so it's best to make your bars in single cavity molds as opposed to a loaf or slab mold, as salt bars can be difficult to cut.

You can learn more about salt bars by searching the forum.

And my lye calculator recommendation is Soapee.com. Good luck!

Thanks for your reply
If I use canola oil when rancidity occurs?
If rancidity occurs , what effects will it cause in soap?(does it have any effect on cleansing or any negative effects on the skin?)
would you please explain a little bit more about rancidity?
Thanks
 
Thanks for your reply
If I use canola oil when rancidity occurs?
If rancidity occurs , what effects will it cause in soap?(does it have any effect on cleansing or any negative effects on the skin?)
would you please explain a little bit more about rancidity?
Thanks

Sure! When soap goes rancid, it develops orange/yellow spots (or the whole bar can turn orange/yellow) and smells bad. It should be thrown away and not used.

It's hard to say when or if your soap will go rancid. It depends on the freshness of your oils, how they are stored, how your soap is stored, your superfat (lower is better) etc. You should store your oils and soaps in a cool dark place and give your bars plenty of breathing room and air. You can add preservatives to your fresh oils to prolong their life. You should also never allow your soap batter or bars to touch any metal aside from stainless steel, as that can cause rancidity too. Some fragrances - especially Lavender EO - can cause rancidity as well. There are a lot of factors at play!

Here is a good read on DOS and preservatives: http://cavemanchemistry.com/DreadedOrangeSpot-Dunn.pdf
 
I am thinking about 5% superfat.
I have access to sunflower seed oil , soybean oil , canola oil , coconut oil and milk fat.please tell me a recipe with these oils
(I don't have access to any kind of palm oil)
Thanks

Toxikon covered your best options with those oils. If you know your oils are fresh and want to wait roughly a year I've gotten a decent bar with:
20% coconut
30% canola
50% sunflower

If you can get a hold of castor take 5% from the canola or sunflower. It needs a minimum of 6 months but preferably a year cure. It also needs a long time to harden enough to cut
 
Using rancid soap won't hurt you. But it's ugly and it smells weird. Here are some pictures:
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/dreaded-orange-spots/

If you only have access to sunflower, soybean, canola and coconut, try this:
20% coconut
80% sunflower (or a combo of sunflower, soybean and canola)
5% superfat

Then maybe try:
30% coconut
70% sunflower, soybean, canola
10% superfat

By milk fat, do you mean butter? From animal milk? Animal milk butter will make your soap smell gross. That might be an experiment to try when you have more experience.
 
I tried below recipe in SoapCalc and there are two noticeable things : 1. high iodine value (the iodine value is about 90) 2. low INS (INS number is about 130)
Do these things make any problem for final bar soap?
Please give an explanation about iodine value and INS number.
my recipe is:
65% soybean oil
35% coconut oil
With 5% superfat
Please help me
Thanks
 
I would not use soybean oil, either. Do you have a problem with using lard or tallow? Lard is readily available in the US, it is cheap, and makes lovely soap. Or if you have a Walmart nearby, buy the Great Value Shortening. It has tallow and palm. My favorite recipe have both lard and GV shortening, as well as olive, coconut, and castor oil. All are available at Walmart if you have access to one.
 
John44, if all you have access to is coconut oil, sunflower oil, canola & soybean oil, it would probably be a good idea to find a source for Rosemary Oleoresin to help prevent DOS in your soaps.

See these links about DOS and how to prevent it: http://cavemanchemistry.com/DreadedOrangeSpot-Dunn.pdf
More about using ROE: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=58835&highlight=rosemary+oleoresin
https://classicbells.com/soap/ROE.html

With all soft oils (except the CO) the Iodine values and the INS values are not going to fall within the suggested ranges very much, but I wouldn't worry about that so much.

For more information about INS & other values given in soapcalc see these links:
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/ins-numbers-for-soapmaking/
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=36717
http://soapcalc.net/info/soapqualities.asp

You may find this interesting regarding the results of a survey of soapers and what fatty acid profiles were most popular:
http://www.modernsoapmaking.com/the-most-popular-fatty-acid-profiles-in-soapmaking/

As to your choices of oils, at least the plain canola oil is higher in oleic and lower in linoleic, so it seems a better choice than soy or plain sunflower unless you can get the High Oleic version of Sunflower Oil. If you have access to the high oleic version of Sunflower, that would probably be your best soft oil to choose, as with a long cure it makes a nice hard soap.

Also, if you say where you are, perhaps others on the forum might know better where to refer you for other supplies that you have yet found. Sometimes someone in your country has found a good source for a soaping oil and don't know to tell you about it because we don't know where you are.
 
I would not use soybean oil, either. Do you have a problem with using lard or tallow? Lard is readily available in the US, it is cheap, and makes lovely soap. Or if you have a Walmart nearby, buy the Great Value Shortening. It has tallow and palm. My favorite recipe have both lard and GV shortening, as well as olive, coconut, and castor oil. All are available at Walmart if you have access to one.

Thanks for your reply
I don't want to use animal fats.
what is your opinion about this recipe:
65% soybean oil
35% coconut oil
with 5% super fat.
 
I wouldn't use canola or soy in your soap, they are short lived and can make your soap go bad. Since you have limited oils available and don't want to use animal fats, what about a 100% coconut soap with 20% SF? The numbers will look terrible in soap calc but I promise it makes a nice soap.
Where are you located? any chance of getting shea or cocobutter? What about olive or avocado oil?
 
Can I ask what your objections to animal fats are? Unless you are dead set against it, you're missing out on some great options for what might be a misinformed reasoning.

Also, don't worry too much about each and every number that the calcs spit out - if an experienced member suggests a recipe but the calcs show it as lacking, trust the member not the numbers. There are many soap recipes which are terrible according to the numbers, because the calcs are limited in what they can do.
 
John44, if all you have access to is coconut oil, sunflower oil, canola & soybean oil, it would probably be a good idea to find a source for Rosemary Oleoresin to help prevent DOS in your soaps.

See these links about DOS and how to prevent it: http://cavemanchemistry.com/DreadedOrangeSpot-Dunn.pdf
More about using ROE: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=58835&highlight=rosemary+oleoresin
https://classicbells.com/soap/ROE.html

With all soft oils (except the CO) the Iodine values and the INS values are not going to fall within the suggested ranges very much, but I wouldn't worry about that so much.

For more information about INS & other values given in soapcalc see these links:
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/ins-numbers-for-soapmaking/
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=36717
http://soapcalc.net/info/soapqualities.asp

You may find this interesting regarding the results of a survey of soapers and what fatty acid profiles were most popular:
http://www.modernsoapmaking.com/the-most-popular-fatty-acid-profiles-in-soapmaking/

As to your choices of oils, at least the plain canola oil is higher in oleic and lower in linoleic, so it seems a better choice than soy or plain sunflower unless you can get the High Oleic version of Sunflower Oil. If you have access to the high oleic version of Sunflower, that would probably be your best soft oil to choose, as with a long cure it makes a nice hard soap.

Also, if you say where you are, perhaps others on the forum might know better where to refer you for other supplies that you have yet found. Sometimes someone in your country has found a good source for a soaping oil and don't know to tell you about it because we don't know where you are.
Thanks for your time
If I use ROE (or other preservatives) which of the below recipes is better and which you recommend?
1.
65% soybean oil
35% coconut oil
with 5% super fat

2.
65% canola oil (not HO)
35% coconut oil
with 5% super fat.

3.
65% sunflower oil (not HO)
35% coconut oil
with 5% super fat.
I ask all of members help me.
 
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Thank you for this recipe . What was the specifications of soap produced

Thank you Mandy for this recipe . What was the specifications of soap produced
 
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Thank you for this recipe . What was the specifications of soap produced
Mandy is no longer here and this post is 1 yr old and the OP has not been in since this post. If you require some information, please start a new post.
 
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