HARD bar recipes?

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Sibi said:
I just recently started using 2% beeswax in my soaps and it sure does work for hardening the bar up! Am very pleased with the results :D
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Is it just me or...when I plug my recipe in on soapcalc.net and shift oil amounts around to add 2% beeswax, the only attribute that changes is my hardness goes DOWN. From 30 to 28! No matter which oil I take from. What's up? Will it still produce a harder bar even if the calc says it wont?
 
And beeswax can be tricky to soap. You have to soap with higher temps so it doesn't harden before you're done mixing. And even then I've had weird stuff happen in the mold.

I know some people are successful with it...but not I.
 
My best reccomendation for a hard bar is stearic acid, a natural acid from animal fat. I would do some research and find somebody who uses it frequently though. Too much will seize your batch. A buddy of mine just used it and is hooked on it. The bar he gave me was as hard as a commercial bar.
 
countymounty22 said:
My best reccomendation for a hard bar is stearic acid, a natural acid from animal fat. I would do some research and find somebody who uses it frequently though. Too much will seize your batch. A buddy of mine just used it and is hooked on it. The bar he gave me was as hard as a commercial bar.
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For the vegan/vegetarian minded among us, you can also get palm-based stearic acid.
 
I use stearic acid to make my soap VERY hard. I use it sparingly, 1/8 to 1/4 oz ppo, I melt it separately and add it at medium trace. It thickens FAST. I also use sodium lactate, which works well, too. And no, soapcalc will not give you an accurate hardness number when trying to calculate beeswax (which I have also used, but I find it a PITA). In general, harder butters/fats will make a harder bar, softer liquid oils = softer bars. The exception is olive oil which as Ian said will make a very hard bar of soap, but only after it has cured for 6 months to a year.

However, I cannot determine from what source any of my stearic acid is made, whether vegetable or animal. Some are opposed to using animal products, others are opposed to using palm (the veg source of stearic), just wanted to put that out there.

Salt in small amounts will also harden soap, but it will cut down lather too. Try adding 1/2 to 1 tsp salt ppo, plus 1 tbsp plain white sugar ppo to boost your bubbles.
 
I used 2% stearic acid in a bar I recently made. Im not sure how it will affect it because I just unmolded it today actually but I thought I would give it a shot!
 
countymounty22 said:
My best reccomendation for a hard bar is stearic acid, a natural acid from animal fat. I would do some research and find somebody who uses it frequently though. Too much will seize your batch. A buddy of mine just used it and is hooked on it. The bar he gave me was as hard as a commercial bar.
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SA is used extensively in shave soaps, my recipe uses 50% SA, 25% CO, and 25% lard.

But ... you're not making shave soap. OK. This past fall I made 3 non-shave soaps for christmas gifts, one was Pine Tar soap, the other two were sort of "generic" soaps (one scented with tea tree oil and the other with a baby powder FO). All three used 10% SA in the formulation. Each were made using HP.

I wouldn't call these soaps "super hard" - the triple milled Yardley lavender soap I use in the shower is really really hard stuff.

But, I would say that you shouldn't be afraid of including it in your soap. You can't really CP with it, though, so you'll have to think through your manufacturing process.

Cheers-
Dave
 
When I want a really hard bar of soap I use tallow. Never fails and I don't have to worry about calculating something else to add.
 
My bars are usually hard within 24 hours. I use olive oil and lye.

Over the 6 week curing process they do go a lot harder though.

I am going to trying 2%beeswax like you suggested and see how that works though... Thanks :)
 
The most hard bar I have ever made is definitely a salt bar. You can add a tsp od sea or himalayan salt per pound of soap to your custom soap recipe or do a real salt bar. Look at lovinsoap.com and find salt bar recipe. The thing is to add the same amount of salt as your oils and to have at least 50-100% of coconut oil and superfat between 10-20%. I love it. It is really soothing and hydrating soap. I dont need to use a lotion after shower!
 
PetraAnyz said:
The most hard bar I have ever made is definitely a salt bar. You can add a tsp od sea or himalayan salt per pound of soap to your custom soap recipe or do a real salt bar. Look at lovinsoap.com and find salt bar recipe. The thing is to add the same amount of salt as your oils and to have at least 50-100% of coconut oil and superfat between 10-20%. I love it. It is really soothing and hydrating soap. I dont need to use a lotion after shower!
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Although salt bars are very hard they are also very soluble because of the high coconut oil which allows them to lather and will not last as long as soaps with palm, lard or tallow. 100% coconut soap is the main soap used for sailors soap becuase it lathers in salt water. As mentioned you can a tsp tsp of salt ppo to help harden a bar. Hard does not equal longevity in soap. I discovered it several years ago but DeeAnna has a good post which describes the numbers in soap calc
 
Soy wax is a soft wax, and will stay a soft wax. Beeswax does have a high melting point, but at 2% or less, helps harden a bar. I've never tried caranuba wax, although it is even harder than beeswax.

For a hard bar, I'd do something like lard/coconut/PKO flakes at a 33/30/30 ratio, with 5% castor for bubbles, and 2% beeswax.

Personally, I am not crazy about high OO soaps. I find them drying, and with my hard water, they are slimy at anything over about 20%.

Beeswax over 5% softens a bar, for some technical chemical reason I don't understand. (Dee Anna! Over here! {waves hand} ) :confused:

~HL~
 
HoneyLady said:
Beeswax over 5% softens a bar, for some technical chemical reason I don't understand. (Dee Anna! Over here! {waves hand} ) :confused:

~HL~
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Really? Interesting. I've never used over 5% beeswax - I use 5% and love it. Those are my hardest bars. Texture wise, they might be my favorite - sleek like a piece of marble.

I recently made some bars that are 10% beeswax, I'll let you know when they're ready to test!
 

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