Itchy feeling and skin dryness

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matt_a_s

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I made my first batch of CP soap back in late September and let it cure for about 4 weeks. However, after I used it, my skin felt a bit itchy and dry. In addition, my bars of soap don't seem to last as long in comparision to a commercial soap (about a week or so). Has anybody else experienced these same issues? My recipe is a follows: castor oil (1oz), coconut oil (13oz), pomace olive oil (16oz), palm oil (8oz), lye 5.458 oz, water 12.54 oz. I also added 2oz of shea butter after trace, along with 1.5oz lavender essential oil and some lavender herbs. I noticed that most websites recommended distilled water while I admittingly used the poland spring bottled water. Could the the bottled water leave the batch a bit caustic? I also read somewhere that too much olive oil might cause the soap to shrink a lot faster while in use. Is this also true? Any suggestions and recommendations are welcome.
 
Your coconut oil might be a little high - it looks to be a little more than 1/3 of your total oils. General rule of thumb is to keep it under 20% unless you are superfatting. Some people are also sensitive to coconut oil and it makes their skin itch; if that's the case with you, you might try PKO as a substitute. I've also seen some folks on the forum who report their skin is sensitive to shea.

As for rapidly disappearing bars, I have no idea. So far my CP soap has held up well as long as I keep it dry and well drained. Maybe somebody else will have some insights.

Good luck to you.
 
I agree with the coconut oil possibly being the culprit. As for homemade soaps...they generally don't last as long as a detergent bar. But longer cure will also help harden the bar...olive takes longer to get hard, but once it does it makes for a pretty hard soap.
 
I'm not sure I agree, as many here know I regularly soap with 75% coconut oil. I don't have time to put your amounts into a lye calculator - but rather than saying use less coconut oil, I'm more in favor of raising your superfat.

You may have learned a valuable lesson without actually making the mistake - NEVER assume the amount on a package is the amount inside. For water it doesn't make a speck of difference when it comes to drying, but still...

CP soap doesn't last as long as commercial soap, by a long shot. Such is life. But a longer cure, and/or starting with less water can help. And keep it dry when not in use.
 
I remember buying a jar of organic coconut oil at the whole foods market at its solid state and then eventually melted it. Could that have been a bad idea as well. However, this time I bought a different brand of coconut oil (76 degrees) from this other website in its liquid form.
 
I have the same problem with my first batch which contains 30-35% CO. It also have around 30% shea in it. But my skin feels itchy and dry after using it, especially when I shower longer. I'd noticed it's not so severe if I shorten your shower time (not rubbing on so much of the soap).

Good news is, I've also made some batch with 25% CO and 20% CO. The 25% have no itching, in the borderline of not dry and not much moisture. The 20% makes my skin the most happy.
 
It can be a long process to find a recipe and superfat level that you like--cuz everyone is so different. And how hard or soft your bath water is will change how you like a bar too. Some oils make people itch. I can't use many FOs. And yeah, it took us a while to come up with a soap dish for the shower that kept our bars out of water. So, don't be discouraged, it could take a little time to come up with a recipe you like.
 
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