Looking for advice on adjusting my current recipe

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Jamison

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I asked a couple years back about tweaking the recipe and got some help. It's time for an adjustment with molds again so I'm curious as if there's anything that anyone suggests I change....

Here's the basic run down of my percentages (left out the decimals)

Olive: 38%
Coconut: 24%
Palm: 20%
Hemp: 8.5%
Castor: 7.8%
 
What are you looking to change? What feedback are you getting about it? What are you looking for it to do/not do?

Any suggestions about those percentages of oils.... Is there room for improvement in this recipe with adding/subtracting any of the oils I use.
 
have you used this recipe? if so, how are your feelings about it?
 
I would reduce the castor to 5% and the coconut to 20%, increase the OO to make up the difference.

Interesting.... Those numbers are what they are based on a recommendation on here. :)

I never really understood how to read the figures on the lye calculators. The figures for bubbles, cleanliness, moisturizing, etc....
 
have you used this recipe? if so, how are your feelings about it?

For over a year... I personally love it. I use it for body wash, shampoo, and to shave with. I've had zero complaints with it from friends too.

I'm just wondering if I can make it even better, ya know? :)
 
Have you tried replacing the palm with lard or tallow? How is it with hemp at 10% and castor at 5%, or is the hemp pretty much maxed at 8.5%?

Nah, I only use vegetable oils.

What do you mean? I've always read the rule with hemp is to keep it under 10%.
 
Interesting.... Those numbers are what they are based on a recommendation on here. :)

I never really understood how to read the figures on the lye calculators. The figures for bubbles, cleanliness, moisturizing, etc....

castor can be used at 10% but I find 5% is usually enough to increase lather. Lowering the coconut will make it slightly less cleansing and increasing the OO will increase the conditioning. You end up with a bar that is slightly less drying and more conditioning.
I've never used hemp so I can't comment on it.
 
For over a year... I personally love it. I use it for body wash, shampoo, and to shave with. I've had zero complaints with it from friends too.

I'm just wondering if I can make it even better, ya know? :)

i totally understand the desire to tweak, i have it too sometimes. but as the saying goes... if it ain't broken, don't fix it :p

how much sf are you using for this recipe?
 
Personally, that recipe looks great to me. I love hemp oil! I have also upped my castor from 5-7% recently and it is working well. I find 10% too sticky, unless I'm making a specialty bar like a shaving soap and then I'd go higher.

I also wondered about superfat. If it were me, I'd SF this recipe between 8-10%
 
I love hemp oil as well and use castor between 6-7% in most my recipes. I pretty much always SF between 7-10% but that's my preference. I would go to the higher with that amount of coconut as I generally stick to under 25%. If you like it then I woudn't change it.
 
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Times have changed around here... It seemed most hated hemp oil when I was more active here. Due to it's shorter shelf life.


I don't do any additional SF. I believe the calculator is default to 5%.

When I first started making soap, I recall seeing that SF was done after trace. A little more oil was added that wouldn't be saponified. Other places I have read saying it's just more oil than you need for the amount of lye used.


"If it ain't broke, don't fix it".... I hate that quote. We wouldn't have cars if everyone thought that way. Or countless other things.
 
I like some avocado and shea.

My standard recipe:
25 percent olive
20 percent coconut
20 percent palm
15 percent PKO flakes
7.5 percent avocado
7.5 percent shea butter
5 percent castor

Hah, have been meaning and meaning to tweak my recipe. New standard one I'm gonna try is:
30 percent olive
20 percent palm
15 percent coconut
15 percent PKO flakes
7.5 percent avocado
6.5 percent shea butter
6 percent castor


Superfat at 8 percent

And I always add sodium lactate and silk to the lye liquid, and usually a clay, and sugar to milk at trace.
 
I like some avocado and shea.

My standard recipe:
25 percent olive
20 percent coconut
20 percent palm
15 percent PKO flakes
7.5 percent avocado
7.5 percent shea butter
5 percent castor

Have been meaning to up the olive to 30 percent and lower the coconut to 15 percent

Superfat at 8 percent

And I always add sodium lactate and silk to the lye liquid, and usually a clay, and sugar to milk at trace.

That sure sounds like some fancy soaping.... Only 25% olive?

Sodium lactate and silk? Sugar to milk at trace????


I've been considering adding bentonite clay to my recipe. I usually add some sort of ground herb to the batches too.
 
Paillo, that looks like a great recipe although for my fussy skin, I'd bump the combined PKO/CO down a notch and add the balance to the olive oil.

Jamison, these days, superfat is pretty much interchangeable with lye discount in CP soaping. The lye is still very active when the soap is poured into the mold, so there is no guarantee that a given oil won't saponify because it was added last. Easier to take the discount up front, less to forget.
 
Jamison, these days, superfat is pretty much interchangeable with lye discount in CP soaping. The lye is still very active when the soap is poured into the mold, so there is no guarantee that a given oil won't saponify because it was added last. Easier to take the discount up front, less to forget.

Meaning what exactly? I've always used this calculator:
http://www.brambleberry.com/pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx


I was told it automatically is set for 5%
 
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