Superfatting for General Purpose and Laundry bar

Shop deals on ebay
Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
S

sephera

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
142
Reaction score
11
How much super fatting should I used for

Laundry Bar

Dishwash by Hand Bar

Delicates Wash / Wool Wash Bar

I'll probably be using 10% Coconut Butter for cleansing and bubbles and 10% Canola oil and 80% Olive.

Please help guide me. My guess maybe 2% for Laundry and Dish to account for mis measuring. Maybe 4% for Delicates.
 
Last edited:
I believe Luna Skye is correct. Ha, one time I washed dishes with some soap that was superfatted at 5% and there was a lot of grease residue on the plates. Won't make that mistake again!

For my dish soap, I made a liquid soap with lye excess, then neutralized the lye. So, that's a zero superfat. It works just like Dawn dish detergent! :)
 
sephera said:
How much super fatting should I used for

Laundry Bar

Dishwash by Hand Bar

Delicates Wash / Wool Wash Bar

I'll probably be using 10% Coconut Butter for cleansing and bubbles and 10% Canola oil and 80% Olive.

Please help guide me. My guess maybe 2% for Laundry and Dish to account for mis measuring. Maybe 4% for Delicates.
Click to expand...

You want 0% superfat for laundry and dish soap.

Use 100% coconut oil for laundry and no more than 20% coconut for dishwashing.
 
What about for delicate Laundry? Washing by hand. Would 5% superfat wreck your delicate clothing. I plan of adding 10-20% Lanolin.

This is my plan for Dish Soap/Laundry.

80% Canola Oil
20% Coconut Oil

Allowing 1% Superfating as my scale only goes to Whole numbers.

Coconut oil is expensive here I don't want to use 100% coconut.

I'm going to water discount it to 30% of oil weight

Adding a teaspoon of sugar and one salt to the water to speed trace, up the hardness and speed cure time.
 
Last edited:
Cloth does not need superfat or lanolin. It is not skin. Use no superfat for laundry. It would be like spraying oil on the fabric.

Sugar and salt do not affect cure time or trace. Sugar increases the bubbles(something you do NOT want in a soap intended for use in a washing machine) and salt only hardens the bars. Perhaps you need to go do a bit more research on that one. Cure time remains 4-6 weeks for bar soap.
 
Last edited:
girlishcharm2004 said:
I believe Luna Skye is correct. Ha, one time I washed dishes with some soap that was superfatted at 5% and there was a lot of grease residue on the plates. Won't make that mistake again!

For my dish soap, I made a liquid soap with lye excess, then neutralized the lye. So, that's a zero superfat. It works just like Dawn dish detergent! :)
Click to expand...


It is not necessary to make liquid soap with lye excess then neutralize. Just use a reputable lye calculator like soapcalc.net and tick the KOH and 90% boxes. Stick to 1% superfat for dish soap. The 1% is just to ensure you do not have a lye heavy batch in the case of being a tiny bit off on the weights. You can, of course, continue to make lye excess soap and then neutralize, but I much prefer to skip all those steps.
 
"...I plan of adding 10-20% Lanolin...."

I have not used it personally, but in my reading, lanolin has been recommended for use in bath and toilet soaps for the skin, but not for laundry. Lanolin is generally used in these soaps in small amounts -- 2-3% based on the oil weight. If you want to treat wool garments with a product containing lanolin, I'd formulate an after-wash rinse with a small percentage of lanolin; I wouldn't add it to soap. I also would not use lanolin on any fiber besides wools. I would be very concerned about its long-term effect on vegetable fibers, such as silk, cotton, linen, etc.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for replies. I want to use 1% superfatting as my scale only does whole number and I will round up decimals to whole numbers. I am worried about excessive lye when washing dishes etc.
 
If neutralizing the lye isn't necessary, that is the soap does just fine at washing at 1%, then I just might try that. I was following a tutorial when I made the soap. I have so much though so I'll have to wait until it's used up and I need to make some more.
 
Sephera why do you not put "laundry soap " into search bar; top left hand side. It would bring pages of information about laundry soap not only bars but liquid also.

We have tons of info here already. My laundry soap is 0% superfat, you do not not need it.. It is also pure coconut and there is not coffee stain or grease stain which does not get off after washing
 
girlishcharm2004 said:
If neutralizing the lye isn't necessary, that is the soap does just fine at washing at 1%, then I just might try that. I was following a tutorial when I made the soap. I have so much though so I'll have to wait until it's used up and I need to make some more.
Click to expand...

I understand perfectly. Most of us started making liquid soap from tutorials just like that. It is why I grabbed your reply and let you know that we don't have to do that any longer. Go check out the liquid and cream soap forum. Lots of conversations there with loads of good info.
 
Dahila said:
Sephera why do you not put "laundry soap " into search bar; top left hand side. It would bring pages of information about laundry soap not only bars but liquid also.

We have tons of info here already. My laundry soap is 0% superfat, you do not not need it.. It is also pure coconut and there is not coffee stain or grease stain which does not get off after washing
Click to expand...

OK do you then grate the soap and use it with washing soda and or borax. Wouldn't it get a bit expensive? Do you use refined coconut oil? Yes I tried to search in the forum and got a bit confused that's why I asked.
 
Last edited:
You can use refined or unrefined coconut oil. It does not matter. Just be sure to check the 76 degree coconut oil box on Soapcalc.

You are going to want to go read the threads on making laundry soap as to whether you have to use both washing soda and borax or not based on whether you have hard water or not, if I recall correctly. I make liquid laundry soap, and have soft water. So, I really don't recall. I live in the US, and washing soda and borax are not expensive here.

You WILL want to use some vinegar in the rinse cycle, though. It makes a huge difference in how your clothes look. I use a Downy ball to measure the vinegar into at the start of the wash.
 
I use the one for soap 76 degree CO, I mix it with borax and washing soda which is dirty cheap. I add also some baking soda. I use vinegar as softener too, exactly like Susie said. It is the best washing powder I ever had :))
 
Susie said:
TEG- If you can purchase baking soda, just pour that onto a baking sheet and bake it at 400F(200C if my converter is close) for 20-30 minutes until it stops steaming, et voila, washing soda. I know the UK has washing soda, as I watch way too many BBC shows. :)
Click to expand...

That's washing soda. He can't get borax.

Borax is only really useful in hot water, and washing soda is a good water softener, while citric acid works well to precipitate out minerals in the water. You need to know a bit about your water to make a good formulation, because it has a large effect on the results.
 
There's definitely hard water in the US, so again, knowing one's own water is the best idea. At one point - was it in this thread? - I had found a map of water quality in the US, but pretty much anywhere will have some record with public works or the equivalent, or if you have a well, you can get a water report.
 

Similar threads

Blufuz
Single Oil Soap Test
Replies
5
Views
2K
Pepsi Girl
Pepsi Girl
J
Dish-wash bar / laundry
2
Replies
26
Views
4K
earlene
earlene
CpnDouchette
Help with Salt Bar recipe
2
Replies
20
Views
3K
fjura
fjura
Jorah
'Old Reliable' or 'Core' Cold Process Recipes
3 4 5
Replies
98
Views
12K
Ech0s
E
Prysm
  • Sticky
How to Make Soap - Soapmaking Guide for Beginners
3 4 5
Replies
81
Views
19K
melinda48
melinda48

Latest posts

Back
Top