Can I use Shea in place of high SF in a coconut heavy recipe?

MunbynSMF
Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

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

ambers_artworld

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2011
Messages
88
Reaction score
9
Hi all of you smart soapy people! I've searched for the answer to this and can't seem to find it, sorry if it has already been answered elsewhere. My question is, if I make a batch high in coconut (30%) do I have to do a high super fat even if I use a high amount of Shea? I am hoping for a longer-lasting bar, and was wondering if 10% Shea, because of the high amount of nonsaponifiables, could replace a steep SF and allow me to do instead around five or 6%. The remaining oils are the usual suspects, palm, olive, Castor. What are your thoughts/experiences? Thanks in advance!
 
"...My question is, if I make a batch high in coconut (30%) do I have to do a high super fat even if I use a high amount of Shea?.."

What is a high superfat in your opinion?

As far as the unsaponifiables in shea being a substitute for superfat, I don't think it works that way -- at least I haven't heard anyone speaking of using shea in that sense. But I might be missing that.

The main advantage of shea in my opinion is the high stearic acid content. That much coconut oil is going to make a short-lived, high cleansing bar, but the stearic in the shea will help increase the longevity. Regardless of the fats in the recipe, I would formulate the recipe to have a nice balance of cleansing, conditioning, good lather, and longevity and I would still use my usual superfat, which translates in soapcalc terms to about 2-3%.
 

Similar threads

Liesel Atwood
making liquid dish soap using a bar soap recipe
Replies
1
Views
1K
DeeAnna
DeeAnna
N
My unintended experiment and what came out of it
Replies
4
Views
695
natik
N
Mobjack Bay
Lather test
2
Replies
28
Views
6K
KiwiMoose
KiwiMoose
L
Natural Goat Milk Base misbehaves
Replies
15
Views
2K
LucyFae
L
MrsZ
Did I ruin my GLS?
2
Replies
23
Views
2K
MrsZ
MrsZ

Latest posts

Back
Top