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kchaystack

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Hello, I am working on my own base recipe and thought I would get some feedback from the zeitgeist.

Avocado oil 15%
Castor oil 10%
Coconut oil 25%
Olive oil 35%
Shea butter 15%

5% SF

This gives me the following values:
hardness - 36
cleansing - 17
condition - 60
bubbles - 26
creaminess - 28


I might change the castor oil to 5% and up the shea butter or olive oil.

I am vegetarian, so do not want to use lard or tallow, and I am of two minds about palm. I understand that many sources are sustainable, and might rethink this at some point.

For now, I am looking for a bar that lasts a reasonable amount of time, won't cleanse skin to death, and conditions well. I am horrible about remembering lotion. LOL.

I think this gets what I want, and the couple of test batches were close to this, but were a borrowed formula and I want to have come up with something more personal.

Thanks for any help!

View attachment Soap recipie 3.pdf
 
The numbers look pretty good. You might add a little sodium lactate to the lye water. Sodium lactate gives you a harder, longer lasting bar and helps with the lather also.
 
Just my personal opinion, I wouldn't up the shea if you lower the castor. I'd up the olive oil or maybe avocado.

Also, your cleansing number is a little high for me personally. I try not to use over about 20% coconut. But you might like it so don't be afraid to give it a try. If you find it to be too drying. You could try raising your superfat or lowering the coconut percentage.
 
I usually shoot for a bit lower cleansing, but 17% is not too bad if you have normal to oily skin that's not overly sensitive. I agree with lsg -- your recipe might not be as long lasting as you would prefer. The fatty acids that make long lasting soap are stearic and palmitic acids. Palm, tallow and lard are high in these fatty acids which is why these fats are often used in soap. Not tryin' to argue you into using these fats in your soap -- just trying to explain why they are valuable soaping fats. Shea is a good source of stearic acid.
 
I too would drop your CO a bit. I use between 20-22% but use a 7-8% SF and I have sensitive skin and it works for me. I would just add the difference to your Olive. Also, your soap will be fairly soft so may take awhile to unmold if you don't use some sodium lactate or even try some salt to your water before adding lye. I agree with needing Lard/Tallow or Palm to make a longer lasting soap. But you may love your recipe without it.
 
The numbers look perfect to me as is. I personally wouldn't change a thing, but that's just me and my own skin talking. :p Now I am tempted to make your recipe. :)


IrishLass :)
 
I like this recipe, too, but I would add a bit of sodium lactate to make the soap easier to unmold. I think you'll get great lather from this and won't have much risk of problems like false trace, seizing, etc. report back on how it goes!
 
Thank you all for the suggestions.

I have ordered some sodium lactate and will give that a shot.

Of course it will be more than a month before I an try a bar once it is made, but I will keep you informed!

I plan on making youtube vids of all my soap making so that I have a vlog of what I am doing.
 
So I made a batch tonight. I when with the original formula, adding 1.25 tsp of sodium lactate for 750g of oil. That is a bit shy of the recommended amount, but I did not want it setting up on me while I was working with my scent samples.

It traced pretty fast, but stayed thin enough to pour for quite some time. I will make another batch in a few days and try coloring it. :)

Thanks for your help!
 
Last edited:
Well I have been doing a lot of research on palm oil. And have decided that using RSPO certified oil is the way to go. I even talked to some friends that work with Greenpeace and read quite a bit about what they had to say. It really helped assuage my concerns. So here is what I am thinking of trying this weekend

Is there any concerns using 2% sodium lactate, or a tablespoon of kaolin clay?

palm.jpg
 
Your recipe it similar to one of mine and you should be fine. I use 2% SL and sometimes clay. Looks good to me. Give it a try and see how you like it, you can always tweak it some if there's something you don't like about it.
 

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