I'm stumped!?

[FOhoarder]

I just purchased an ebook of recipes from someone who recently closed their artfire shop. I have purchased soap from her and loved them so I thought I would give some a try. Well every soap recipe she offered has a 0% sf! I emailed her right away to see if there was a typo or something i missed and she responded back that her recipes are moisturizing enough she doesn't need to sf. Now the bar I have I really love and its the same recipe and I'm really at a loss here. She was VERY successful in her shop and sold hundreds of bars. She even lists a Castile soap that is lye heavy. I'll list this one since its only one oil....

48 oz. olive oil
17 oz. water
6.5 oz. lye.

Am I in the twilight zone or what? I keep putting the recipes in soapcalc to see if I'm doing something wrong but I'm not. It's always 3 lb. batches with 7.1 oz. lye except the Castile. Anyone else here sf at 0%? I'm sure I already know that answer but I just don't know at this point! :?

 

[Lindy]

That is really concerning. The only time I would go 0% would be for laundry or dish soap..... I think you're going to have to go with your gut on this and I personally would be doing a SF of some sort.... :?

 

[ClaraSuds]

The soap I'm using right now has 0% SF and it's fine. I don't find it drying on my skin or harsh. The only soap I've SF'd is my most recent batch which was 5% bt I've yet to try it.

 

[FOhoarder]

Clara, I'm curious what made you decide to even try a batch at 0%? She mentioned that alot of her oils are moisturizing oils so thats why she doesnt need to sf. That's why I had to post on here to see if anyone else does this. I had to know if she was crazy or not or if this is done quite often. Thanks Clara!

Lindy, I do my laundry soap at 0% too and that's it. I think I'll do a few small batches, one with sf and one without and measure really, really, really careful. I guess I'll never know until I do it myself.

Anyone else have a really nice bar with 0% sf?

 

[booboo]

I have been making CP for the last few years, I am strongly thinking about using 0% superfat. It is ok to do this, in SMC soapmaking books she talks about doing this. She says with the right recipes you can produce a lovely soap that will not get DOS and last for ever.
I cant remember of hand but I do believe that you soap at higher temps and the cure time is longer. I hope someone with more experiance will correct me if I am wrong

However it is strongly advised that you have a lot of experiance of making soap before attempting a 0% SF

 

[judymoody]

Am I in the twilight zone or what? I keep putting the recipes in soapcalc to see if I'm doing something wrong but I'm not. It's always 3 lb. batches with 7.1 oz. lye except the Castile. Anyone else here sf at 0%? I'm sure I already know that answer but I just don't know at this point! :?

OK, something is very wrong here. I don't see how differently formulated recipes are always going to end up with the same amount of lye. You are not in the Twilight Zone.

Also I strongly recommend at least a 5% lye discount/superfat. Here's why: SAP values are only estimates - oils will vary from batch to batch. Scales can be slightly inaccurate and other inaccuracies can creep in. (For example, do you ever get every last drop of your liquid oils scraped out into your melted solid oils?)

The % of superfat does not contribute to DOS according to Dunn's Scientific Soapmaking. I don't see any reason to cut it that close, even with a simple Castille. Better safe than sorry.

I routinely use a SF of 8-10% for most of my soaps and they are not drying and are DOS free.

 

[ClaraSuds]

Clara, I'm curious what made you decide to even try a batch at 0%? She mentioned that alot of her oils are moisturizing oils so thats why she doesnt need to sf. That's why I had to post on here to see if anyone else does this. I had to know if she was crazy or not or if this is done quite often. Thanks Clara!

I didn't know any better. It was one of the first batches I made. I thought you just put your oil quantity in, get your lye amount and off you go. SF was an optional extra. I've been using this soap for over 3 weeks now and can't say I've noticed any adverse affects on my skin. It's not drying in the least and doesn't sting my skin or anything. I've also zap tested it and nope, no zaps. pH tested it and its an 8. It's made from tallow and castor oil.

 

[new12soap]

Am I in the twilight zone or what? I keep putting the recipes in soapcalc to see if I'm doing something wrong but I'm not. It's always 3 lb. batches with 7.1 oz. lye except the Castile. Anyone else here sf at 0%? I'm sure I already know that answer but I just don't know at this point! :?

OK, something is very wrong here. I don't see how differently formulated recipes are always going to end up with the same amount of lye. You are not in the Twilight Zone.

Also I strongly recommend at least a 5% lye discount/superfat. Here's why: SAP values are only estimates - oils will vary from batch to batch. Scales can be slightly inaccurate and other inaccuracies can creep in. (For example, do you ever get every last drop of your liquid oils scraped out into your melted solid oils?)

The % of superfat does not contribute to DOS according to Dunn's Scientific Soapmaking. I don't see any reason to cut it that close, even with a simple Castille. Better safe than sorry.

I routinely use a SF of 8-10% for most of my soaps and they are not drying and are DOS free.

This, x2.

There is no way for the home soapmaker to consistently get safe results with a 0% SF, there are just too many variations in agricultural products. Sooner or later it will be off, maybe not by much, maybe by enough to at least be uncomfortable if not downright dangerous. Which way would you rather be off? By too much superfat or by too much lye? For myself I will always try to err on the side of caution and add a bit of superfat insurance.

You can still use the recipes, just run them through a lye calculator and adjust the lye. Just out of curiosity, were there any other ingredients? Did she add something else to attempt to adjust the pH in case of free-roaming lye?

 

[booboo]

Also I strongly recommend at least a 5% lye discount/superfat. Here's why: SAP values are only estimates - oils will vary from batch to batch. Scales can be slightly inaccurate and other inaccuracies can creep in. (For example, do you ever get every last drop of your liquid oils scraped out into your melted solid oils?)

Maybe she tests it and if its lye heavy neautralizers it? I can only hope and assume that anyone who sells their soaps does a ph test on each batch and adjusts accordingly!

@Fohoarder If it where me I would contact her again, I am sure you are not the only one who bought the book and has concerns she may have sold you her recipts...... not her secrets