Soap Calculation meanings

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jessirebq

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Soap Calc: Iodine 52, INS 148, Hardness 46, Cleansing 25, Conditioning 49, Bubbly 25, and Creamy

I grabbed this off of someone elses recipe. I am really confused on what this all means and how do you know what is the best make up of your soap. I hope this question makes since because it really doesn't to me. :?
 
Soapcalc has a page which helps to explain the meaning behind these qualities.

http://www.soapcalc.net/info/SoapQualities.asp

You have to take numbers from Soapcalc with a grain of salt. The numbers may not always reflect what the soap will be like after it's made. Using a higher SF will make the soap more conditioning, etc. Olive oil will bring down a hardness number but over time will become quite hard. If you use liquids other than water, this will also affect the soap qualities. Personally, I've always found my batches slightly softer when using coconut milk as opposed to water. Adding cream tends to cut down a bit on the larger bubbles and beer and wine batches come out bubblier than expected if I just based them on the numbers. Salt bar recipes have extremely high cleansing numbers and very low conditioning numbers. The higher SF makes them less stripping and more conditioning.

What's best for you isn't necessarily what's best for someone else. I prefer a cleansing number below 18 and a conditioning number that's higher than 56 because I have dry skin. One of my BIL's commented about a batch I made where he said it was the best because it didn't leave him "slimy". :lol: This was a batch which had a higher cleansing number and lower conditioning. I didn't like it but he did. It's really personal preference.

You'll just have to experiment to see what you like the best. When I first started to make CP, I used approximately 30% CO in my first few batches. I found this too irritating for my skin so now I generally use 20%-25% unless I plan on adding cream to the batch. Then I'll use a higher percentage of CO to help increase bubbly lather. The fat content of the cream helps with making the soap more conditioning.

You might find this discussion helpful.

http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26578

I don't know if I really answered your question. All I can say is you'll have to experiment. Maybe make several batches and use different percentages of the oils in each batch. After they've cured, try them and see which one you prefer.
 
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