Sticky soap

[scraggybeard]

I have made a couple of batches so far and they are great. The only issue I am having is that the bars are sticky/tacky on the skin for the first couple of uses but the stickiness then wears off, almost like there is a film or something that needs to be rubbed off. The first recipe I did was 12% coconut, 43% olive, 45% palm with 4% superfat, the second recipe was 12% coconut, 38% olive, 45% palm, and 5% avocado with 5% superfat. Does anyone know the cause of this? Like I mentioned, once the bar has been used a few times it's great, just have to get the first couple of uses out of the way. Thanks!

 

[Obsidian]

My salt bars are sticky at first too, it washes away easily enough but sometime I use a bath poof to speed the process up. Does your soap have soda ash on it?

 

[scraggybeard]

Yeah, the tops appear to have a small amount, though the broad sides (where the bars get cut) don't appear to have any soda ash and that's primarily where they are sticky/tacky.

 

[jcandleattic]

I have made a couple of batches so far and they are great. The only issue I am having is that the bars are sticky/tacky on the skin for the first couple of uses but the stickiness then wears off, almost like there is a film or something that needs to be rubbed off. The first recipe I did was 12% coconut, 43% olive, 45% palm with 4% superfat, the second recipe was 12% coconut, 38% olive, 45% palm, and 5% avocado with 5% superfat. Does anyone know the cause of this? Like I mentioned, once the bar has been used a few times it's great, just have to get the first couple of uses out of the way. Thanks!

Are you saying the bar itself is sticky? Or that it leaves your skin sticky?

If it's the bar itself it could be because you are in a humid climate, or the oils are seeping a bit, or because of the high OO content they may need to cure just a bit longer.

If it's your skin, have you used handmade soap before making it? (The reason I ask is because before I started making my own soap, I hadn't used a handmade soap and it was quite a shock to my skin and took a while to get used to the non-stripping feeling)

 

[scraggybeard]

The bar itself is not sticky, nor does it leave my skin sticky. What happens is that the bar sticks to my skin when I use it, it doesn't glide normally if that makes sense.

 

[Susie]

How long did you let those cure? i usually only get that when they are under 4 weeks old.

 

[Obsidian]

Ah, that kind of sticky. Do you use coco butter in your soap? I find that soap with too much coco butter doesn't glide across the skin very well.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

Most of my soaps do that but they get better after few uses. They glide on the skin normally and lather fine after that. I've never seen an issue there.

 

[scraggybeard]

Bars have cured for 5+ weeks, no cocoa butter in any of them. Maybe it just is what it is, wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong or it could be remedied. Thanks!

 

[coffeetime]

Maybe try decreasing your palm? I've never used Palm that high before so I'm not sure, but if you decrease it to 35% and up the avocado to make the difference, you'll have a nice bar of soap.