Water discount help

[debbs]

Hi if iam making a cp soap and using a lot of soft oil, or if my Hardness on soap calc is about 36, should i do a water discount, and how much should i do. I dont want my soap to stay to soft or take ages to harden. Iam quite new to soap making, and really not sure about water discounts. :?

Also with hp soap should i never do a water discount whatever my hardness.

 

[carebear]

depends on your actual formula.
if it's olive oil that is making it appear soft in the calculator then yes, discounting water will help (shorten the cure & hardening time).
if it's oils like soy and canola and hemp, then no - not really. it might harden up faster initially, but the soap will never get that hard (depending on the amounts, of course).

can you post your formula?

and I don't discount HP soaps because I tend to lose a lot of water during the cook.

 

[debbs]

Ist recipe

5% sweet almond oil
5% caster
23% coconut
17% lard
50% olive pomace

Hardness 34 on soap calc

2nd recipe

8% caster oil
17% coconut
14% lard
38% olive pomace
8% shea butter
15% palm

37 hardness on soap calc

 

[yoenoess]

try add 1%-2% bees wax to increase hardness

 

[agriffin]

Your recipes are high in olive. So even though soapcalc says your bars will be soft they will actually be nice and hard after a good cure. Since they are high in olive I recommend doing a water discount.

 

[debbs]

how much of a discount would you suggest, iam quite new so not to sure about how much discount i should do.
Many thank