Soap is drying

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thesoapmom

thesoapmom

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So my first batch (ever) is really drying. It is olive oil and coconut oil. What would be some good butters maybe that are moisturizing to add to CO and OO? I don't want to complicate and add too many things, but my hands are too dry and I really don't understand the charts too well. Thanks!
 
A few questions:

How long did you let it cure? You may be using it too early.

What % of coconut oil did you use?

Did you use a lye discount (superfat?) The higher the % of coconut, the more superfat you should use.

If you post your complete recipe, we can help determine if it is balanced and not lye-heavy.
 
70% OO, 30% CO. 7% superfat.

I read that letting it cure the 3/4 weeks doesn't really change anything and that they're honestly "ready" after 48 hours? I let mine cure for 2 weeks (I think, I'm too lazy to go look at the card in the batch with the original date ;-)

It was for 32 oz. total, so I'd have to look at my recipe card to be exact. Was the info I read about cure time not accurate? It said that the cure time is only helpful for longevity of the bar, not the overall quality.
 
A high % of coconut oil can be drying, and if you raise your super fat that will also help. You might want to post the super fat, and % of coconut oil to get feedback. As far as butters I love cocoa butter, shea butter, and avocado oil.
 
30% Of CO is on the high end I do know... will letting it cure longer help this?

I have ordered some palm oil and shea butter for my next batch.
 
2 weeks is pretty young for soap. It really does get better with age. Give it another week and you should feel a difference, still probably on the drying side but will be milder than now. Keep testing each week and you'll know how long your recipe needs to cure.

Sent from my XT907 using Soap Making mobile app
 
So it gets less dry with age? Good to know. Thanks :) I knew it was pretty quick to test just wasn't sure how early. Stupid question: can I just keep testing the same bar or is it 'tainted' now that I used it?


Sent from my iPhone using Soap Making
 
it is not tainted. just set that bar aside and use it again in a week. If you find it still drying post not only your oil % but the amounts and the amount of lye and water. You want to make sure your scale is accurate and that you measured correctly so that you really did get a 7% SF. I personally can't use that high of CO in my soaps because I do find them too drying. And you do want to let them cure 4+ weeks, your soap will be nicer the older it is
 
I find a good rule of thumb is to keep your lauric acid under 12%. Or you can raise your superfat but that doesn't seem to work for me. You could be one of those people that coconut oil in soap just doesn't agree with. If that is the case try Palm kernel oil.

Also if your soap did not go thru a full gel it's going to probably need more than 48 hours before you try using it. It's important to do a LOT of reading and not believe everything you see on YouTube or read in in just one place. There is a lot of incorrect and misleading information out there.
 
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Learning patience was one of the hardest thing for me when I started soaping. like you, I thought my soap would be fine to use fairly soon and at 2 weeks, I absolutely hated the first batch I made. It not only dried my skin out badly but made me itch too. It now been 3 months and its a great soap, It's a bit too cleansing for my face but even then it doesn't make my skin flaky or red.
Put you soap some place dry and cool so it can cure and forget about it. Try it again at 6 weeks, you'll see a big difference.
 
Definitely needs to cure longer. With that much OO, strive more for 6-8 weeks. Sometimes mine (60% OO) is done at 6 weeks and sometimes it takes much longer. While soap may bubble at two weeks, it'll still be extremely harsh for your skin.
 
If one of my batches was "extremely harsh" at two weeks I'd toss it out because that would mean somehow I did something very wrong.
 
I'm with sistrum. If after two weeks it's extremely harsh something might be wrong. I never use coconut over 25% but usually 20% and I always superfat 7-8%. I would put it aside and let it cure longer and then test it again. Have you zap tested it? Maybe it's lye heavy.
 
At 30% CO, I'd use a 10% SF. Next time, you might want to reduce your CO to 20%

If after 4-6 weeks your soap is still drying, you may be sensitive to coconut oil and might want to try an alternative like PKO or babassu.

Did you run your recipe through a lye calculator for accuracy? Also you might check your scale - 5 quarters weigh an ounce.
 
And a US nickel weighs 5 grams. ( just in case anyone wanted to know)
 
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Mine's harsh at 2 weeks. It still makes a wonderful and gentle cleansing bar for my super sensitive skin. Just because it's harsh at two weeks doesn't make it garbage, or I'd toss every batch of soap anyone could possibly make. :/
 
Just give it a longer cure time before tossing it. My recipe has a similar OO content and I would never use mine before 6 weeks, period. I formulated the recipe years ago and have been using it for years with no issues after a proper cure period. After 6-8 weeks, try it again. It may still be harsh because of the high cleansing of the CO, but don't give up on it yet... Fine wine takes time to cure and so does soap. ;)
 

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