Bad Body Butter (50% SF) experiment.

[GemstonePony]

As mentioned in @SPowers thread, a 50% superfat soap. Which probably won't clean well, so it's bad soap, and it's meant to be washed off, so it's bad body butter. But I'm curious, so I'm donating 100g of oils for science. After a lot of thought, I decided on the following percentages:
50% coconut oil
30% Babassu oil
20% cocoa butter
Liquid was distilled water instead of my usual AVJ, with 2% SG. I also used ROE, but my scale doesn't measure small amounts, so I used a pipette to pick up a few drops, and hoped for the best. My oils turned a little brown, so I may have used too much. I also threw in some MM Poppycock Mica for a little shimmer, and also to see if the product could wash off it's own Mica, or if it left enough residue that some remained.
FO WSP Basil, Sage & Mint

I wound up microwave hot processing the batter so it saponified enough to emulsify. I mean, it might have gotten there eventually with CP, but I'm tired and impatient.

The experiment is still in little molds, sized for 1-2 time use. Since it's not really soap, I don't imagine it'll handle being frequently exposed to skin/tap water. The Chelator/antioxidant is there to try to make sure it gets through cure without going bad, but I don't think the material itself will have enough alkalinity to handle frequent contact with dirt and water over time.
I'll update this thread as this experiment processes.

 

[GemstonePony]

Unmolded! With mixed results, as you can see, they were still super soft after 5 days. Also, judging by the color tone, that ROE color cleared right up, and I could have colored these any color. Seriously. Any. Color. I have so many colors. Ah well, lessons for if there's a next time.
Anyways, these things need to dry out, and all of them had some liquid on the outside, but I can't tell what it is because it's clear, and I deliberately chose oils that absorb quickly so the slip test isn't helping me. It doesn't have an "off" look, smell, or feel to it, and the rest of the "soap" has about the texture I'd expect for what it is, so I'm hoping they'll sort themselves out now that they're out of the molds. The temperature got a little higher than I'd like (185°f) when I cooked them, so that could have something to do with it.
They feel like soggy playdough. Hopefully, any oil will absorb in, the water will evaporate out, and all will be well. If it doesn't look like that's happening by end of next week, I'll start over again, but won't let the mixture get as warm.

 

[shunt2011]

Interesting experiment.

 

[GemstonePony]

Update: the little soaps feel dry to the touch now. Still pretty soft, but there's no residue. It's almost like after they saponified in the mold, they kicked out as much water as possible and tried to become little bar soaps in spite of it. And yes, I'm anthropomorphising terribly, but bar soap dissolved in liquid solidifies over time and separates from the liquid, and it appears these did the same. If I'd known they would do that, I would have checked in on them sooner, and potentially unmolded them sooner.
More lessons for if there's a next time.

 

[GemstonePony]

Curiosity has gained the better of me, and I've lathered up a bit that was squished off a little soap. It bubbles fairly well even with 50% SF. It has barely begun to dry out, so this isn't a great test, but it suggests it might be able to clean better than I expected once it's given a cure. The after-feel is a little tighter than I expected, but it makes sense given that it's a 1-week old soap. I meant to wait until 2 weeks to start testing it, but I guess I've started the weekly tests early.

 

[GemstonePony]

2 week update- the soaps are still fairly soft, like cold mashed potatoes.
For test purposes I'm just pinching a chunk off a soap that got squished during unmolding. It doesn't seem sensible to use an entire one just to wash my hands, and I'm not confident I could keep one intact while attempting my usual lather test.
The dry soap has a grainy texture to it, but it goes away as the water hits it, so I guess it might be saponified bits of soap suspended in the oil mix. It's not hard enough to be scratchy, and since it's suspended in soft mixture it's barely exfoliating.
Lather is about what it was last time I think, after-feel is not as tightening though.

 

[GemstonePony]

3 week update- dry soap still soft. You can see the grain, but it no longer feels grainy. Lather is more dense and creamy. After-feel still dry, but not tight.

 

[GemstonePony]

4 week update- soap is back to being grainy. Dry soap feels waxy and moldable. Lather is more ample than it's been, and after-feeling is no longer drying.