can I replace olive oil with shea butter?

[loopyloop]

Hi. I will attempt my first cp soap! Found a basic olive oil recipe. Now can I replace a percentage of that with shea butter?
If, say, the recipe is for 100 gr olive, can I use 70 oil-30 shea?
Thank you so.

 

[innerdiva73]

Shea can lower the bubbly factor of your soap. Most pro soapers only suggest adding no more than 25%.

 

[loopyloop]

Ah, ok: so, copuld I use, then, 60gr olive oil, 20 shea and 20 coconut (or 10 coconut 10 castor)?

 

[dagmar88]

Don't forget to run your new recipe through a soap calculator like soapcalc.net.

 

[sistrum]

If you are looking for a beginner recipe I've bumped a reply on the post "Okay, how do I make my own...."
I don't know how to post links on my iPad. Just be sure to run it thru a lye calculator to get the lye amounts.
Hope this is what you were asking.

 

[innerdiva73]

Ah, ok: so, copuld I use, then, 60gr olive oil, 20 shea and 20 coconut (or 10 coconut 10 castor)?

Run it through soapcalc.net as someone statedhttp://soapcalc.net

Look for the numbers which will have specific qualities in your soap.

I have also included Natures Garden soap quality PDF. This is really great for trying to achieve certain qualities in your final bars
http://www.naturesgardencandles.com/mas_assets/pdf/soapoils.pdf

 

[loopyloop]

If you are looking for a beginner recipe I've bumped a reply on the post "Okay, how do I make my own...."
I don't know how to post links on my iPad. Just be sure to run it thru a lye calculator to get the lye amounts.
Hope this is what you were asking.

Well, I have the amounts already (it's a done recipe with olive oil only)... what I'm asking is whether I can replace some of the olive oil with other oils.

 

[Nevada]

What oils other than Olive do you have to work with?
I think Shea butter is too nice of ingredient to use in soap.

Olive 50%
Coconut 25%
Palm 20% or Lard
Castor 5%

 

[sistrum]

Yes you can can replace other oils for some of the olive. Just adjust your lye amount based on the oils you choose.

 

[Candybee]

If you want to use olive oil, shea, coconut and castor oil and keep it a high olive oil castile/bastile type soap this is how I would make it:

Olive Oil 70%
Coconut Oil 20%
Shea Butter 5%
Castor Oil 5%

This will give you a lovely, mild, gentle soap with nice bubbles.

But do run it through a reliable soap calculator like soapcalc.net for your lye and water amounts. For that high content of olive oil I would do a water discount of 33%.

 

[kazmi]

If you want to use olive oil, shea, coconut and castor oil and keep it a high olive oil castile/bastile type soap this is how I would make it:

Olive Oil 70%
Coconut Oil 20%
Shea Butter 5%
Castor Oil 5%

This will give you a lovely, mild, gentle soap with nice bubbles.

But do run it through a reliable soap calculator like soapcalc.net for your lye and water amounts. For that high content of olive oil I would do a water discount of 33%.

That will make a really nice soap! Good percentages for a gentle castile/bastile type soap.

 

[Chookie2]

Most recipes I use recommend around 5%shea it can be used as a super fat and not counted or by replacing some of the olive oil. In larger percentages it does reduce bubbles. Shea is mainly used in cosmetic creams for smoothability and creamy application.