Can you please help me with my recipe?

[DKQueen]

Hi all,

I have played around with the soapcalc but I need some help. I'd like to make a batch using a 10 inch silicone loaf mold/ 50 oz. I'm going for a soap that exfoliates gently (using coffee grounds) and has peppermint EO. I want a soap that has a luxurious lather, but doesn't leave skin dry or feeling stripped.

I'd like to use: olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil (RSPO), castor oil and shea butter.

What are your thoughts on these recipes? :

• 30% olive, coconut and palm, 4% castor, 6% shea
• 35% olive, 25% coconut and palm, 5% castor, 10% shea
• I came across this recipe in the search function - 8% Castor Oil, 20% Coconut Oil, 25% Olive Oil, 27% Palm Oil, 20% Shea Butter - I am wondering if this will give me the results I'm looking for. Seems like it would be more of a moisturizing soap?
• Is 5% superfat ok?
• I'm thinking about adding sodium lactate for a firmer bar but is it necessary in these recipes?

I would like to incorporate aloe vera - but I'm not sure if I should use it in place of water or do half aloe vera/half water ? My last question is how much vitamin e can I add?

Any other suggestions or recipes are much appreciated!

Thanks very much for your time.

 

[AAShillito]

Did you try plugging into soap makers friend calculator here? It gives the option to add ingredients like vit e.

 

[DKQueen]

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes, I mentioned that I have played around with the calculator..but I'd like some feedback on the recipes I listed above first. When I have more clarity on the recipe, I can always plug in the additives into the calculator. Do you have any suggestions on the recipes? Thanks.

 

[Obsidian]

Recipe three will be the gentlest, recipe one will be the most stripping.

Unfortunately, low cleansing and luxurious lather don't go hand in had. Coconut is what gives lots of lather but its also makes soap more cleansing. You'll have to decide which is more important to you.

Personally, I would do this
Palm 35%
Olive oil 30%
Coconut 20%
Shea 10%
Castor 5%

 

[Zing]

Your oils combination are very similar to recipes I use.

• 30% olive, coconut and palm, 4% castor, 6% shea. Many folks here advise 20-25% coconut oil because it can be drying. I use 25-30% but do not experience problems.
• 35% olive, 25% coconut and palm, 5% castor, 10% shea. I recommend this one with a good long cure of 8 weeks plus due to the high olive amount.
• I came across this recipe in the search function - 8% Castor Oil, 20% Coconut Oil, 25% Olive Oil, 27% Palm Oil, 20% Shea Butter - I am wondering if this will give me the results I'm looking for. Seems like it would be more of a moisturizing soap? I use castor oil at 4-6%. 20% shea will make for a lotiony (very small bubbles) lather.
• Is 5% superfat ok? Yes.
• I'm thinking about adding sodium lactate for a firmer bar but is it necessary in these recipes? I use it in every batch, I like to unmold 24 hours later. I am not a patient man.

Regarding peppermint EO, run it through Find Free Essential Oil Blends - Modern Soapmaking . It is the only EO that I use the "light" recommendation. It can be, how to say, astringent and tingly in, um, all the places, which some people -- or so I've been told -- enjoy or not.

I can't weigh in on aloe vera because I've never used it. It's a popular ingredient according to many posts on this forum.

My understanding is that Vitamin E oil is not a saponifiable oil and I don't know what lye does to it. I use Vitamin E oil only in lotion bars.

I recommend playing around with percentages on a soap calculator. You might look at each oil individually to see what each brings to the table. You want a low creamy (high number means more lotion-y lather) and a high bubbly number.

Or why not make small batches of each recipe and compare and contrast? I don't know the dimensions of your mold but for my 10" mold I use 32 ounces of oils/butters. Soapers use the weight of oils only (don't add in lye/liquid) to figure out how much oil for a particular mold.

Welcome to the forum. Are you new to soaping? If you are, my unsolicited advice is to keep it super simple. I have a routine down now but in the beginning there are many steps to remember and figuring out trace, etc. You may want to start out with a recipe with lye + water, no exfoliants, 3-4 oils. It's great fun! Keep us posted.

EDIT: @Obsidian and I were typing simultaneously -- use @Obsidian's recommended recipe.

 

[DKQueen]

Recipe three will be the gentlest, recipe one will be the most stripping.

Unfortunately, low cleansing and luxurious lather don't go hand in had. Coconut is what gives lots of lather but its also makes soap more cleansing. You'll have to decide which is more important to you.

Personally, I would do this
Palm 35%
Olive oil 30%
Coconut 20%
Shea 10%
Castor 5%

Thank you so much! I can't thank you enough. This is very helpful. I am going to try this out!

 

[AliOop]

Obsidian and Zing have you pretty well covered. I agree on not using Vitamin E oil in soap. Very little of it is Vitamin E anyway; most of it is a carrier oil of some kind. And it is doubtful that any of the skin benefits of the Vitamin E will live through the saponification process.

ETA: Oops I forgot to type the main point of this response: add some form of sugar to bump up the lather. Regular ole white sugar will do the trick, but for about the same price, I can get powdered sorbitol. The difference in the lather is a bit astonishing, actually - definitely and noticeably more than plain sugar. But even plain sugar will boost the bubbles up quite a bit without requiring too much of that skin-drying coconut oil.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I want a soap that has a luxurious lather, but doesn't leave skin dry or feeling stripped.

Oh so you want what we all want

Unfortunately, low cleansing and luxurious lather don't go hand in had. Coconut is what gives lots of lather but its also makes soap more cleansing. You'll have to decide which is more important to you.

Yes agreed. Although @DKQueen - don't discount the merit of higher stearic (found in the shea butter). I have high stearic in my recipes and it gives a dense, creamy lather rather than a bubbly lather - what i would call luxurious, but I guess that's open to interpretation.

Regarding peppermint EO, run it through Find Free Essential Oil Blends - Modern Soapmaking . It is the only EO that I use the "light" recommendation. It can be, how to say, astringent and tingly in, um, all the places, which some people -- or so I've been told -- enjoy or not.

LOL

 

[cmzaha]

Here are a couple of nice low cleansing recipes. I do not use OO but you can use OO. The high Shea soap is really nice with a 4-6 month cure and lathers well.
Recipe #1
Shea Butter 59%
RBO or OO 24%
CO 12%
Castor Oil 5%
1% sugar dissolved in liquid or Sorbitol (my choice)
Superfat 3%
30% Lye Concentration

Recipe #2
Palm Oil 40%
Sunflower Oil HO, or OO 28%
CO 18%
Shea Butter 9%
Castor Oil 5%
1% sugar dissolved in liquid or Sorbitol (my choice)
Superfat 2-3%
31% Lye Concentration
Both Recipes will move quite fast so you cannot do a lot of swirls and do only SB in a short burst. Both recipes will produce a thick creamy lather with Sorbitol creating the thickest lather.

 

[DKQueen]

Your oils combination are very similar to recipes I use.

• 30% olive, coconut and palm, 4% castor, 6% shea. Many folks here advise 20-25% coconut oil because it can be drying. I use 25-30% but do not experience problems.
• 35% olive, 25% coconut and palm, 5% castor, 10% shea. I recommend this one with a good long cure of 8 weeks plus due to the high olive amount.
• I came across this recipe in the search function - 8% Castor Oil, 20% Coconut Oil, 25% Olive Oil, 27% Palm Oil, 20% Shea Butter - I am wondering if this will give me the results I'm looking for. Seems like it would be more of a moisturizing soap? I use castor oil at 4-6%. 20% shea will make for a lotiony (very small bubbles) lather.
• Is 5% superfat ok? Yes.
• I'm thinking about adding sodium lactate for a firmer bar but is it necessary in these recipes? I use it in every batch, I like to unmold 24 hours later. I am not a patient man.

Regarding peppermint EO, run it through Find Free Essential Oil Blends - Modern Soapmaking . It is the only EO that I use the "light" recommendation. It can be, how to say, astringent and tingly in, um, all the places, which some people -- or so I've been told -- enjoy or not.

I can't weigh in on aloe vera because I've never used it. It's a popular ingredient according to many posts on this forum.

My understanding is that Vitamin E oil is not a saponifiable oil and I don't know what lye does to it. I use Vitamin E oil only in lotion bars.

I recommend playing around with percentages on a soap calculator. You might look at each oil individually to see what each brings to the table. You want a low creamy (high number means more lotion-y lather) and a high bubbly number.

Or why not make small batches of each recipe and compare and contrast? I don't know the dimensions of your mold but for my 10" mold I use 32 ounces of oils/butters. Soapers use the weight of oils only (don't add in lye/liquid) to figure out how much oil for a particular mold.

Welcome to the forum. Are you new to soaping? If you are, my unsolicited advice is to keep it super simple. I have a routine down now but in the beginning there are many steps to remember and figuring out trace, etc. You may want to start out with a recipe with lye + water, no exfoliants, 3-4 oils. It's great fun! Keep us posted.

EDIT: @Obsidian and I were typing simultaneously -- use @Obsidian's recommended recipe.

Thank you for taking the time to guide me Zing! I have already learned so much from you and @Obsidian.

Thanks for the welcome - I am new to soaping! I found a simple recipe from bramble berry that is coconut/olive/palm and lye water, so my plan is to try that first and work on perfecting it.

I was just thinking ahead [ because I am also impatient ] and wanted to see how I could potentially build on the basics and create a new recipe. I don't want to get ahead of myself but I was getting so excited about soaping I thought it would be nice to join this forum to chat with more experienced soapers, like yourself, to see if I am on the right track with starting to understand soaping and how different oils may behave based on the type of soap I'd like to achieve. But I know starting small is key.

Again, thank you. This is a tremendous help! I'll keep you posted!

 

[DKQueen]

Obsidian and Zing have you pretty well covered. I agree on not using Vitamin E oil in soap. Very little of it is Vitamin E anyway; most of it is a carrier oil of some kind. And it is doubtful that any of the skin benefits of the Vitamin E will live through the saponification process.

ETA: Oops I forgot to type the main point of this response: add some form of sugar to bump up the lather. Regular ole white sugar will do the trick, but for about the same price, I can get powdered sorbitol. The difference in the lather is a bit astonishing, actually - definitely and noticeably more than plain sugar. But even plain sugar will boost the bubbles up quite a bit without requiring too much of that skin-drying coconut oil.

Ok so definitely no to the vitamin e! But ahh see, I didn't know you could add sugar or sorbitol to boost the bubbles! You are all godsends, I am soaking up all of this wealth of information. Thank you!

 

[DKQueen]

Oh so you want what we all want



Yes agreed. Although @DKQueen - don't discount the merit of higher stearic (found in the shea butter). I have high stearic in my recipes and it gives a dense, creamy lather rather than a bubbly lather - what i would call luxurious, but I guess that's open to interpretation.

Got you! In my head, I was thinking a bubbly lather, but I got a nice visual of what you mean by dense, creamy lather! Thank you!

LOL

 

[DKQueen]

Here are a couple of nice low cleansing recipes. I do not use OO but you can use OO. The high Shea soap is really nice with a 4-6 month cure and lathers well.
Recipe #1
Shea Butter 59%
RBO or OO 24%
CO 12%
Castor Oil 5%
1% sugar dissolved in liquid or Sorbitol (my choice)
Superfat 3%
30% Lye Concentration

Recipe #2
Palm Oil 40%
Sunflower Oil HO, or OO 28%
CO 18%
Shea Butter 9%
Castor Oil 5%
1% sugar dissolved in liquid or Sorbitol (my choice)
Superfat 2-3%
31% Lye Concentration
Both Recipes will move quite fast so you cannot do a lot of swirls and do only SB in a short burst. Both recipes will produce a thick creamy lather with Sorbitol creating the thickest lather.

Thank you for sharing these recipes!

 

[cmzaha]

I forgot to add I also add up to 1% EDTA or a combination of EDTA and Sodium Gluconate equaling 1%.

 

[DKQueen]

Your oils combination are very similar to recipes I use.

• 30% olive, coconut and palm, 4% castor, 6% shea. Many folks here advise 20-25% coconut oil because it can be drying. I use 25-30% but do not experience problems.
• 35% olive, 25% coconut and palm, 5% castor, 10% shea. I recommend this one with a good long cure of 8 weeks plus due to the high olive amount.
• I came across this recipe in the search function - 8% Castor Oil, 20% Coconut Oil, 25% Olive Oil, 27% Palm Oil, 20% Shea Butter - I am wondering if this will give me the results I'm looking for. Seems like it would be more of a moisturizing soap? I use castor oil at 4-6%. 20% shea will make for a lotiony (very small bubbles) lather.
• Is 5% superfat ok? Yes.
• I'm thinking about adding sodium lactate for a firmer bar but is it necessary in these recipes? I use it in every batch, I like to unmold 24 hours later. I am not a patient man.

Regarding peppermint EO, run it through Find Free Essential Oil Blends - Modern Soapmaking . It is the only EO that I use the "light" recommendation. It can be, how to say, astringent and tingly in, um, all the places, which some people -- or so I've been told -- enjoy or not.

I can't weigh in on aloe vera because I've never used it. It's a popular ingredient according to many posts on this forum.

My understanding is that Vitamin E oil is not a saponifiable oil and I don't know what lye does to it. I use Vitamin E oil only in lotion bars.

I recommend playing around with percentages on a soap calculator. You might look at each oil individually to see what each brings to the table. You want a low creamy (high number means more lotion-y lather) and a high bubbly number.

Or why not make small batches of each recipe and compare and contrast? I don't know the dimensions of your mold but for my 10" mold I use 32 ounces of oils/butters. Soapers use the weight of oils only (don't add in lye/liquid) to figure out how much oil for a particular mold.

Welcome to the forum. Are you new to soaping? If you are, my unsolicited advice is to keep it super simple. I have a routine down now but in the beginning there are many steps to remember and figuring out trace, etc. You may want to start out with a recipe with lye + water, no exfoliants, 3-4 oils. It's great fun! Keep us posted.

EDIT: @Obsidian and I were typing simultaneously -- use @Obsidian's recommended recipe.

Hi @Zing ,

I tried replying to your comment earlier but it says it has to be approved by a moderator. It's been hours so I'm going to try again:

Thank you for taking the time to guide me Zing! I have already learned so much from you and @Obsidian.

Thanks for the welcome - I am new to soaping! I found a simple recipe from bramble berry that is coconut/olive/palm and lye water, so my plan is to try that first and work on perfecting it.

I was just thinking ahead because I am also impatient and wanted to see how I could potentially build on the basics and create a new recipe. I don't want to get ahead of myself but I was getting so excited about soaping I thought it would be nice to join this forum to chat with more experienced soapers, like yourself, to see if I am on the right track with starting to understand soaping and how different oils may behave based on the type of soap I'd like to achieve. But I know starting small is key.

Again, thank you. This is a tremendous help! I'll keep you posted!

 

[DKQueen]

I forgot to add I also add up to 1% EDTA or a combination of EDTA and Sodium Gluconate equaling 1%.

Would this serve as a perservative?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Attached is a basic soap I made for my DIL's father when his favorite mail-order soap supplier stopped making it. It's quite nice as it is. Try a small batch first then try tweaking with 5% shea butter (sub for CO) and 5% castor (sub for OO).

I'm not a fan of coffee grounds -- too scratchy for my taste. I prefer activated charcoal -- plus it makes a sexy black soap!

 

[Tara_H]

You might also be interested in the great feedback I got on this thread: What makes a great gardener's soap?

Sounds like your objectives are very similar to what I was trying to do. I ended up using the coffee as a layer rather than dispersed in all of the soap and I'm glad I did!

 

[CpnDouchette]

ETA: Oops I forgot to type the main point of this response: add some form of sugar to bump up the lather. Regular ole white sugar will do the trick, but for about the same price, I can get powdered sorbitol. The difference in the lather is a bit astonishing, actually - definitely and noticeably more than plain sugar. But even plain sugar will boost the bubbles up quite a bit without requiring too much of that skin-drying coconut oil.

I've always wondered why people use powdered sugar vs granulated. I doubt I can get powdered sorbitol easily / cheaply... is it just that its powdered that increases the lather? I can use icing sugar...

 

[linne1gi]

Powdered sugar helps to slow trace a little, while also increasing the bubbliness of the soap. Yes, icing sugar is pretty much the same thing.

I've always wondered why people use powdered sugar vs granulated. I doubt I can get powdered sorbitol easily / cheaply... is it just that its powdered that increases the lather? I can use icing sugar...