Castor oil at 10% of oils?

[ahauer88]

I would love to try the following recipe: 10% castor, 20% coconut, 35% olive, 35% palm. I found it online, cannot find it back but will link here for credit when I do find it. I have been learning a bit more about formulating soap recipes and this looks like it would give me a great balance of a lot of qualities especially conditioning but not too cleansing and a nice lather. I have seen though that a lot of articles recommend not using much castor oil in recipes or else the soap may turn out sticky though. Has anyone done a 10% castor oil soap with good results? I am thinking if it seems risky I could probably leave it out or reduce the other oils, I had good luck with a beginner's recipe containing coconut, olive, and palm but kind of wanted to see if I could make a better soap with castor. Thank you!

 

[lsg]

I have only used up to 8% Castor oil. Too much Castor oil can make your bars sticky.

 

[cmzaha]

Castor also lends to accelerating trace.

 

[IrishLass]

I use 10.5% castor in one of my keeper formulas. We don't find it sticky at all. The rest of the formula contains lard, tallow, olive oil, coconut oil, pko flakes, and mango butter.


IrishLass

 

[Obsidian]

I use 10% at times with no issue. The soap isn't sticky at all and didn't trace any faster then at 5%

 

[KiwiMoose]

I used it once at 20% when I was first starting out. The soap is ok now (one year later) but it took a good 8 months to harden up.
I used it at 10% for quite a while because I like it, but lately have reduced it to 5% for a slower moving recipe.

 

[Arimara]

I never exceed 5% with that stuff. I made a soap one time with 10% castor oil and regretted it (after cure) to the very last bar. Naturally, I gave up an idea to try 20% castor oil after that.

 

[Obsidian]

It really does depend on the rest of the formula. I tried a recipe from another member that is 23% castor and its a very hard bar.

If you look back at recipes from oh, 10 years or so, 10% was the recommended amount that most were using.

 

[Ladka]

If you look back at recipes from oh, 10 years or so, 10% was the recommended amount that most were using.

It would be interesting to find out if hard oils were used predominantly in those recipes.

 

[bookreader451]

I use between 7% - 10% in every batch I make, and don't have issues with the soap being sticky.

 

[shunt2011]

I use 5-10% depending on my recipe. I too find it makes the batch move a bit faster the more use. My personal experience anyway.

 

[Dan9250]

I've been soaping for over a year, and my basic recipe is:

PO = 35%
CO = 25%
OO = 25%
Castor oil = 15%

I've always had a solid bar after curing 5 weeks. Great bubbles and lather. Check it out in the calculator give it a try if you wish.

PS, I superfat at 5%

 

[Abeltran]

I too use castor at 10% in all my recipes & love it! The lather is wonderful & I've never had a bar feel sticky or tacky to the touch. As others have mentioned, higher amounts of castor can make your recipe move a little faster, but I've never found that to be unmanageable, and my recipe also includes 60% hard fats & a moderate liquid discount. I say definitely give it a try! HAPPY CRAFTING!

 

[IrishLass]

Just my own personal experience, but I've never experienced the faster trace with castor that others have reported. It may be due to the rest of what's in my formulas, and/or my lye concentration %, and/or the manner in which I soap, which is on the warm side- I don't know- but for what it's worth, I've never noticed a difference in my trace whether using it @ 5%, 10.5% or as high as 23%.


Edited to add: as reported earlier in this thread I've never noticed any stickiness either, but wanted to add that I don't notice any stickiness even in my formula that contains 23% castor. For what it's worth, that particular formula contains 65% tallow.


IrishLass

 

[ahauer88]

I just wanted to report back and say "thanks" to you all and also update you on what I did! I ended up going with 5% castor oil and I am very happy I didn't exceed that, at least for this recipe. It accelerated so quickly and that is the only thing I can really attribute to it. I did an almost identical recipe without the castor and it turned out fine, but this one ended up getting lumpy right after a light trace! I think it is purely aesthetic but the design I had in mind definitely didn't turn out, lol. Once I have used up some of these soaps I will try the 10% and see what it does. I appreciate it.

 

[LynetteO]

I am over the moon to have 1. learned to “search SMforum like a pro” thanks to that thread & 2. Found EXACTLY what I was looking for. Yippee Skippy! So far I love my 10% castor bar slivers I’ve been testing, but none of the have hit the bathroom yet. Wanted to make another batch & was nervous due to so many saying no castor over 5% or get sticky bars. Nervous no more!

 

[Cat&Oak]

I've used 9% with no issues

 

[LynetteO]

so far so Gr8

 

[Carrie Cartwright]

I would love to try the following recipe: 10% castor, 20% coconut, 35% olive, 35% palm. I found it online, cannot find it back but will link here for credit when I do find it. I have been learning a bit more about formulating soap recipes and this looks like it would give me a great balance of a lot of qualities especially conditioning but not too cleansing and a nice lather. I have seen though that a lot of articles recommend not using much castor oil in recipes or else the soap may turn out sticky though. Has anyone done a 10% castor oil soap with good results? I am thinking if it seems risky I could probably leave it out or reduce the other oils, I had good luck with a beginner's recipe containing coconut, olive, and palm but kind of wanted to see if I could make a better soap with castor. Thank you!

I use 10% for years and my bars are not sticky. I have an amazing bar of soap! Experiment and see what you like best.

 

[A-Polly]

I recall trying a test recipe from Missouri River Soaps that used castor at 10%, and it worked well. Not sure if Holly B. used that amount in the soaps she sold in her online shop, but they were always lovely and not sticky at all. I agree with the above message from Carrie C — why not experiment with a small batch and see what you think!