Film on skin?

[Rusti]

One of my guinea pigs I gave a bar from my second batch to has told me that she loves the soap for the most part, but she feels like it leaves a film on her skin?

It's olive oil (40%), coconut oil (20%), Palm (25%) and shea (5%) superfatted at 5% and she says she has really soft water. Could it be that it's not stripping her skin like store bought soap? Could it be the super fat or something else? I've been using the same soap and honestly haven't felt like it's left a 'film', although it's definitely kinder to my skin.

What are the more experienced soaper's thoughts?

 

[Saponomancer]

Honestly the first thing that came to mind for me is that shes wrong about her water being soft, that sounds like what it feels like with soap scum.

Alternatively her skin is really super duper oily or she was working with super duper oily stuff beforehand and the soap just cant take that all off with one washing and she needs to wash down a couple of times with it.

 

[rainycityjen]

She could be washing wrong. A lot of people use too much soap and don't rinse long enough. When I use a nice conditioning soap especially, I rinse a little bit more because the conditioning oils want to stay on my hands longer. Or creamy soaps may appear to leave a film while washing because they don't have a clear lather like some commercial soaps. So, get a couple more opinions on that batch.

 

[lenarenee]

Or she could be like a friend of mine who likes her skin to squeak as a sign she's clean.

 

[Nutty]

If it was pure olive oil castille soap then maybe I would believe her...but it sounds like she's the Kind of person who lathers up, and does a quick rinse. Personally I will rinse thoroughly for a minute or two, but it could just be her preference.

 

[KristaY]

I've had people say those types of things to me too and I think it's because they're used to syndets. I usually explain the superfat and tell them skin loving oils are left on their skin which is the point. Hopefully she'll use your soap and adjust to the difference. Plus, she should be saving money on lotion by not needing to use as much, if at all. If you're feeling it too, try decreasing your SF. 3% is now my norm and I'm really happy with it but I don't have problematic skin which I'm SO thankful for.

 

[susiefreckleface]

Hi Rusti - Are both of you in the same water district? Does she have a water softener? I know from my local experience - ages ago - Anaheim water was really different from city of Orange water (neighboring cities - so cal). I haven't lived in OC for six years now - so I don't have current compares. One more question how many weeks/months was the cure on the soap? what if it's just high olive oil needing more cure? How do you like it one your skin?

Suz

 

[Rusti]

I've had people say those types of things to me too and I think it's because they're used to syndets. I usually explain the superfat and tell them skin loving oils are left on their skin which is the point. Hopefully she'll use your soap and adjust to the difference. Plus, she should be saving money on lotion by not needing to use as much, if at all. If you're feeling it too, try decreasing your SF. 3% is now my norm and I'm really happy with it but I don't have problematic skin which I'm SO thankful for.

I'm not feeling it (using a bar from the same loaf), but I've used hand made soap before and I'm not sure that she has. I also like to stand under the water so I get a good rinse.

Are both of you in the same water district? Does she have a water softener? One more question how many weeks/months was the cure on the soap? what if it's just high olive oil needing more cure? How do you like it one your skin?

Nope, not in the same water district. We have a water softener at the house, but I'm not sure about her. I can't remember if she told me she had well water or not. The soap was around six weeks-two months old when I gave it to her, so it's had a good cure.

I love this soap on my skin. I don't have any complaints about how it feels and I don't feel the same film she's talking about. Another person has told me she loves it and asked me for more! So it may just be this individual's personal preference. She's a cosmetologist (is that the right word?) so maybe she's just used to store bought products.

(LOL, and I just realized my math was off in the OP)

 

[TeresaT]

Rusti, did you use anything to reduce soap scum in your recipe? You say you have a water softener at home, so you probably don't develop soap scum. However, someone with out a softener will if they've got hard water. DragonGirl pointed out that it sounds like soap scum leaving that film on her skin. The big tell will be if she gets a tub full of scum, too. I SF at 8% and use lard in every recipe (except Castile-ish bars). I rinse well, have very hard water and in spite of the 2% CA or 2.6% SC (depending what's in the house, SC right now), I'm still getting scum; but it's not as bad as chelant free soap. I'm debating on whether or not to up the percentage to 3 for CA and 3.9 for SC.

 

[TBandCW]

I'd blame the soft water. But I'm no expert by a long shot!

 

[Rusti]

Rusti, did you use anything to reduce soap scum in your recipe? You say you have a water softener at home, so you probably don't develop soap scum. However, someone with out a softener will if they've got hard water. DragonGirl pointed out that it sounds like soap scum leaving that film on her skin. The big tell will be if she gets a tub full of scum, too. I SF at 8% and use lard in every recipe (except Castile-ish bars). I rinse well, have very hard water and in spite of the 2% CA or 2.6% SC (depending what's in the house, SC right now), I'm still getting scum; but it's not as bad as chelant free soap. I'm debating on whether or not to up the percentage to 3 for CA and 3.9 for SC.

No, I haven't done anything toward that end. It was only my second batch but I'm 5 in now, so I reckon I feel confident enough to try something like that. I see a lot of people do a bunch of different things though to accomplish the scum reduction thing.

 

[Obsidian]

Some people just don't like the feel of lye soap. My MIL only likes my soap if it leaves her squeaky clean, otherwise she feels a film too. I think its just peoples individual preference's.

 

[penelopejane]

Some people just don't like the feel of lye soap. My MIL only likes my soap if it leaves her squeaky clean, otherwise she feels a film too. I think its just peoples individual preference's.

Obsidian she will probably love 30/30/30/10 OO/Palm/coconut/castor even at 5% SF it leaves you squeeze clean!

OP my boys experienced this with a soap that was soft because I out in too much pigment. They had to really wash the soap off.

In all my soaps (I don't use the recipe above anymore) I use CA and a 1 tsp salt ppo and 2% SF. This makes a harder, less scummy bar which is still conditioning and gentle.

 

[galaxyMLP]

I really didn't like lye soaps for a long time. They leave a completely different skin feel. I still don't love washing with them and I think I'll always be a syndet girl at heart. Lye soaps, because of the soap scum in hard water, leave a film on my skin. And even in soft water they just don't feel quite right (I tried washing my hands a few times in distilled water just to see!). They leave a soft, powdery feel even in soft water.

I used to use moisturizing body washes and I loved how soft, clean and moisturized they made my skin feel in the shower. I don't think it's really comparable and they need to be classed on their own scales. It's taken me some getting used to with bar soaps that my skin has a rougher texture in the shower from the soap scum. After I dry off, there is no difference (in fact, it's better for my skin now that I've gotten used it it). I just still don't enjoy the actual shower/bath experience as much. Weird, I know. I especially loathe shaving with bar soap (ok! You caught me! I loathe shaving in general...). And I use sodium citrate in my batches. Of course, Florida has suuuper hard water. I also get the same feeling with liquid soaps!

My suggestion would be to say that bar soaps and syndet "soaps" do feel very different to some people and you might be picking up on that. Let her know that the "film" she feels is not an indication of not being clean only that it is the nature of real soap.

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Wise words from Galaxy. I would also add that it's difficult for people to communicate about this stuff because we don't have a common vocabulary for it. Everyone notices different things and describes them differently.

Personally I try to keep two things separate. The first is the drying quality or mildness/harshness of soap. For this you have to focus on the symptoms of stripping and irritation, which can include tightness and other things. Generally you need to wash multiple times in succession to magnify and evaluate it, though you might notice it with one wash.

I consider that distinct from a quality I call skin feel. It can vary with the water, but as far as the soap recipe is concerned it seems to be affected by the balance of fatty acids that went into the soap. It could be powdery, which some people interpret as dryness but isn't necessarily. When I was originally experimenting with this stuff, I got a draggy sort of skin feel after drying off when using high-oleic soaps. Maybe even some water beading when wet. I would describe it as feeling like a film, but these are just my words for it. Someone else might have very different descriptions for skin feel.

What I aim for is a neutral skin feel. Just normal, as if the soap didn't leave any feeling behind. It can be tricky to get that.

 

[biarine]

I have the same problem with my soap awhile back. I am thinking was my superfat 5% Shea butter