Sonya-m
Well-Known Member
Someone on FB was asking about using SL or stearic acid for hardness and someone posted that a bar with at least 40% castor would make a hard bar. Everything I know about castor tells me this can't be true, can it?
High castor soap = hard bar?
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jenneelk
Well-Known Member
Yeah not sure about that one.. maybe they got their names mixed up?
Her soap would be all sticky at what 15-20% I think. Could be wrong though but believe over that and you enter the sticky stage.
Her soap would be all sticky at what 15-20% I think. Could be wrong though but believe over that and you enter the sticky stage.
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Sonya-m
Well-Known Member
No she definitely meant castor - I commented saying that castor at that level will make a squishy bar not a hard one and she came back to say I'd obviously never used it at 40% upwards
I still think she's wrong
I still think she's wrong
Dahila
Well-Known Member
oh facebook group
) a bunch of snobs unfortunately. Sometimes I think they want to confuse people ......
) a bunch of snobs unfortunately. Sometimes I think they want to confuse people ......
Here's a really good site that did thorough tests on single-oil soaps (complete with videos of each of them being lathered at the sink at two weeks old and at 15 months old): http://curious-soapmaker.com/big-test-100-one-oil-soaps-part-i.html
One of the soaps was made with 100% castor. From the pictures and videos, it made a translucent looking bar that seemed to be as hard as any other normal bar one might make (at any rate, the hardness level doesn't seem to be special or anything), but the lady that conducted the tests said that it felt gummy when handling it, it melted fast, and the video shows absolutely no lather could be worked up when it was lathered at the sink. In fact the lady said it felt like she was applying lotion to her hands when trying to lather it. She did lather tests with it at 2 weeks and again over a year later, and there was no change in performance, but it did come down with DOS.
Doesn't sound like something I'd want to use a bucket-load of, that's for sure, although I have used it as high as 23%, but that was in a formula with 65% beef tallow and 12% OO.
IrishLass
One of the soaps was made with 100% castor. From the pictures and videos, it made a translucent looking bar that seemed to be as hard as any other normal bar one might make (at any rate, the hardness level doesn't seem to be special or anything), but the lady that conducted the tests said that it felt gummy when handling it, it melted fast, and the video shows absolutely no lather could be worked up when it was lathered at the sink. In fact the lady said it felt like she was applying lotion to her hands when trying to lather it. She did lather tests with it at 2 weeks and again over a year later, and there was no change in performance, but it did come down with DOS.
Doesn't sound like something I'd want to use a bucket-load of, that's for sure, although I have used it as high as 23%, but that was in a formula with 65% beef tallow and 12% OO.
IrishLass
Sonya-m
Well-Known Member
Thanks IL, fascinating read - convinced me not to make a high castor soap though
zolveria
Well-Known Member
to much castor will make for a gummy bar... SL(SODIUM LACTATE) AND OR Stearic Acid and or Salt will make hard bars.
MorpheusPA
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http://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm
Zen's test reports the castor bar as very hard, and as aging very well, but featuring poorer lather and not being very conditioning.
Ricinoleic is a weird fatty acid. It's very stable, and supports lather beautifully in other oils--but doesn't produce much lather by itself. The numbers say it should be soft but, like olive oil, it actually hardens quite nicely. The lack of conditioning is actually a bit of a surprise to me, it should be extremely nice.
Zen's test reports the castor bar as very hard, and as aging very well, but featuring poorer lather and not being very conditioning.
Ricinoleic is a weird fatty acid. It's very stable, and supports lather beautifully in other oils--but doesn't produce much lather by itself. The numbers say it should be soft but, like olive oil, it actually hardens quite nicely. The lack of conditioning is actually a bit of a surprise to me, it should be extremely nice.
Could she be talking about melt and pour? The recipe I used the oils were 30% castor, 20% coconut and 50% palm. Though I still wouldn't call it a hard bar...
Anyways seems a waste of castor and unimpressive lather.
Anyways seems a waste of castor and unimpressive lather.
LittleCrazyWolf
Well-Known Member
I once made a bar that was 60% castor and 40% coconut...just wanted to experiment. My old notes say that within seconds of introducing the stick blender the batter turned to mashed potatoes. There was very little lather and it made my skin feel very dry. I do remember that this made a hard bar but I didn't notate and don't remember if the bar was sticky.
I use 10% in one of my recipes and the bar is nice and hard but I also use lard, tallow, olive, and coconut in that recipe.
I love castor and think it can really enhance a bar and its lather but it is very unlikely that I would ever go above 15% again (and that would really be pushing it for me). It is more of the unsung hero, the supporting actor that makes the main cast shine.
I use 10% in one of my recipes and the bar is nice and hard but I also use lard, tallow, olive, and coconut in that recipe.
I love castor and think it can really enhance a bar and its lather but it is very unlikely that I would ever go above 15% again (and that would really be pushing it for me). It is more of the unsung hero, the supporting actor that makes the main cast shine.
Post 64: "...Castor was also surprising with hardness and how fast it traced...faster than Tallow!...."
Post 79: "...As for the oils I currently use, I think Castor oil has surprised me as far as how fast it traced, how hard it was after 24 hours...but also with the lather test (not a lot), the lowest pH, and dissolved the quickest. Not what I expected at all!..."
Castor "lather" photo in Post 87.
Source: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=31215
Also: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=32637
http://alchemyandashes.blogspot.com/2013/03/single-oil-soap-experiment-phase-one.html
http://alchemyandashes.blogspot.com/2014/03/single-oil-soap-experiment-phase-3-one.html
Post 79: "...As for the oils I currently use, I think Castor oil has surprised me as far as how fast it traced, how hard it was after 24 hours...but also with the lather test (not a lot), the lowest pH, and dissolved the quickest. Not what I expected at all!..."
Castor "lather" photo in Post 87.
Source: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=31215
Also: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=32637
http://alchemyandashes.blogspot.com/2013/03/single-oil-soap-experiment-phase-one.html
http://alchemyandashes.blogspot.com/2014/03/single-oil-soap-experiment-phase-3-one.html
I was using 12% castor oil, then one day I had to use less, my soap didnt traced as fast, I didnt why. Then I read this:
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=55163
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=55163
