My First Homemade Recipe, Questions

[Rumplestiltskin]

So this will be my first batch ever and my main goal is to have a good all around body soap that has a pleasant smell of coconut oil and/or cocoa butter. I realize the recipe is a bit high in coconut oil and cocoa butter but I would like the natural fragrances to stand out as much as possible. I also plan on superfatting around 15-20% to account for the extra oil. Does this seem right or perhaps a bit high? Also, how does the initial smell of coconut oil and/or cocoa butter translate into the soap? ANY SUGGESTIONS?

40% Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
20% Avocado Oil (100%)
15% Cocoa Butter (100%)
15% Shea Butter (100%)
10% Castor Oil (100%)

 

[carebear]

Wow it sounds lovely. I regularly soap with even higher levels of coconut oil and the soaps are great as long as I compensate with a high superfat. I think 10% may be high enough but you really have to try and see what you like. I use that level for my 75% coconut oil/25% cocoa butter soap.

I myself do not find the chocolate scent of the cocoa butter sticks, even at 48% but I believe some may disagree. Can't speak to the VCO.

 

[Deda]

I don't think you'll get any scent, but you'll have some lovely soap. I've heard great things about avocado oil, but I've never used it.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I've soaped with Virgin Coconut Oil. The beautiful fragrance did not translate into the soap. Very sad.

 

[Rumplestiltskin]

I'm using soapcalc.net to calculate the ratios but I'm a bit confused. You can switch between ounces, pounds and grams but the lye ratio doesn't change when the units of measurement change, it just says .0139. The water is set to a 3:1 ratio and superfat is at 15%. My limiting factor is the avocado oil at 100 grams so everything else is tweaked to compensate. Looks like this:

40% Extra Virgin Coconut Oil - 200g
20% Avocado Oil - 100g
15% Shea Butter - 75g
15% Cocoa Butter - 75g
10% Castor Oil - 50g

So how much water and how much lye (NaOH) should I be using?

 

[Rumplestiltskin]

My math says 69.5 grams of lye to 208.5 ml of water, does this sound right?

 

[Absinthe]

I am on my phone at the moment but that sounds high for the water. Try this:
Multiply your lye by 2.3333 which is the same as doing the (lye / 0.3) - lye.

Different water amounts will affect gelling and cure times not the actual sap reaction over all.

 

[Deda]

My math says 69.5 grams of lye to 208.5 ml of water, does this sound right?

That's the correct calculation for a your recipe using a 10% superfat and a 3:1 lye:water ratio.
Perfectly fine for your first batch

As you get a feel for the whole process you'll find the ratios that are right for you, tweaking as you go.

Have fun, relax, get the wine ready and toast yourself when you get your first batch all safely tucked in the mold!

 

[Rumplestiltskin]

Good deal, thanks for the help. I'll probably end up adding some activated carbon and/or bentonite clay to the mix as well, seeing as how the original scent of the oils will most likely be lost. I'll let you all knows how it turns out.

 

[Rumplestiltskin]

Oh ya, what about adding preservatives? The batch isn't going to be that big since it's my first one and the soap will probably get used up pretty fast. Will I really need any for this type of soap? If so, what would you all recommend?

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I never add preservatives Rumple. I checked my older soaps a couple of days ago and most were still fine after 17 months. :wink:

 

[Sunkawakan]

Ummm Bubbles ... what do you do that you're able to have soap around for 17 months?? Hide it or just not tell anyone you've made it? Half the time I'm lucky if I can keep a batch around long enough to cure (6 weeks has been my max).

I'm really not being sarcastic nor do I mean to appear disrespctful. I really am curious how you can keep a soap around for that long - I truly would appreciate some tips. I'd love to see how some of mine changes over time. I suppose I could tell them my friends I'm "working" instead of soaping but somehow that just seems like a lye (pun intended) as soaping really isn't work for me 'cause I love it.

 

[TessC]

I'm putting aside one bar from each batch for QC, that way I can see how it looks/smells/etc after a couple months, several months, a year and beyond. I have some recipes that I absolutely love right now, but who knows if they'll stand the test of time, so I wanna have a way to check that.

 

[Rumplestiltskin]

Well it's in the molds. My recipe took for ever to trace, I probably should have taken Absinthe's advise and cut down on the water a bit. It never actually did fully trace and I added the carbon early and just stuck it in the molds. Alternated between an egg beater and manual wooden stick for about 30 mins. Smelled really good throughout the whole process, hopefully it stays with it. How long do your longer recipes usually take before tracing?

 

[dagmar88]

with a stickblender just minutes... It should be fine though; a water discount isn't necessary to get good soap :wink:

 

[Lucy364]

If you want to make this recipe and are buying supplies there's a great website for the Avocado Oil, I believe they have all the other supplies as well. Cocoa Butter, Castor Oil, Shea butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.

Wholesale Avocado Oil