Need help with Superfatting a recipe

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

BusyHands

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2016
Messages
72
Reaction score
63
Location
Little Rock, AR
I'm wanting to do a charcoal soap for a friend. I messed up my first batch & I am going for a 2nd attempt. Here is the recipe. I want to add the Emu Oil after for my SF. Should I add it at emulsion or very light trace & am I calculating the right amount for about 5% SF? (half of the emu oil)

Thanks in Advance!!!

CO 14%
Castor 1.5%
OO 32%
MB 9%
Emu 9%
Lard 32%
 
Why not just use the lye discount to give you your superfat? It's not like it's really going to make that much of a difference unless you fully HP the soap and even then, it could be a little dicey sometimes.
 
Are you HPing or CPing?

I ask, because in CP it doesn't matter when you add the superfat, whether up front at the beginning or at trace right before you pour.... in the end, the free fatty acids present in the 'before trace' soaps and the 'at trace' soaps are identical. This was proven in lab experiments done by Dr. Kevin Dunn (which you can read about in his book, "Scientific Soapmaking").

If you want your emu oil to remain as the superfatting oil, you'll have better luck with HP, but it's not a 100% guarantee, since finished soap is not exactly static. There are always varying chemical changes going on inside soap at the microscopic level to help keep things in equilibrium.

If it were me, I would just calculate the S/F for the entire batch up front, and add all the oils/fats together up front. And if I really want to get the best out of the emu oil, I would use it in lotion instead of soap.

IrishLass :)
 
Back
Top