Need imput on a recipe

[Kamahido]

I was playing around with my soap calculator today and wanted some input on the soap recipe below.

Canola Oil - 250g
Almond Oil - 250g
Avacado Oil - 375g
Castor Oil - 125g
Palm Oil - 250g
Beef Tallow - 750g
Babassu Oil - 250g
Coconut Oil - 250g

 

[cmzaha]

The recipe would be fine other than the cleansing number which I would lower, but that is really personal preference. My only question why so many oil, are you trying to use some up? With similiar properties of some of the oils you can get the same thing with less oils. For instance, Beef Tallow can replace Palm, Coconut & Babassu have similiar properties and can sub for each other.

 

[Dharlee]

The recipe would be fine other than the cleansing number which I would lower, but that is really personal preference. My only question why so many oil, are you trying to use some up? With similiar properties of some of the oils you can get the same thing with less oils. For instance, Beef Tallow can replace Palm, Coconut & Babassu have similiar properties and can sub for each other.

Why would you want to lower cleansing? Just curious.

 

[cmzaha]

Why would you want to lower cleansing? Just curious.

So the soap is less stripping. I use low cleansing numbers with low superfat. My drains hate oils going down them

 

[mymy]

The recipe would be fine other than the cleansing number which I would lower, but that is really personal preference. My only question why so many oil, are you trying to use some up? With similiar properties of some of the oils you can get the same thing with less oils. For instance, Beef Tallow can replace Palm, Coconut & Babassu have similiar properties and can sub for each other.

New golden knowledge for me. Thank you so much Carolyn .
As a beginner i see every oil as something that i need to pour inside the batter. Gotta study more bout this.

 

[lionprincess00]

I agree. Most use palm or tallow. Coconut or babassu. It helps to use one in a soap, then the other and see which you prefer quality wise.
Instead of 10% palm and 30% tallow, use 40% of one.
Same with coconut and babassu. 10% and 10% switch to 20% of one. 20% of the high stripping oils is my max, and I usually use 18% and try to keep my cleansing numbers to 14 at the most, but that's a personal preference.
Avocado oil is expensive and a lot prefer it for a leave on product like lotions. I love almond oil and use it with a little olive. Canola can cause dos, but at your 10% it should be ok.

Splitting it to a soap with tallow and coconut, then another soap with tallow and babassu, one with palm and coconut and one with palm and babassu helps you find the ingredients that you prefer. Considering those two and two I mentioned are so close in quality, it would seem helpful as a learning experience to split them up one at a time. That way you find your faves and build from there a perfect recipe for you.

My drains dislike the excess oils of superfat as well, and so I try to keep mine between 3-4% tops. A lower cleansing number also means usually the bubbles are a little less (but the creamy lather is there), and so my lower superfat also helps boost the lather some.

 

[Susie]

I would challenge you to reduce that to no more than three oils at the time. Four at the absolute most. There is just no way you are going to understand what each oil brings to the soap with having that many oils.

Here are the three groupings that are in most soap:

Lard/Tallow/Palm

Coconut Oil/Palm Kernel Oil

Liquid Oils

Then there is castor oil. It is sort of in a class by itself. Every bar soap I make gets 5% no matter what the rest of the recipe is.

But each oil in each grouping above bring much the same properties to a soap. Not exactly, but close enough for a newbie to think of it that way. I would strongly recommend you try to develop a base recipe you like well enough to stick with while you try out some of the other oils.

My favorite base recipe is somewhere in this range:

Lard OR Tallow OR Palm 45-80%
Coconut Oil OR Palm Kernel Oil no more than 20%
Castor Oil 5%
Liquid Oil (choose ONE per soap) Whatever is left.
Superfat 5-8%

Then you can swap your oils on each subsequent batch so that you KNOW what each brings to the soap. This will help you learn what you like or not on each one.

 

[Dharlee]

I would challenge you to reduce that to no more than three oils at the time. Four at the absolute most. There is just no way you are going to understand what each oil brings to the soap with having that many oils.

Here are the three groupings that are in most soap:

Lard/Tallow/Palm

Coconut Oil/Palm Kernel Oil

Liquid Oils

Then there is castor oil. It is sort of in a class by itself. Every bar soap I make gets 5% no matter what the rest of the recipe is.

But each oil in each grouping above bring much the same properties to a soap. Not exactly, but close enough for a newbie to think of it that way. I would strongly recommend you try to develop a base recipe you like well enough to stick with while you try out some of the other oils.

My favorite base recipe is somewhere in this range:

Lard OR Tallow OR Palm 45-80%
Coconut Oil OR Palm Kernel Oil no more than 20%
Castor Oil 5%
Liquid Oil (choose ONE per soap) Whatever is left.
Superfat 5-8%

Then you can swap your oils on each subsequent batch so that you KNOW what each brings to the soap. This will help you learn what you like or not on each one.

Love this post. This has helped me more than ANY single thing ever.

 

[girlishcharm2004]

Here are the three groupings that are in most soap:

Lard/Tallow/Palm

Coconut Oil/Palm Kernel Oil

Liquid Oils

Then there is castor oil.

Just one thing to add...

*Lard/Tallow/Palm
*Coconut Oil/Palm Kernel Oil/Babassu Oil
*Liquid Oils
*Castor Oil

And I wholeheartedly agree with this information.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Just one thing to add...

*Lard/Tallow/Palm
*Coconut Oil/Palm Kernel Oil/Babassu Oil
*Liquid Oils
*Castor Oil

And I wholeheartedly agree with this information.

It's a good addition - nut allergy people can often still use that one - more expensive but apparently a very handy oil

 

[Susie]

Sorry, I forget that one as I never use it.

 

[Kamahido]

Thank you all for your input. I shall have to revise this recipe quite a bit before making a batch.