Oils that makehardest soap?

[Kerye]

Hey everyone!

After dealing with a bar of soap I bought at my fave soap place that is just turning into mush even though it sits on a soap saver, I was curious as to what combinations of fats, oils make the hardest soap bar?

I think I read that Olive Oil makes a nice hard bar, but takes forever to cure?

What about Crisco, does that, or no?

I saw somewhere that Coconut OIl adds to hardness, but I also don't want to use too much and strip all the oils off my skin, I would still like it to be nice to use, you know?

Is that what the hardness in the soapcalc chart is for, the hardness of the bar, not anything to do with the quality of the water it's used in?

Thanks all!

 

[Vonna]

Yeah Kerye coconut and palm oil make for a really hard bar, you just need to add some goodies in to make it moisturising. I've made a 100% pure Olive Oil soap and it does take forever to cure and I really don't care much for them as they can go a bit slimy during uses. I would say your best bet is to use Coconut or palm oil but add some nice butters or soft oils to make it gentle on the skin.

And as for Crisco..I'm pretty sure that if it's used at a high enough %, that it can go rancid pretty quickly. HTH

(I also ALWAYS use OO with my CO and PO, just needs a good balance)

 

[carebear]

lard
tallow
palm
coconut
cocoa butter
shea
palm kernel
olive (strong lye conc, long cure time)

really any hard oil (solid at room temp) plus olive which is an anomaly.