perfect oils quantities..help!

[Dutchess]

Hi everyone,

I am a newbie to soaping and i have three qeustions. What is he perfect percentage of oils can one put in a soap to make it perfect, bubbly, softness, hardness, moistorizing, soothing, good for sentivie skin ect, and wich oils are these. No matter the recipie. I have looked for this information but can not find it.

and also, I tried hot infusing my lemon peels, but schorched them. I used sunflower oil. My oils still smells of lemon, but also a bit of burned lemon. Can i still use it for my soap, and will my soap smell burned aswell???? ?? and how much percent of sunflower can i use i my oill as it is a soft oil?
Help anyone....

 

[ToniD]

One reason you could not find the perfect % of oils is that hardly any two people are going to agree on that. Some will say never go over 20% coconut, some like 100% coconut. Many people are fans of high oo recipes, others say it makes for slimy soap. The only way I know to find the recipe you like is to read oil properties, develope a basic soap you want to try, make it and use it for a while. You can ask for recipe help here and receive many helpful answers to tweak things, but it will still come down to your preferences in the end as to what you see as being pretty good. I don't know if anyone else has achieved what they think of as perfect, but I haven't arrived. In any case it takes a while to find a recipe that you like, and that balances the different soap properties in a way that you find feels right to y our skin. I'll see if I can post a couple links to oil properties....

 

[ToniD]

http://www.colebrothers.com/soap/oils.html



http://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm

http://www.millersoap.com/soapdesign.html

Hope this helps.

 

[lsg]

I use 30% coconut oil and at least 5% Castor oil in combination with other oils. I think the coconut and Castor oils create a lot of bubbles. If you are just starting out use the oils that are easily found at your local grocery store. I use SoapCalc lye caluclator. Read up on the information there to find out the qualities of each oil.
You can try the sunflower oil in a 16 oz batch of soap to see if the burned smell carries through. If it does, you haven't lost as much as if you make a big batch of soap.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

I am a newbie to soaping and i have three questions. What is he perfect percentage of oils can one put in a soap to make it perfect, bubbly, softness, hardness, moisturizing, soothing, good for sensitive skin etc, and which oils are these. No matter the recipe. I have looked for this information but can not find it.

This question is like asking "Which artist is more talented: DaVinci or Monet?" or "Is chocolate better than vanilla?"
You will get a million and one different answers, because it's really more about preference than fact. Your best bet is to research the properties and makeup of each oil you are considering and see what they bring to the table.
I like a Olive/Coconut/Palm/Castor blend, with maybe a little Cocoa Butter or Pumpkin Seed Oil, depending on my recipe. I change up the ratios depending on the results I want. I change my superfat percentage depending on the result I want and the oils I'm using. I like to keep it mostly simple, as I haven't seen a huge difference with recipes that have a gazillion ingredients. I think most soapers like a long lasting (hardness) bar, with thick bubbly lather, that doesn't leave the skin feeling stripped of its natural oils. It's still all about preference...my "perfect" may not be your "perfect". :wink:
The Zen Single Oil Soap Swap link above (http://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm) is a cool visual comparison of different oils and their results.

Also, I tried hot infusing my lemon peels, but scorched them. I used sunflower oil. My oils still smells of lemon, but also a bit of burned lemon. Can I still use it for my soap, and will my soap smell burned as well???? ?? and how much percent of sunflower can i use i my oil as it is a soft oil? Help anyone....

Sunflower Oil, unless your using the High Oleic version, isn't a very stable oil for soaping, as it has a tendency to go rancid quicker than some other oils. It doesn't mean you can't use it, but just no more than say 15%.
As for infusing oil with Lemon Peel, what may work for eating doesn't always work for soaping. The lemon scent probably won't come through...but the scorched scent might...I would do as suggested above and make a small test batch to see. If you don't like the scent, you could always use it as a dish soap...I hate wasting ingredients, and I hate throwing out a soap that could be "repurposed" :wink:

 

[Dutchess]

Thank you all so much for the help. Very helpfull advice indeed. I am still puzzeling with soapcalc. Is there a chart of what percentage of any oils is adviced in a soap. I will defenatly make my own chart with all the advice i get here, but if there is such a chart then it saves me time....I can just go for those percentages...anyone?

 

[Dutchess]

I think what everyon is basically saying is that there is no standard percentages of oils and that is commes down to what the purpose of the soap is. is this correct?? Other wise it may seem that i am asking the same question twice..LOL..

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

It did seem like the same question and yes, there are no exact percentages.
Try these:
http://www.lovinsoap.com/oils-chart/
http://www.soap-making-resource.com/saponification-table.html

 

[DragonQueenHHP]

Shawnee everyone knows CHOCOLATE is better

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Shawnee everyone knows CHOCOLATE is better

Of course! I would never argue against that! I just didn't want to come across as a "Chocolate is better" kind of person...you know "Many shades of grey" and all that.

 

[DragonQueenHHP]

lol

 

[Lilahblossom]

If it is perfect you are after, you should understand that each home made soap is different. Different temps, different colors, different fragrance oils. All these things vary widely and sometimes your soap might turn out different than what you had imagined. Just sayin'.

 

[Maythorn]

Those are good links. You have to experiment, no one can hand you the perfect recipe because you might not like it at all. On Elements Bath and Body there is a fun tutorial and that is as simple a recipe as you can get but good.

 

[Dutchess]

Thanx people. I was thinking way to difficult. I just did my thing and voila...it think my soaps will be alright. One ingredient they do not lack and that is Love...#havingfunwithmynewfoundpassion.

 

[judymoody]

I find that the best way to start is to begin with the basic trinity: 40% olive oil and 30% each of palm and coconut. See how you like it. Then you might experiment with adding 5-10% of other oils - castor, shea or coconut butter, avocado oil and subtracting from the basic three. Another possibility is to do single oil soaps and compare how the lather feels on your skin. But that might be cost prohibitive at this stage.

This site may be helpful: http://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm

My current base recipe is 40% OO, 20% PO, 20% CO, 5% castor and 15% other stuff with a 8-10% lye discount.

Hope this helps!