Recipe for the strongest cleansing/degreasing?

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Saltwater Scented

Saltwater Scented

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One of the types of soap I want to make are for my dad and stepmom who are eternally playing with our boats and farm machines and lawn equipment.

I'd like to make them something that is really strong in the degreasing department, or as strong as we can make without adding petrochem detergents. I came across one for equal parts of coconut oil, tallow, and olive oil with a double digit superfat. Adding pumice to it would give it a bit of a kick like old Lava soap I think.

Any suggestions on this? If you've got a super secret recipe protect by a contingent of angry spider monkeys armed with the determination of Her Majesty's Guards, maybe point me in a direction and I'll tinker about.
 
Thanks ya'll! Great tips. The borax idea is great. It just so happens I have a bunch in the closet for smelting ore.
 
IrishLass said:
At 0% superfat, 100% coconut oil soap is so cleansing that it strips your skin of its natural oils, leaving them screaming for lotion.


IrishLass :)
Click to expand...

Sounds like a perfect marketing/promotion opportunity to include a small sample bottle of a really nourishing lotion. With a nice little 10% off coupon for the order of a full sized one.
 
Also 0% superfat has zero tolerance. If you weigh oils in a container then decant, you will always have some sticky oil residue lining the container. I tare the container, add the oil plus say 5g, then pour the oil out and re-weigh the container till I have it back to 5g. That way I know I have poured the full amount of oil.
 
Saltwater Scented said:
Sounds like a perfect marketing/promotion opportunity to include a small sample bottle of a really nourishing lotion. With a nice little 10% off coupon for the order of a full sized one.
Click to expand...

Actually, coconut oil soap is cleansing to the point of being downright irritating to many people's skin. It's not just a little dryness that can be combated by lotion. It's "strip the fat and protein off the skin so there's little or no normal protective barrier" kind of cleansing.
 
100% coconut, 0% superfat. Plus some kind of scrubbing agent. I personally really like coffee grounds. Pumice if you want something harsher, oatmeal if you want something gentler.

Angelzarke - lye isn't technically 100% pure, so 0% superfat isn't truely 0% superfat. Plus, give a longer cure, any free lye will combine with oxygen and will no longer be present in the bars. I can't remember what's called, but we had a poster make a castile soap with too much lye, then she let it age 1 year and used it.

That being said, Saltwater Scented, if you are worried about it, you could follow Angle's steps. Or you could use a 1% superfat to cover your bases. My personal choice would be to go with the 0% superfat.

This is super drying and harsh, so if you are going to be handling it beyond stacking the bars, wear gloves. For example, if you decide to bevel it, shred it or chop it up for some reason.
 
I have a question. Might sound stupid lol.

Won't 100% coconut oil with 0% superfat be too drying to use on hands, no matter how greasy they are? Haven't tried this, mind you, but if it's used for laundry I wouldn't want to use it on myself. No?

Won't the OPs parents be better off with a cleansing, not stripping, soap with some scrubby bits and maybe just wash repeatedly til clean? Maybe his original recipe with coconut oil somewhere in the 25-35% range, but not a double digit superfat? Hehehe
 
As an elderly woman, and a nurse who cared for many an elderly person in my career, I would advise against harsh soaps for anyone who may be approaching an age where the skin becomes more fragile. Now, since they do work on farm equipment per the OP, then perhaps they are not get of an age where their skin is approaching that delicate state. But they are surely wearing gloves some of the time, I would hope. Still, sometimes wearing gloves just gets in the way and only bare fingers can manage fine work.

My brother the blacksmith, swears by the combination of Borax and fine pumice in the Blacksmith soap I make for him. Just make sure to measure out the Borax in the correct amount. I made a transcription error in one of my batches, short-changing that batch some of the Borax and that batch did not de-grease or remove stains as well at all.

So if you try my recipe in that thread that artemis linked, be aware that it should read ounces of Borax, not grams. I made an error when I transcribed the written recipe.

Better yet, make a two or three small batches of test soap with different recipes and let them choose the one they like the best.
 

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