Recipe Improvement advice

[thesussexsoapco]

Hi All,
I'm excited to join this forum after hiding in the shadows for a while. I have been making soap on and off for a few years but returning after a long break after having my daughter (who is 7 weeks today) I have made many different recipes but i have a go to recipe which seems to work out well for me, the only thing is i am wondering what you all thought about it and if i can improve it at all? i have played around with soap calc adding and subtracting oils etc but the numbers stay around the same. can i still have a hardish bar but have more conditioning values to it? your advice is much appreciated! Thank you!

this is my recipe, its pretty basic:

olive oil 18oz 30%
palm oil 18oz 30%
coconut oil 18oz 30%
avocado oil 4oz 6.667%
caster oil 2oz 3.333%

5% superfat- sorry forgot to say x

 

[dixiedragon]

Coconut oil can be very drying. Many soapers don't use it above 20%. Have you make soaps with 30% coconut oil before and liked them? I would make a 1-2 lb batch of that recipe and see how you liked it. If I were making it, I'd drop the coconut oil to 20%, raise the castor to 5 or 6%, and make up the difference in olive oil. But that's just me.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I would drop the CO down to 20 and split the difference between the OO and PO equally

 

[neeners]

I would also cut down on the CO, and up the OO. is there a reason for the avocado oil? I find most soapers don't really use that in an everyday bar b/c of the cost. maybe take that out, get castor up to 5%, decrease the CO, and make the difference between OO and/or PO.

 

[thesussexsoapco]

Thank you for the replys cutting down on the coconut oil is what I was thinking as I have heard it to be drying over 20%. I guess I put the avocado oil in for the beneficial properties to make it a bit more special lol. It is quite expensive so I put a small amount in. Probably doesnt do much in there. Which is best to make up the diffrence oo or po or both equally? Thank you all for the great advice im going to try this out at the weekend x

 

[Susie]

I should tell you to do a batch both ways so you will know the difference for yourself, but you have a 7 week old, so your time and hands are full.

I would add the difference to the OO and PO equally. The extra palm will bring certain characteristics as will the olive. But definitely drop the CO amount.

I have stopped using "special"(aka expensive) oils in soap. I just don't see any benefit to adding them for family/friend use. If I were selling, I would add a bit for label appeal, but not just for us.

 

[cmzaha]

I am one that loves avocado oil in soap and use it from 20-30% in many soaps. Granted it is more costly but it really does not cost me much more for 35#'s than my castor oil and makes wonderful soap, especially with the addition of avocado puree. Rice Bran and High Oleic Sunflower are also great in soap

 

[Susie]

I was just looking at the cost of avacado online and noticed that very fact. Once you get to the larger amounts, it really does get cheaper. If I sold my soap, avacado would be a permanent addition.

 

[seven]

I might be the minority here, i would keep the co at 30% and just raise the sf to around 8. I have made soaps with 30% co and they're not drying at all with the correct sf. Again, every skin is different and it all comes back to personal preference


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[Bex1982]

I might be the minority here, i would keep the co at 30% and just raise the sf to around 8. I have made soaps with 30% co and they're not drying at all with the correct sf. Again, every skin is different and it all comes back to personal preference


Sent from my iPhone using Soap Making

Same here. Actually some of my favorite soaps have 30% co. No one else who uses them have ever complained. Its about having a good balance with other oils and additives. And as you sf plays a role. I just think so many soapers are scared of it. It's almost like the boogy man of soaping oils.

 

[Obsidian]

It's almost like the boogy man of soaping oils.

Thats a bit of a stretch. Everyone's skin is different, if I use over 20% CO, I get very dried out. I tried increasing the superfat to 10% and it still wasn't enough.
My basic sales recipe uses 20% coconut or palm kernel oil with a 8% SF. Everyone else loves it but I can't use it. I have to make special soap for myself.
My daughter has skin very similar to mine, she can't use my basic soap recipe so she uses my facial bars for body soap.
The only exception to this is salt bars, I can use them but not everyday.

 

[DeeAnna]

The other issue to keep in mind with a recipe high in coconut oil is that the bars can have a shorter life unless one uses a fair amount of palm, tallow, lard, etc. -- fats with high stearic and palmitic acids -- to offset this. CO soap is highly soluble in water, and that is why it makes lots of lather, why it can be drying to the skin, and why it "melts" away faster in the shower than one might like.

 

[Bex1982]

Thats a bit of a stretch. Everyone's skin is different, if I use over 20% CO, I get very dried out. I tried increasing the superfat to 10% and it still wasn't enough.
My basic sales recipe uses 20% coconut or palm kernel oil with a 8% SF. Everyone else loves it but I can't use it. I have to make special soap for myself.
My daughter has skin very similar to mine, she can't use my basic soap recipe so she uses my facial bars for body soap.
The only exception to this is salt bars, I can use them but not everyday.

There are always formulas, oils, soaps, etc. that bother certain people, depending on their skin type.
I just meant that a lot of soapers are scared of using coconut oil in high amounts, which I find to be true, so that's not really any sort of debate, for good or bad. I don't mind either way, everyone makes soap in their own way. I'm not saying using a lot of coconut oil is the best or only way to make soap, just that if you formulate it in a certain way most people can use it. I'm also not referring to 99-100% co, just anything from 30-40% tends to be ok but freaks most soapers out.

 

[KristaY]

I too love to add avocado oil as I like the effect it makes when I shower with it. Plus, I have an abundance since I came across a sale recently. I also have a large amount of RBO for the same reason. So I formulated a new recipe I've used 3 times so far & it's worked really well for me as far as trace speed, etc. Soap calc #s are decent. It's:

26% OO
22% CO
18% PO
15% RBO
8% Avocado Oil
6% Shea Butter
5% Castor Oil

I've only used it to soap my last 3 batches which I've done in the last 2 days so I don't know how it will behave when I shower 6 weeks from now. So far I like how it's behaved during the mixing process, cure and cut. I'll see once I'm able to use it under water!