Recipe review / Critique please

[RogueRose]

So this is my 3rd batch of CP and I finally got some oils that I wanted to try. I wanted a hard moisturizing bar basically. What is not shown on the recipe is that I used whole milk in place of H2O (300g milk 80g cream) when making the lye mix (these were frozen cubes which kept the milk from curdling while the lye dissolves).

The wax melted with the coconut oil and I mixed the two when the lye solutions was 84 degrees and the oils were about 95-100. Trace was reached in about 2-4 mins using a stick blender and adding the FO's made it congeal very quickly (too fast for me to fill my PVC tube molds properly). I found that this mixture got thick VERY quickly compared to the soaps recipes I've tried in the past.

I didn't know I had to insulate on the first two recipes but this time I put it in a cooler along with a couple hot water bottles (I added the bottles b/c I found out I needed to insulate an hour after pouting). I covered with 4 towels and it stayed warm for 48 hours (about 96 degrees after 24 hours and 82-84 after 48, which seems like a good amount of time to stay warm in a cold room).

So I'm unmolding now and am anxious to see how it turned out.

I haven't colored any of my soaps yet. Can regualr food coloring be used alright?

So what do you guys think from the recipe? What can I expect from this? I'm anxious to try these out!!:smile:

 

[Susie]

Let us know what you think of it? Maybe pics?

 

[seven]

soaping with beeswax can be a bit tricky. if i were you, i would omit the beeswax and the grapeseed (low shelf life), and up the olive to 23%. i would also up the SF to at least 8-9%. from the above recipe, i would watch of for DOS, as the linoleic + linolenic numbers are quite high (21 in total).

food coloring can be used, but some might not be stable in high ph.

 

[RogueRose]

Let us know what you think of it? Maybe pics?

As you can see I'm a newbie to this so IDK what is expected when making these posts.

As I said this stuff got THICK very quickly so I had to resort to a fall back mold of a quart milk carton (couldn't get it to slide down 2" PVC pipe).

SO, this is some ugly results so far but is is THE BEST smelling batch I have had so far without a doubt!!!!

Here are my embarrassing photos:

So I have my first experience with a bad batch mold wise. I think the soap will be excellent quality wise but I'm trying to figure out how to salvage the tube bars (the wax paper fell down inside the mold instead of sticking to edge where it was taped). Any suggestions here?

 

[Susie]

You need to use freezer paper to line the molds, or parchment paper if you can't find freezer paper. Or, you can use the thin flexible plastic cutting boards cut down to size, off cuts of laminating plastic, both of which are reusable. Wax paper is not a good substitute, as you just learned.

I have never soaped with just Crisco, olive, and canola oils. Can't really help you with those.

I understand wanting to use all of your new oils at once. I did almost the exact same thing. However, it is not such a good idea. You can't tell what properties each oil brings to the soap if you use them all at once.

A few thoughts about the third recipe. Bear in mind that I don't use canola oil at all, as it has an odor to me.

1. Too many oils. Try to keep down to 6 or less. 5 or less is better.
2. I would not use beeswax in soap. It moves really fast for me.
3. As Seven said, omit the grapeseed due to super short shelf life.
4. Cut the coconut down to no more than 20%. 46% is going to give you a drying soap, especially with 5% superfat.
5. I would up the castor oil to 5%. Bubbles matter.
6. I would up the olive oil to 20% or more. It makes great soap.

You need to find a basic recipe you like before you start adding a whole bunch of other oils. There is a reason many of us use 4 oils consistently.

Might I suggest you try something like this:

Coconut Oil 76 degree-20%
Castor oil- 5%
Crisco(old or new)/Lard/Palm/Tallow- 30-50%
Olive Oil pomace- 30-50%

Then once you get the base recipe you like, add one new oil at the time, (somewhere in the 5-10% range) to see what it brings to the party.

 

[shunt2011]

I agree with some of the other suggestions. Coconut is way too high I stay between 15-22%, I also don't use beeswax though I know many do. However, if you want to use it I would wait until you have more experience soaping. Use freezer paper or even plastic bags to line your mold. Lastly I would stick to formulas with just 3-4 oils,butters etc. You can make a really awesome soap with a few ingredients.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Also agree with the coconut. The soap call numbers are not the be-all and end-all, but such a high cleansing number and a low conditioning number do not make a moisture bar for me, milk or no milk.

The advice above with recipes and number of oils is spot on