recipe review/evaluation/questions

[JBot]

I'm comparing two recipes, and I'm wondering what you all think:

#1.
Coconut oil 25%
Cocoa butter 10%
Olive oil 65%

Hardness 37
Cleansing17
Conditioning 60
Bubbly 17
Creamy 20
Iodine 61
INS 148

Lauric 12
Myristic 5
Palmitic 14
Stearic 6
Ricinoleic 0
Oleic 50
Linoleic 9
Linolenic 1

#2.
Coconut oil 25%
Cocoa butter 10%
Palm oil 15%
High oleic sunflower oil 50%

Hardness 37
Cleansing 17
Conditioning 58
Bubbly 17
Creamy 20
Iodine 56
INS 155

Lauric 12
Myristic 5
Palmitic 13
Stearic 7
Ricinoleic 0
Oleic 53
Linoleic 4
Linolenic 1

They have pretty similar "numbers" on soapcalc. I've heard that sunflower oil can be prone to DOS, and people don't always say whether they mean regular or high oleic sunflower oil, but they generally DON'T say that about olive oil, even when it's used in large amounts.

I guess what I'm wondering is this: if two recipes have very similar numbers/fatty acids, would one really be more DOS-prone than the other? Do the types of oils you're using to achieve a certain fatty acid composition really matter, as long as you have your numbers in the right range and keep your linoleic, linolenic, and iodine numbers low?

 

[galaxyMLP]

From what Ive heard here, high oleic sunflower is NOT prone to DOS like regular sunflower and is recomended as a good substitute for olive oil if you dont want to use it.

Do the types of oils you're using to achieve a certain fatty acid composition really matter, as long as you have your numbers in the right range and keep your linoleic, linolenic, and iodine numbers low?

Also, I think you are on the right track here. You want to limit the linoleic and linolenic numbers low to reduce the chances of DOS. However, that is not to say that a soap low in those fatty acids will not get DOS and one high will. There are a number of other factors. Most notably that the soaps are cured in a relavitly low humidity environment and do not come into contact with exposed metal (for example, a very damp basement with soaps curing on an exposed wire rack will give you higher chances of DOS)

 

[JBot]

That's helpful, thank you galaxy!

Brings up another question, though: what is considered high or low humidity? What's more important for curing purposes, relative or absolute humidity?

 

[Dahila]

I keep 45% or 40% in my basement