Recipe review request: vegan soap

[leilaninoel]

Aloha.

I've made several loafs of lard-based soap now, and am impatiently waiting cure.

I have several vegan friends who would not be down with animal products, so I'm trying to formulate a "go to" vegan recipe. I recently picked up a bunch of shea and sustainable palm (overzealous shopping), but I still have a little cocoa butter kicking around that I ordered a bit over a year ago.

Any feedback would be fantastic!

View attachment 23499

20% Coconut Oil
20% Shea Butter
20% Palm Oil
20% Olive Oil
15% Rice Bran Oil (because it's cheaper than Olive)
5% Castor Oil

My main concern is I'm not sure if that is too much Palm, since I haven't really worked with it before, but I want a nice firm bar.

Thank you in advance!
Edited to fix attachment and add recipe via text as well.

 

[Kamahido]

The recipe looks alright. I just want to point out that Rice Bran Oil is similar to Olive Oil in terms of properties.

 

[Millie]

I can't read the recipe

 

[earlene]

I can't read the recipe

Me, neither. When I looked at it on my tablet, I could zoom, but it was too blurry. On my computer it's just too small to start with.

 

[leilaninoel]

Me, neither. When I looked at it on my tablet, I could zoom, but it was too blurry. On my computer it's just too small to start with.

I can't read the recipe

My apologies - I had added the image via the app on my tablet, didn't realize I had uploaded it so small. Fixed it via computer and also added the recipe in percentages to the post in text format. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Millie]

Looks nice! I'm not sure you'll need all those additives but I'll leave that point for someone who has actually used them

 

[dibbles]

Looks good. I've never used that much shea myself, so I can't comment on that, but 20% palm is fine. 20% coconut is OK for me as well, although some prefer less in their recipes.

 

[earlene]

Looks nice! I'm not sure you'll need all those additives but I'll leave that point for someone who has actually used them

The EDTA is for reducing soap scum. I've started using it myself a few months ago at the same percentage. The SL helps remove from mold faster, which is good for soft oil soaps; not sure if you need it with palm & CO. I don't use it much with hard oils, but I have read of some who always use it. I don't think it hurts anything as long as not used in too great a percentage. Sugar adds bubbles, but CO does that too, but can't hurt I don't think.

I am not a recipe expert, leilaninoel, but I think I'd make one suggestion and that is to reduce your superfat to about 2 or 3%. Supposedly it helps to use a lower superfat when a recipe contains lather inhibiting oils such as Shea.

Also curious about why you mentioned the Cocoa Butter, then didn't include it in your recipe? It would give a harder and longer lasting bar than shea, even if you only subbed some of the Cocoa Butter for some of the Shea. But then, you did say you have a lot of shea and may not have as much Cocoa Butter.

 

[leilaninoel]

Also curious about why you mentioned the Cocoa Butter, then didn't include it in your recipe? It would give a harder and longer lasting bar than shea, even if you only subbed some of the Cocoa Butter for some of the Shea. But then, you did say you have a lot of shea and may not have as much Cocoa Butter.

In case someone suggested I swap things out for something else. I recall reading in another post that some folks prefer to do a combo of cocoa and shea instead of just shea, or cocoa in place of shea. Also, I tend to unintentionally go on tangents.

 

[kumudini]

That much Shea would make the soap soft and also inhibit lather. I would bring it down to 10, and add to palm oil and olive oil. Sugar helps with bubbles but even that is not enough when you have that much Shea. That recipe even with SL would be too soft to cut on day 2. Some kind of chelation either sodium citrate or EDTA is a good idea even if you have soft water as you can't always be sure that everyone using your soap has soft water.