Recipe tweaking (not twerking) help

[JusDin]

So, as a newbie with only 2 batches of CP under my belt, I'm ready for my next batch.....but I 'm suffering from stage fright.

The first two batches of GM I did were great but a little soft. They were left in their cavity molds for several days, then frozen to aid in removal and they were still tacky, but they did cure nicely after a few weeks. So I'd like to modify my recipe--which I got online--to harden it up a bit. Here's what I've been using;

50% olive oil
10% palm kernal
10% rice bran
10% coconut
10% shea
5% palm
5% castor

I really like the soap, just need it a tad harder. Would it be better to up the coconut or palm and reduce the olive? I'm not familiar with how to guage how those changes affect the outcome in terms of lather, cleaning, etc.

 

[shunt2011]

I personally think your recipe as it is looks good. The Only think I would probably do is up your palm oil to about 15%. You could either not use the Rice Bran or just lower your Olive to 40% and add the Rice Bran 10% there.

 

[seven]

You can add 1-2% of sodium lactate, this will help with unmolding as well as harder bars. If you dont have SL, some ppl use 1tsp salt ppo (per pound of oil).

Your recipe is high in soft oils but i think it looks fine. Castile soaps (100% olive) make really nice, hard soaps at the end. they just need longer curing time.

If you wanna play a lil bit with your recipe, perhaps up the coconut by 5-10%, and lessen the rice bran or olive by the same amount. Dont forget to recalculate everything by the lye calc

 

[dixiedragon]

Are you using shea butter or shea oil? (shea butter is hard at room temp, shea oil is a liquid).

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Also, just so we can eliminate it, how much water do you normally use?

 

[judymoody]

I'm with EG - I suspect that your water amount is contributing to the soap's softness. You've got 35% hard oils, that should be sufficient.

However, to answer your question, I'd also up the palm to 15% and decrease the OO by 10% or eliminate the RBO. RBO is chemically almost identical to OO so if you want to simplify your recipe, I'd favor dropping the RBO unless you are using it for reasons of price.

 

[Obsidian]

Most of my recipes are on the softer side and I found using 1 tsp salt PPO really works good to make the bars harder. I've tried sodium lactate before but plain salt works better for me.

 

[JusDin]

Are you using shea butter or shea oil? (shea butter is hard at room temp, shea oil is a liquid).

I'm using shea butter.

 

[JusDin]

Also, just so we can eliminate it, how much water do you normally use?

I'm actually not using any water at all, only fresh (well frozen) raw goat milk. For a total of 53 oz. oil I'm using 20 oz goat milk.

 

[JusDin]

I'm with EG - I suspect that your water amount is contributing to the soap's softness. You've got 35% hard oils, that should be sufficient.

However, to answer your question, I'd also up the palm to 15% and decrease the OO by 10% or eliminate the RBO. RBO is chemically almost identical to OO so if you want to simplify your recipe, I'd favor dropping the RBO unless you are using it for reasons of price.

I like that idea, I think I'll do that if they're almost identical. Would eliminate my needing to buy RBO.

 

[JusDin]

Most of my recipes are on the softer side and I found using 1 tsp salt PPO really works good to make the bars harder. I've tried sodium lactate before but plain salt works better for me.

I'm intrigued, I didn't know about salt until this thread. And since I want to make soap this weekend and don't have any SL, I'll give that a try as well. When do you add the salt...to the lye water (in my case lye milk) since it's water soluble?

 

[Obsidian]

I stir the salt into the lye water once the lye is completely dissolved.

 

[JusDin]

I stir the salt into the lye water once the lye is completely dissolved.

Forgot to also ask....would that be sea salt instead of iodized table salt?

 

[Obsidian]

Any kind of salt with no iodine. I've used sea salt, canning salt or kosher salt.

 

[new12soap]

Salt will help make a bar harder, but it also decreases lather.

 

[Obsidian]

Not if you only use a a teaspoon per pound.

 

[new12soap]

Not if you only use a a teaspoon per pound.

I'm sorry to disagree, but yes it does. At only one teaspoon per pound or less the trade off is small and may be worth it for a harder bar of soap, but it will impact it.

The original poster is a beginner so this was just meant as an FYI.

 

[Lin]

Curious, what would happen if it was iodized salt?

 

[Obsidian]

You know, I'm not really sure. Its just what I was told so its what I do. I think too much iodine can contribute to DOS but don't quite me on that.

 

[CaraBou]

You can add 1-2% of sodium lactate, this will help with unmolding as well as harder bars. If you dont have SL, some ppl use 1tsp salt ppo (per pound of oil).

Most of my recipes are on the softer side and I found using 1 tsp salt PPO really works good to make the bars harder. I've tried sodium lactate before but plain salt works better for me.

What effect does this rate of salt have on lather? Is it noticeable? And what is the best stage to add it?