Requesting Recipe advice

[farmer]

Hey there

So I've been lurking for a while, reading everything I can get my hands/eyes on, trying to learn as much as possible before making my first batch. I think I'm finally ready to get my feet wet (though it seems like with each new thing I learn serves to generate several more questions/concerns in the process lol).
Anyway I've been plugging things into SoapCalc given what oils I currently have to work with, and trying to make a balanced bar that is cleansing but also conditioning and good for sensitive skin, etc. I can't seem to figure out how to get a balance while getting the Iodine and INS numbers in an acceptable range. Could someone take a look at what I have so far and maybe provide some insight/advice? Should I omit one of the oils altogether? I appreciate any help!!

Vegetable Shortening 45%
Olive Oil 20%
Coconut Oil 20%
Castor Oil 10%
Shea Butter 5%

(I was going to HP and hold the shea butter back and only add it in after the cook. I was also planning on adding some finely ground/sifted oatmeal and possibly an essential oil. Not sure if that will make a difference with the numbers.)

Total oil weight 1200 g (enough to fill two 1-quart milk containers)
Water as percent of oil weight 38.00 %
Super Fat/Discount 5 %
Lye Concentration 26.944 %
Water : Lye Ratio 2.7115:1


Hardness 29 - 54, 33
Cleansing 12 - 22, 13
Conditioning 44 - 69, 64
Bubbly 14 - 46, 22
Creamy 16 - 48, 28
Iodine 41 - 70, 81
INS 136 - 165, 125

~tara

 

[coffeetime]

I'd make a plain first batch for your first one. And no more than 2lbs. A 2lb mold makes about 7 bars for me and that's plenty for trying out a recipe. If you have any trouble, you want it to be easy to figure out what went wrong, and if you've added a bunch of stuff it will be tough to figure out which thing is responsible.

I personally keep my castor at 5-6%, just to add bubbles. I haven't used shortening, so someone else will have to speak to that. Otherwise it looks ok. Don't worry too much about the INS and such. Try the recipe and see what you think. Sometimes the recipes with the worst indicators turn out to be awesome.

ETA: for 2lbs of soap, I use about 650g of oils (depending on the recipe) so that would be half of what you've got there. If something goes wrong, you won't have a ton of bad soap to deal with, and if it goes right, you can make another batch right away if you want to in the other milk carton.

 

[Obsidian]

I also agree with lowering the castor to 5% and maybe lower the vegetable shortening to 20-30%, making the rest up with olive oil. You could forget the shortening altogether and use lard instead, you would have a better bar of soap. Something like this

Olive oil 35%
Lard 40%
Coconut 20%
castor 5%

 

[smeetree]

Are those the only oils you have, or do you have palm? If so I'd use some of that and more coconut/olive and only use the crisco as a filler.

If those are your oils I'd do:

25% coconut
40% olive
31% crisco
4% castor

I think that will be a fairly balanced bar.

 

[Susie]

I did try making soap with vegetable shortening as well as the Great Value Shortening, and I was ... unimpressed. Lard is so VERY much better. Soapcalc numbers are similar, but the soap is so much better.

The castor needs to be dropped so you don't get a soft or sticky bar. This is definitely a case of a little goes a long way.

I use the following recipe pretty routinely:

Lard 55%
Olive oil 20%
Coconut oil 20%
Castor oil 5%

It is rich and conditioning, simple and cheap to locally source. Wonderful soap. And a good starter recipe.

 

[smeetree]

Where do you buy lard?
I think my grocery stores only have Crisco, which varies but is usually soybean oil.

 

[Susie]

My Walmart and Kroger stores have the lard right by the Crisco and other shortenings/oils. The 4 lb tubs are usually on the bottom shelf, but at Walmart, they got moved to the middle shelf. Some people say that the lard is by the meat case in their store. If you can't find it, just ask a store employee.

 

[Obsidian]

In my local stores the lard is in the meat area, never with the other oils. I also am unimpressed with vegetable shortening soap, I used quite a bit of crisco when I first started soaping and it was prone to going rancid. Once I stopped using it, I didn't have any more rancidity.

 

[Jstar]

Crisco actually contains other oils and other additives so it's not plain soybean. I use plain soybean {oil, not shortening} in most of my soaps and it contains nothing other than soybean oil..gotta check those labels

If your not into rendering your own lard from pig fat, the closest thing you can get I think is Armour brand lard and its in a green and white tub or box.

Not sure if your other stores carry that tho but most Wal-Mart stores should carry it..and Krogers if you have one of those.

 

[farmer]

Thanks for the help! I will definitely make a smaller batch. Not sure why I was thinking I needed to double it instead of just doing enough to fill one carton initially.

Unfortunately those are the only oils I have to work with at the moment. I was planning on doing "Kaleb's Oat-n-Honey Castille" that I've read so many raves about, but then I was thinking maybe that's not the best first bar to attempt and/or maybe I should try to come up with my own to incorporate the shea butter I'd gotten recently.

I did see lard right by the shortening when I was at Walmart the other day...now I'm thinking I should've grabbed that instead!

 

[Jstar]

If you haven't opened it yet, I would very seriously consider taking the shortening back and grab the lard and go with either Susie's or Obsidian's starters..pretty well rounded and will produce a nice bubbly, conditioning, and hard bar

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Don't worry about the Shea for now. Keep things like this for later on after making some batches. It's one of those things that many people use without knowing if they really need to - making a soap without it before you make a soap with it will help you see what benefit (if any) it gives.

It also means that if something goes south in the early batches, you haven't used a fairly expensive ingredient!