Soap already drying, why make it more drying?

[IrishLass]

Precious242- I was just looking on another soap-making forum I'm a member of to see if I could find any additional advice in regards to formulating a soap that would help cut down on ashy skin. One soaper said she uses sorbitol in her CP soap along with sodium lactate and it helps to make her skin feel clean and smooth and not ashy or draggy: http://www.thedishforum.com/forum/index.php?/topic/74641-good-supplier-for-sorbitol/?hl=sorbitol (you might need to join to see it).

Also- Obsidian is not alone may be onto something where she said that lard soap was the least draggy for her. I just read a discussion where lard soap was mentioned as helping to cut down on someone's ashy skin.

You could always try making a lard-based soap with the double-whammy of adding some sorbitol to it.


IrishLass

 

[precious242]

I get my supplies from soapers choice and lye from essential depot.
I am sure these are professional source. I am sure my soap is not lye heavy as I have try other soaps an the feel is the same.

I think I know what lye heavy soap feels and looks like. Also if by chance the soap is lye heavy its been a year plus where the soap is mild enough to use.
Only 0% superfat was done with my single oil test as I was testing out the way they perform without the addition of super-fats. Also the lye I use is not 100% pure, so even though according to soap calc I put a 0% superfat, technically my super-fat can range anywhere from 2-3% because of the lye not being 100% pure.

I will definitely try the lard soap, along with combination bar to see what works best for me. Thank you sooooo much irish lass you have been an awesome kind help, as well as others who have given constructive advice to improve my dilemma.

 

[Obsidian]

Those suppliers are good for lye, that shouldn't be a issue.

Here is my go to lard recipe, I use 5% SF. If you have very dry skin, you can lower the coconut to 15%, add the other 5% to the OO or if you want lots of lather, the castor.

Lard 50%
Olive or avocado 25%
Coconut 20%
Castor 5%

 

[precious242]

your numbers look quit nice.
I will be giving it a go.

Thank you for your suggestions, Awesome.

 

[shunt2011]

My regular soap is very similar to Obsidian. It's an awesome soap and I don't feel any drag. I do use sodium lactate in mine.

 

[WeaversPort]

awesome thank you for patience and help. it is definitely appreciated

The draggy/ squeaky clean feel comes from rinsing the soap off and drying, but once the skin is completely dry, lets say after 1 minute or so it begins to feel soft /normal.

But the draggy /squeaky clean is not pleasant at all. It feels like your hands cannot glide smoothly across your skin, it's rough and also leaves behind a white powdery film on the skin.


I have also notice this same reaction with other non detergent soaps.

Out of curiosity, how does glycerin soap work for you? Or liquid soap?

My stepmom can only use glycerin soap; no commercial or other handmade soaps. The additional glycerin seems to be her skin's best friend.

I can't use many commercial soaps on my hands because I get a dry feeling that makes me literally want to crawl out of my skin, and my body itches if I use them on my body. I've used melt and pour on my hands with least issues, and some handmade soaps (I've only tried Chagrin Valley) on my body have worked.

You might try a blind comparison with some samples that designed to be moisturizing, see if it might be ingredients or using aloe/yogurt/buttermilk/goat milk/coconut milk instead of water something. It might be easier to narrow down what your skin likes and recreate from there.

 

[precious242]

It's not really an issue of too drying or skin is itchy. It's more of an after feel the soap gives the skin.

When gliding my fingers across my skin after a shower, it doesn't move smoothly, it's more of a resistance.

But I've come to understand that it may just be my hard water that is causing this reaction and will try to formulate a recipe that can make the after experience a little better for me.

Thanks for your recommendations.

 

[wearytraveler]

Not to hijack the thread, but I think I'd like to try sorbitol in an upcoming batch. Are there usage rate recommendations and how to add to the recipe?

 

[IrishLass]

Not to hijack the thread, but I think I'd like to try sorbitol in an upcoming batch. Are there usage rate recommendations and how to add to the recipe?

Here's a thread from 2 years ago on the subject of sorbitol and usage rates that folks were using in their CP: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=54803


IrishLass

 

[Soapmaker145]

I get my supplies from soapers choice and lye from essential depot.
I am sure these are professional source. I am sure my soap is not lye heavy as I have try other soaps an the feel is the same.

I think I know what lye heavy soap feels and looks like. Also if by chance the soap is lye heavy its been a year plus where the soap is mild enough to use.

I get my oils from Soapers choice too and I've tried the lye from essential depot. I'm one of the people who had problems with their lye. It's much harsher than my other supply and I'm sure it is contaminated with something. It smelled more like borax which isn't normal for pure NaOH. It was also inconsistent between bottles. I had a significant white precipitate (equivalent to half of the solution) from some of their lots just by adding 1% EDTA. It wasn't worth the risk.

A lye heavy soap will not become mild enough just with a longer cure particularly if you are sensitive to higher pH like I am. There is a big difference between a soap with a pH aound 9.5 and one with a pH closer to 11. The negative superfat soap required a lot more water and a long cure to become mild. You're not going to get the same result with a negative superfat with the usual water usage.

 

[precious242]

I totally agree with what your saying,

However the single oil soaps were soap at a 0% super-fat and not negative and because my lye is not 100% pure 97-100% I count that as a super-fat instead of adding and addition which is why I stated the super-fat can range anywhere from 2%-3%.

The sodium hydroxide use were all fresh from a new bottle.
Now it could be a chance that I may have gotten a contaminated product, but due to the use of other soaps from other companies the end result was always the same.

The natural soaps are not drying me out like stated before, its more of the after feel it gives my skin when rinsing and toweling off.

The skin feels squeaky clean when rinsing and when toweling off i feel some resistance when rubbing my hands together or trying to glide my fingers across the skin , after a few seconds to a minute the skin becomes soft with a coat of powdery film which some believe may be soap scum.

Which led me to believe and agree with others that the problem may be my hard water and not the soap it self.

 

[precious242]

I also believe with the addition of too high lauric and myristic fatty acid along with too much stearic acid can exaggerate this feeling with hard water.

I do like the feel of high olive oil soaps in terms of the slippery lather but the after feel is still there (Drag , grippy feel) but once completely dry it feels soft.

I also notice that my high olive oil soaps did not leave as much powdery film on the skin compared to the ones high in stearic acids.

Am still 3 years in experimenting off and on but I am starting to realize that the feel I am describing is just the nature of handmade/natural soaps in hard water in general.

So my goal is to formulate a soap that can leave you soft, cut down on some of the soap scum and call it a day. lol

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything in-terms of how my end result was suppose to feel like.

Thank you all so so much, each advice and suggestions was taken in with great gratitude and will surely be consider, especially the contamination of some products (lye).

I may dabble a bit for the fun of it with a lard soap, seems like this a trend here.