Soap Properties

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user 57692

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HI,
I just read

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-make-soap-soapmaking-guide-for-beginners.88204/
And in there, I saw the lye calculator screen caps, and list of soap properties ( bubbles, lather, cleaning, longevity, etc...)


I did a "different Soap properties" site search and it did produce results, but its not what I am looking for.

I'm not sure of the right words. Maybe someone can share the right words?

What I'm looking for is a list of sorts that tells what type of properties of soaps.

For example (and this is all guessing based I have no idea if any of this is true not, its only purpose is so serve as an example)

To get soap properties ( bubbles, lather, cleaning, longevity, etc...)
use coconut oil if you want lots of bubble
use lard if you want a long lasting bar
use olive oil if you want a cleaning soap

Is there a list of what different ingredients do?


Thanks Kindly
 
Hi @Journey - I am not an expert by any means, but this:

https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-...s-guide-to-soapmaking-common-soapmaking-oils/
was a good place for me to start to learn about oils and their properties. I’m still working on finding the combination of oils and additives to get the “bubbly but not over cleansing” results I’m after. 😊

I will chime in about your olive oil comment. All soaps will clean, and higher olive oil percentage helps give me a slow moving recipe so I can do swirls in soap.

Keep us posted and ask questions. This forum and the members are very helpful. 🌸
 
"Soapcalc" has a download on their "sort oil list" page that lets you choose the property you are looking for, hardness, bubbles, conditioning, cleansing... It sorts the oils by what you choose and puts the highest at the top. It does not have longevity listed though.
Now ya tell me!!
Just kidding. Thanks for sharing this.
 
I read the Ultimate Guide to Soap blog, forum responses, looked up single-oil soap experiments, and I have a list of how oils behave in soap and recommended usage.

I have a list of oils and butters and their recommended percentages in a notebook. I also have notes in there like:

castor oil helps to stabilize lather but if you use more than 5% it can make the bars sticky and soft.

Keep coconut oil under 20% or it can be too cleansing/drying

I also looked at additives (eg citric acid, sugar) - what they do, when to add them, how much to add.

I write down the recipe I used, what fragrance, design, along with the date. Then I go back and add notes when I use the soap. Did the fragrance stick, what’s the lather like…
 
I read the Ultimate Guide to Soap blog, forum responses, looked up single-oil soap experiments, and I have a list of how oils behave in soap and recommended usage.

I have a list of oils and butters and their recommended percentages in a notebook. I also have notes in there like:

castor oil helps to stabilize lather but if you use more than 5% it can make the bars sticky and soft.

Keep coconut oil under 20% or it can be too cleansing/drying

I also looked at additives (eg citric acid, sugar) - what they do, when to add them, how much to add.

I write down the recipe I used, what fragrance, design, along with the date. Then I go back and add notes when I use the soap. Did the fragrance stick, what’s the lather like…

Oh and here’s a “reference chart”

https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/soapmaking-oils-chart/
 
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