soap quality

[amal]

I calculate a recipe of olive oil and coconut oil and thats the result
hardness 64
conditioning 28
cleansing 50
bubbly 13
creamy 13
most of thse no are out of ranges, what should i add or replace
its olive oil 125 gm
coconut oil 375 gm
NAOH 81 gm
water 190 gm

 

[shunt2011]

The numbers don’t really mean a lot. The one I pay most attention is the cleansing. You could make a more rounded recipe if you have access to palm, tallow or lard. To drop the cleansing in the recipe you have drop the amount of coconut. High OO soaps will require a longer cure though.

 

[lsg]

To get those numbers you must be using about 70% coconut oil and 30% olive oil. Switch those percentages around and you will get a much less cleansing soap with some lather. I would suggest a much more balanced approach, as shunt2011 suggested.

 

[earlene]

Yes, those numbers are not telling you that the CO in your soap is going to create a bar that strips your skin of oils, and is therefore drying AND that your soap will melt away very fast in use. CO soaps don't last very long because they are very water soluble.

And if you turn the percentages around and make it 70% OO and 30% CO, the numbers won't tell you that it's going to be a very hard bar after a decent cure, but it will be because high OO soaps get nice and hard.

If it were my skin, I'd go even lower with the CO, but it also depends on your SF and your specific skin type. If I was using the default 5% SF, I'd probably drop the CO to 15% or less, but that's me and my skin. Some folks are fine with high CO soaps.

The other option if you want to keep your original percentage is to raise your SF to 20% and add salt to create a salt bar. Many people here absolutely LOVE salt bars. If you do a search on the forum, you'll find a lot of threads on the topic.

 

[amal]

The numbers don’t really mean a lot. The one I pay most attention is the cleansing. You could make a more rounded recipe if you have access to palm, tallow or lard. To drop the cleansing in the recipe you have drop the amount of coconut. High OO soaps will require a longer cure though.

That's my problem, I have no access to other types of oil, so I increased the amount of coconut oil to increase the cleansing effect, but the ratio don't feel satisfied, don't know what to do

To get those numbers you must be using about 70% coconut oil and 30% olive oil. Switch those percentages around and you will get a much less cleansing soap with some lather. I would suggest a much more balanced approach, as shunt2011 suggested.

So what the ratio you recommend ??

Yes, those numbers are not telling you that the CO in your soap is going to create a bar that strips your skin of oils, and is therefore drying AND that your soap will melt away very fast in use. CO soaps don't last very long because they are very water soluble.

And if you turn the percentages around and make it 70% OO and 30% CO, the numbers won't tell you that it's going to be a very hard bar after a decent cure, but it will be because high OO soaps get nice and hard.

If it were my skin, I'd go even lower with the CO, but it also depends on your SF and your specific skin type. If I was using the default 5% SF, I'd probably drop the CO to 15% or less, but that's me and my skin. Some folks are fine with high CO soaps.

The other option if you want to keep your original percentage is to raise your SF to 20% and add salt to create a salt bar. Many people here absolutely LOVE salt bars. If you do a search on the forum, you'll find a lot of threads on the topic.

OK, thanks I would search it, but I thought increasing CO would be a different soap, is there another ideas ????

 

[earlene]

Yes, here's another idea:

If you only have OO & CO, then try a 80% OO and 20% CO soap with 5% SF and see how you feel with that.

Or just stick with the recipe you wrote above with 20%SF, but add table salt weighing the same as the oils and you would then have a salt bar. Lots of people like them.

~

amal, in looking back at a thread you started in June, you said you would look for palm oil. Did you find any or is it just not available in Egypt? Or too costly (that can be a deterrent, of course.)

Have you found any online soap supply vendors in Egypt at all, or are you strictly dependent on grocery stores for your oils? I do see that some grocers in Egypt carry Rice Bran Oil, Corn Oil (I don't recommend Corn Oil for soap), Canola Oil, and Sunflower Oil, too. But of course, that all depends on where you live. Lots of grocery stores in the US have very limited variety of oils, so I am sure it's the same in many other countries as well. Why would a store carry what people don't buy? Anyway I didn't even see palm oil listed on the Amazon for Egypt site, so I am guessing you haven't found palm oil anywhere.

Maybe you could search a few restaurant supply houses (online hopefully) to see what kinds of cooking oils they sell. You might be lucky and find a supplier you didn't think of yet.

The trouble with having access to only soft oils and coconut oil, is that the formulas you would use to make soap are going to tend to be either needing a very long cure (mostly OO in the soap and/or salt soaps if you use high CO) or too stripping/drying to the skin if you use high CO in the soap, unless it is a salt soap, which doesn't seem to be as drying to the skin (I am not sure why.)

But if you make soap say, once a month or even once every couple of months, sooner or later you are going to have enough soap that has cured long enough that you don't have to worry about how long it needs to cure. You just make more soap every couple of months, and you will always have a rotation of bars of soap ready to pull out and use.

 

[amal]

@earlene first of all thank you for your concern and time ,and yes i couldn't find palm oil in Egypt specifically where i born and all my oils i got from groceries, so all i can get was OO and CO, that's why i bother you with my questions, and my problem is i had never try to make a real soap so i feel afraid

 

[lenarenee]

Hi Amal,

The numbers from the lye calculator are only meant to be very general guide, not a rule or law to follow. I only look at the cleansing level myself.

One of the most classic soaps is called Castille - made with only olive oil, lye and water. Takes 12 months to cure, and longer is better. So that is one option for your.

I've made soap with 80% olive oil and 20% coconut oil. It stays soft in the mold for many days - and that's normal. It does take 6 months or more to cure well. I like the soap.

If you find shea butter in your stores, you can add 10 to 20% of that in place of the olive oil. That will also make a nice soap - a bit richer than the first re

You can make a nice bar of soap with your two ingredients!

Now, what else can we help you with so that you feel less afraid to make soap? Have you learned about lye safety? Watched a video so you can get an idea of how the process works?

 

[amal]

I appreciate your effort Very wallahy, it's very kind and joyful that your concern, yes I have watched video for cold method and I have got the ingredients and most of tools but I don't have the blender, once I buy it I would do it immediately as I can use soapcalc