Underrated and Overrated Soaping Ingredients

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How much sorbitol do you use and do you add it to your water before the lye? I use cane sugar and it just discolours the lye water a bit and I’ve seen it come in a liquid or powder, which do you prefer?
I use powdered sorbitol at 1% of oils. I master-batch my lye solution, so I always have extra water available for dissolving sorbitol, sodium citrate, etc. If you are not using master-batched lye solution, you will want to dissolve it in your liquid before adding the lye. :)
 
Only been at this for a couple years but I think I’m going to drop Shea and coco from my soap recipes. I just can’t tell any difference.
 
I find 10% Shea makes a difference. It also has great label appeal. It’s cheaper (for me) than cocoa butter which I don’t use.
What is it you notice that is different. I freely admit, I'm a dude and I value a very cleansing bar so I may be ignoring other qualities lol.
 
I think Shea makes a bad creamier and gentle on the skin - sort of moisturising.

I have a friend who is a farmer and likes 35/30/30/5%olive/palm/coconut/castor it is a cleansing soap that will get you squeaky clean.

I use olive, avocado, Shea and castor and no coconut oil because I want a hard bar that leaves my skin clean but not that squeaky dry feeling. Everyone’s skin is different and what we want in a bar is different too.
 
Hi everyone!
I’ve been searching the internet to better understand which soap ingredients matter more than others, and trying to weed out ingredients that have “label appeal” but no impact on the actual quality of the soap. Then I realized I could just ask!

As experienced soapers, what ingredients do you find are overrated, often used in soap but with little effect? And viceversa, what ingredients have you found to have a substantial benefit but are not often used?

I’m asking about anything, from additives to colorants, fragrance oils and base oils. The “effect” can be anything that would make a person trying the soap appreciate it without knowing what’s inside. Or something that achieves the same effect as a more expensive and fancy alternative.

Some ingredients are hard to get, others just expensive, and it would be nice to know where to invest and where to save money and effort.

For example, I got the impression that goat milk is overrated, not adding any more benefit than regular cow milk.
Instead, sunflower oil is quite nice as a light liquid oil, and more than sweet almond oil it’s really eco-friendly since it’s a robust high-yield crop that grows almost anywhere.

But what about all the expensive oils like Argan, Tamanu, or Neem? Does tea tree oil actually have antibacterial properties when mixed in soap? Does beer and wine do anything more than just a spoonful of sugar?
I’d love to hear all your thoughts 😊
Most of the soaps I make are with Goat Milk. Goat milk soap is beneficial for all skin types but those with sensitive, dry, or acne-prone skin may benefit the most from the moisturizing and healing properties of the goat milk. The fatty acids found in goat milk help to nourish and soften the skin, while the natural oils in the soap can help remove dirt and oil from the skin without over-drying. Cold process soap is also beneficial as it removes excess oil from the skin without stripping away the natural oils. This can help to prevent acne breakouts and keep skin looking and feeling healthy. It also works great to remove marks, brighten the skin, help erase sunburn marks (I live in the Caribbean and had Sunburn marks and my goat milk soaps cleared it up)
 
I had a soapmaking buddy in France who totally agreed with your assessment. According to her, it isn't all that special but Savon de Marseille is well known and sold around the world.

LOL I've run into that as well. Although, not Fascists but rather Mothers, who gave their children each a tablespoon of castor oil before sending them off to school. My neighbor, an 86-year-old widow, says, at the very mention of it, she shudders because she remembers the taste to this day!
Savon de Marseille is an overloaded term for soaps nowadays.
I tried 3 different soap makers that are part of the legendary, centuries-old, labeled as true savon de marseille... and some are of very poor quality IMO.
But..
It took me ~1 year to find one that suits me and i love it. (Fer à Cheval, their 100% olive). It's a very versatile soap, skin, dishes, clothes... I use it to brush my teeth occasionally, it's good for gums.
It's also very good for the price, like $10 / kg if you buy the 600g format.
Long story short, i think there are some very good stuff in that "Savon de Marseille" niche: a lot of accumulated knowledge over the centuries, and some very good product for the price. Still underrated IMO.

Note: I think Hot Process without any superfat makes it kind of drying, even if it's 100% olive.
If you put that in a soapcalc, it won't reflect the reality.
=> Soap/lye calc are definitely overrated.
 
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Savon de Marseille is an overloaded term for soaps nowadays.
I tried 3 different soap makers that are part of the legendary, centuries-old, labeled as true savon de marseille... and some are of very poor quality IMO
Funny thing... I knew a soaper, also from France, who said the very same thing!

Welcome to the forum!
Welcome.gif
 
Can you share why you believe that? My recipes behave the same after cure whether they are HP or CP.
Yeah that wasn't clear, I meant hot process like the one done traditionally by those makers in a huge cauldron: they pour the lye until the reaction is complete and then wash the excess of lye out, so it's 0℅ superfat.
 
I'm going to add a "Worth the hype" with Jojoba oil!
As it is technically a wax, it does not saponify. I include it as an additive in my normal soap recipe; using at the equivalent to 5% of my oils, while still not actually including it in the oil/lye calculation. My dad, who has VERY sensitive skin, LOVES this! I make a scent-free, Dye-free version for him and he prefers this a million times more than my normal scent-free, dye-free soap.
I love jojoba oil! Question ~ hoe do you add it to a recipe but not include in the oil/lye calculation? Do you add it after you add and mix the lye into the oils?
 
Yeah that wasn't clear, I meant hot process like the one done traditionally by those makers in a huge cauldron: they pour the lye until the reaction is complete and then wash the excess of lye out, so it's 0℅ superfat.
Ah, yes, that makes sense, thank you! What makes that soap so drying isn't the 0% SF, it's that they remove most of the glycerin to use in other products. My handcrafted soap is fine at 0% SF but it has all the natural glycerin (and probably less CO than most commercial recipes, too).
 
Ah, yes, that makes sense, thank you! What makes that soap so drying isn't the 0% SF, it's that they remove most of the glycerin to use in other products. My handcrafted soap is fine at 0% SF but it has all the natural glycerin (and probably less CO than most commercial recipes, too).
Right! Makes total sense. Thank you for the correction
 
This is just my opinion but goat’s milk soap is overrated. And it’s such a pain to soap with that it’s not worth the annoyance of working with it as an ingredient. I’ve experimented with lots of different things in my soap. Egg yolks. Puréed cranberries. Beer. Wine. Carrot juice. Coffee. Watermelon juice. Oat milk. Goat’s milk. Potatoes. Corn silk. Colloidal oats. Rice flour/powder/rinse water. Sorbitol. Maple syrup. Powdered sugar. Molasses. Only ONE of those items makes it into every batch of soap. Because it actually does improve on the quality of my solidly good soap and it’s cheap and I can find it at my grocery store. I’ve never ever used sodium lactate. Or raw silk.

What’s that saying about you can’t exercise out a bad diet? Well, you can’t additive your way out of a subpar bar of soap. These days, I don’t add much to my soap batches. Just well-informed percentages of fats that I’ve discovered make a really good bar of soap.

So, against popular opinion. Additives are all kind of overrated…in my opinion. Except for that one ingredient I noted above. That one actually lived up to the hype.
 
This is just my opinion but goat’s milk soap is overrated. And it’s such a pain to soap with that it’s not worth the annoyance of working with it as an ingredient. I’ve experimented with lots of different things in my soap. Egg yolks. Puréed cranberries. Beer. Wine. Carrot juice. Coffee. Watermelon juice. Oat milk. Goat’s milk. Potatoes. Corn silk. Colloidal oats. Rice flour/powder/rinse water. Sorbitol. Maple syrup. Powdered sugar. Molasses. Only ONE of those items makes it into every batch of soap. Because it actually does improve on the quality of my solidly good soap and it’s cheap and I can find it at my grocery store. I’ve never ever used sodium lactate. Or raw silk.

What’s that saying about you can’t exercise out a bad diet? Well, you can’t additive your way out of a subpar bar of soap. These days, I don’t add much to my soap batches. Just well-informed percentages of fats that I’ve discovered make a really good bar of soap.

So, against popular opinion. Additives are all kind of overrated…in my opinion. Except for that one ingredient I noted above. That one actually lived up to the hype.
You didn't say which one was the ONE additive you recommend.
Too much suspense!
I'll try: is it powdered sugar?
 

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