Your preferred % of Coconut Oil

[AngelMomma]

Wondering what your preference is on Coconut Oil percentage in your CP soap batches. I REALLY like moisturizing, non-drying soaps


eta: BUT I love, love, love the bubbles too! So any oils beside the coconut and castor?

 

[Seifenblasen]

My new favorite, mango butter, check it out:

http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/mango-butter.html

Usually I use 20 - 30% coconut oil if I am not using tallow, 10 to 15% if I am using tallow, except when I am making salt bars, then I will up it to 75%.

 

[Hazel]

I like conditioning, non-drying soaps, too. Generally, I use 25% CO in regular batches but I'll raise the percentage a little (27%-28%) if I'm using cream or buttermilk. I use 8% SF for batches with water and 7% for soaps with milk/cream in them.

 

[SoapAddict415]

Depending on my other ingredients, I like to use 12-18% CO in my CP. Palm kernel flakes work well for bubbles & bar hardness too.

 

[Relle]

I'm like Hazel and use 25% CO, I SF my batches at 7% and 10% for GM.

 

[VanessaP]

I have a formula that I make that I love, its 50% coconut/50% olive oil. I superfat at 10% and its not drying to me at all. I wouldn't superfat below 10% though. I figured if you do 100% coconut bars at 20% superfat, why not do a 10% on a 50% CO. Seems to be working out great, at least for me.

 

[AngelMomma]

Thanks for your posts

Sooooo.......I looked over my recipes again with the SoapCalc. Most have the coconut oil in the 18-24% range. More fine tuning is in order. Noone else in the house has ANY trouble with these soaps being drying except me. And its only slight. But I don't want to give soaps to any of my friends that might be drying even in the slightest. Who knows, they may have sensitive skin like me.

 

[Hazel]

You can't please everyone. I make my soaps to please myself but I'll increase the CO % slightly and lower the SF if I'm making soap for the men who don't like sissy, slimy soap. Oh, and I use beer or wine for the liquid 'cuz it's more manly.

 

[AngelMomma]

LOL

 

[hoegarden]

I go 20% max for all my body soap bar.

 

[Dorado]

I like 20%,
But last week, I made a 100% CoconutOil with coconutmilk and coconut FO yes 100% coco
Very difficult to wait 5 more weeks to test it. (maybe I'll cheat a little, have made small guest soaps) :shh:
For extra condition, I like to swap a little olive oil with organic rapeseedoil.

 

[ClaraSuds]

0-10%, my current soap has no CO in it at all and I'm loving it. Super creamy, moisturising, lathers beautifully. It's probably worth mentioning at this point I'm using tallow so don't need CO for hardening purposes.

 

[green soap]

Anywhere from about 10% (in my shave soap) to 100% for my salt bars and all coconut soaps. Adjusting the SF% accordingly has prevented any dry feeling from any of my soaps.

 

[AngelMomma]

0-10%, my current soap has no CO in it at all and I'm loving it. Super creamy, moisturising, lathers beautifully. It's probably worth mentioning at this point I'm using tallow so don't need CO for hardening purposes.

Well, I rendered some tallow from free beef fat I got from a local grocery recently. BUT :evil: I jumped the gun, as I was very busy that day and had no room in the fridge. I didn't want to leave it just sit out, when I was going out of the house for a couple of hrs and it was already the afternoon. So I threw it in a couple of roasters and popped it in the oven. The kicker is that I had actually recently read the proper procedure. So long story short, I have plenty of tallow that smells like a yummy steak!!! Sigh....I have been reading.....I think I may put some in the oven at a low temp with some bay leaves and maybe whole cloves. I wonder if it will work or not, to remove some of the odor. If not.......I guess I have plenty of frying oil and I will just have to try again. But boy was it a messy business. 4 1/2 quarts though, for free? I will be willing to try it again.

 

[AngelMomma]

Thanks to all who posted their 'likes' I have gone through my recipes and did some adjusting on some. Time will tell......


I did find only one of my recipes that was really high. Its the hunters soap that I made for my hubby. After talking with him though, he reminded me that he had asked for it to be REALLY cleansing so as to strip excess oils before he goes out hunting. Part of the oil used was an Star Anise infused oil that I made. You can just barely smell it. Which is ok. And the bar is already SUPER hard after 25 days. The CO in that bar is at about 42%.