Your recomendation on soap formula

[naturalcare]

Dear friends,

I intend to make soap using cold process with the following formula:

33% Castor Oil
33% Olive Oil
33% Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil

and intend to let the super fat percentage to be 5%.

depending on your practical experience would this formula gives good result

Thanks

 

[houseofwool]

Do you by chance mean coconut oil instead of castor oil? I would think that 33% castor would lead to a very sticky soap.

If you do mean coconut oil, then it is a good recipe to start with.

 

[judymoody]

In my experience, that is too much castor. 5% is sufficient, I'd not go more than 10% as it can make your soap sticky or tacky.

Respectfully, I also disagree with the previous poster. If you did mean coconut, then palm kernel oil is very similar chemically to coconut. If 2/3 of your oils come from CO and PKO, your soap will likely be drying at 5% SF and it will also trace very quickly.

A good starter recipe would be:

30% coconut
30% palm (not palm kernel, palm and palm kernel are not the same)
35% olive oil
5% castor oil

I prefer a higher superfat (minimum of 7-8%) but 5% is not a bad place to start.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

p.s. there are a lot of good starter recipes at the Lovin' Soap and Soap Queen blogs.

 

[naturalcare]

Thanks for your replies.

And also I want to ask you about your opinion in using only olive oil as many people mentioned that the soap they make is 100% olive oil. In this case what is the advantages and disadvantages of this.

Thanks

 

[houseofwool]

In my experience, that is too much castor. 5% is sufficient, I'd not go more than 10% as it can make your soap sticky or tacky.

Respectfully, I also disagree with the previous poster. If you did mean coconut, then palm kernel oil is very similar chemically to coconut. If 2/3 of your oils come from CO and PKO, your soap will likely be drying at 5% SF and it will also trace very quickly.

A good starter recipe would be:

30% coconut
30% palm (not palm kernel, palm and palm kernel are not the same)
35% olive oil
5% castor oil

I prefer a higher superfat (minimum of 7-8%) but 5% is not a bad place to start.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

p.s. there are a lot of good starter recipes at the Lovin' Soap and Soap Queen blogs.

I read through the original recipe too quickly and got hung up on the castor oil. Yes, palm would be fine, but not palm kernel. :blush:

 

[melstan775]

100% olive oil soaps is an ancient recipe. These are castille soaps. It makes a very hard bar of soap but it takes months to cure enough to get a decent lather from. Many people add a little Coconut and castor to make a Bastille which is still mostly olive oil but has better lather.

 

[VanessaP]

100% olive oil are good soaps but they need a good long cure. Minimum 3 months, recommended at least 6 months cure time, but I know many soapers who wait 8-9 months before selling their castile. I am not a huge fan of bastiles but I don't really like castile either, though I do use a large amount of olive oil to begin with LOL

For a good bastile recipe with what you listed, try 75% olive oil, 20% palm kernel oil, and 5% castor.

 

[naturalcare]

I read through internet that the cure time for 100% olive oil is about 2 weeks, but they make the soap using hot process method. So may be they using the hot process instead the cold process to shortage the curing time ?

thanks

 

[soap_bubbles]

I have some castiles that are three years old (wanted to see what they were like after a long time!) They are as hard as a rock--don't drop them on your toe! And are very creamy and make good shaving soap. But a good 9 months is a good cure. I do bastiles, but I prefer more 'regular' soaps.

 

[judymoody]

No matter how old Castille gets, it will still dissolve more quickly than a soap that is made from a mix of hard and liquid oils. "Hardness" is soapcalc refers to solubility, not whether you can pound nails with it.

Personally, I'm not a big fan. I use a fair amount of olive oil (40-50%) in my regular recipe but I find Castille to be kind of slimey and I've got some that's 18 months old. But everybody's taste is different. You could make a small batch and see how you like it.

 

[naturalcare]

Also I want to ask about the water-lye concentration and amount should be used for 500 gm of oils ( 175 gm coconut oil, 25 gm castor oil, and 300 gm olive oil. Also will this give a good soap?.

Also I wonder if the hot process will shortage the cure time of 100% olive Oils soap
Thanks