First time soaper ( help needed)

[user1686234380]

Hi everyone. Ive recently made the jump to make my own soap bars and i have what i think is a good bar but it do not seem to be amazing and if you have any suggestions that would be great. My main problem i think is longevity. How ever due to it being a numerical value i dont know how long it would actually last. So if anyone knows the connection between rating and longevity in real life units would be great too. Furthermore if you suggest what could increase condition and hardening too.

Thank you in advance everyone

 

[Yooper]

You've got a lot of different ingredients in there- jojoba is a wax, and beeswax- both could make the bars sticky without glide. You've got a lot of oils, and that makes it hard to figure out what each ingredient brings to the bar. You've got a TON of superfat (15%!) but also waxes so it's not really a great basic recipe.

I suggest simplifying, a lot. Use three oils at most. Start with a good basic recipe before adding more ingredients, as the more complicated it is the harder it will be to make sure the qualities are what you are looking for.

Do you have things like palm oil, lard, etc available?

 

[user1686234380]

I do. but in my mind im trying to create a all in one bar as it where simplicity is not what im striving for. As i already use mostly organic hair and body bars so wanted to put them in one for simplicity. If you can would you be able to rate what is right and wrong. For example you have suggested 15% is an awfull lot. Where in the scale would put sf for this bar. I cant see what pic i did so im going to put this up see if this is better

 

[Yooper]

I think the first thing to consider is that while the numbers look good, that it really doesn't give you a complete picture of the reality of the qualities. I'd cut the coconut oil to no more than 20%, leave out the waxes completely, use no more than 5% castor oil (good for bubbles), use 30% or more olive oil for conditioning , and then maybe use shea butter for hardness and one other oil.

Simplicity may not be what you are looking for, but overly complex is usually not going to give you a good bar of soap.

 

[user1686234380]

Alright thank you for your help

 

[lesliesears]

I am chiming in to agree that in the beginning a simple recipe (4-6 ingredients) really does make sense. It likely won't be your "signature soap" but it will give you a good starting point. Then you experiment, do your research about the overview stuff and then you can start to introduce more ingredients to bring specific qualities to your soap. Example. I learned some general rules early on: your hard-at-room-temp oils/butters and your liquid oils should be about 50/50. If your butters exceed 15% you may have a brittle bar that could crack. Castor oil at about 5% is good - higher than 10% will make it sticky. A 5% superfat is a good standard (go up or down as you experiment). That's a lot to digest, so using an existing recipe from an experienced soap maker makes a lot of sense. When I started, I poured over the Bramble Berry website - great videos, recipes, and info about specific ingredients. Best wishes!

 

[Sandy555]

I'm a beginner. Will be making small soap bars for my daughter's baby shower. My question, can you substitute something else for Sodium Lactate? Cannot seem to purchase this anywhere. Thanks

 

[Yooper]

I'm a beginner. Will be making small soap bars for my daughter's baby shower. My question, can you substitute something else for Sodium Lactate? Cannot seem to purchase this anywhere. Thanks

Leave it out- it is only used to make a harder bar. What is your basic recipe? If it's a lot of olive oil, sodium lactate is used to make the bar harder faster. Eventually though, you could pound nails with a 100% olive oil soap- it does get really hard!

 

[lesliesears]

Sodium lactate also helps soap release from its mold. If you don't use it, and have trouble unmolding, remember the freezer trick. Pop the soap in its mold in the freezer for an hour or so. Pull it out. When it warms up it sweats and lubricates the mold, making the release easier.