Is this recipe OK?

[icecold]

OK I know it takes a while to get that perfect recipe but I plan on making my next batch with this recipe. Any feed back is much appreciated.

Olive 20%

Coconut 25%

Palm 35%

Castor 10%

SAO 5%

Cocoa butter 5%

Do you think it would be better if I did 25% olive and 20% coconut?

[chuck_35550]

How about:

20% OO

23% CO

30% PO

5% Castor

5% SAO

17% Cocoa Butter

[icecold]

That looks good. Why the high % of cocoa butter? It is really expensive.

[MissMori]

I've made a lot of soap. A LOT! Lye calculators will give you an idea about the properties of a finished soap, but they are not exact.

What are you looking for in the finished soap? Find oils that will give you those properties and go from there. Try different percentages and combinations of those oils. Tinker with the lye discount.

As a general rule, I have found that at least 40% saturated fats (coconut oil, pko, palm oil) will give you a hard bar. Some soap makers say 60%, but it really is a matter of personal preference. Olive is an unsaturated oil, but gives a rock hard bar when given a chance to cure for a long time. Avocado oil makes a hard bar as well.

What are YOU looking for in your soap? How patient are you? What is your budget? Once you figure that out, EXPERIMENT! Go crazy! Try lots of things, break the soap making "rules." How will you know what you like if you don't try lots of different things? You will probably hate some of the soap along the way, but you will learn a lot.

Go ahead and make the soap. If you don't like it, tinker with it.

Edited September 27, 2010 by MissMori

[chuck_35550]

The cocoa butter is a vegetable version of tallow. It lends hardness but also takes some of the harshness out of formula. All of the oils in this recipe are pretty pricey these days, unless you buy in bulk. MissMori is absolutely right in urging you to experiment and think outside of the box but I think you will find that some components of soapmaking remain constant. I guarantee you that when we swap recipes that everybody in here automatically begins to tinker. Its part of the obsession to find the perfect recipe. Personally, I don't like seeds, stems, flowers, coffee beans in my soap but other people do. You are sastisfied with your castile but you are looking for something different. My recipe was just a suggestion. I like beef tallow in my soap, don't care for lard, not crazy about Crisco; go figure. HTH

Steve

[icecold]

Thanks for all the info everyone. When all my soaps cure I plan on handing them out to get some feed back and also using each of them my self to figure out what base recipe is the best for me and others. Where do you get tallow? I had a guy ask if I could make soap with sheep fat.

[chuck_35550]

You could make your own with free fat the butcher or buy it at any close by soap distributor. HTH

Steve