{"id":10085,"date":"2015-01-18T11:38:14","date_gmt":"2015-01-18T17:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greatcakessoapworks.com\/handmade-soap-blog\/?p=10085"},"modified":"2015-01-29T16:46:30","modified_gmt":"2015-01-29T22:46:30","slug":"re-formulating-my-cold-process-soap-recipe-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greatcakessoapworks.com\/handmade-soap-blog\/index.php\/re-formulating-my-cold-process-soap-recipe-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Re-formulating My Cold-Process Soap Recipe, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been using the same basic recipe for four years now. I added some stearic acid after a review from a highly respected soapmaker felt that my fully cured soap melted away too quickly. It helped some, but I think I could do better. Here are the qualities of my current soap recipe, according to SoapCalc<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Hardness: 47 (recommended range 29-54)
\nCleansing: 27 (range 12-22)
\nConditioning: 48 (range 44-69)
\nBubbly: 31 (range 14-46)
\nCreamy: 25 (range 16-48)
\nIodine: 53 (range 41-70)
\nINS: 162 (range 136-165)<\/p>\n

(You can read more about what these qualities and ranges mean HERE<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

I honestly didn’t even realize that my cleansing number was above the recommended range! I figure it’s time to re-visit my formula at the very least, and I am contemplating whether it’s time to go palm free now as well. The question is whether or not I want to use lard instead. I have no issues with it, but a lot of people do. I realize you can’t please everyone all the time, but if it’s in my ability to make a nice, hard bar of soap with all the conditioning qualities and avoid using palm or lard, I will attempt to do so.<\/p>\n

But first, I wanted to experiment with replacing palm with lard and see how the soap performs. This is the recipe I used for Formal Affair:<\/p>\n

25% olive
\n25% coconut
\n20% lard
\n15% shea butter
\n10% castor
\n5% avocado
\n(0.8 oz. fragrance per pound of oils)<\/p>\n

6.5% superfat
\n33% lye solution
\n1 tsp. sodium lactate per pound of oils in the lye solution<\/p>\n

\"Formal<\/a>
Formal Affair soap by Great Cakes Soapworks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Observations:
\n1. The soap took a long time to trace. I had plenty of time to work with the soap as I was creating it.
\n2. After 24 hours, the soap was still a bit soft.
\n3. Discoloration issues: after unmolding the soap, the white parts had turned pinkish tan on the outside. The fragrance I used was non-discoloring, so something in my formula caused a strange reaction. Several days after cutting the soap, the white parts seem slightly grayish, but no more pinkish tan.
\n4. After just one week, the lather is pretty great! Very foamy, but also very stable.<\/p>\n

\"Formal<\/a>
Formal Affair – one week lather test<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

5. Feels very conditioning on the skin, not drying at all.<\/p>\n

Soap Qualities:<\/p>\n

Hardness: 41 (range 29-54)
\nCleansing: 17 (range 12-22)
\nConditioning: 54 (range 44-69)
\nBubbly: 21 (range 14-46)
\nCreamy: 29 (range 16-48)
\nIodine: 57 (range 41-70)
\nINS: 151 (range 136-165)<\/p>\n

I’ve lost some hardness, but this formula doesn’t take into account the added sodium lactate which should add some hardness back into the bar. The cleansing number is down within the recommended range. I will have to see how this one performs when it is fully cured. I found that changing the superfat doesn’t seem to change the soap quality numbers, but it sure does change the hardness and feel of the soap in reality. Bottom line: there are factors other than the numbers derived from your soap formula in SoapCalc that will affect your recipe so don’t get too caught up in the those numbers!<\/p>\n

My next experiment will be a recipe without palm or lard. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been using the same basic recipe for four years now. I added some stearic acid after a review from a highly respected soapmaker felt that my fully cured soap melted away too quickly. It helped some, but I think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[980,979],"class_list":["post-10085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-making-soap","tag-palm-free-soap-recipe","tag-soapcalc"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t