ignitethesenses Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 How do you do the calculations for superfatting? I want to add 10% of a certain oil at trace. Do I figure the recipe with that as 10% of the oils, and with a 10% superfat/discount? I just want to make sure before I assume Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca_IA Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 I’ve heard two different versions for superfatting. 1) The oil/butter you are choosing to superfat with you can add to your soap after trace and it will be the predominate oil left free after the lye has completely saponified with the oils and turned into soap. For my example, I am going to superfat with shea butter. I include all of my oils/butters when running my soap recipe through a lye calculator to figure my amount of lye, including my shea butter. The amount of lye I will use is whatever it shows for the 10% excess fat. When I combine my oils/butters, I do not include the shea butter. I melt that separately and set aside. After my lye/water solution is added to the oils/butters and my soap is at trace, I add the melted shea butter and stir until fully blended in. The thought is, at this point in time, the lye has already bonded with the oils/butters and there is no or very little excess fat left, so the shea butter will be all of the excess fat. 2) Melting a butter (or using a warmed oil) separately is a waste of time, because even at trace, the chemical reaction is just starting to take place, the lye is not bonded to the oils/butters just yet. Adding the shea after trace will not make it the predominate excess fat left over after the saponification takes place. It will be an equal portion of fats in the recipe (equal to the proportion they are in the recipe). About 2.5 years ago, I made my normal soap recipe two different ways, one adding the shea at medium trace and the other way, melting all oils/butters together. I did not notice a difference from one batch to the other. After that, I quit “super-fatting” and just figured the % excess fat. For what you are wanting to do, include the 10% of the certain oil that you want to add at trace into your soap recipe. You want a 10% excess fat, so find the lye amount you need to use in that row (if looking at www.the-sage.com lye calculator). 10% is a bit on the high side for a discount too. Make sure you use fresh oils/butters and it might not hurt to add an anti-oxidant to your batch also. It will be more susceptible to DOS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignitethesenses Posted August 29, 2005 Author Share Posted August 29, 2005 Interesting...What about superfatting with hot process? I read instructions that basically said, just before you put the soap in the mold, you can add fragrance/superfat/etc... I used that method for cphp, but I didn't add anything...I just put it right in the mold.Oh, and the fat I want to use to superfat, is stable - lanolin - would I still be likely to get DOS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca_IA Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 Interesting...What about superfatting with hot process? I read instructions that basically said, just before you put the soap in the mold, you can add fragrance/superfat/etc... I used that method for cphp, but I didn't add anything...I just put it right in the mold.Oh, and the fat I want to use to superfat, is stable - lanolin - would I still be likely to get DOS?Superfatting is different for HP, because by the time you add your lanolin to the batch, the lye is completely gone, all you're left with is the soap. Sorry I didn't differenciate between CP and HP and superfatting. My example above is discussing CP only.Lanolin? I am sorry, but I know nothing about that. Hopefully someone with experience with it will come along and answer. If not, I've got some folks I can ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignitethesenses Posted August 30, 2005 Author Share Posted August 30, 2005 Oh, my original intentions were to cp But I was just wondering about hp as well - if the hp method better fits what I want to do, then I'll do it that way Lanolin has a very long shelf life. I'm hoping, if I can get that to be the remaining fat, I won't have to worry about DOS. I guess I'll just test both methods - cp and hp - to see which gives me the bar I want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasBrat Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 I am curious too. I make cphp soap and couldn't find anything on the internet on how to superfat cphp. I wonder if a small amount of oil can just be added just before pouring in the mold. I'll have to experiment. I hope someone has an answer on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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