help superfatting?

[katshe]

Ok, I am not a soaper yet, but I am trying to understand this superfatting thing

TThis is the recipe

15% veg shortening

15% coconut oil

15% pko

5% shea

25% safflower

25% oo

Superfat 5%? is this an oil added after trace, if so is it in addition to the oils listed not figured in the 100% or is it the shea in the 100%

Sorry this sounds stupid but I have been reading and have not found superfatting really explained well enough to understand.

Help!!

[Mnhorsemom]

I think I have this right, I'm sure someone will tell me if it's not...superfat is the oils left in your soap that don't saponify. It's not something that you add.

[doris]

Every oil needs a certain amount of lye to turn it into soap. If you have only the exact amount of lye to do this, you will have a harsh soap. We superfat to make the soap more user friendly. We usually superfat 5-8%, much more can lead to a greasy soap.

Superfatting oils can either be added at trace or added in at the beginning. Your best bet is to use a lye calculator, and stop worrying about "why?". I usually use the one at www.summerbeemeadow.com, you plug in your oils, set the amount of superfat you want, and it will tell you how much lye to use. There are many other lye calculators as well.

You might have problems finding an accurate sap value for shortening, as different shortenings are made with different oils. If you know what yours is made of, just enter it under that oil.

In your recipe, just set the superfat of whatever lye calculator you use at 5% and the lye amount will come out right.

[RobinInOR]

There are people that add their superfatting oil in addition to what their recipe says. However, chemically this only works in hot process. In cold process, you can't control what oil is saponifying, as that process is still happening in the mold.

It's much easier to add all your oils to your lye calculation and take the discount there.

[katshe]

i Think I understand better now

There will be 5% fat left after saponification instead of having too much lye?

I will be doing hot process.

[Crafty1_AJ]

Yes, you're correct. And what they said.

Let's say you decide to make a batch of olive oil soap. Just straight olive oil. You want to make a one pound batch. So, you look at the saponification value of olive oil and calculate the amount of lye you will need to change every last drop of the one pound of fats into soap. Now subtract 5% from this amount of lye. This ensures that about 5% of the oils *do NOT* get changed into soap, but remain unsaponified. Make sense? That's superfatting. hth

[katshe]

Thank you all so much. Much clearer now. I didn't want to jump in with any old recipe to make soap without understanding what I was doing first...Thank you again all.