? on lye ratio w/ coconut oil

[prcandles]

I have spent the past couple of days going thru the old posts on here, and have noticed some posts that said to use the SAP value for cherry kernel oil instead of the coconut, IF the coconut oil was around 30%. I guess the question is does the .24 really change the lye concentration that much?

Or have I not read this right? Either way, I guess I am curious before I start to make another batch.

Thanks,

Pat

[eugenia]

The lesser lye amount makes for a milder bat.

[prcandles]

Eugenia,

when using the lesser amount, will it change the way the oils behave if I do this in a crockpot?

[eugenia]

Nope. Theory behind this is that coconut gets it's reputation for harshness from the excess lye the calculators recommend.

[prcandles]

Eugenia,

I really appreciate you taking the time to answer this silly question. I have already started the batch, and the only difference was the amount of time it took to get to trace. But that could have been from the oils I used. Hopefully soon today I will have soap!

Thanks again.

Pat

[eugenia]

Pat, I have done this and it works. I am always happy to help a fellow soaper. Personally, I like a combo of 10-12% coconut and 15% PKO flakes so this does not come into play. On the occasion that I've been out of PKO, it has come in very handy.

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[prcandles]

Eugenia,

This will be the fourth batch I have made. The first three are all cut and they all smell nice, but for me, they do seem a bit drying. My BF works too much with his hands so its hard for him to tell me one way or the other. Hopefully this last one will be a nice one.

Thanks again.

Pat

[jbren]

I bought into that whole 'change the coconut SAP' thing a while back but don't do it any more.

The only thing you are doing is increasing your superfat, so why not just add some nice conditioning oils and up your superfat percentage. Same results.

[swamp_deb]

Eugenia,

This will be the fourth batch I have made. The first three are all cut and they all smell nice, but for me, they do seem a bit drying. My BF works too much with his hands so its hard for him to tell me one way or the other. Hopefully this last one will be a nice one.

Thanks again.

Pat

Another thing you may need to consider is the age of your first three batches. Even HP soap is milder a few weeks after the cook. I know that I will use the scrapings to wash my hands as soon as it cools, but I really like the soap better when it has had some shelf time.

You will get people telling you exactly how long saponification takes in certain processes, I know what works for me and that is curing time after I cut the bars. I find this to be true with cp and hp.

Keep making soap, you will learn from each batch, xperiment and see how you like your soap, that is the best teacher.