Superfatting - how much?

[beautifulfeetcandles]

I would like to superfat a soap batch. I understand that I add the oil (I'm going to use shea butter) right after trace as an additive. My question Is how much? I'm doing a 96oz batch or 6lb. How much of the shea butter would I add?

[jbren]

Check out this post. Your shea butter should be part of your recipe, not an additive.

http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57491

[eugenia]

I would like to superfat a soap batch. I understand that I add the oil (I'm going to use shea butter) right after trace as an additive. My question Is how much? I'm doing a 96oz batch or 6lb. How much of the shea butter would I add?

Every lye calculator is set to superfat. A zero superfat would mean that 100% of the oils are saponified by the lye. That means zero room for error. A typical superfat of 5-6% means that 5-6% of the oils are unsaponified at the end.

You don't want the superfat to be too high. Your soap will be soft and a high percentage of unsaponified oils can increase the risk of DOS and rancidity.

[doris]

Use a lye calculator (I use summerbeemeadows) and set the superfat to about 5 or 6 percent. Type in your oils, and even if you don't add anything at trace, it will adjust your lye amount to give you whatever superfat you choose. If you choose to add shea butter, include some in your recipe on the calculator and recalculate.

Superfat refers not to adding stuff at trace, but to how much oil/fat remains unsaponfied.

[beautifulfeetcandles]

This makes sense now. Thanks.