Question about adding palm stearic acid flakes to M&P

[RWV]

I've been reading and I wanted to make my M&P soap bars a little harder (they're a bit too soft for me with the goat's milk, honey, and oils I'm adding) so I was wondering if, when adding stearic acid flakes, that was all that would change--just the hardness. I'm going to add 1/4 tsp. stearic acid flakes to a 2-pound batch (just melt it with the soap and shea butter).

Would any other properties of the final product be affected--lather, appearance, etc?

Thanks everybody!

[xxxtennillexxx]

I was adding 1 tbs. per 2lbs of M&P base. I cannot tell a difference w/lather or scent at all. It hardens it a little but I have found that adding about 1 TBS of beeswax does a better job of hardening the bar (thanks Prairieanne!) . I usually add about 1/2 TBS. Stearic & 1 TBS. of beeswax and it works great for me. I can tell a HUGE difference.

[RWV]

Thanks so much xxxTennilleXXX--I'm going to try that tomorrow!

[Candybee]

I prefer using coconut oil and cocoa butter to harden my bars but stearic acid works fine too. I use about 1/2 tsp pp.

[TheWickedWick]

Candybee...how much coconut oil & cocoa butter do you add per pound?

I would prefer adding those than the stearic acid.

Thanks

Karen

[Candybee]

Depends on how much other stuff I am adding to my base. But I use anywhere from 1-3 tsp pp of butters or oils. If I am going to add both I would first start out with 1 tsp of each and see how it helps your base. Not all bases are the same so you may have to adjust.

If you have a particularly soft base you may still have to go with the stearic or beeswax.