Francis Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Although I am completely enthralled with my new hobby of making soap, I am super disappointed with my creations. I tried a few of the soaps that I made about 8 weeks ago, and they are incredibly drying. My hands have never felt so dry and rough. I am constantly having to use tons of lotion, just to keep my skin from cracking. I don't have my notes in front of me, but those soaps were superfatted at around 5-6%. In all of them, I used much less than 30% cleansing oil. In one them, the cleansing oil was only around 20%, and the rest were conditioning oils such as OO, sweet almond oil, etc. In the more recent batches, I am trying recipes such as 80% OO, 10% PKO, 5% shea butter, 5% castor with 8% SF. These high OO soaps are not ready to be tested yet. I gave some of my soaps to my mom, and she to much prefer her Dove. She asked me, "Can't you make a soap just like Dove?" To be perfectly honest, at this point, I much prefer Dove to my soaps, too. I have mild eczema, and I've been using Dove all my life, and have never had such drying issues. I just did a brief research online, and it appears that syndet bars are milder than regular soaps. Am I wrong? Is my new found love of making soap doomed? Should I try 10-12% SF? I haven't made pure castile since I really like a lot of bubbles. Based on what I read, it seems like 100% pure castile is not very bubbly.Thank you in advance for your suggestions. I really want to be able to continue making my own soap, and I have already invested a lot into my new hobby, but I am not sure if my skin could tolerate my soaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8-GRAN-ONES Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 when you run your soap recipe thru the soap calc..what does your conditioning # say..to much coconut can be drying to some..so some exclude it totally out of their recipe, by using palm, or pko. or babbasu..for the harder oils..I also try to keep my cleansing below 18..and palmaitic below 18..it is better if you can get it around 16..i know you can't base how it feels by just the soap calc..but you can sure get a good idea..and putting certain oils and butters together help..to.. my conditioning # is 53-56..that is where my recipes are..i have made other with higher conditioning numbers to..but my basic are what i stated..I lov castor in my recipe..it adds nice bubbles but is also a good humectant..i have also read where it is good for excema..hope you can find what you are looking for in your cp soap...because it is so much fun..i love making soap..maybe there will be others to give some recommendations for you too..this is a good place to learn.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Recheck your formula just to be certain you have your lye calculations right...SF at 10%-12% may be the ticket for you. Castile is bubbly - when using a net pouf. I get a nice dense lather using one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_35550 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Dove products are manufactured in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey and United States. The products are sold in more than 35 countries and are offered for both women and men.[1]. Dove is primarily made from synthetic surfactants, soaps derived vegetable oils from palm kernel) and salts of animal fats (tallow). In some countries, but not UK, Dove is derived from tallow (like many soaps) and for this reason it is not considered vegan, unlike vegetable oil based soaps.[2][3] Dove is formulated to be pH neutral, a pH that is usually between 6.5 and 7.5. Your oils need to balance in such a way that your soap cleanses the pores and then the chain ends with emollients that help the skin to be healthy. Soap for you would be different than what my skin needs. Pine tar is a good additive IMHO for problem skin but you would need to research formulations in that area, there are some good formulas for eczema around the net. I bet your soap would feel just fine on my skin.Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitn Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I would up the superfat or add some heavy cream or milk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Francis, I would NOT recommend upping the superfat. As a new soapmaker, your challenge is to find the recipe that is going to work for you. This can take a while. Patience is required.e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitn Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I would try another batch and up the SF, it if that doesn't feel good to your skin, I would try a different recipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coconut Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I would up the superfat or add some heavy cream or milk.I have been dying to ask, why put milk in soap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8-GRAN-ONES Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 there is a creaminess, and a dense lather you get from milk soap..i have used GM..Yogart...Soured 1/2 & 1/2..(it makes a wonderful soap)and coconut milk..and maybe others that I can't think of off the top of my head right now..you would use them just as you use GM..there is a thread that is talking a lot about GM right now, with a lot of great info.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 Thank you everyone for your feedback. I think I'll have to try 100% GM 90% OO 10% castor soap. Too bad that the wait is so long on high OO soaps. . . What would you suggest for SF on a soap like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katshe Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I wonder how long did you let soap cure before using?...this could be the problem...I wait at lest 3 weeks with hp soap...cp should be , i believe 6 weeks or so...as the soap cures it gets milder...right away -even with hp process(cooking in oven) it is not mild the first week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katshe Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I did an oo 80%, co 20 % ...takes a long cure but I always supperfat at 5% ...i use soapcalc to figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanie353 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 (edited) I went searching to see if Dove is still made with 1/4 cleaning cream and according to the Dove site, the bars are. That might be part of the reason your soap is not reacting nice to your skin. Maybe adding some cream, half and half or milk as many have already mentioned will replace that part in Dove you are missing.I went on further to try to find what was in Dove but came up empty handed so far except Wikipedia....which is what chuck_35550 already quoted in his post.I'm curious what is in the soap because its been around a long time and no clue how long the cosmetic industry has been using synthetics in soaps.According to one source so far, it is saying Dove is made with lye like CP soaps with synthetic ingredients added. This particular site says many of the added synthetics can irritate or dry out skin but it is also advertising for its own product. http://www.alabu.com/education/dove-ingredientsThis site lists the ingredients (doesn't say if its the bar or liquid) as:INGREDIENTS IN DOVE SOAP ARE: Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Slearic Acid, Sodium Palmitate, Aqua Lauric Acid, Sodium Isethionate, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Parfum, Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Chloride, zinc Oxide, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Alumina, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Alcohol, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citronellol, Coumarin, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool...http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_Dove_soap_ingredients Edited July 9, 2012 by jeanie353 additional Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singleyellowrose Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Try this:45% Lard OR Palm45% Olive10% Coconut6% superfatStart simple. Make small 2-3 lb batches. Change out 1 ingredient with each batch or UP or LOWER 1 ingredient until you find what you like. Then you can start subbing out 1 oil for another depending on what you are desiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_35550 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 You might consider using oatmeal, green clay and oils infused with herbs known to reduce inflammation such as Calendula or chammamile (available in tea bags at the store). Oil infusions are easy and really add a lot of soothing benefits. There are some good essential oils that you might look at as well. HTHSteve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonShadow Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Since I started adding avocado oil (16%) to my recipes, IMO, it's made all the difference in the world. I'm hooked. I SF at 8%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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