Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Lather Lovers Soap Swap - Part 1: Formulating the Experiment

Do you like lather? Ever wondered what you could add to give that little extra "oomph" to create bubbles so abundant that Hollywood scene setters will bang down your door to get them? Well, maybe that's a little extreme, but if you're interested in learning about a few options to possibly improve your formula, then read on...

18 accomplished soap makers got together at the Dish Forum to test various additives in a simple soap formula to compare and contrast the changes imparted on the lather. Participants are located across the United States and Canada giving us a nice cross section of water types to compare.

The Challenges:
  • Test 1) 10 second sink test. The tester washes their hands for 10 seconds noting the lather.
  • Test 2) 20 second sink test. The tester continues washing hands for an additional 10 seconds noting changes to the lather (building, breaking, bubble size and texture)
  • Test 3) Shower Test: The tester takes a typical shower using the control and a sample. Lather and skin feel are noted.
  • Test 4) the "Blob" test. A blob of lather is coaxed using a shower net pouf. The lather is observed for 10 minutes, and photographed at the beginning, middle and end of the time. This is to take stability of lather into consideration.

The Formula:
50% Olive Oil (Type A or Pomace, not EVOO)
25% Palm Oil
25% Coconut Oil

8% superfat
"Full water" using Distilled Water (or other liquid additive as noted in the list)

Using Soap Calc, here's how the formula stacked up:

We chose to each make a batch using 24 oz of oils. When cut to 1 oz "hotel" sized bars we were able to fit all of the samples in a padded flat rate mailer.

The Additives:
1) None: #1 is the control with no additives.
1a) None: This sample was made with a 5% superfat to note any differences in lather between SF levels.
2) Sodium Lactate added at .25 oz/PPO (per pound of oils)
3) Granulated Sugar added at 1 Tablespoon PPO
4) Honey added at 1 Tablespoon PPO
5) TBA later (silk)
6) Rosin
7) Bentonite Clay
8) Tetrasodium EDTA
9) Powdered Goat Milk reconstituted as the water
10) Alow Juice subbed for all the water
11) Canned Coconut Milk subbed for all the water
11a) Powdered Coconut Milk subbed for all the water
12) Beer substituted for all the water
13) Fresh Goat Milk subbed for all the water
14) Canned evaporated milk
15) Powdered Sugar added at 1 Tablespoon PPO
16) Kaolin Clay added at 1 Tablespoon PPO
17) Cetyl Alcohol
18) TBA (would have been beeswax)
19) Oat MIlk
20) Yogurt
21) Sorbitol
22) Sodium Citrate
23) Palm Kernel Oil subbed for the Coconut Oil
24) Kefir substituted for all the water
25) Sorbitol and Sodium Citrate

Over the next few weeks I'll go into detail about the additive (how it was added, any notes about difficulty with addition, etc.). I'll also share the photos and video of each as it is put through the series of tests.

At the end of the study you may discover a few surprises, as the group of testers surely did.