This.All NaOH will make a very hard to lather soap. I'd stick with 60% KOH, otherwise you are going to be disappointed. This has been verified experimentally - below 60% KOH you get bubbly, vanishing lather, above 60% you get fine, stable lather.
Try both, but you won't ever use all NaOH again for shaving s
@Danmarx The two batches I made with 100% NaOH aren't shaving soap anymore.. they're bath soap. They were supposed to be shaving soap, but turned out hard. Really hard. Like... seriously hard. Far harder than any soap I've ever seen before. You could use them as building materials.
Keep in mind that even though your bottle of KOH won't have it written anywhere on it, it will be 90% strength KOH. If you can get a manufacturer's analysis for your KOH, even better, as some of them have hit 92%. Not that big of a deal as long as you're super fatting, but can make a difference if you make a 0% super fat batch.
Some soap calcs will default to 90% KOH, others you have to select 90% strength. Regardless, your KOH *will* be 90% unless it specifically says otherwise on the bottle, or you have a manufacturer's certificate of analysis that states otherwise.
It's worth waiting until you get KOH to make your recipe. The way KOH changes the lather and makes the soap softer is well worth the delay.
Edit: I actually think I might try your recipe with 100% NaOH to try as a nice hard bath soap. Going to tweak it to 10% super fat with 2% lanolin.
The base recipe should make for a good shaving soap when made 60/40 KOH/NaOH, although I'd swap percentages of the castor oil and olive oil.
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