Can a TFM of 70%-80% be achieved in a melt and pour soap

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Can a TFM of 70%-80% be achieved in a melt and pour soap

Posted by shuchi on October 1, 2021 at 6:49 am

Hi All,

I source melt and pour soap base, and add additives and fragrance and brand it. Recently, I got my soap tested for quality and the TFM is at 33%. My ambition is to make a soap of premium quality as accepted by the industry standards. Here are my questions where I seek expert guidance

a. Can we achieve TFM of 70% - 80% in an M&P soap scenario
b. If yes, How could I go about it especially when I have no control over the making of the base?

Thanks in advance. Advice from this expert group will be highly helpful.

shuchi replied 3 years, 1 month ago 3 Members · 12 Replies
12 Replies

PhilGeis

Member
October 1, 2021 at 12:37 pm

No control over making (quality?) of your base soap? What is source of base?
With above, not only does “Premium” seems unsupportable - but how do you ensure the safety of your product?
shuchi

Member
October 1, 2021 at 2:08 pm

Thanks PhilGeis. ???? I have been sourcing from the same vendor since 2018. Iam not sure if they check the TFM. However, when I searched the net for vendors that mention the TFM, I could find a few that said soap base with 40%-60% tfm. What then makes me think is whether there is any additive that can help. ????
PhilGeis

Member
October 1, 2021 at 2:45 pm

Are you in US?
shuchi

Member
October 1, 2021 at 4:22 pm

No
shuchi

Member
October 1, 2021 at 4:24 pm

But I would like to bring the rigour of quality in my product as in the US????
Syl

Member
October 1, 2021 at 11:07 pm

You should consider making your own, it is not difficult if you have access to the ingredients. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nw4CBN_RC0
This youtube video includes a recipe. If you want to use different oils use the soap calculator software below to calculate the amount of NaOH you need, be sure to set your superfat (extra fat) at a low percentage to prevent cloudiness, but high enough to have an error margin. You may also want to reduce your water content and model according to the video recipe.
http://soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp
I do not believe there is a way to improve your melt and pour soap significantly other than finding another supplier or controlling the quality yourself.
Melt and Pour soap or (glycerin soap) is basically regular soap that has been solubilized with propylene glycol, sugar, and glycerin.
It will take a lot of experimentations, errors, and research, but it might be gratifying.
Syl

Member
October 2, 2021 at 12:02 am

Oops, I forgot about lye safety; working with NaOH (Lye) requires safety gear, It can be intimidating, but if you wear safety equipment and are careful, it is ok.
This is a basic Hot process soap video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scokYOkLcQo
shuchi

Member
October 2, 2021 at 1:52 am

Thanks a lot Syl????????❤???? I entirely agree with you that if I had to make the base myself, I have total control over the quality. However, I was curious to know if there are methods to achieve the best TFM, with readymade base. I read somewhere that we could add stearic acid to the base to get the requisite hardness. Likewise, I was wondering if there is any way to improve the tfm, by adding myristic acid or similar. Please have a good laugh aloud if it sounds ignorant ????but please clarify whether possible. Thanks????????????
Syl

Member
October 2, 2021 at 3:19 am

Hi Shuchi, stearic acid does make a soap bar harder, but I do not beleive it can give you transparent soap.
How to improve your TMF will be determined by how you can use the least amount of solubiliser to solubilize your soap. Different oils will behave differently because of their fatty acic profile. You will need to find the vegetable oils that are most solubable with the solvents you are using.
According to Catherine Failor https://www.amazon.com/Making-Transparent-Soap-Crafting-Scenting/dp/158017244X you need to use palm, coconut and castor oil only because they are soluble. I am not an expert because when I made glycerin soaps, I found that they melted in the shower too fast. I did not do additional research. I make cold process soap on a regular basis for my customers in the US. I am sure that if you do google or youtube searches on formulating melt and pour soaps you will additional information.
shuchi

Member
October 2, 2021 at 3:59 am

Thanks Syl????????????
shuchi

Member
October 2, 2021 at 4:01 am

Btw, adding a wee bit of stearic acid to the melted base did help with hardening the bar. Happy to share my experience and finding????????????
shuchi

Member
October 2, 2021 at 4:04 am

Using coconut oil, castor oil, palm kernel oil and a small amount of waxes and jojoba oil, gave me a lovely batch of cp soap. However, I do not have the facility to make the soap base from scratch. That is why am looking for alternate solutions