# Irish Spring Clone



## BattleGnome (Oct 3, 2016)

My brother in law _only_ uses Irish Spring. Last month my sister told me that she thought he was using a bar I had given her but when she asked him about it a new bar of Irish Spring suddenly moved from the closet to the shower. I've given her bars from just about every batch I've made so if he was interested she does have a variety of scents and recipes he could try. 

He's anti receiving gifts but I give him soaps for my sister to try for the sake of including him in the tradition. As a gag gift this year I'd like to make an Irish Spring clone for Christmas. I ordered a dupe of the scent but am having trouble finding a recipe. The only one I can find is from Soaping 101:

33% tallow 
33% coconut 
33% palm kernel oil

Salt, citric acid, and rosemary oleoresin as additives. I don't remember the SF she used but I'd assume the standard 5% for now.

Does anyone know of another recipe or does this seem right? If this is the base I'm starting with then I hope to sub lard in for the tallow since that's what I have on hand and switching out the pko for olive? Would crisco be a better sub? I have no issues with palm, just with shipping costs.


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## kchaystack (Oct 3, 2016)

I think the recipe won't matter that much - but that is a TERRIBLE one. Coconut and PKO are both in the "bubbly but stripping" category.  You would need to super fat that at 15 to 20 percent.  Use your standard mix, IMHO.  As long as the scent is a close dupe I doubt he will notice much.

The challenge is going to be making the pour look right.  Isn't Irish Spring the one where the guy with a heavy brogue used to cut to show the stripping going thru the bar?  You'll need to do something to get that feathery look.


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## penelopejane (Oct 3, 2016)

BattleGnome said:


> As a gag gift this year I'd like to make an Irish Spring clone for Christmas. I ordered a dupe of the scent but am having trouble finding a recipe. The only one I can find is from Soaping 101:
> 
> 33% tallow
> 33% coconut
> ...



30/30/30 PO/CO/OO and 10% castor oil SF 5% is close to a commercial soap. (Not PKO) It is hard from the get go and is bubbly. Guys like it because it gets them clean - I guess that means squeaky clean!


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## Steve85569 (Oct 3, 2016)

penelopejane said:


> 30/30/30 PO/CO/OO and 10% castor oil SF 5% is close to a commercial soap. (Not PKO) It is hard from the get go and is bubbly. Guys like it because it gets them clean - I guess that means squeaky clean!



This "old guy" likes his skin where it is though. That's one of the reasons I make my own soap.
I'm with kchaystack on this one - stick with a known recipe that you like on your skin. That way you can use the leftovers. :twisted:


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## penelopejane (Oct 3, 2016)

penelopejane said:


> 30/30/30 PO/CO/OO and 10% castor oil SF 5% is close to a commercial soap. (Not PKO) It is hard from the get go and is bubbly. Guys like it because it gets them clean - I guess that means squeaky clean!





Steve85569 said:


> This "old guy" likes his skin where it is though. That's one of the reasons I make my own soap.
> I'm with kchaystack on this one - stick with a known recipe that you like on your skin. That way you can use the leftovers. :twisted:



This ^^^ is a common basic recipe. It works really well for those who don't have a problem with coconut. 

When I said it is like a commercial soap I  meant it is good for people who don't want to be precious about their soap - which most other recipes require.

This was my first soap (so you can imagine how bad it was!) and despite
Testing new fabulous buttery bars my friend just wants this one. My boys like it too. I think it's a guy thing


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## Arimara (Oct 3, 2016)

BattleGnome said:


> My brother in law _only_ uses Irish Spring. Last month my sister told me that she thought he was using a bar I had given her but when she asked him about it a new bar of Irish Spring suddenly moved from the closet to the shower. I've given her bars from just about every batch I've made so if he was interested she does have a variety of scents and recipes he could try.
> 
> He's anti receiving gifts but I give him soaps for my sister to try for the sake of including him in the tradition. As a gag gift this year I'd like to make an Irish Spring clone for Christmas. I ordered a dupe of the scent but am having trouble finding a recipe. The only one I can find is from Soaping 101:
> 
> ...



That's a horrible recipe right there. That much palm kernel and coconut oil respectively  demands a high superfat and then you have tallow, which is cleansing in it's own right. If you want to test it out, follow KC's suggestion.



kchaystack said:


> I think the recipe won't matter that much - but that is a TERRIBLE one. Coconut and PKO are both in the "bubbly but stripping" category.  You would need to super fat that at 15 to 20 percent.  Use your standard mix, IMHO.  As long as the scent is a close dupe I doubt he will notice much.
> 
> The challenge is going to be making the pour look right.  Isn't Irish Spring the one where the guy with a heavy brogue used to cut to show the stripping going thru the bar?  You'll need to do something to get that feathery look.



Wouldn't a ribbon swirl be useful for this? that and a certain type of mold?



penelopejane said:


> 30/30/30 PO/CO/OO and 10% castor oil SF 5% is close to a commercial soap. (Not PKO) It is hard from the get go and is bubbly. Guys like it because it gets them clean - I guess that means squeaky clean!



The thing about your suggestion is that I'm sure it would feel a thousand times better than the one with palm kernel oil and tallow. That's cleansing overkill.


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## Steve85569 (Oct 3, 2016)

Testing new fabulous buttery bars my friend just wants this one. My boys like it too. I think it's a guy thing 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





They have more forgiving hides than mine!
Soap on!
I meant no harm nor criticism.

Steve


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## BattleGnome (Oct 4, 2016)

kchaystack said:


> As long as the scent is a close dupe I doubt he will notice much.
> 
> The challenge is going to be making the pour look right.  Isn't Irish Spring the one where the guy with a heavy brogue used to cut to show the stripping going thru the bar?  You'll need to do something to get that feathery look.




I was thinking just using any recipe. The bar he was using was 50% oo with nearly 20% lard (then some shea, castor, and coconut). Changing the recipe enough would give the leeway to the boxes I was going to make (Michigan Spring, possibly made with Lake Superior water). 

In the Soaping 101 video she uses a itp swirl. I was thinking about going with that.


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## BattleGnome (Oct 4, 2016)

Steve85569 said:


> That way you can use the leftovers. :twisted:



I was going to give them to my dad. He refuses to use my soap based on the scent (he usually uses dial or whatever is on sale)


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## earlene (Oct 4, 2016)

My husband and I used Irish Spring for years until I started making soap.  The original is the green with a tiny bit of white marbling in that easy-to-hold slightly concave rounded rectangular shape. Then they came out with a blue one.  We used both, but preferred the green. Now they have expanded to another line of  'manly sized' soaps that are large rectangular bars without the special shaping.  I don't know what scents they are using in the new line, but the colors seem to be solid (without marbling) from the pictures I have seen.  They call it their 'Signature for Men' line.

The original ingredients listed are:

ACTIVE INGREDIENT: TRICLOCARBAN. OTHER INGREDIENTS: SOAP (SODIUM TALLOWATE, SODIUM COCOATE AND/OR SODIUM PALM  KERNELATE TYPES) WATER, STEARIC ACID (SKIN CONDITIONER) COCONUT AND/OR PALM  KERNEL ACD, GLYCERIN (SKIN CONDITIONER), FRAGRANCE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, PEG-12 POLYSORBATE 20, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, TETRASODIUM EDTA, BHT D&C GREEN NO. 8,  FD&C GREEN NO. 3.Just to give you an idea of what's in it if you really want to come close.  Apparently they added extra Stearic acid and glycerine, salt and EDTA as well as BHT.  I am not sure why the polysorbate 20.  I wonder what the purpose of it is in bar soap.

As for the fragrance itself, Sweet Cakes sells an Irish Spring (type) FO.
Or you could mix it yourself per this tutorial.

Currently the mold that appears to be the closest that I could find is:
https://www.newdirectionsaromatics....-soap-molds/soap-mold-rectangle-standard.html

I believe I found one that was better in the past, but can't find it now.  But you could make your own using a bar of Irish Spring (leaving out the actual lettering).  It's such a hard bar, I don't think you'd have any trouble molding around it.


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## Susie (Oct 4, 2016)

Here's the site I pulled the ingredient list for the original from:
http://www.irishspring.com/bar-soap/original-deodorant-soap-for-men

INGREDIENTS
Soap (sodium tallowate, sodium cocate and/or sodium palm kernelate), Water, Hydrogenated Tallow Acid (skin conditioner), Coconut Acid, Glycerin (skin conditioner), Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Pentasodium Pentetate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Titanium Dioxide, D&C Green No.8, FD&C Green No.3

So, what I am seeing is a high tallow soap with some CO *OR* PKO added.  They added salt, which I am thinking they listed in case their soap retained any salt from the salting out process, as this soap does not need salt to harden.  I would probably add a bit of sugar for some bubbles, and OO to sort of balance it out, but this would not be a horrible bar.


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## Scooter (Oct 4, 2016)

Susie said:


> Here's the site I pulled the ingredient list for the original from:
> http://www.irishspring.com/bar-soap/original-deodorant-soap-for-men
> 
> INGREDIENTS
> ...FD&C Green No.3...



I have not yet colored any of my soaps, though I have read a lot about what other people have done. Is it possible to buy FD&C Green No. 3 and use it in one's own soap recipes? Or is that where the colored micas come in? Is this color used to dye one of the green micas that people use?

--Scooter


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## chela1261 (Oct 4, 2016)

I've made that soap from Soaping 101 but I just don't remember those ingredients. It was so long ago maybe I just made my own up because I've never used salt or citric acid in soaps


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## Susie (Oct 4, 2016)

Scooter said:


> I have not yet colored any of my soaps, though I have read a lot about what other people have done. Is it possible to buy FD&C Green No. 3 and use it in one's own soap recipes? Or is that where the colored micas come in? Is this color used to dye one of the green micas that people use?
> 
> --Scooter



I found this site by Googling fd&c green 3:

https://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap/product.asp?product_id=FDCLGREEN3


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## kchaystack (Oct 4, 2016)

Scooter said:


> I have not yet colored any of my soaps, though I have read a lot about what other people have done. Is it possible to buy FD&C Green No. 3 and use it in one's own soap recipes? Or is that where the colored micas come in? Is this color used to dye one of the green micas that people use?
> 
> --Scooter



You might be able to get it.  But I would just use a sea green mica, or mix a darker green with some blue and TD to make the right shade.  I did a quick search and most of the places we get soap colorants from (Nurture, BB, WSP and Mad Oils) seem to use chromium green oxide as their green base.


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## dibbles (Oct 4, 2016)

To get the look of the Irish Spring, I think an ITP swirl would work just fine. Since you haven't colored soap before this technique is much easier that attempting a ribbon pour your for your first try. Maybe 2/3 for the green base and 1/3 for the white swirl.


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## Arimara (Oct 6, 2016)

dibbles said:


> To get the look of the Irish Spring, I think an ITP swirl would work just fine. Since you haven't colored soap before this technique is much easier that attempting a ribbon pour your for your first try. Maybe 2/3 for the green base and 1/3 for the white swirl.



I must learn more about this ITP swirl. Please, teach it to me.


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## BattleGnome (Oct 6, 2016)

this video has a good demonstration on how to do an in the pot swirl but she doesn't show a cut bar to show the effect


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## Susie (Oct 6, 2016)

This video shows both the technique and the cut bar (she does do some "in the mold" swirling after pouring, however).  You can skip to 3:49 if you don't need the lesson on colors:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR9wvtv0g_c&list=PL2sNsNbk51mC1DBp0d5vttbVVOXsECwD_&index=27[/ame]


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## dibbles (Oct 6, 2016)

Just search YouTube for 'in the pot swirl soap' and you will see tons of videos. Here are links to a few:

Some people don't like Soap Queen for various reasons, but her videos are instructional and easy to understand: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXvIR0z9dy0[/ame] Skip over the talking and mixing to about 7:00.

Clyde Yoshida of Vibrant Soap often uses an ITP swirl in combination with other techniques, but you can still see how it's done [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KadW9QFv2Mc[/ame]

And Handmade in Florida, of course [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeGLYIbMBdw[/ame]

You just want to remember to only stir through the colors a couple of times. You will want to do more, but don't!


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## dibbles (Oct 6, 2016)

And not to go off topic, but how do I get just a link to post in the thread, rather than the whole video, from YouTube?


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## BattleGnome (Oct 6, 2016)

When you post there is an icon of a globe with what looks like and infinity symbol (but probably is two links in a chain). If you click that a little pop up will ask for what you want to link (I just copy/paste the URL). Two sets of brackets will show with the link copied twice. You can change the text between the brackets but don't change the one in the brackets (URL=www).


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## dibbles (Oct 6, 2016)

Ah, thank you. I am quite inept sometimes.


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## Candyk123 (Jan 5, 2022)

What is the name(s) of the Irish spring dupe? I’d really like to try it.


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## Ugeauxgirl (Jan 5, 2022)

Candyk123 said:


> What is the name(s) of the Irish spring dupe? I’d really like to try it.


WSP has one called Irish Spring.  My husband says it's dead on.  He loves it


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## Candyk123 (Jan 6, 2022)

Ugeauxgirl said:


> WSP has one called Irish Spring.  My husband says it's dead on.  He loves it


Thanks, what does WSP stand for?


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## dibbles (Jan 6, 2022)

Candyk123 said:


> Thanks, what does WSP stand for?


Wholesale Supplies Plus


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## BattleGnome (Jan 6, 2022)

dibbles said:


> Ah, thank you. I am quite inept sometimes.



I got mine from a company called SweetCakes. I only bought the scent the one time though, the smell gave me a migraine every time I went to check on the bars


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## dibbles (Jan 6, 2022)

BattleGnome said:


> I got mine from a company called SweetCakes.


I love Sweet Cakes - they are local for me and one of the first companies I used for FO. I very much dislike Irish Spring though - never bought the soap before I started making my own because I didn't like the smell.


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## Candyk123 (Jan 7, 2022)

dibbles said:


> Wholesale Supplies Plus


Thanks! I’m assuming that’s in the States?


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## dibbles (Jan 7, 2022)

Candyk123 said:


> Thanks! I’m assuming that’s in the States?


It is, yes.


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## Candyk123 (Jan 7, 2022)

dibbles said:


> It is, yes.


Okay, thanks again. If I can’t find an Irish spring dupe within Canada, I will need to find their website.


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## The_Phoenix (Jan 7, 2022)

FYI, NG's Australian Bamboo Grass FO smells a lot like Irish Spring.


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