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    First 2 batches, soft, crumbly, oily soap

    As far as I can tell, that second compound is trichloro isocyanurate, one of the triazine type strong detergents. The 98 and 90 percent numbers appear to be the purity of the ingredients, not the amount present, it's not a standard US type labels so it's hard to tell. Third ingredient is...
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    First 2 batches, soft, crumbly, oily soap

    That is drain cleaner with a very strong detergent and sodium hydroxide. I would NOT use that soap! It will contain some rather corrosive material from the "lye" -- actually drain cleaner -- and will very badly irritate your skin. Not only that, but it's not pure lye to start with, so you...
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    Soy Wax Soap

    Soy wax 415 is the right stuff. Be careful -- 415 is usually available from candle supply places, but they also have paraffin/soy mixes with similar names. I don't think paraffin wax will work well in soap.....
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    Begginer ramblings, additives and crisco!

    I have had some lard go pink, although it could also be the FO I used (Egyptian Dragon from Bulk Apothecary). Just a faint pinkish cast, not bright. You may be able to smell fats more than other people, sense of smell is as individual as any other human characteristic. I cannot abide things...
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    Soy Wax Soap

    I have found I like a fairly "balanced" recipe. Soy wax adds pure stearic acid, so it's nice to add to things like soybean oil and canola oil to harden up the soap. Soy wax containing soaps are fairly hard, you should have cut your first one sooner. I suspect the second will get just as...
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    My first shaving soap is a success!

    Proper shaving soap is a revelation, that's for sure! Now you will have to try a dozen different scents and four or five formulas and..... you will have enough shaving soap for a lifetime! I do, and I've just started!
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    My first shaving soap is a success!

    You can also get individual containers and portion it out that way if you want. I don't bother with a mold since my soap is just for me at the moment, I pile it on a sheet of freezer paper and roughly roll it into a cylinder. As it cools off I mash into the shape I want and then cut into...
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    My first shaving soap is a success!

    This is indeed a great forum, lots of good advice, a huge base of experience and expertise, and very nice people. Good luck with the shaving soap!
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    Too much scent

    Scent usually diminishes with time, so just aging will help. However, if you think you really overdosed it, and you like the scent enough to make more soap, rebatching with additional unscented soap of a similar recipe will fix you up. Shredding and mixing into a fresh batch works fine too...
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    Do short shelf life oils make short shelf life soaps?

    I use EDTA and citrate with BHT in my soaps currently because I've had too much trouble with rancidity after six months or so. Only on the surface, and it washes off quickly, but it's annoying. You must also use high purity water -- the presence of iron or magnesium seems to greatly accelerate...
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    Fragrances and CP soap

    Check the massive review chart in the fragrance reviews forum. Any issues are usually noted in the reviews. I know Brambleberry lists that information for their fragrances, and at least a few other vendors do as well. I would also test a small batch before going big with a new fragrance, a...
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    Fragrance oils separating

    I've not made soap with it yet, but the soapsupplies Fierce is nicer than Brambleberry's. BB's is horribly strong to me, and there is something in it (and Drakkar) that I'm super sensitive to. Stank up the whole house for months. It does mellow out quite a bit, and I did use my tester bar...
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    Castor oil in shaving soap revisited

    I made three -- one close to my usual 50:30:10:5:5 SA:tallow:CO:Shea:Cocoa, one where the CO and part of the tallow were replaced with castor and one with only 10% tallow -- it's hard to make identical soaps with plus or minus 20% of an ingredient. The soap with 20% tallow/20% castor produces...
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    Castor oil in shaving soap revisited

    Last fall I make some shave soap with 20% castor oil to try it out. I wasn't sure it was a great idea, but several other members reported good results using that much. I made three very similar soaps, one with stearic acid, tallow, and castor, one with stearic acid, coconut oil, and castor...
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    My DOS Challenge Experiments

    Rancidity in soap (what we call DOS) is a well known issue, it's discussed in century old text books. It fact, it is oxidation of the fatty acids, and while saturated fatty acids can oxidize, they are more resistant than the unsaturated ones with double bonds. UV light will accelerate DOS...
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    Men's fragrances

    Best part about making your own soap is you can put whatever you want into it! Just remember you will be putting it under your nose when you are shaving your face, too much scent can be annoying.
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    My first shaving soap is a success!

    Pure soy wax only, stuff for candles has paraffin in it, which won't be very nice in soap......
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    My first shaving soap is a success!

    Soy oil is not the same as soy wax -- soy wax is hydrogenated soy oil, all the fatty acids are converted to stearic (C18 saturated) in fully hydrogenated versions. No palmitic at all, soy oil is oleic, linoleic, and stearic I think. I add some cocoa butter and shea butter as superfat, leaves a...
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    My first shaving soap is a success!

    Fully hydrogenated soy oil (soy wax 148 I think, usually) is stearic only triglyceride. It can be CP, but you have to work pretty hot as the soy wax has a fairly high melting point. Doesn't matter if there is palmitic acid in there, either works. If you use soy wax you need less glycerine...
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    My first shaving soap is a success!

    71% may be too high. I'll be working on those soaps when I get done with my current cake of Williams.
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