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I like my shaving soap to have lots of glycerine (15% of oils or more!). But adding it to the soap batter is seizing it up badly, to the point i can no longer blend it. Why does glycerine do this and what can i do to prevent it? I'm already using sodium lactate and also applying heat after...

I also don't use a crockpot....I use a heavy base stainless steel pressure cooker (without the lid) on an induction cooktop. Works awesome!

The more solid butters and soy wax I use, the harder the soap. Liquid oils will contribute softness. Also, the higher the saturated fats, the harder the soap. I personally stick with 70% KoH as I feel it's high enough for stearic acid solubility, and not so high that the soap loads into the...

I hope you're still active here... I did a batch of HP shaving soap but instead of zapping in the microwave to maintain temp, I used an induction cooktop. Melted the soy wax/butters, added liquid oils then lye...it went through ricing, applesauce then separation. It was in separation phase...

I don't use shea as I don't enjoy the smell (I keep my soap unscented due to my sensitive skin). I use unrefined, food grade cocoa butter as I love the subtle hint of the cocoa. I'll order kokum and mango butters once I'm home, in order to make the 80% butter soap.

I've realized shaving soaps, whether veggie or tallow, are awesome when they have a minimum of 25% oleic acid. I know high oleic is a lather killer, but there's an optimum range and the lather feels fatty and nourishing. I really dislike high stearic/coconut based shaving soaps!

I've yet to make a very high butter soap but I had made a soap with around 30% cocoa butter and it performs better than most soaps I've used. Perhaps shea butter causes some issues with the lather? When I get home in May, I'm going to make an 80% butter soap (kokum, mango, cocoa). It's going...

Awesome! I wish you the best with your shaving soap endeavor. Please do share your results as you go along. Let's keep this shaving soap sub-forum alive! I keep my CO at 10% in all my recipes which I'm developing. I find there's no drying of my skin and this is sufficient the add some volume...

Has anyone else made a high butters shaving soap base? The reason I ask is because after using it, I feel there are no other additives required in addition to the high butters because it's just so nourishing and moisturizing.

Yeah, there's something about shaving soap that really draws me to it. After I got cov19 virus twice, my skin turned very sensitive and very easily inflamed. I had 100+ shaving soaps, mostly which are all gone due to reactions to the scents. I wanted to make my own unscented soap with top...

Nice! Please do try the mango/kokum base. I generally use these two in a 50/50 split as they have a similar stearic to oleic acid ratio. I'm a big believer that butters don't need to be relegated to just being a super fat. As long as the fatty acid profile is that of a shaving soap, butters can...

What a thread!! Deserves a revival! I'm a wet shaver of 15 years and have used over 200 shaving soaps. 6 months ago, I made my first shaving soap (first soap ever actually!) with soy wax (87% stearic acid), cocoa butter, castor oil, hemp seed oil, glycerine and liquid silk. 70% KOH 5% SF 3%...

Thank you! No worries...I'm just doing this for my personal use so I don't mind sharing. I'm super picky as I've used 200+ shaving soaps over the last 15 years so the bar was set high for me. I feel like I've made a soap that beats most of what I've used. Although Mitchell's woolfat remains...

Thanks DeeAnna! Yeah, I came to this conclusion when I used the 90% KOH soap with 2gm of NaCl. The soap is very hard and lathers very well but takes effort to load it into the brush because the coconut oil content isn't high enough to make the soap more soluble. The French soap, Martin de...

Reviving this old thread... I made a dual lye shaving soap with 68% soy wax, 22% coconut oil and 10% sweet almond oil. Made with 90% KOH. I added 1% NaCl to liquid and after 4 weeks cure, it's really solid but even at just 1%, the salt is causing issues with solubility! I have to load tons...

Unfortunately I didn't think to take pics. Having used so many shaving soaps as part of my hobby, I got to know the fatty acid balance etc so making my own was the next logical progression. I'm so glad I took the step as I absolutely love the soap recipe I make. It's very unlikely I'll...

I make my own shaving soap after having used 200+ soaps over 15 years. Sensitive skin pushed me to make my own unscented shaving soap. I do a semi-hot process using the microwave method (not a crockpot). I use 30% lye concentration for my 70% KoH soap. I leave it to cure (after un-moulding) for...

Will your high KOH soap harden if you set it to cure? What's the best way to use high KOH but get a harder soap (Aside from months of curing)? Also, I read table salt can be added to the lye water to harden a KOH soap, but my understanding is this is he same thing as using dual lye since the...

Hi all, I've been using shaving soaps for over a decade and wish to make my own. I understand the theoretical side of soap making but yet to put it into practice. Looking forward to getting some assistance regarding recipe and some other technical on this forum.