Bar of soap for moderately hairy guy?

[Nd32479]

As a guy, I've always appreciated a bar of soap that is on the harder side as I like to soap up with the bar itself in the shower instead of using a wash cloth. Having a fair amount of body hair on my legs, soft bars can simple wear out too easy. I've read salt can help with "hardness". But I've seen some recipes rate high on "longevity". What is longevity versus hardness? Any general advice with how to make a good shower bar of soap that will last for a moderately hairy guy?

Thanks

 

[Zuleika]

I've recently tried my newly cured 100% Coconut oil soap. What I found for longevity vs hardness is that coconut oil made a hard soap but does not last. Nothing beats trying it for yourself. I knew it wouldn't last but wow.. it really did not last!

Hardness: 10/10. You can throw it at my head and I would bruise/concuss while the soap is fine and undented. Did not get mushy in the shower.
Longevity: 2/10. The 70g/2.5oz sample bar I made lasted 3 showers. You could visibly see the soap "melting away" and getting smaller before and after shower.

Compared to my other soaps made with a combination of oils, 100% coconut really "melted" away faster.

Someone posted this link before which made for a very interesting read. I took advice from this page and try to work in more Palmitic/Stearic acids like lard/Palm/Shea/Cocoa butter.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Yes - any fat high in lauric or myristic acids will lather like machine - but more lather also means greater solubility - i.e. bye bye soap bar.

If you ensure you have a good combination of stearic and palmitic it will indeed ensure longevity as @Zuleika has said. Luckily, most fats that are high in these two fatty acids will also create a hard bar.

 

[lsg]

Castile soap is very hard after a long cure of several months.

 

[Ephemerella]

The link posted by @Zuleika will give you a good picture of how the science works. As @KiwiMoose said, it comes down to the fatty acid profile — which is then additionally affected by additives (if any), and cure time... and I'm sure environmental humidity levels play a role too.

Making sure you keep your soap in a place where it can fully dry between uses goes a long way to helping increase lifespan too. I stand my bars up on end on a soap saver. Its not the most aesthetically pleasing solution, but it does work.

https://mollyssuds.com/products/soap-saver

 

[Rune]

Making sure you keep your soap in a place where it can fully dry between uses goes a long way to helping increase lifespan too. I stand my bars up on end on a soap saver. Its not the most aesthetically pleasing solution, but it does work.

Yes, a very good soap dish is a must! I just want to share what I use, that works extremely well. I have tried a few options, and none of them were nearly as good as this. I bought mine at Aliexpress, but you can probably find one on Amazon or Ebay as well. Mine is square, and I can't find that anymore, but the oval one is just the same.

I guarantee, this solution is extremely good. The soap dish is extremely easy to clean, and best of all, it does not need cleaning very often. I clean mine like once a month or so (it is quite resistant to getting dirty). It is the best I have tried.

You can search on Aliexpress for: "multifunctional silicone soap dish brush" (there are probably better search phrases, but I don't really know what it is called), and you will get a few vendors to buy it from.

I found a video on Youtube demonstrating the product. BUT, do not place the soap on the flat side, as they show, it needs to be resting on top of the spikes. If you do that, it makes the perfect soap dish, in my opinion.

 

[cmzaha]

If you are not opposed to animal fats my bars which are 40/20 Tallow/lard with whatever percentage CO 3-5% castor and the balance liquid oil of choice will last 3-4 weeks if you do not use a bath pouf. I do not add salt but do soap with additives such as Sodium Gluconate and EDTA to cut scum and deter Dos plus soap with vinegar, but that is another learning curve and really helps best with initial hardening and de-molding time.

If you do not approve of animal fats 40% palm oil or Soy Wax which I have never soaped with will give long-lasting bars. Palm I soap with not soy, but the downside of working with high percentages of Palm is fast tracing, I also do not recommend over 40% or you risk a rather waxy feeling bar of soap. My vegan soaps were 40% palm 10-20% shea, but tracing was pretty quick even with a 31% lye concentration. Quick in-the-pot swirls and well-behaved fragrances are best with that recipe.

 

[TheGecko]

As a guy, I've always appreciated a bar of soap that is on the harder side as I like to soap up with the bar itself in the shower instead of using a wash cloth. Having a fair amount of body hair on my legs, soft bars can simple wear out too easy. I've read salt can help with "hardness". But I've seen some recipes rate high on "longevity". What is longevity versus hardness? Any general advice with how to make a good shower bar of soap that will last for a moderately hairy guy?

Thanks

Hardness vs Longevity...an age-old question. Adding salt to your recipe, using hard oils and butters, curing your soap for several months will lead to a bar of soap that is physically hard, but bathing with a brick of marble (water insoluble) is just as bad as bathing with a brick of sugar (water soluble)...longevity.

A balanced bar of soap used every day should last approximately 30 days...doesn't matter if you're a Sasquatch, use a washcloth or a foufou. I have found that a combination of 60% Hard Oils/Butters and a minimum six week cure has been giving me that average. Of course, this average is based on a single person using a 4oz soap; your mileage with vary with more showers, more people or a smaller/larger bar.

 

[KiwiMoose]

@TheGecko
*foufou*

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Castile soap is very hard after a long cure of several months.

That's true of Castile made the traditional way. ZNSC is ready to use in 2 weeks and keeps it shape to the very end, more than any other type of soap I make. When I'm down to the last sliver, I can press it into a new bar and carry on. NO waste. NO leftover soap.

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/zanys-no-slime-castile.72620/

A balanced bar of soap used every day should last approximately 30 days

That's how long my soaps last too.

if you're a Sasquatch,

That's what I was thinking too! You might like to try making a Dr. Squatch (type) soap using the Basic Trinity of Oils formula. Once you get an idea of what each leg of the trinity brings to the soap, you can tweak to find your perfect combo that works for you.

Guide to Making CP (Cold Process) Soap

Using SoapCalc to Create Recipes

 

[Mobjack Bay]

My recipes have longevity of 29-30 and everyone tells me that they last well. Some folks have tacked on a comparison to other soap they tried that didn’t last as long. Longevity = palmitic + stearic acid, which you can get from the fatty acid profile in a soap c@lculator. I usually keep the coconut oil to 20% or less and add sugar which helps to ensure that the soap makes enough bubbles to keep the bubble lovers happy.

 

[Jorah]

Yes, a very good soap dish is a must! I just want to share what I use, that works extremely well. I have tried a few options, and none of them were nearly as good as this. I bought mine at Aliexpress, but you can probably find one on Amazon or Ebay as well. Mine is square, and I can't find that anymore, but the oval one is just the same.

I bought one of these after realizing that the other soap (stainless and another silicone) dishes I had were not allowing the soap to dry. It worked so well that I've purchased three others, and can highly recommend them. Currently listed on Amazon Prime for about $8 as 'Silicone Soap Dish with Drain for Shower Bathroom Bar Soap Holder, Self Draining Waterfall Drying Tray.'