bees wax soap

[Nite Hawk]

I have heard bees wax soap is great for eczema and other skin conditions.
I have heard it is hard to work with, any one ever work with it much?
thoughts?
thanks..

 

[cmzaha]

Soap is a wash off product so it really is not going to give much help. If a person is allergic to bee stings a beeswax soap could be a problem. There is just no magic for eczema other than prednisone. For my eczema which is a very itchy eczema during flare-ups I do not use soap other than a salt bar. Some folks thing eczema is just dry skin, but that is not always true and can be deadly. There are no quick answers but to find out what works for you or the person with eczema. Also not everyone can use lye soap

 

[psfred]

Never used beeswax in soap and probably won't, for the following reasons:

Beeswax isn't completely liquid below 140F. Will stay more or less dissolved in other oils below that temp, but is prone to solidifying out. You will have to process pretty warm.

Beeswax is NOT soluble in soap solutions. At all. It's the very devil to remove from processing equipment (I have bees) with soap and water, really requires multiple rinses with boiling water, or better, paint thinner.

That means it's only suspended in soap, not dissolved like most oils (it's not an oil, it's wax). Very small particles, perhaps, but suspended.

It will not soften significantly in use, nor will it coat the skin well, although it does feel quite sticky.

I would use cocoa or shea butter unless you suspect an allergy issue with one or the other. If you hot process, you can insure than the cocoa and or shea remain in the soap, and they DO remain on the skin -- I use them in shaving soap, and it's very nice.

If you still want to try it, use 1% in a small batch and see how the soap works for you. Anything above 3% is likely to give you a very hard bar of soap that won't lather and may in fact be resistant to dissolving.

 

[SudsanSoaps]

I use it in all my soaps. I HP so I've never noticed a problem with it separating out. Beeswax helps with eczema by protecting the skin from irritants, and I can attest to the fact from using it in lotion. I've never noticed my soap helping eczema much. I use it at .9% mostly to try and help with water absorption.

 

[Obsidian]

I've used beeswax at 5% and liked it ok. It makes the soap feel slick and hard, reduces lather a bit. It is difficult to work with since it has such a high melting pointing. You have to soap quite hot. When I use it, I don't color or scent my soap and hand stir the lye into the oils.

I can't imagine beeswax would help any skin condition except maybe dry skin. I think a simple gentle soap would be better.

 

[reinbeau]

Beeswax is wonderful in soap. It lends a humectant quality to the lather and yes, it will settle on the skin a bit, but if you soap hot enough, it fully dissolves in the other oils. I've used it a lot. I am also a beekeeper and well aware of how hard it is to work with and clean.

 

[Nite Hawk]

Quote "
Soap is a wash off product so it really is not going to give much help. If a person is allergic to bee stings a beeswax soap could be a problem. There is just no magic for eczema other than prednisone. For my eczema which is a very itchy eczema during flare-ups I do not use soap other than a salt bar. Some folks thing eczema is just dry skin, but that is not always true and can be deadly. There are no quick answers but to find out what works for you or the person with eczema. Also not everyone can use lye soap "
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Now that is a thought that some people who are allergic to bee stings might react to bees wax- I am not sure.
However concerning eczema, having had a bit as a child, and having a child who has had at times a nasty case of eczema, I have learned a few things.
I found that eczema is often not just a skin condition. in my daughters case a milk soap really did seem to soothe and help calm a flair up. Never said cure--just calm. Possibly the glycerin was healing to the skin..
Also, according to some folks who are knowledgeable concerning essential oils, it is claimed many things that are applied to the skin are beginning to be absorbed into the blood stream within 26 seconds of application on the skin.
I also found that when there was a holiday function at the local hall, and our daughter over indulged in sweets, very often there would be a flair up. I also saw when she ate too much spicy pasta sauce it would flair. Taking oral vitamin D often seemed to help at least her, anyways.
She was doing very well and had not had a flair for a year or so, and came down with a violent stomach flu. almost immediately afterwards she had a flair up and nothing seemed to help.
We felt that the stomach bacteria was seriously out of balance.
Finally after a bit of homemade kefir it settled back down and she has not had a flair since..
I am not the only person who has had homemade soap help eczema--my sister-in-law also had a son who had eczema issues and found homemade soap definitely helped.
I realize everyone is different, but in these cases it helped. have heard that beeswax helped eczema, and wondered if a soap made of bees wax would help....

 

[psfred]

Beeswax in soap is no longer beeswax unless added as superfat after the cook in hot process -- it saponifies just like oils do, but the components that make up beeswax (which is a mixture of esters of long chain alcohols containing 30 or 32 carbons and long chain fatty acids, with 18 or more carbons) produces non-water soluble fatty acid salts and non water soluble saturated long chain alcohols. Any unsaponified beeswax will not melt at skin temperature, and will be present as small hard particles.

Those long chain fatty acid salts and long chain insoluble alcohols may or may not do anything for the skin, and will definitely feel sticky or waxy. Not desirable in soap, and if they indeed do help with eczema, a lotion would work better as they could be dissolved in something that will keep them on the skin instead of being washed down the drain.

If you think it will help, but all means try some. It won't cause any harm, and the worst case would be unpleasant soap.

A lotion containing cetyl alcohol would do the same thing, though.

 

[mommycarlson]

We keep bees as well and I've used beeswax in several soaps. I keep it at a very low percent and soap warm. Lovely soap.

 

[earlene]

I've only used beeswax in HP soap because it's easier to do. I did not think it was hard to work with. Here is a nice article on using beeswax in soap: http://www.soap-making-resource.com/beeswax-in-soap-making.html

Incidentally, the high percentage of unsaponifiables (≥50% per this Wikipedia article) means a very large portion of the beeswax is NOT turned into soap, but remains (or may be changed into something else) and in some references to it, there is a claim that it gives soap a creamy luxurious feel because of the unsaponifiables. I know I like it in the soaps I've made that have it at low percentage.

There are many people who use and sell beeswax soap and many people who really like it.

An allergy to the propolis in honey and beeswax is a real thing, but hopefully one knows that and doesn't buy soap with beeswax or honey listed in the ingredients.

 

[penelopejane]

Everyone who suffered from eczema will find their skin reacts to different things so it is very difficult to say what will or won't work in a soap for one individual. DH can't use any fragrance FOs or EOs in soap and pure OO (no colour or scent) seems to be the only thing that calms it.

My sons are intolerant of salicylates (tomatoes, corn etc). One reacts with eczema.
My other son's reaction to salicylates is pimples and hyperactivity.
My other son's reaction to salicylates is migraines, diahorrea and throwing up. They all react badly to most EOs.

You can't generalise about allergies or eczema. If you find something that works for you that's great but it probably won't work for everyone

 

[dixiedragon]

I've used beeswax in HP and CP. I prefer HP. I use it at 5%. I really like it. I made a batch with 10% and that wasn't good - the soap was soft (go figure) and didn't lather.

 

[Nite Hawk]

thanks for the input!

 

[Skatergirl46]

I've used beeswax in HP and CP. I prefer HP. I use it at 5%. I really like it. I made a batch with 10% and that wasn't good - the soap was soft (go figure) and didn't lather.

Thank you for answering what was going to be my question.

 

[Dahila]

Ia m allergic to bee sting and propolis but I use beeswax in my salves and I am ok, so far , i keep my fingers crossed.....

 

[gloopygloop]

I too have used Bees wax in HP soap and like it a lot, it does add a creaminess to the lather I think, but never used it above 2% or in CP either.