Favorite soap for personal use?

[Mobjack Bay]

I searched for recent threads on this topic and didn’t find this topic exactly...

I’ve decided that it’s time for me to focus sharply on soap qualities. With a lot of time to read in the car on my trip, I’ve learned much in recent days about the qualities various oils and butters bring to soap, as well as the additives. The possibilities seem endless. What’s your favorite soap for personal use and why?

My older skin is drier and more sensitive than it was when I was younger. I plan to work on a facial soap recipe, likely a variation on Genny’s shampoo bar, but think it won’t work for a shower soap because it will be too soft. Is it possible to make a body soap that is creamy, conditioning, produces some bubbles and is hard enough to hold up somewhat to regular use? (I like to rub the bar between my hands, but it will drain/dry well between showers). After all my research here, I think I should start with a lard/tallow base, which I am not opposed to doing. To date I have used lard, but not tallow. Those soaps are just getting to the cure stage and I haven’t been able to give them a trial run. The water at my house tends towards the harder side.

I’m also wondering about goats milk versus coconut milk. Of the early CO heavy soaps I made, a GM recipe seems silkier and a bit less stripping. Many here seem to favor coconut milk and think of GM more for label appeal, but I do think the goats milk in my soap may have added a bit more creaminess. I don’t have the recipe with me, so I can’t give the specifics right now with respect to the oils, but I’m sure both recipes would also have had OO.

ETA: I also think I should try oat milk or colloidal oats because I like lotions with colloidal oats.

Thanks!

 

[Obsidian]

I have pretty dry skin and a couple of my favorites are.

Lard 50%
Olive or sunflower 25%
Coconut 20%
Castor 5%
If you want to lower the coconut, add to the lard. This is a good basic shower bar. Its a bit too cleansing for my face. I found going down to 10% coconut still gives pretty good lather.

For a more gentle bar, try 80% lard and 20% coconut. I really like this one and it lasts forever.

I do not like gm in soap, it does nothing for my skin and I think it stinks. I much prefer coconut milk. Better yet is aloe juice, it boosts lather, doesn't smell bad and won't make your soap overheat.
Get the aloe juice at walmart pharmacy. You use it to completely replace the water.

 

[DeeAnna]

There are a few threads floating around lately that are related to your topic, whether they started out that way or morphed into something different than the original poster had intended. Here are two that I've participated in --

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/lard-soap.75409/
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/hot-process-vs-cold-process.75424/

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@Obsidian I appreciate the straightforward recipes I can make with ingredients from my local stores. I will definitely try them.

I froze the GM and don’t recall having any odor/ammonia smell, which I was expecting.

I have a bottle of aloe juice, but with an additive, maybe guar or xanthan? I keep meaning to check on whether or not I can use it in cp.

There are a few threads floating around lately that are related to your topic, whether they started out that way or morphed into something different than the original poster had intended. Here are two that I've participated in --

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/lard-soap.75409/
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/hot-process-vs-cold-process.75424/

Thanks DeeAnna. I will check those out.

I guess y’all probably get tired of answering similar questions over and over, but I definitely appreciate all of the information that gets shared. It’s been super interesting to follow the pathways SMF veterans have taken to a favorite formula for personal use. The toughest part of making soap for this newbie is having to make decisions about which direction to head when I know it will take months to determine whether or not I successfully formulated a nice soap. I’m hoping to narrow down the choices just a little so that I can experiment productively. At least I now know what I’m looking for in a my soap.

ETA: will have to give lanolin a try based on DeeAnna’s posts on the HP vs. CP thread.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I don't have dry skin, but I keep my CO at 20% maximum because I understand that other people do. I guess if I was only soaping for myself I would try a 30% CO because I would like more bubbles
Anyhoo - I don't use animal fats or products in my soap at all, and the recipe that I have found works well for me is:
20% each of OO, CO and Soy Wax 415
15% Rice Bran oil
10% Shea Butter
10% Avocado Oil
5% Castor.
I have been experimenting more recently with coconut milk and oat milk (which I made myself). Both, in my opinion, make the soap more creamy. And I've made an aloe soap too but not used it yet.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I don't have dry skin, but I keep my CO at 20% maximum because I understand that other people do. I guess if I was only soaping for myself I would try a 30% CO because I would like more bubbles
Anyhoo - I don't use animal fats or products in my soap at all, and the recipe that I have found works well for me is:
20% each of OO, CO and Soy Wax 415
15% Rice Bran oil
10% Shea Butter
10% Avocado Oil
5% Castor.
I have been experimenting more recently with coconut milk and oat milk (which I made myself). Both, in my opinion, make the soap more creamy. And I've made an aloe soap too but not used it yet.

I’ve been wanting to try your soy wax recipe. I got as far as reading the threads and checking out the wax, but didn’t quite order wax yet. Thanks for sharing the recipe! I was sold on trying oat milk soap the minute I saw yours

Somehow when I first started making soap I totally missed the messaging on > 20% CO being drying/stripping. All my early soap is ~30% CO and is on the cleansing side. The one I like the best of that run is the goats milk soap made from this recipe at Lovin’ Soap. It also has Avocado, Shea and Almond oil, which might be contributing to the nice feel of it. My test bar is making a creamy/silky lather with some bubbles at the 3 month mark. The individual bars I made (and cooled) in the frig look just like the ones in the picture at the website. It’s a keeper recipe for me with just a few tweaks needed.

 

[DWinMadison]

I searched for recent threads on this topic and didn’t find this topic exactly...

I’ve decided that it’s time for me to focus sharply on soap qualities. With a lot of time to read in the car on my trip, I’ve learned much in recent days about the qualities various oils and butters bring to soap, as well as the additives. The possibilities seem endless. What’s your favorite soap for personal use and why?

My older skin is drier and more sensitive than it was when I was younger. I plan to work on a facial soap recipe, likely a variation on Genny’s shampoo bar, but think it won’t work for a shower soap because it will be too soft. Is it possible to make a body soap that is creamy, conditioning, produces some bubbles and is hard enough to hold up somewhat to regular use? (I like to rub the bar between my hands, but it will drain/dry well between showers). After all my research here, I think I should start with a lard/tallow base, which I am not opposed to doing. To date I have used lard, but not tallow. Those soaps are just getting to the cure stage and I haven’t been able to give them a trial run. The water at my house tends towards the harder side.

I’m also wondering about goats milk versus coconut milk. Of the early CO heavy soaps I made, a GM recipe seems silkier and a bit less stripping. Many here seem to favor coconut milk and think of GM more for label appeal, but I do think the goats milk in my soap may have added a bit more creaminess. I don’t have the recipe with me, so I can’t give the specifics right now with respect to the oils, but I’m sure both recipes would also have had OO.

ETA: I also think I should try oat milk or colloidal oats because I like lotions with colloidal oats.

Thanks!

I can't disagree with GM and creaminess, but it's not enough difference over CM to make it worth the extra hassle for me personally. I can get really white soap from CM where goat's milk wants to go tan, and then there's the freezing the GM and preventing partial gel. I know some of y'all have great success with GM...no problems, nice and white, etc. but I guess I need a class in "remedial goat's milk" or something. To be fair, I don't have access to fresh GM, so I use canned, condensed. I also find that not all canned CM is the made alike. Some brands appear to have have a significantly higher fat content than others.

 

[amd]

Also see this thread:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/posts/767411/

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Also see this thread:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/posts/767411/

I think I will need to add soleseife to the list!

 

[Bladesmith]

I must say, after ~35 batches of tweaking, I've ended up on a recipe that is very similar to Obsidians as well as the one Susie mentioned in one of the links DeeAnna posted. I keep seeing a similar combination to that recipe mentioned fairly frequently. Must be a reason for it.

Lately, I've been tweaking this or that trying to make it even better than it is (not sure it's even possible) but I just keep making it worse and go back to the original recipe. I'm sure I do a few different things (additive-wise) because I HP it but overall very similar.

I'm now playing around with different post-cook superfats in an effort to settle on my personal "best recipe".

Dang near identical to this:

I use this recipe, I am not telling secrets, as I have posted it many times before.

Lard 65%
Coconut Oil 15%
Olive Oil 15%
Castor Oil 5%

Superfat- I used 5-8% before I moved where there is hard water. Now I am loving the 2-3% range better.

Sugar- 1 Tablespoon PPO

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I must say, after ~35 batches of tweaking, I've ended up on a recipe that is very similar to Obsidians as well as the one Susie mentioned in one of the links DeeAnna posted. I keep seeing a similar combination to that recipe mentioned fairly frequently. Must be a reason for it.

Lately, I've been tweaking this or that trying to make it even better than it is (not sure it's even possible) but I just keep making it worse and go back to the original recipe. I'm sure I do a few different things (additive-wise) because I HP it but overall very similar.

I'm now playing around with different post-cook superfats in an effort to settle on my personal "best recipe".

Dang near identical to this:

Thanks Bladesmith! I went ahead and made some 60% lard soap, but it’s too early to know how it’s going to turn out. i’m hopeful based on all the positive reviews.

 

[lsg]

One of my favorites is aloe/cream soap. I use water to dissolve the lye and make up the difference in liquid with aloe juice and cow's cream. I think half the liquid should be water or you can use frozen aloe juice.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

One of my favorites is aloe/cream soap. I use water to dissolve the lye and make up the difference in liquid with aloe juice and cow's cream. I think half the liquid should be water or you can use frozen aloe juice.

I will try that! I’ve mastered the split water technique and, to date, have used aloe with coconut cream powder and oat milk with goat milk powder. I mix them up early and let the powders get well hydrated before I add them to the oils. Cream soap sounds wonderful! Makes me think I should find a place to buy fresh cream.

 

[earlene]

I found this interesting about Susie's 65% lard recipe. I don't use lard soap myself, but I do use it for some soaps I give to family and recently I wanted to use up all the lard to get it out of my house, so decided to try Susie's recipe.

When planing and beveling them, I noticed that this looks and feels a lot like my 30% soy wax soap. I had never thought of lard as a waxy soaping oil, but when people would ask me doesn't soy wax make soap waxy I had not yet had this experience. Now I do. I can legitimately respond with 'it looks and feels about the same as lard soap looks and feel waxy'. Weird, huh?

For the most part I wear gloves when I plane & bevel soap, but not always, so I did have the opportunity to wash it off my hands at one point.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I found this interesting about Susie's 65% lard recipe. I don't use lard soap myself, but I do use it for some soaps I give to family and recently I wanted to use up all the lard to get it out of my house, so decided to try Susie's recipe.

When planing and beveling them, I noticed that this looks and feels a lot like my 30% soy wax soap. I had never thought of lard as a waxy soaping oil, but when people would ask me doesn't soy wax make soap waxy I had not yet had this experience. Now I do. I can legitimately respond with 'it looks and feels about the same as lard soap looks and feel waxy'. Weird, huh?

For the most part I wear gloves when I plane & bevel soap, but not always, so I did have the opportunity to wash it off my hands at one point.

I wonder how the profiles compare in soapcalc or similar? I’m still planning to try a soy wax recipe, but I haven’t gotten around to studying up and ordering the wax. Today I’m going to make a lard soap with 15% hemp oil using the “homegrown” oil I brought back from Vermont.

 

[szaza]

My absolute favorite recipe until now is with Shea and beeswax. I can't access my recipes in soapee at the moment and don't know the exact percentages by heart, but I think it was something along the lines of 3% beeswax, 7% coconut oil, 20% Shea butter and mainly oleic oils for the remainder. I do use 5% Koh with this recipe as well as a mix of cucumber and aloe juices. (I use frozen cucumber for my lye and add aloe after HP cook). I think I also add some sugar. Don't use it before 3 months, but after that it's very gentle, has a decent amount of creamy lather and keeps its hardness to the last sliver when used in the shower.

 

[Dawni]

I think I will need to add soleseife to the list!

Do that. I love em hehe there's one that's still quite young in my shower right now. My excuse is I need to know the difference between each month it cures hehehe

Dang near identical to this:

I use one very similar to this for my body as well.. To me it's not yet on the awesome end of the spectrum but my mom loves it lol

Thanks Bladesmith! I went ahead and made some 60% lard soap, but it’s too early to know how it’s going to turn out. i’m hopeful based on all the positive reviews.

It will be good soap

 

[sherrig]

I have to say I come across some water buffalo milk on the sale rack last year and what the heck, why not, and made soap. I then decided to keep them for personal usage as they were the most decadent soaps I have ever made, let alone used.

The lather is absolutely luscious.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I have to say I come across some water buffalo milk on the sale rack last year and what the heck, why not, and made soap. I then decided to keep them for personal usage as they were the most decadent soaps I have ever made, let alone used.

The lather is absolutely luscious.

I may be able to find buffalo milk the next time I visit family in South Dakota, but I’m guessing that water buffalo milk is a very rare find in the U.S.! If I do come across some, I will know what to do with it!

 

[earlene]

There are actually a growing number of water buffalo farms in the US. Many on the East Coast, also Colorado, just search google and you will find more than you would have suspected.