If it passed zap, it's fine to shave with.
It will, however, improve a bit with age. My personal experience has been that the KOH soap does so less than when there's some NaOH in the mix. And it should make a fine lather right away.
My first shaving soap is a success!
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If it passed zap, it's fine to shave with.
It will, however, improve a bit with age. My personal experience has been that the KOH soap does so less than when there's some NaOH in the mix. And it should make a fine lather right away.
Every time my DH shaves he comments on how nice the soap works. At first I thought he was humoring me but now I know he means it. I've used the soap and it is nice. Nice lather, smooth almost silky slide. May have to get me a brush and bowl.
I microwaved the heck out of my stearic a time or two. It showed no signs of melting even after I'd microwaved it on high far longer than I was comfortable with. I didn't want to get into trouble by overheating it, so I decided on the safer route of melting it in a double boiler.
I don't know at what temp stearic will degrade, but I do know you can get into trouble by melting beeswax in the microwave -- it doesn't melt, it doesn't melt, then all of a sudden it melts and is hot enough to be at its smoke point.
If microwaving works for you, it works for you!
I don't know at what temp stearic will degrade, but I do know you can get into trouble by melting beeswax in the microwave -- it doesn't melt, it doesn't melt, then all of a sudden it melts and is hot enough to be at its smoke point.
If microwaving works for you, it works for you!
Depends on how much you have. If it's enough (or part of a big enough load of oils) it can take quite a while.
I had a thought about my stearic acid in the microwave experience -- When I was trying to melt it in the microwave, my guess is the stearic probably did not have much moisture in it. Water content (or in this case, lack of water) will greatly affect the rate of heating in a microwave.
"...Stearic acid ... will melt in a crock pot on high in a few minutes . ..."
A crock pot is the rough equivalent of my double boiler. I don't have a crock pot small enough that will work well for the 100 grams or so of stearic that I typically want to melt. A canning jar in a small saucepan of hot water fits the bill much better for me. And the jar is much easier to pour from and to clean later.
"...melts at about 156 degrees f..."
Yes, you are correct, and most fats melt at temps considerably below that. I don't like to overheat my soaping fats, so I melt my stearic separately.
"...Stearic acid ... will melt in a crock pot on high in a few minutes . ..."
A crock pot is the rough equivalent of my double boiler. I don't have a crock pot small enough that will work well for the 100 grams or so of stearic that I typically want to melt. A canning jar in a small saucepan of hot water fits the bill much better for me. And the jar is much easier to pour from and to clean later.
"...melts at about 156 degrees f..."
Yes, you are correct, and most fats melt at temps considerably below that. I don't like to overheat my soaping fats, so I melt my stearic separately.
Stacie
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I melted 4.4 oz stearic acid by itself in a bowl in the microwave one minute at a time. I think it took about 6 min. Since I was already using the crock pot for the CO and lye, per the two step method DeeAnna recommended, I thought microwaving would be easiest. I have no double boiler and hadn't thought of the jar in the pot of water scenario. It did take a few minutes for the stearic acid to look like anything was happening in the microwave. One minute increments seemed to be adequate to prevent anything getting away from me.
On another note, I have some dark spots in my soap that I think must be the FO that didn't mix well. It seemed fairly challenging to mix in the glycerin and FO after the cooking. It was just so thick. Any tips there?
It's been 24 hours and my soap is relatively hard. It gives a little if I push fairly firmly with my finger. I used 75/25 KOH/NaOH. I think this is perfect for me. No need to buy extra containers. I'm now resisting harassing the fiancé about when he might get around to shaving next. Hints have been dropped.
On another note, I have some dark spots in my soap that I think must be the FO that didn't mix well. It seemed fairly challenging to mix in the glycerin and FO after the cooking. It was just so thick. Any tips there?
It's been 24 hours and my soap is relatively hard. It gives a little if I push fairly firmly with my finger. I used 75/25 KOH/NaOH. I think this is perfect for me. No need to buy extra containers. I'm now resisting harassing the fiancé about when he might get around to shaving next. Hints have been dropped.
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I have had the same issue, particularly when I'm using a larger percentage of EO and let the soap cool off more.
Here are the things that I have found that help:
1. Add the glycerin right away while the soap is still hot. Makes it easier to add, and then having the glycerin in it will make it easier to stir for the FO.
2. I started using sodium lactate. It makes for easier/smoother molding, and also makes the after-cook phase easier.
Stacie
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I did add both glycerine and FO just as soon as it was done cooking, so still quite hot. I'll order some sodium lactate and see how that goes. I had maxed out my baby crock pot with the batch (it puffed up a little during cooking), so perhaps I should have transferred to a larger bowl for the stirring to give more room to maneuver.
Yes, having extra room does help.
The way I determine that it's fully mixed is to mix until it looks uniform.
You could also try using a hand mixer on low. I'm going to try that with my next batch.
The way I determine that it's fully mixed is to mix until it looks uniform.
You could also try using a hand mixer on low. I'm going to try that with my next batch.
LBussy
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I added the glycerin with the oils, I thought that would be the easiest and it's worked out well. Of course I've not tried it any other way. It's not going to evaporate and there's glycerin coming out at saponification anyway.
Read about a lot of people using that but I'n unclear what exactly it does. Can you explain for me please?
"...It seemed fairly challenging to mix in the glycerin and FO after the cooking...."
Yep, it sure is. I've used my hands to knead it like dough. Or I've used my big KitchenAid mixer with the standard paddle blade on low speed. I think Eric (songwind) uses his mixer too.
"... added the glycerin with the oils..."
Yep, that works too. I don't think there's any magic to adding it after saponification. Fragrance is another story.
Yep, it sure is. I've used my hands to knead it like dough. Or I've used my big KitchenAid mixer with the standard paddle blade on low speed. I think Eric (songwind) uses his mixer too.
"... added the glycerin with the oils..."
Yep, that works too. I don't think there's any magic to adding it after saponification. Fragrance is another story.
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I tried it this way, too, and it worked fine. It seemed to get lumpy/stiff faster, which made it a bit harder to get the oils and lye thoroughly mixed, but it wasn't a big deal.
It is supposed to make for a slightly harder bar and easier unmolding. I haven't noticed that at the concentration I'm using (about 1%), but in hot process it makes the goop a bit looser, so it's easier get into molds, or to swirl.
Aye, SL in hot process makes the lumpy mass more of a fluid lumpy mass - it was so strange when I first used it, I wasn't sure if it was finished cooking as it wasn't like mash potatoes, but I am used to it now.
Another question on this recipe - has anyone tried it with cold water shaving or just hot water? I usually shave with cold water but not all soaps can handle it. My Taylor's soap is fine, but Arko just can't do it cold so I can only use that one when I shave hot.
Stacie
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While I haven't used it for shaving, it did lather perfectly well for me with cold water. I'm still waiting for the fiancé to shave with it. It turned out wonderfully from what I can tell, just playing with the lather. It has great slip, lathered fairly easily, and the lather just hangs out for ages. We'll see if the fiancé thinks it could use some type of butter in the next round. The aftershave I make him might already make up for a small amount of drying, though. Thanks to all who contributed to the recipe, tweaks, and explanations on this thread. Not only do I have a great shave soap recipe to play with, but I'm smarter than I was before. </end gush>
LBussy
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Maybe the experienced soapers can help me here. I have been tweaking a recipe based on this and I find that the lather explodes fairly quickly. I'd like to tone it down a bit to allow the soap to load a little more on the brush before I move it to the bowl to later. Would this mean cutting the coconut in favor of the stearic?
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