My first shaving soap is a success!

[sirtim100]

Well, if it is alive, I'll share my experience too
I did 40% Stearic acid, 20% Lard, 20% castor, 12% shea, 8% CO with 40/60 NaoH/KOH ratio. HP soap countertop method, molded in a pipe, frozen and then cut into pieces. Very good - semi-hard and great lathering. My husband loves it

I see you used lard instead of tallow. Any reason for that?

 

[Fiut]

Here I can find easily lard, but tallow is not so commonly used. I've rendered some goat and beef tallow for my experiments. Our ancestors used lard for soap for ages. So using lard is the most reasonable choice for me It is high in oleic acid and good for skin.

 

[sirtim100]

Sound like very good reasons to me...

Same thing in Spain. You can get good, cheap lard in supermarkets. You have to beg, steal or borrow tallow from the butcher (who now charges me) and render it, etc.

 

[shunt2011]

It will never be smooth. HP is usually more rustic. I make pucks in a silicone column mold and slice it for refills. I pour my soap into 8 oz low profile jars. I cure it

Hi, I am new to this, but tried the formula anyway; 4.69 oz distilled water + 2.59 oz KOH, I dissolved 5.58 oz stearic acid, and 5.15 oz coconut oil, I added 1.07 oz of castor oil to the melted solution, add the KOH solution stir vigorously and after 10 or 15 minutes it settled. I cooked for another 5 or 8 mins, no zap at the tongue. added 0.54 oz of cocoa butter, 1.5 table spoon of glycerin, a tea spoon of coconut fragrance and few drops of peppermint essential oil. gave it a strong whisk again, then, distribute it in aluminum cup cake molds, while hot (5 mold) so far, I had the impression that it smells good, (impatient, I took the brush and tried it before it gets cold; it lathers good, it has lots of thick foam.) I believe it will harden and the the molds will get rid of the crumbling sensation, thanks for the basic formula!

Don’t use aluminum pans or molds it will react with the soap and not be good.

 

[Fiut]

It will never be smooth. HP is usually more rustic. I make pucks in a silicone column mold and slice it for refills. I pour my soap into 8 oz low profile jars. I cure it.

Not every HP soap ends rustic. Never say never I do fluid HP, so it's quite smooth.

 

[Kiti Williams]

JackofallShaves

You could try smoothing the top with a damp finger. I do this with my CP soaps when they "Glop" into the molds.

 

[shunt2011]

Not every HP soap ends rustic. Never say never I do fluid HP, so it's quite smooth.

I said usually. some have beautiful soaps. Most I see are more rustic, just my experience.

 

[Jackie Tobey]

I get my stearic acid from Acme-Hardesty here. It's 90% pure which is the closest I've found. The only catch is they don't sell less than 50 lbs at a time.

I have this PDS sheet. Posting it for everyone’s information.

 

[Vgurer]

It will never be smooth. HP is usually more rustic. I make pucks in a silicone column mold and slice it for refills. I pour my soap into 8 oz low profile jars. I cure it


Don’t use aluminum pans or molds it will react with the soap and not be good.

Thank you for the advice.

I will pour it in glass or wooden jars next time. The aluminum gave them a "cheap" feel. I gave the samples to my test group ie friends, they all liked it. I am using it myself for sometime now, very good lather, above my expectations and I want that heavy thick cream, but, after the rinsing, I feel dry, too much cleansing properties. I was hoping that the last time coconut melt will be helpful for some conditioning, some superfatting, but alas. Anyway, all my friends found the product better than their commercial ones and asked me for different scented options. I told them that the most expensive part is the volatile components and I will be grateful if they send me the fragrance they wanted. I am guessing that any aftershave with alcohol can be inserted while the solution is cooling? any suggestions?

 

[shunt2011]

Thank you for the advice.

I will pour it in glass or wooden jars next time. The aluminum gave them a "cheap" feel. I gave the samples to my test group ie friends, they all liked it. I am using it myself for sometime now, very good lather, above my expectations and I want that heavy thick cream, but, after the rinsing, I feel dry, too much cleansing properties. I was hoping that the last time coconut melt will be helpful for some conditioning, some superfatting, but alas. Anyway, all my friends found the product better than their commercial ones and asked me for different scented options. I told them that the most expensive part is the volatile components and I will be grateful if they send me the fragrance they wanted. I am guessing that any aftershave with alcohol can be inserted while the solution is cooling? any suggestions?

im not sure what your asking in regards to alcohol. Can you clarify.

 

[Vgurer]

im not sure what your asking in regards to alcohol. Can you clarify.

I was wondering about the possible harmfull interactions between the alcohol and NaOH, and/or between the alcohol, the heat and the oils all together. At the end, there are lots of C molecules and some H2O in the aftershaves. Some oils can dissolve in alcohol and heat will change a lot of factors.

 

[shunt2011]

Are you taking about adding aftershave fo the soap? I wouldn’t, but that’s me. I prefer to use fragrances made for soap. Aftershave may not maintain its sent.

 

[redhead1226]

Hi All! Well after a very long absence from this forum ( too long a story ) I'm happy to be back. I wanted to make some shave soap and even though I have read this thread many many times over the years and made many many batches of it. Since I haven't made any soap at all in almost 2 years, I FORGOT WHAT TO DO!!! So I came here again to read. I thank all of you for your contributions to this wonderful thread. The knowledge is invaluable.

So with all of that being said. I need some advice. I have always made my shave soap in individual round molds as its was thick. But I would like this time to see of I can get it into a column mold without having to bang the hell out of it to make sure I don't have gaps I cant see. What is your best advice on which version I need to make to have it be a little more fluid. I'm using 80/20 Dual lye.

 

[godek]

For use in a tall column mold you could add a little more water.

What has worked nice for me when using thick silicone and concrete for pouring was external vibration. A big electric back massager or an oscillating grinder work wonders when touched to the outside of a mold. The bubbles just magically work their way up.

Made a 200g total micro batch of a stearic acid, beef tallow, sheabutter and coconut oil shaving soap yesterday. Nice fast hot process with 100 KOH.

This particular recipe was from a German forum, but thanks again for this thread here that helped me learn a lot about shaving soap.

br & HTH
godek

 

[sirtim100]

I use pringles cans with the base cut off and the cap placed on the bottom and fixed with tape.

When I put the soap in, which is pretty dense by the time I start to slip it in there, with a mixture of light tapping of the can on the table top, a bit of pressure with a spoon on the top of the soap and generally jiggling about, it comes out a couple of days later without any big holes or gaps.

Happy soaping

 

[redhead1226]

I use pringles cans with the base cut off and the cap placed on the bottom and fixed with tape.

When I put the soap in, which is pretty dense by the time I start to slip it in there, with a mixture of light tapping of the can on the table top, a bit of pressure with a spoon on the top of the soap and generally jiggling about, it comes out a couple of days later without any big holes or gaps.

Happy soaping

Are you using dual
Lye or just KOH?

 

[sirtim100]

Are you using dual
Lye or just KOH?

KOH

 

[tzavardin]

Hello, first post for me. I am a wetshaver, with 0 experience in soapmaking. Since I saw how good, where the local artisan shaving soaps, in compare with some very well known soaps, it came to my mind to make my own soap, for my relatives and me. I don't intend, and I think I can't anyway sell what I will make, by any means. Every source led me here, where really exists a treasure of information. I finished reading all of this huge thread, plus some other threads, plus silver fox soap (which I understand belongs to a member here). These are my primary sources, while I understood that most other that exist on the net, does not take account of crucial factors.

After all this reading, I think I am ready to make my first batch, with dual lye, NAOH and KOH 90%, probably 30/70, or 20/80, I will choose at the end which. I will post my recipe, in oil percentages, and explain to you my problems. If you can help me, I am open to any suggestions, because I may think I am ready, but still I am a novice, and I must not forget that. Let's start. The soap I am calculating, right now is this:

45% stearic (it is actually a combo of palmitic, stearic, and myristic, from where i will buy it, i am aware of it, and i know how to calculate it)
Coconut Oil: 25%
Shea Butter: 20%
Cocoa Butter: 10%

Superfat will be 5%, and I intend to keep 5% of the shea butter, and add it after the cook, and water will stand at 38% of the oils.
If i make this recipe, the percentage of palmitic and stearic combined stands at 63 percent. So my questions are these:

1) Is the recipe ok? I am concerned about the CO, i wonder if it should be higher, since right now, the soap wont be bubbly. Of course, i need good lather, not bubbles, but still, there are a lot of hard fats. Also the other fats, are ok? I also can have access to avocado oil, and jojoba oil as the low percentage oils, to substitute the cocoa. Is there a valid reason to do it?

2) I wanted to make a tallow/lanoline soap, but here in greece, tallow is not available, I have to make it on my own from beef fat, and it is quite a procedure, also lanoline, is kinda expensive to use only as superfat. I won't make so much soap. I started to make a recipe with Stearic 40/ CO 25/ Shea B 15/ and Palm oil as substitute to tallow at 20% . I do not know if it stands. If u have advice for this recipe also, i would be grateful.

3) And last. As you see, one of my goals is to make a cheap soap, with the only goal to shave good, for me and the people close to me. At first, i thought the difficult procedure and oils would be the problem, but at the moment, my biggest problem is the fragrance. Being in Greece, creates another issue. We have not valid corporations here, who sell good mixes of fragrance oils for soap. We have some who sell for perfumes. But not soaps. I understand that these fragrances, are something i should not try. So the only solution is EOs. But again, I understand that to mix them on my own into something that is not a complete failure, needs hours of trial and error, and a lot of money, which i can not give, cause I am a student.

So, I am thinking of using either a solo EO soap, like lemon (maybe with menthol?), or something like DeAnna's recipe who posted in the thread a fougere, with lavender/rosemary, and a bit of wild mint. If you can tell me about similar herb/fougere combinations, with two or three EOs, that you have tried (like cedarwood etc), or a simple citrus combination, you would help me a lot. Or standalone EOs, that are not repelling. As I have already told, i do not need a complex aroma to sell the soap, I just want my brother, or father to not let the soap aside, only because it does not smell good.

Sorry for the many things that I asked, and if I made you tired from reading all this, a very big thanks to all the amateur soapmakers, who contributed to this thread, you already have been a great help for me!

 

[LBussy]

Welcome, @tzavardin!

You say you are a novice, so my recommendations will take that into account:

• I think dual lye is more complicated for questionable results. I'd recommend keeping it simple for your first batch and just using KOH. The finished soap will be softer, which is fine if you are not manufacturing pucks. I prefer this type of soap actually. It is very similar to Italian soaps which may be available to you there.
• You are shooting for a superfat of 5%. however, you have shea and cocoa butter totaling 30%. Neither of these saponifies completely, and I believe a total of 30% of these is on the higher side and may end up leaving a little more on your skin than you expect.
• You mention tallow is not available. A straight stearic/CO soap was the basis for the Martin de Candre which served as the exemplar at the beginning of this thread. Tallow is a wonderful addition, but not necessarily required. If lard is available you can try that. It does have a distinctive odor which many do not like and brings up the next.
• The scent is VERY subjective. As you probably read in the Silver Fox thread, I prefer almond scent similar to the Italian soaps which served as my inspiration. If you want something a little lighter, lavender/rosemary/mint is very nice. Cedar is a tough one IMHO and I might avoid that on my first trial. I have a commercial soap which I use in the summertime which has a good amount of menthol - I use this because I've not gotten around to making a batch with menthol of my own recipe. If I were to do it I might try a menthol/mint combination. Lemon reminds me of Arko which I do not like - perhaps it's the way they do it but it smells like a toilet puck to me.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[tzavardin]

@LBussy Lee, special thanks to you for the help you have given me with your guide. I don't want to underestimate other experienced soapers contribution in this thread, but if i did not have in hands an explained guide, I don't know, if i would have the courage to read all of these information. It all seemed too complicated at start.

Now, I am glad that I asked, because I did not know (even though i now remember I read it somewhere here), that cocoa and shea, had so much unsaponifiables. I guess that was a weak spot. So, I am modifying it, increasing the stearic* at 45%/CO at 30/ shea 12.5 / and Palm oil 12.5. I am using palm oil, in order to keep CO at 30%. If I am not mistaken, I read, that above that percentage, especially at 40%, it dries the skin somehow. If the shea superfat balances that, maybe i could skip the palm oil.

Lard is also hard to find here, not as much as tallow, but still I find it only in deli food stores, and scented with rosemary and stuff to be eaten XD. You may find it funny, but you have to understand that here, the vast majority of the population (and i mean like 99%) is not well acquainted with animal fats, and prefer to use Olive oil in everything, be it cooking, or... soaping! They think it is better, it is in our culture to use it, since most families, produce their own in their villages, and have learned to live with it. Imagine that the few artisan shaving soapmakers that exist here, even though they obviously knew about the research and experience in that forum, all of them used olive oil at some point as a superfat. And they knew it would affect the lather. Because when the ingredients say olive oil, in the customers mind means better smh.

Lastly, thanks for the advice regarding the fragrance, i will try something solid like lavender/rosemary etc. Also for the KOH, you are right, I was not thinking clearly. In fact, I am a great fan of Cella, Razorock, and other italian style soft soaps, and these are at my regular shaving gear, instead of english type three milled hard soaps, like MWF. So, it would be much better if my soap, should be like the soaps I use, and not have NAOH, because just, you know, most recipes have it.