My first shaving soap is a success!

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

A good way to play with scents is to put a few drops in your chosen ratio on to a cotton ball and put it in a Baggie. Come back and smell it from time to time to see how the mix is for you. This way you don't use so much of your eo nor do you have to waste a soap batch on a blend that you really don't like

 

[Lindy]

I love and use Feather & Persona Red blades.

 

[rogue]

Just made my first cream soap today & wanted to see how it lathered on the brush new for entertainment value. It was very impressive. Since I had brush out I played with my tester of my new batch of shave soap that's a week old, so disappointing next to that cream I was surprised! Then I re-tested my shave soap from @ 4+ months ago, night & day.
Makes me sad I'm like a hairless mouse & shave quarterly. I see how this is addicting for the guys, very cool indeed.

 

[LBussy]

Just made my first cream soap today & wanted to see how it lathered on the brush new for entertainment value. It was very impressive. Since I had brush out I played with my tester of my new batch of shave soap that's a week old, so disappointing next to that cream I was surprised! Then I re-tested my shave soap from @ 4+ months ago, night & day.
Makes me sad I'm like a hairless mouse & shave quarterly. I see how this is addicting for the guys, very cool indeed.

What sort of shave soap did you make a week ago? I regularly use mine right after it's made with no appreciable difference between it and aged soap.

I'd think the cream soap would be pretty waxy but I've not tried it ... yet.

 

[rogue]

I'm using a variation of Debbie Thomas' from post #249 here. I'm not surprised it's changed. It's never going to be fully bone dry so those molecules are going to slowly shift & align themselves and make weak but important hydrogen bonds with its neighbors. I'm gonna assume it's something similar to this. Process like this seems to also happen in clay. Initial 'aging' happens from breakdown of organic material & water distribution but that part is over in a few weeks. Now, clay in Japan that's been aged over 50+ years by someone's grandfather, spectacular. Think really well aged bastille.
And I'm a little concerned about the cream soap feeling sticky or waxy also. We shall see what it feels like in a few months.

 

[dosco]

I'm using a variation of Debbie Thomas' from post #249 here.

Could you share more details please? There is no recipe to be found on post #249 from this thread.

Cheers-
Dave

 

[Obsidian]

There is a link in post 249 http://bubblelovesoap.weebly.com/blog

 

[DeeAnna]

"...I'd think the cream soap would be pretty waxy..."

FWIW, most of the "serious" shave soaps in this thread -- meaning the ones with a high % of stearic-palmitic -- look suspiciously like cream soaps, so to make much of a distinction between the two might be "the pot calling the kettle black." I've collected a bunch of cream soap recipes and tried to see what is common to all, but I've only personally made one batch of cream soap so far. That means I have some book learning on the matter, but not a lot of experience with cream soap. So take my thoughts with a grain of salt --

A cream soap has about 15% to 25% NaOH (average 20%) with the balance KOH. The lye solution concentration is lower than is the norm for bar soap recipes -- something between 15% and 25% (average 20%).

Lye discount is whatever you want it to be -- I'd suggest using a modest lye discount similar to what you would normally use for a bar soap recipe or a shave soap recipe. Older cream soap recipes seem to be intentionally lye heavy, and an added "supercream" of stearic acid was added after the cook to neutralize the lye excess as well as add thickness to the finished soap. I'm not convinced this neutralization method is necessary. Most of the modern recipes I've looked at are not formulated to be lye heavy.

After the soap is saponified, however you normally do it, and the soap tests to not be lye heavy, mix the paste by hand or with a mixer until the texture is smooth and creamy. As Lindy explains in her cream soap tutorial, a cream soap may never remain fluffy like whipped cream, but it will become softer and lighter in texture.

You can add additional glycerin and/or water to help mix the soap to a creamy consistency and modify the texture, although I gather it's important to add liquids with a light hand. If you aren't patient enough and add too much liquid too fast, a soap with too much liquid will be difficult to correct. If the texture is rather too soft for your purposes, it can be thickened by adding melted stearic acid to the warm soap, just like you thicken a lotion. I understand from experienced cream soap makers that too much stearic will make the soap waxy, so again a light hand is good.

As the cream soap sits, it will change in appearance and become milder to the skin, so a cure time is good for cream soap just like bar soap.

 

[dosco]

There is a link in post 249 http://bubblelovesoap.weebly.com/blog

Interesting. Thanks for clarifying that!

-Dave

 

[rogue]

Thanks DeAnna!
I am clearly being philosophically hypothetical about soap aging & bubble quality change/structure. Since our soaps retain their glycerin therefore moisture they should never technically be 100% dry/solid. I'd love a chemist better than I to give me the reality on that why milder over time that chemistry I got.

 

[TVivian]

I've read this thread over and over for a year and made this recipe over and over since I first read it. First time I made the original version, it was good, but the feedback was that it didn't stay hydrated long enough. I upped the glycerin. I tried Dee Anna's 2 step version, and then with 80/20 KOH NaOh, then With clay, then without.. Got determined to make respectable pucks out of this stuff! So I think I've finally tweaked it to where I'm very happy with the results!
50% stearic
40% CO
10% Shea Butter
50/50 KOH/ NaOH
1 tsp bentonite
( made a 1# batch)

I melted the CO and Shea, added the lye, brought to thick trace then added the hot, melted, stearic. As soon as the stearic was combined well, I turned off the heat added 2oz glycerin, 1tsp SL and essential oils. Got it into a Pringles can easily as it was still very fluid from not cooking. I will now let it cure for 4 weeks as if it were a CP soap (even though it does not zap ::crazy: stuck it in the freezer for a couple of hours and was able to make pucks, YAY!!

It lathers amazingly already!

 

[reinbeau]

As soon as the stearic was combined well, I turned off the heat added 2oz glycerin, 1tsp SL and essential oils. Got it into a Pringles can easily as it was still very fluid from not cooking. I will now let it cure for 4 weeks as if it were a CP soap (even though it does not zap ::crazy: stuck it in the freezer for a couple of hours and was able to make pucks, YAY!!

It lathers amazingly already!

That sounds like a plan, I might try it myself (not cooking it all the way). I've always thought even a regular HP batch would be fine if 'undercooked' but left to age like CP soap.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[ShaveRave]

Close to my recipe, looks great! Good job.

:clap:

I've read this thread over and over for a year and made this recipe over and over since I first read it. First time I made the original version, it was good, but the feedback was that it didn't stay hydrated long enough. I upped the glycerin. I tried Dee Anna's 2 step version, and then with 80/20 KOH NaOh, then With clay, then without.. Got determined to make respectable pucks out of this stuff! So I think I've finally tweaked it to where I'm very happy with the results!
50% stearic
40% CO
10% Shea Butter
50/50 KOH/ NaOH
1 tsp bentonite
( made a 1# batch)

I melted the CO and Shea, added the lye, brought to thick trace then added the hot, melted, stearic. As soon as the stearic was combined well, I turned off the heat added 2oz glycerin, 1tsp SL and essential oils. Got it into a Pringles can easily as it was still very fluid from not cooking. I will now let it cure for 4 weeks as if it were a CP soap (even though it does not zap ::crazy: stuck it in the freezer for a couple of hours and was able to make pucks, YAY!!

It lathers amazingly already!
View attachment 12542

 

[ShaveRave]

Shaving Soap - COFFEE scent

Has anyone here ever done it?
Using strong coffee instead of water?

Please tell me it's possible!

I figure if it comes out great with black tea, it could be done with coffee?

 

[DeeAnna]

No reason to believe it won't work -- people use coffee in regular soaps all the time. Coffee is basically water so if the idea turns you on, try it!

 

[TRBeck]

ShaveRave, there are a couple of artisan soapmakers on the wetshaving boards who sell soap made with coffee instead of water, so yes, it can definitely be done.

 

[IrishLass]

If you use strong coffee in place of your water (which is perfectly fine to do, btw), don't get too freaked out by the initial smell as it's reacting with the lye. Whenever I make coffee soap, my whole house smells like stinky dog breath for a few hours. Just thought I'd give you a heads-up. lol


IrishLass

 

[rogue]

Mmmmm coffee goats milk soap. Looks funny while you make it but so much lighter the next day. Latte for washing your bod, or whipping up shaving cream

Any one have experience with packing their shave stuff into sticks? Just curious. Contemplating this with my soywax for stearic switch.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

What makes you look at soy wax as a stearic swap?

As for the sticks, twist up ones? Should work as long as your cooked soap is stable enough ie not too fluid when you pour

 

[cpacamper]

If you use strong coffee in place of your water (which is perfectly fine to do, btw), don't get too freaked out by the initial smell as it's reacting with the lye. Whenever I make coffee soap, my whole house smells like stinky dog breath for a few hours. Just thought I'd give you a heads-up. lol


IrishLass

What does coffee bring to the party? Scent?