My first shaving soap is a success!

[Saponomancer]

Finally got it done, I'm going to have to pick up a shaving brush to really test it but just with my hand I love the lather, and it shaves really nicely (not that I have much to compare it to personally except syndets and canned shaving cream, which I used to use)
I ended up going with peppermint/basil, and I thought the cooling effect was really nice, though I can see what you mean by it not really having a good bite to it just using the oils

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Looks good! What recipe did you go with in the end?

 

[Saponomancer]

Looks good! What recipe did you go with in the end?

The one I posted a few posts back Although I didn't end up using the split method just because it was a lot easier to melt the stearic acid down in the crock pot for me, I just stirred the whole thing up as I poured the lye in slowly, then took my immersion blender to it for a couple of pulses just to make sure.

 

[traderbren]

I've made 2 batches now. My first followed Songwind's original recipe from the first post. It lathered beautifully the first night even without a brush. I found it just a tad drying for my legs, but my dad will be the real test subject when he switches his old soap out for it on November 1. It will have a nice 3 1/2 week cure on it by then.

I made another batch today, adding in a touch of lanolin, cocoa butter, and palm oil. I used a combination of KOH and NaOH. It lathered beautifully again for me just now, and felt wonderful on my legs. Dad will get this for his December soap.

I have ordered a brush for myself. Hubs tends to go "Yukon Cornelius" in the winter, so I'm not sure he'll be using any of it. My dad on the other hand is like a kid in a candy store right now, since I got him hooked on "good" mug soap years ago.

 

[LBussy]

The original recipe can be drying for some folks. It's incredibly sensitive to the superfat with just SA and CO. Too much kills lather, too little and you feel like you are stretching your skin like a trampoline. I love the lanolin in mine and I use a touch of shea as well - preferentially adding these after the cook so they express themselves in the superfat. I have found I need to get the more highly processed shea to keep the shell bits out of the soap. The "natural" stuff may be nice in other things, but flecks of hard things in a creamy white lather is not desirable.

 

[vyadha]

After numerous tweaks, Ive settled on what I think is the best shave soap Ive used.

Its still very simple:
45% CO
45% SA
5% deer tallow
5% lanolin added after the lye

The pucks are quite hard, which I prefer and still loads very quickly. Im not sure if there is a big difference between different tallows but this is just great.

Along with a bay rosewood eo blend its downright unbeatable.

 

[madjedo]

Effectively fill the jars?

I have been reading the thread and it's been a good read!

Do you know how one can actually effectively fill the jars using hot-process shave soap?

Do you just spoon it in? But if you are making a very big batch, like 44pounds then this would take a lot of time? Isn't there some tools or other techniques for filling/pouring into jars?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I have been reading the thread and it's been a good read!

Do you know how one can actually effectively fill the jars using hot-process shave soap?

Do you just spoon it in? But if you are making a very big batch, like 44pounds then this would take a lot of time? Isn't there some tools or other techniques for filling/pouring into jars?

44 lbs is a lot of soap. If someone was making that much, I would imagine that person was selling and would therefore be an experienced soaper.

How did you get on pouring in to containers previously?

 

[madjedo]

44 lbs is a lot of soap. If someone was making that much, I would imagine that person was selling and would therefore be an experienced soaper.

How did you get on pouring in to containers previously?

Well uhm, I didn't. I have been "scooping" it out so far. But I imagine, if I were to scale up than this would become an issue right?
And I am asking because, you read about alot of these "artisan" makers and surely they can't all be scooping the cream out and filling the jars that way. I am guessing they are making very big batches (bigger than the one mentioned i guess). Hundred upon hundreds of jars. So how the hell do they fill their jars lol??

 

[LBussy]

The consistency is that of mashed potatoes, so you could pipe the containers I suppose. Really, scooping does not take that long.

With the tins I use (4.5") and the generous portioning (7 oz), a 44# batch would be right at 100 containers. For that many I would skip the heartache of trying to come up with an easier way and just use a way that worked.

I'd also love to see a video of you making 44# hot process, please do share.

 

[songwind]

I generally make ~55 tubs worth at a time, plus some sample jars. I'm not sure that any sort of more complicated process would actually save time - especially since I'm rarely making all 50+ jars in the same scent, so it has to be broken down into smaller batches.

Plus, once you've done it a couple hundred times, you get pretty good at knowing how much needs to go in the jar and things go pretty quickly.

 

[bluegrass]

Thank you to everyone who had contributed to this thread. For a newbie like myself this is a goldmine. I should have all my supplies in by next week, and I can't wait to try the original recipe first.

 

[cgsample]

I generally make ~55 tubs worth at a time, plus some sample jars. I'm not sure that any sort of more complicated process would actually save time - especially since I'm rarely making all 50+ jars in the same scent, so it has to be broken down into smaller batches.

Plus, once you've done it a couple hundred times, you get pretty good at knowing how much needs to go in the jar and things go pretty quickly.

How many Crock-Pots are going at once?

 

[songwind]

How many Crock-Pots are going at once?

3 at a time.

 

[cgsample]

I made this recipe about a month ago and the unscented 4oz pucks have been drying since. Now that I gave in and bought a bunch of FOs today for cyber-Monday, can I melt down these pucks and add scent?

I've read about re-batching, but "shaving soaps" have not been covered? Could I get two pucks (8oz) back to mashed potato consistency in my tiny 1 quart crock pot?

 

[LBussy]

Yep. Soap is soap.

 

[cgsample]

In the bulk section of a health store I found bentonite clay. It was $14 a pound, so I scooped a tiny bit into a baggie that turned out to be $1.06.

I've never shaved with a clay before, so today I sprinkled a pinch of it onto my shaving soap and lathered as normal. I liked it!

Next recipe will include it.

 

[Misschief]

Wow! That was an educational evening! I've just now (10:16 p.m.) finished reading this entire thread. About halfway through, I took a break and made my first ever batch of real shaving soap using a modification of the original recipe. I used:

52% stearic acid
33% coconut oil
15% shea butter

1.5 tbsp. glycerin
bay rum and lime e.o. (after running it by my husband)

It's the first time I've used my mini crock pot for soapmaking and it won't be the last. I followed DeeAnna's two part process and also rolled the finished soap in parchment to cool. For the fun of it, I dug out my father-in-law's old shave brush, found in my husband's things, and lathered up an end bit. I am amazed at the amount of lather. I can't wait for my husband to try it; he normally uses a canned shave gel and always reacts to it. It will be interesting to see if he reacts to this shave soap.

I'd like to try a couple of variations now, like adding lanolin. It might be good for his sensitive face.

Now, I want to get a proper shave bowl and decent brush for my husband. Too bad Christmas has already passed and his birthday isn't for months.

I do have a question regarding the addition of lanolin. When do you add it?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I add some with the main oils and some after with the rest of the superfat

 

[LBussy]

I do have a question regarding the addition of lanolin. When do you add it?

I do as Craig does. Have a look here for how I do it. The article is written for a person new to making soap so a lot may be remedial, but it does talk about when (and why) I add shea and lanolin.

http://www.silverfoxcrafts.com/shaving-soap/

Part one ('The "Super" Fat' section) describes how/why, part three shows the process if you are not immediately clear on what I meant.