My first soap recipe (actually 2 ;)

[JoostD]

Hi All,

I wan to try a shaving soap for my own use as a traditional wet shaver. But i thought to try a "regular" CP soap first.
I did some research here and on other platforms.

I came across 2 recipes. 1 for a regular CP soap with shea and cocoa (so i could use the ingredienst for both recipes) and 1 shaving soap. I've put them in soapee calc.
Would someone double check this and maybe give me some suggestions?

Thanks in advance!!!!!!

CP Soap

Shave soap

Joost

 

[KiwiMoose]

Hi All,

I wan to try a shaving soap for my own use as a traditional wet shaver. But i thought to try a "regular" CP soap first.
I did some research here and on other platforms.

I came across 2 recipes. 1 for a regular CP soap with shea and cocoa (so i could use the ingredienst for both recipes) and 1 shaving soap. I've put them in soapee calc.
Would someone double check this and maybe give me some suggestions?

Thanks in advance!!!!!!

CP Soap
View attachment 59542

Shave soap
View attachment 59541

Joost

Not sure why the percentages came out so weird. Did you do it imperial measurements and then switch it to metric?
Too much coconut oil is the main problem that I can see.
if you are only using those oils I would try
CO 20%
cocoa butter 10%
palm 25%
OO 25%
shea butter 15%
Castor 5%
There is a lot more f hard oils in there, which is fine, but you might want to consider switching out one of the butters for another soft oil.

 

[JoostD]

Yes the recipe was imperial.
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/double-butter-soap-recipe-516610
The recipe was for quite a big batch and I wanted to make it smaller and in metric.

 

[JoostD]

Thanks! Yes it was imperial and a big batch. It was from the spruce crafts. (I posted the link but its awaiting moderator approval) I wanted to make it smaller and in metric.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Will you be hot processing both of these recipes? Assuming so for the shave soap. The shave soap also has too much CO by the way - you don't want anything that cleansing on your face I wouldn't think. Take it back to about 10 or 15%?

 

[JoostD]

The normal soap is a cold process recipe. Although the room temperature method is also appealing. Using the heat of the lye to melt the hard oils.

The shaving soap is a modified cold method recipe. Mixing the hot lye with hot oils. I could give a link but I'm guessing that needs moderator approval first too
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check the recipe again.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I wouldn't use that lye-to-melt-the-oils method as a new soaper. In fact, I'm terrified of it and I've been soaping for nearly three years. What if my hard oils don't melt? then what would I do?

For the shave soap, if you are using stearic acid it is usually hot processed because the stearic acid is a very hard fatty acid that needs high heat to melt, and to stay melted.

P.S - is this the link? How to Make Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter Soap

 

[JoostD]

Yep that’s it! Good point about that procedure! I’ll stick to the normal method for now.

I bought the book from lovinsoap shaving recipes. This was in hat book. There are some YT videos too with the modified cold method for dual lye recipes.

 

[Becky1024]

For a good stable lather in a shave soap, palmetic + stearic needs to be at least 50. Yours is a little low. I would reduce the amount of coconut oil and increase the kokum or stearic acid.

 

[JoostD]

Thank you for you’re suggestion. I don’t have any kokum. It’s difficult to find here.
Would this work?

 

[lsg]

I highly recommend the recipe in Songwind's thread on shaving soap.

 

[JoostD]

I highly recommend the recipe in Songwind's thread on shaving soap.

I think that's a hot proces soap. And I don't have a crock pot. The recipe above came from a post in that thread.

 

[Arimara]

The CP recipe would be way too cleansing but it has good bones. Knocking off 10% from the coconut oil and adding it to the palm is my suggestion.

I wouldn't use that lye-to-melt-the-oils method as a new soaper. In fact, I'm terrified of it and I've been soaping for nearly three years. What if my hard oils don't melt? then what would I do?

For the shave soap, if you are using stearic acid it is usually hot processed because the stearic acid is a very hard fatty acid that needs high heat to melt, and to stay melted.

P.S - is this the link? How to Make Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter Soap

I use that method occasionally but not with the butters or palm unless they are heated up to be partially melted. It's when I decide or need to hand stir in the colder months that I resort to it. But I do agree in that a beginner should not use that method. The lye would have to be freshly mixed and care needs to be taken to make sure all of the lye is dissolved, depending on the liquid used.

 

[Becky1024]

Thank you for you’re suggestion. I don’t have any kokum. It’s difficult to find here.
Would this work?
View attachment 59566

Please show the % fatty acid table and properties table.

 

[JoostD]

Here it is

 

[AliOop]

I think that's a hot proces soap. And I don't have a crock pot. The recipe above came from a post in that thread.

You don't need a crock pot to do HP. I personally prefer to use a pot-in-pot (double-boiler, bain marie) to melt and cook the oils on the stove.

There is a long shaving soap thread on this forum that was started by Songwind. It is a very simple recipe and seems to have quite the loyal following. I recommend following @DeeAnna's method (post #50) of mixing the coconut oil with the lye solution before adding the stearic acid.

 

[JoostD]

I tried my shaving soap today... And it was a succes. I used this recipe


After 2 passes and a touch up this was left

Amazing recipe, on par with my Highlands soap.
I left it unscented. And made a small batch.
I can see this might be addicting

I made lavender soap with my wife. That's still hardening but it looks very nice for our first soap. We used this recipe:
https://lovelygreens.com/simple-lavender-soap-recipe/
Thanks all for the advice! Much appreciated!

 

[AliOop]

Looks successful to me!

 

[JoostD]

Thank you.
Yes it makes a great lather and shaves very wel!

The only "problem" I have is that's a bit drying on the skin. It leaves my skin dry and sometimes a bit irritated/tight. So I'm looking in making it more conditioning.

I had some ideas maybe someone could give some feedback on these?
Maybe adding lanolin as superfat
Or using a milk like goats or sheep's milk as liquid
Upping the castor to 10%

Also while I was researching butters for shaving soap I came across bacuri. It 70+% palmitic and 25% oliec. This could be a good profile for a shaving soap. But I can't really find any other experience with it for shaving soaps.
Playing around with the calculator gave these results (I added bacuri manually to the oil database using specs from Internet)

If someone has some suggestions on making a more condition shaving soap I would highly appreciate it!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Our numbers are similar across the board except for the palmitic/stearic ratio. Mine has only 10 palmitic and 46 stearic. I also add some vegetable lanolin at trace.
I wonder if the higher palmitic is more drying? I've been told mine doesn't feel dry on the skin at all - in fact, quite the opposite.