Re-Thinking Shaving Soap

[BrewerGeorge]

I have been testing a bar of one year old 100% olive oil castille (95/5 Na/K) in the shower for the last couple weeks. I don't honestly love it for washing the body - not enough lather for my taste - so its been languishing beside a high-lard cousin in the soap dish.

This morning on a whim, I decided to try the castille for shaving and was very impressed. It doesn't have the long-lasting, showy foam of course, but the "slime" was really excellent for shaving. It is not at all like shaving with lather from a balanced bar. It was very, very slippery and cushioning. The very lack of lots of foam made trimming around the beard easier to see, as well. The overall experience reminds me somewhat of shaving lotions like Cremo.

It might be hard to sell such a bar because the whipped-cream-foam metric is so strongly established, but I personally think it is superior. But if you have any castille on hand, I recommend you give it a try. I bet it would be stellar on legs, especially. Or has anybody else already tried it?

 

[dixiedragon]

My sister shaves with conditioner for the same reasons you give.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Did you lather with a brush?

A friend of mine shaves with my salt bars, of all things! He loves it #differentstrokes

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Did you lather with a brush?

A friend of mine shaves with my salt bars, of all things! He loves it #differentstrokes

I did not, which is something I meant to mention in the OP. Generating the castille slime/lather was significantly faster than whipping up a bowl of foam. Seconds vs minutes. That's another plus in my book.

 

[shunt2011]

I too use my salt bar to shave most times. Used conditioner on a recent trip. I'm out of my shave soap.

 

[BattleGnome]

I use slimy soap on my legs all the time. Until recently I used high OO in all my recipes and never was really one for shave creams. I agree with everything you’ve said. I’m pretty sure the harder to wash off the oleic slime is the better it is for shaving because of that cushion factor

 

[DeeAnna]

I've seen some people make shaving oils or gels that aren't able (or intended) to be whipped into a lather. Maybe the olive oil soap would fall more into this category?

 

[IrishLass]

I've noticed for a long time the lovely slipperiness and cushion that oleic slime provides when shaving my legs with my 100% OO Castiles. That's why I always wondered why so many wet-shavers balk at seeing olive oil in the ingredients of a shaving soap, but then again maybe they just had a bad experience with a particular shave soap that happened to have included it. For what its worth, I include 10% of either olive oil or some other high-oleic oil such as avocado oil in the shaving croap I make for my hubby. All told, the total percent of oleic in my shave soap adds up to 19%.


IrishLass

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I have been testing a bar of one year old 100% olive oil castille (95/5 Na/K) in the shower for the last couple weeks. I don't honestly love it for washing the body - not enough lather for my taste - so its been languishing beside a high-lard cousin in the soap dish.

LOL I had to laugh when I read this. In all the years I've been soaping Hubby only recently discovered how much more lather he gets using a bath pouf! You might want to give one a try -- it's like magic!

As it happens, I did use a low slime/quick cure, 5% castor castile and a 5% castor, 10% coconut Savon De Marseille type castile to shave my legs recently. Gifts from a soaping buddy who also sent a shave soap with 40% stearic. The castiles shaved better; the shave soap was so hard it provided kinda stingy lather.

From my own experience, shaving soap is about more than copious lather. To my mind at least, it's a ploy foisted on a gullible public by shave cream companies to sell more of their product more often. When my husband taught our boys to shave he told them to forget the TV commercials and that they needed very little cream to get a good shave.

I think it takes time to develop the perfect shaving soap. For me it took 3 years because I only made a batch a year! haha It just got better with each tweaking. (Not bragging; just saying ) Hubby gets a close shave, with a safety razor and an heirloom brush; no more 5-o'clock shadow, no more nicks covered with tissue at the breakfast table, and he says he can do the whole area with only one rinse. As for me, I haven't nicked my legs while shaving for 10 years or so -- not until I used the shaving soap mentioned above. Ouch.

Here are the ingredients (make of it what you will): Water, Aloe Vera (soothing); Coconut Oil (lather), Olive Oil (holds moisture close to skin), Palm Oil (high oleic and palmitc acids), Avocado Oil (close shave), Castor Oil (lather & conditioning), Cocoa Butter (moisturizer; skin softener); Bentonite Clay (slickery; smooth glide); *stearic acid, linseed oil, & soybean oil (antibacterial humectants to seal moisture in); vitamin E (skin loving antioxidant). Fragrance.

(*Contained in a product that is my secret ingredient. LOL) OPTION: Stearic Acid (3.5%) Melt ahead 140°-150° F (60°-69°C) with some of the oils from the recipe. Add at medium trace. Full water (38%) and 8% SF. 4-6 week cure. Expect a 4-oz. bar to last 6 months with daily use.

ETA: My shave soaps are 2.5" diameter; weigh 3-4 oz; drop into any standard coffee mug, which is what DH uses. I use a re-purposed cosmetic brush and a small round, squat ceramic bowl from the Dollar Store that fits my hand comfortably. Lather improves greatly after 2-3 uses and gets even better over time. It lathers up quickly in a few seconds with little effort. It is dense, creamy, lasts throughout the shave and rinses clean.

I always dry the razor after rinsing to extend the life of the blade. The brush gets a similar treatment -- rinse thoroughly with clear water, pat dry on a towel, shape it and lay it across the bowl to dry.

HTH

 

[LBussy]

I've used conditioner to shave when I've been travelling and did not have shave soap. It works fine however I find that it does not "float away" the whiskers and causes clogging. For me the secret was creating a soap which was conditioning as well as having a dense lather. My wife has used my Castille for her legs because she's too lazy to use real shave soap. Her razors clog pretty quickly as well but unless I go in there and make the lather for her, she struggles through.

 

[mberky8]

Yes! I have definitely used soap with high olive oil and/or bentonite clay for shaving legs. I do like the slick feel. For us women, I feel like it's similar to some of the shave gels out on the market (less foam, but smooth).

Personally, for body soap, I also like the "bubbly lather" like you said, so I use a higher content of coconut oil, castor, and butters. But I'm usually pretty sensitive to soaps with a high coconut oil content for my face (dries out my face), so I use a neem/olive oil combo with lower amounts of coconut oil. Interestingly, when I ran out of my usual neem face soap that I make, I used a bar of high olive oil/lard soap as a quick replacement, and it's not half bad! I'm actually still using it because I haven't had the time to make my neem soap. There isn't tons of lather/bubbles with 100% OO castille, but it's still cleansing and gentle, so I think it's great for many purposes! (Shaving, people with sensitive skin, babies, pets, etc). However, like you said...I'm not sure how the general public would like such a slippery soap. But I think you can market it in such a way, that some may be interested to give it a try. And I bet once they do, they'd love it!

 

[Obsidian]

I also use slick soap to shave my legs when I'm in a hurry or just plain lazy. It works pretty well but the razor clogs quickly and I always get nicks and razor burn, the same with store bought shave gel.
Once I started using proper shave soap with a brush and a DE razor, the bumps and nics stopped. I've struggled all my life with sensitive skin, my legs always look like I've been in a fight with a rose bush. I'm forever thankful to have learned how to make shave soap, even if it is a pita to use.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

TIP: IME and IMO two key ingredients to a shave soap are Bentonite Clay aka "Aztec" for glide and avocado oil for a close, but nick free, result. What makes Bentonite special is that it has long been used to keep pneumatic drills wet and operational when drilling wells. You don't need much. I use 1 tablespoon PPO. I used 2 tablespoons at first and that worked great to use as face mask while shaving my legs! LOL Avocado oil @ 6%.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Many shavers, especially those with straight razors, simply don't trust clay in a soap, because of the question of the particles dulling the edge of the blade. Whether or not is does actually dull blades, the same slickness can be achieved with glycerine which has no chance of dulling a blade.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

the same slickness can be achieved with glycerine which has no chance of dulling a blade.

Good to know, Effy G! I'm sure some members will benefit from that tidbit of info.

FYI: Unfortunately, it doesn't work where we live. Glycerin moisturizes the skin by drawing water from the air. When there is little water in the air, as in Colorado's dry alpine desert climate, it draws it from the skin! I tested this fact early on in my soaping career. First I put a glob of glycerin in my palm, and rubbed it on both hands on a rainy day when we had high humidity. Felt wonderful. Then I next tried it on a normal, low-humidity day and it stung like a bee! Yee-ouch.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

But in a shaving soap you're adding a lot of water in there. In fact, the extra glycerine in shaving soap is pretty much to make up for what is missing from using a free fatty acid (sa) instead of a triglyceride.

 

[shunt2011]

My BIL and several of his friends use my shave soap with glycerin. They live in Colorado and have no issues with it sucking the moisture out of their skin at all. They've been using it for several years now. I don't use clay in my shave soap as they requested it not be used.

 

[Obsidian]

I dislike glycerin for leave on products but its absolutely essential in a good shave soap, at least in my experience.

 

[psfred]

I have found that the only thing that really counts in shaving soap is slickness. Lather must be "wet" enough to be very slippery or you get a shave much like using water (which I did for 35 years or so, shaving my face in the shower without soap).

You only need enough "foam" to keep the soap from drying out before the razor gets to that area, and it's best if the skin stays slick after you pass the razor over (which, of course, means you had enough slipperyness to start with).

I would assume this is true for other parts of the body, I've only ever shaved my face, which is quite enough shaving for me.

The "slimy" lather from Castile style soaps should work fine so long as it's persistent enough. The point of high stearic acid shaving soaps is that the fine, stable bubbles keep the soap wet much longer. Still requires high water content, which is where many new shavers go wrong. A thick layer of dense, hard, dry foam looks impressive, but does zero for an irritation free, close shave. In fact, it can make for trouble as sticky skin leads to excessive pressure on the razor. Not a happy skin thing, eh?

The widely derided Williams Mug soap doesn't produce thick, dry lather, but it does provide me with very nice shaves day after day. In fact, I get the best shaves with it when the lather is so wet it drips off the razor while I'm shaving.

 

[kmarvel]

LOL I had to laugh when I read this. In all the years I've been soaping Hubby only recently discovered how much more lather he gets using a bath pouf! You might want to give one a try -- it's like magic!

As it happens, I did use a low slime/quick cure, 5% castor castile and a 5% castor, 10% coconut Savon De Marseille type castile to shave my legs recently. Gifts from a soaping buddy who also sent a shave soap with 40% stearic. The castiles shaved better; the shave soap was so hard it provided kinda stingy lather.

From my own experience, shaving soap is about more than copious lather. To my mind at least, it's a ploy foisted on a gullible public by shave cream companies to sell more of their product more often. When my husband taught our boys to shave he told them to forget the TV commercials and that they needed very little cream to get a good shave.

I think it takes time to develop the perfect shaving soap. For me it took 3 years because I only made a batch a year! haha It just got better with each tweaking. (Not bragging; just saying ) Hubby gets a close shave, with a safety razor and an heirloom brush; no more 5-o'clock shadow, no more nicks covered with tissue at the breakfast table, and he says he can do the whole area with only one rinse. As for me, I haven't nicked my legs while shaving for 10 years or so -- not until I used the shaving soap mentioned above. Ouch.

Here are the ingredients (make of it what you will): Water, Aloe Vera (soothing); Coconut Oil (lather), Olive Oil (holds moisture close to skin), Palm Oil (high oleic and palmitc acids), Avocado Oil (close shave), Castor Oil (lather & conditioning), Cocoa Butter (moisturizer; skin softener); Bentonite Clay (slickery; smooth glide); *stearic acid, linseed oil, & soybean oil (antibacterial humectants to seal moisture in); vitamin E (skin loving antioxidant). Fragrance.

(*Contained in a product that is my secret ingredient. LOL) OPTION: Stearic Acid (3.5%) Melt ahead 140°-150° F (60°-69°C) with some of the oils from the recipe. Add at medium trace. Full water (38%) and 8% SF. 4-6 week cure. Expect a 4-oz. bar to last 6 months with daily use.

ETA: My shave soaps are 2.5" diameter; weigh 3-4 oz; drop into any standard coffee mug, which is what DH uses. I use a re-purposed cosmetic brush and a small round, squat ceramic bowl from the Dollar Store that fits my hand comfortably. Lather improves greatly after 2-3 uses and gets even better over time. It lathers up quickly in a few seconds with little effort. It is dense, creamy, lasts throughout the shave and rinses clean.

I always dry the razor after rinsing to extend the life of the blade. The brush gets a similar treatment -- rinse thoroughly with clear water, pat dry on a towel, shape it and lay it across the bowl to dry.

HTH

Zany, what was the lye you used?? How much? Thanks.